As long as you make a choice, you can find a great $300 phone

If you need one New phones cost less than $300there are many options to meet your most important needs. However, there is a big trade-off in terms of phone calls in this more affordable range. Modern specifications such as eye-catching design, improved multitasking and wireless charging still only receive only one or two major software updates and three-year security patches. Some phones under $300 have a longer schedule of software updates and five-year security updates, for four years. But these devices ignore certain features and may make you want to upgrade as soon as possible.

This is my dilemma after testing various phones that cost less than $300. We take the software and security schedule seriously in the comments, as these updates can determine whether the device gets new software features and critical fixes. Now, like Samsung Galaxy S25 and Pixel 9 With promises of seven years of software and security updates, we want to see more affordable phones for at least four to five years.

But we are not there yet. Most phones that cost $300 or less are shipped, and additional software updates and three-year security updates are promised. Although Samsung is taking the opposite approach $200 Galaxy A15 5G and $300 Galaxy A25 5GBoth have four years of software updates and five years of security updates, both have outdated designs and lack of functionality found on comparable phones. Samsung’s new $200 Galaxy A16 raises its software and security commitment to six years, but I haven’t had a chance to test the phone yet.

This means that shoppers have to compete with the same decision I’ve been thinking about over the past few months: whether you can use a more functional phone, e.g. $300 ONEPLUS NORD N30 5Gwhich one has very fast wired charging and a 108 megapixel main camera? It’s better to choose a simpler phone like the one in the Samsung Galaxy A series, which will receive critical software updates in the coming years. To make things more confusing, old devices that can now be discounted, e.g. Google Pixel 6a?

More features, but updated

Both Motorola and OnePlus offer $300 phones that deserve your time and attention.

This 2024 Moto G Power 5G It is a look, starting with its light lilac vegetarian leather design. entire Moto G-line Now with this material, it will make it easier to grip if you choose not to use your phone. Motorola also puts 15-watt wireless charging into the mix, making it one of the cheapest phones. You get faster, 30 watts when plugging in a phone and charging it in an old-fashioned way, but the flexibility to charge it without a cable is very useful – and rare. Motorola also announced the 2025 version $200 Moto g and $300 Moto G Power This trend continues with colorful vegetarian leather designs, durability and fast charging speeds.

The OnePlus Nord N30 5G features an attractive reflective design that emphasizes its 108-megapixel main camera. I took a nice photo last year when I reviewed it, but the real value feature is its 50-watt SuperVooc charger. Even though it’s proprietary (just means the included charger can reach these speeds), it replenishes the battery by up to 75% in 30 minutes, a speed that most other phones can’t achieve.

Cheap phones from Motorola and OnePlus both include super smooth 120Hz refresh rate, NFC for contactless payments, and a processor that is fast enough to play and play games. Unfortunately, both phones have a shorter update schedule. Although the N30 is still on sale, it’s been almost two years now, with its three-year commitment to safety support. Meanwhile, Motorola’s 2025 Moto G phones are receiving two-year software updates and three-year security updates, with a slight increase in the Moto G series updates from a single software and received the Moto G series in previous years, along with the same security commitment.

Long lifespan, but an interesting phone

Samsung deserves recognition for extending the lifespan of its cheap Galaxy A-series phones. The $200 $200 Galaxy A15 and the $300 Galaxy A25 both receive four years of software updates and five years of security updates, which is absolutely great. Even better, the Galaxy A16 is received for six years each. No competitor even approached this promise.

Samsung has identified the basics of both phones and has a high countdown display, NFC contactless payments and a powerful enough processor.

However, Samsung’s Galaxy A device feels boring compared to other similarly priced phones. The A15 and A25 are made of plastic with blocky notches instead of the smooth cutouts of selfie cameras found on most other competing phones. While Samsung’s cheap phones can handle essentials without problems, they struggle with simple multitasking. The A15 is particularly consistently slow to load. Although the A25 performs better on most tasks, it occasionally encounters when loading games or playing music when using both a web browser and a password manager. I’m looking forward to testing the A16 to see if Samsung can improve the phone performance of the low-priced option.

If all you want is a communication phone, this makes the Galaxy A15 and Galaxy A25 completely sufficient and don’t need to be replaced anytime soon. But I worry that you will run into dead ends as applications and services develop in the coming years, especially if these phones are already easily overwhelmed.

Can Google’s Pixel 6A become a low-budget champion?

You may have noticed that I did not discuss the camera on any of the aforementioned phones. That’s because while all of them have at least 50 megapixel main cameras, none of them take particularly impressive photos. However Google’s Pixel 6A is still available for sale And it is usually under $300.

Thanks Recently given extensions for pixel 6 and laterthe Pixel 6A will now get software updates until July 2027, and security updates at the same time. This is a big driving force behind the usability of this cheap phone, especially given that Google originally planned a software update for the 2025 Sunset Pixel 6A.

The Pixel 6A’s 12.2-megapixel main camera is still impressive. It runs on Google’s first generation tensor processor and comes with flagship features of many pixels, such as Magic Eraser, for editing photos, live translations, and other long-standing pixel exclusives such as Call Call Screening and Call Sexing and for Me. Pixel 6a also includes AI-driven Circle search. Even the Pixel 6a will miss Google’s updates, more advanced Gemini AI featureseven two years after its release, it is still a promising option.

However, you won’t get wireless charging or headphone jack on the Pixel 6a, and its screen is smaller and dimmer than other phones mentioned in this story.

How to decide the best choice?

Your priorities are the most important when choosing a budget phone. If you want the most affordable features with a striking design package, consider Motorola, Google and OnePlus phones.

However, if the most important reason to buy a cheap phone is to avoid upgrading as long as possible, you should consider Samsung’s Galaxy A phone.

Ironically, you can’t have both. A four-year update phone is not necessarily the one you want to last for four years.