Buying a $300 phone comes with a big choice: fun features or more support

If sticking to a budget is important, there are many worthwhile options. phones under $300. And these phones are likely to get new prominence as holiday deals discount them further, but there’s a big trade-off for phones in this price range. A phone with modern specs like a flashy design, improved multitasking and wireless charging might receive just one major software update and three years of security patches. Some phones under $300 have a longer term of four years for software updates and five years for security updates. But those devices skimp on certain features, possibly making you want to upgrade sooner anyway.

This is the dilemma I’ve been weighing after testing a variety of phones that cost less than $300 over the course of 2024. We take software and security timelines seriously in our reviews because these updates can determine whether devices get new security features. software and critical fixes. . Now that premium phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 8 With seven years of software and security updates promised, we’d like to see the most affordable phones get at least four or five years.

However, we are not there yet. Most phones that cost $300 or less ship with the promise of an additional software update and three years of security updates. While Samsung is taking the opposite approach with its $200 Galaxy A15 5G and $300 Galaxy A25 5Gwhich receive four years of software updates and five years of security updates, both have an outdated design and lack features found on comparable phones.

That means buyers have to face the same decision I’ve been considering for the past few months: Do you prefer a phone with more features, like the $300 OnePlus Nord N30 5Gthat has extremely fast wired charging and a 108 megapixel main camera? Or is it better to choose a more basic phone like Samsung’s Galaxy A series, which will receive crucial software updates in the coming years? And to make things more confusing, what about an older device that is now available at a discount, like the Google Pixel 6A?

More features, but shorter updates

Motorola and OnePlus offer $300 phones that are worth your time and attention.

this year’s Moto G Power 5G is attractive, starting with its Pale Lilac vegan leather design. all the Moto G line now uses this material, resulting in an easier grip if you decide not to use the phone with a case. Motorola has also included 15W wireless charging, making it one of the cheapest phones to include this option. You’ll get faster 30W speeds by plugging in the phone and charging it the old-fashioned way, but the flexibility of charging wirelessly is quite useful, and rare at this price.

Last year’s OnePlus Nord N30 5G has an attractive reflective design, which highlights its 108-megapixel main camera. It took decent pictures when I reviewed it last year, but the real value feature was its 50-watt SuperVooc charger. Although it’s proprietary (meaning only the included charger reaches these speeds), it recharges the battery up to 75% in 30 minutes, a speed that most other phones can’t reach.

Both phones include a super-smooth 120Hz refresh rate, NFC for contactless payments, and processors that are fast enough for multitasking in addition to gaming. But unfortunately, both phones also have shorter update schedules, and the OnePlus phone is already a year into its update schedule after receiving Android 14. While the N30 is still on sale, it will only receive two more years of updates security. Meanwhile, Motorola’s new Moto G Power 5G will get at least Android 15 at some point in the future and security updates through 2027.

Long life, but a less fun phone

Samsung deserves credit for extending the life of its cheaper Galaxy A series phones. It’s absolutely wonderful that both the $200 Galaxy A15 and $300 Galaxy A25 receive four years of software updates and five years of security updates. No competitor even comes close to that promise.

I wish both phones were more fun, though. Samsung got the basics right for both phones, with high-refresh displays, NFC contactless payments, and powerful enough processors.

But compared to other similarly priced phones, Samsung’s Galaxy A devices feel dull. Both are made of plastic and have a blocky notch instead of the fancy selfie camera cutout found on most other competing phones. While Samsung’s cheaper phones can handle the essentials without issue, they struggle with simple multitasking. The A15 in particular charges constantly slow. While the A25 fared better at most tasks, it occasionally stuttered when loading games or playing music while using a web browser and password manager simultaneously.

This makes the Galaxy A15 and Galaxy A25 completely suitable if all you want is a phone to communicate with that doesn’t need to be replaced anytime soon. But I worry that we’ll hit dead ends as apps and services develop in the coming years, especially if these phones are already easily overwhelmed.

Could Google’s Pixel 6A be the budget champion?

You may have noticed that I didn’t talk about the cameras on any of the phones mentioned above. That’s because while they all have at least 50-megapixel main cameras, none take particularly impressive photos. Still Google’s Pixel 6A is still available for sale and is often priced under $300.

thanks to a recent extension given to the Pixel 6 and laterThe Pixel 6A will now receive software updates until July 2027 along with security updates during the same time period. This is a big boost to the usability of this cheaper phone, especially considering that Google originally planned to discontinue Pixel 6A software updates in 2025.

The Pixel 6A’s 12.2-megapixel main camera is still impressive for the price. It runs on Google’s first-generation Tensor processor and comes with many of the flagship Pixel features, such as Magic Eraser for photo editing, Live Translate, and other long-standing Pixel exclusives such as Call Screening and Hold for Me. The Pixel 6A also includes artificial intelligence technology Circle to search. Although the Pixel 6A will miss out on Google’s newest and most advanced features Gemini AI FeaturesIt remains a promising option even two years after its launch.

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

How to decide the best option?

Your priorities are the most important thing when choosing a cheap phone. If you want to get the most features at an affordable price in an eye-catching design, consider phones from Motorola, Google, and OnePlus.

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

The irony is that you can’t have it both ways. The phone you upgrade for four years may not necessarily be the one you want to keep for four years.