Samsung Galaxy A36 for $400: With a better worth, you’d suppose the A36 can be even higher than the A26, proper? Mistaken. The Galaxy A36 (6/10, WIRED Overview) hits many highs, together with a brighter show, good battery life, and stable cameras, however storage isn’t expandable, and efficiency was bizarrely extra uneven. The 6 years of software program help is sweet, but when the telephone is already annoying to function, I can not think about what it’s going to be like in 6 years. It is an OK telephone, however you are able to do higher.
{Photograph}: Julian Chokkattu
TCL 60 XE Nxtpaper 5G for $250: TCL’s 60 XE (7/10, WIRED Recommends) has an anti-reflective matte display screen referred to as Nxtpaper to restrict the blue mild getting into your eyes for higher sleep and decreased eye fatigue. There is no proof to recommend that blue-light blockers work, however in the event you ignore these claims, that is nonetheless a terrific finances telephone with a satisfying matte display screen. There’s a change on the aspect that permits you to flip between totally different show modes that flip the display screen nearer to a monochrome or shade E Ink expertise, nice for followers of e-readers. Efficiency is sweet, the digital camera is first rate, and there are extras like a headphone jack and microSD card slot. The one downside is that the display screen is tough to learn in direct daylight.
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Motorola Moto G Energy 2025 for $300: The Moto G Energy (7/10, WIRED Recommends) is a rung under the Moto G Stylus 2025 above, and whereas I feel it is a good smartphone, efficiency is extra sluggish than rivals just like the CMF Cellphone 2 Professional. You do get a number of the similar perks because the Stylus, like an IP68 water resistance ranking, headphone jack, microSD card slot, and wi-fi charging, however it sports activities an LCD panel, and the beginning storage is 128 GB.
Moto G Play 2026 for $180: Motorola’s new Moto G Play 2026 provides 5G connectivity for the primary time. Nonetheless, efficiency remains to be fairly sluggish, with apps and webpages taking a number of seconds to load. If you wish to pay little or no cash, this may do the job, however I feel you should purchase the Moto G Energy 2025 as an alternative, as a result of it is usually on sale for practically the identical worth. Whereas the Energy’s efficiency is not superb, it is a lot better than the Play, and has stronger cameras and extra options.
Motorola Edge 2025 for $400: The Edge has a waterfall show, which is a cool impact the place the glass edges of the telephone bleed into the perimeters, making a bezel-less impact. It is a dying breed of telephone as a result of, seems, glass edges can interrupt the touchscreen and might make telephones annoying to make use of. It isn’t as a lot of an issue right here, however my most important challenge is that efficiency is a bit of too stuttery for a telephone at this worth. The lackluster software program replace coverage additionally simply makes it laborious to suggest over rivals just like the Pixel 9a.
Minimal Cellphone for $499: Wish to cut back your reliance on a smartphone? The Minimal Cellphone (6/10, WIRED Overview) has an e-paper touchscreen and a bodily keyboard, however it runs Android. Which means you possibly can nonetheless entry each app you’d need through the Google Play Retailer, however the expertise goes to be inferior, because of the telephone’s low refresh charge (good luck watching movies on this factor) and the tiny monochrome display screen. Nonetheless, it is a first rate different (or perhaps even a second telephone) in the event you simply need to get away from doomscrolling.
Samsung Galaxy A16 for $200: Samsung’s Galaxy A16 nonetheless does not attain the highs of the Galaxy A14, and that is largely attributable to sluggish efficiency. Certain, Samsung is promising six years of software program updates, however that exceptional replace window does not matter when the telephone is frustratingly sluggish, and also you need to throw it out the window. Should you barely plan on utilizing this machine however need one thing from a dependable model that can keep safe, the Galaxy A16 is OK. Its efficiency simply is not aggressive with different equally priced telephones.
Nuu N20 for $130: Proper after I examined the Galaxy A16, I moved on to the cheaper Nuu N20. Colour me stunned. Sure, it could possibly nonetheless be sluggish, however efficiency on this practically $100 telephone is much better and manageable. I used it for every week with no main issues. Effectively, besides one: GPS on this machine is not nice. The few occasions I used it for automobile navigation, it struggled to search out my location, and it was sluggish to replace the map. The opposite massive downside? The N20 at present runs Android 14, so it is already old-fashioned, and the corporate tells me there isn’t any “actual schedule for software program updates.”
Sonim XP Professional 5G for $550: This rugged telephone is offered by means of Verizon solely, however I examined it on Google Fi and did not have any connectivity points. (Fi is powered by T-Cell’s community.) I’ve dropped this Android telephone a number of occasions on the sidewalk (on objective), and the display screen has not cracked. It is fairly sturdy, and that is largely the explanation to purchase it. By itself, it is not wholly spectacular—you should purchase extra highly effective, feature-rich telephones for the cash. The digital camera is very dangerous, constantly delivering blurry pictures except you keep as nonetheless as a statue. However efficiency is first rate, it comes with 256 GB of storage with a microSD card slot, and there is a customizable button you possibly can set to set off a shortcut or open an app.
Nothing Cellphone (3a) Lite for £249: Nothing’s Cellphone (3a) Lite (6/10, WIRED Overview) is a complicated smartphone in its lineup. The CMF Cellphone 2 Professional exists and is comparable in worth (CMF is Nothing’s sub-brand), and basically, there are higher telephones you should purchase for the cash. The cameras are lackluster, and there is plenty of bloatware, which looks like the other of Nothing’s philosophy. Efficiency is first rate, as is its battery life, however this telephone additionally is not launching within the US.
What Telephones Ought to You Keep away from?
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Should you’re eyeing a low cost telephone, attempt to stick to call manufacturers. There are a number of smartphones you may discover for grime low cost on Amazon, however you are about to load up no matter you purchase together with your private info and pictures—it is vital to ensure it is a respected model with good safety practices (or no less than some form of document that it does challenge safety patches).
