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

If keeping a budget is important, there are many things that are worth it phones for less than $300. And these phones are likely to get a new spotlight as holiday deals slash them even more, but there’s a big trade-off for phones in this price range. A phone with modern specs like an attractive design, improved multitasking, and wireless charging might still only get a 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 these devices skimp on some features, still leaving you wanting to upgrade sooner.

That’s the dilemma I’ve weighed after testing a variety of phones that cost less than $300 through 2024. We take software and security timelines seriously in our reviews because these updates can dictate whether devices get new features. software updates and critical fixes. Now that premium phones like Samsung Galaxy S24 AND Pixel 8 seven years of software and security updates are promised, we’d like to see more affordable phones grow to at least four to five years.

However, we are not there yet. Most phones that cost $300 or less are shipping with a promise of an additional software update and three years of security updates. While Samsung is taking the opposite approach with it $200 Galaxy A15 5G AND $300 Galaxy A25 5Gboth get four years of software updates and five years of security updates, both have an outdated design and lack features found on comparable phones.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 must face the same decision I’ve been pondering for the past few months: Do you go with a more feature-packed phone, such as $300 OnePlus Nord N30 5Gwhich has ultra-fast wired charging and a 108-megapixel primary camera? Or is it better to opt for a more stripped-down phone like those in Samsung’s Galaxy A series, which will receive significant software updates for years to come. And to make things more confusing, what about an older device that is now being offered at a discount, such as Google Pixel 6A?

More features, but shorter updates

Motorola and OnePlus both offer $300 phones that are worthy of your time and attention.

of this year Moto G Power 5G is a looker, starting with her pale lilac vegan skin pattern. Everyone The Moto G line now uses this material, which results in an easier grip if you choose 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 you plug in your phone and charge it the old-fashioned way, but the flexibility to charge wirelessly is quite useful — and rare at this price.

Last year’s OnePlus Nord N30 5G has an attractive reflective design that highlights its 108-megapixel primary camera. It took good 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 achieves these speeds), it recharges the battery up to 75% in 30 minutes — a speed most other phones can’t achieve.

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

Long life, but a phone that’s less fun

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

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

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

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

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

You may have noticed that I haven’t discussed the cameras on any of the phones mentioned before. That’s because while they all have at least 50-megapixel primary cameras, none of them take particularly impressive photos. STILL Google’s Pixel 6A remains available for sale and often fetches prices under $300.

Thanks to one last extension provided for Pixel 6 and laterThe Pixel 6A will now receive software updates until July 2027 along with security updates for the same time. That’s a big boost to the usability of this cheaper phone, especially given that Google originally planned to end Pixel 6A software updates 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 comes with many of the Pixel’s flagship features like Magic Eraser for photo editing, Live Translate, and other old Pixel exclusives like Call Screening and Hold for Me. The Pixel 6A also includes AI-powered hardware Circle to search. Although the Pixel 6A will miss out on Google’s newest and most advanced devices Features of Gemini artificial intelligenceis still a promising option two years after its release.

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

How to decide the best option?

Your priorities matter most when choosing a budget phone. If you want the most features for an affordable price wrapped in an attractive design, 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. The phone that gets upgraded for four years may not necessarily be the one you want to stick with for four years.