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

If sticking to a budget is important, there’s plenty of value phones for under $300. And these phones will likely take on a new role as holiday deals get even more discounted, but there’s a big deal to be made with phones in this price range. A phone with eye-catching design, improved multitasking and modern specs like wireless charging can still receive just one major software update and three years of security patches. Some phones under $300 have a longer timeline of four years for software updates and five years for security updates. But those devices lack certain features, leaving you wanting to upgrade sooner.

This is the dilemma I’ve explored after testing several phones that cost less than $300 throughout 2024. We take software and security updates seriously in our reviews because these updates can determine whether devices include new software features and critical fixes. . Now like premium phones Samsung Galaxy S24 and has Pixel 8 software and security updates are promised for seven years, we’d like cheaper phones to go up to at least four or five years.

However, we are not there yet. Most phones costing $300 or less ship with a three-year promise of additional software updates and security updates. While Samsung is taking the opposite approach with its own $200 Galaxy A15 5G and $300 Galaxy A25 5Gboth receive four years of software updates and five years of security updates, both have outdated designs and lack features found on comparable phones.

That means buyers are faced with the same decision I’ve been mulling over for the past few months: do you go with a feature-packed phone, like $300 OnePlus Nord N30 5Gwith super-fast wired charging and a 108-megapixel primary camera? Or is it better to opt for a simpler phone from Samsung’s Galaxy A series, which will receive crucial software updates in the coming years. And to make things more confusing, what about an old device that is now available at a discount, for example Google Pixel 6A?

More features, but shorter updates

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

This year Moto G Power 5G it’s a looker, starting with its lilac vegan leather design. the whole Moto G line now it uses this material, which makes the grip easier if you decide not to use the phone with a case. Motorola has also thrown 15-watt wireless charging into the mix, making it one of the cheapest phones to include this option. You’ll get faster 30W speeds when plugging your phone in and charging the old fashioned way, but the flexibility of wireless charging is quite helpful – and rare at this price point.

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

Both of these phones have a super-smooth 120Hz refresh rate, NFC for contactless payments, and processors that are fast enough for multitasking games. But unfortunately, these two phones also have shorter update schedules, with the OnePlus phone already receiving Android 14 a year into its update timeline. While the N30 is still on sale, it only gets two more years of security updates. Meanwhile Motorola’s new Moto G Power 5G will get Android 15 at least sometime in the future and security updates until 2027.

Long life, but less fun phone

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

However, I wish both phones were more fun. Samsung nailed the basics of both these phones, with high-refresh screens, NFC contactless payments, and pretty powerful processors.

But compared to other similarly priced phones, Samsung’s Galaxy A devices feel boring. Both are made of plastic and feature a locked notch rather than the sleeker 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 slows down constantly. While the A25 fared better in most tasks, it occasionally stuttered when loading games or playing music while using a web browser and password manager at the same time.

This makes the Galaxy A15 and Galaxy A25 perfectly suited if all you want is a communication phone that won’t need to be replaced anytime soon. But I worry that as apps and services develop over the next few years, you’ll find yourself on the edge, especially if these phones are already easily outclassed.

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

You might have noticed that I haven’t discussed the camera in any of the previously mentioned phones. Therefore, 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 on sale and is often priced under $300.

Thanks to Ari The latest extension for the Pixel 6 and laterThe Pixel 6A will now receive software updates until July 2027 along with security updates around the same time. This is a big boost to the availability of this cheaper phone, especially considering that Google originally planned to sunset software updates for the Pixel 6A in 2025.

The Pixel 6A’s 12.2-megapixel primary camera is still impressive for the price. It runs on Google’s first-generation Tensor processor and includes many of the Pixel’s core features, like Magic Eraser for photo editing, Live Translate, and longtime Pixel exclusives like Call Screening and Hold for Me. Pixel 6A also has AI-powered operation To find the circle. Although the Pixel 6A will lose out to Google’s newer and more advanced Gemini AI featuresit’s still a promising option even two years after its release.

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

How to decide the best option?

Your preferences matter the most when choosing a budget phone. If you want the most features packed into an eye-catching design at an affordable price, consider phones from Motorola, Google and OnePlus.

However, if the most important reason to buy 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 both. A phone that gets upgraded for four years might not necessarily be one you want to hang onto for four years.