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OnePlus has announced a new version of our current pick, the $300 Nord N30 5G. We’ve added details about the new phone and what to expect.
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High-end Android phones can cost $1,000 or more, but cheaper models can offer almost every feature you want in a phone. After testing half a dozen phones in just a few days, we’ve come to the conclusion that the OnePlus Nord N20 5G is the best budget Android phone around. It’s fast and sharp enough for most people, with an OLED display, a good battery, and even 5G connectivity — rare features for a phone that costs just $300.
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The OnePlus Nord N20 5G has good performance and a sharp 1080p OLED screen with an in-display fingerprint reader, a feature usually reserved for more expensive phones.
The OnePlus Nord N20 5G is more powerful than Samsung’s budget phones, and its 1080p OLED screen is sharper than other phones in this price range, which typically have lower-contrast LCD displays. The N20 5G also offers an in-display fingerprint sensor, a rarity among budget phones. It has an available Android 12 update and three years of security updates (until Spring 2025). However, it doesn’t work on the Verizon network.
Samsung’s cheapest 5G phone offers better performance than most phones in this price range, and Samsung offers four years of guaranteed software updates.
The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G has a boring, generic design, but it’s more responsive than you’d expect for just $200. The screen gets more fingerprints than more expensive phones, but it’s big and bright, and the A14 5G runs Android 13 Samsung promises many more updates in the future, with an impressive four years of update support (until early 2027). Most budget phones are lucky to see half that.
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The Pixel 6a offers the latest Android software, a great screen, and a camera that rivals phones that cost twice as much.
Like Google’s previous budget phone options, the Google Pixel 6a has great software, but adds powerful hardware. The Pixel 6a beats the budget competition in almost every way, making it a fantastic choice if you’re willing to spend a little more. For $450, the Pixel 6a offers one of the best cameras on any smartphone, including phones that cost double the price. Plus, the software experience is smoother and more pleasant than what you’ll find on OnePlus or Samsung phones, and the Pixel 6a has the same powerful Tensor processor as more expensive Pixel phones. Google also guarantees security updates until summer 2027. However, the Pixel 6a falls short of our other picks in terms of battery life and lacks a headphone jack.
Samsung Galaxy A03s offers better performance and update support than other ultra budget phones and works on all mobile networks.
At just $160, the Samsung Galaxy A03s is the cheapest phone in Samsung’s current lineup, but it doesn’t perform like a budget phone. The A03 is fast enough for browsing the Web, sending messages, and playing simple games. Despite the phone’s low price, Samsung won’t be using updates – the A03s will receive updates until early 2026, four years of unprecedented support for such an affordable phone. The build quality is a step down from the Galaxy A14 5G, the camera isn’t quite as good and this model lacks 5G support, but the battery life is excellent.
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Over the past 10 years, I’ve written over a million words about Android phones, tablets, and software on sites like Wirecutter, Android Police, and ExtremeTech. During that time I also lived with dozens of different Android phones as my “daily drivers.” I use and review more phones every year than most people will own in their lifetime.
High-end smartphones have never been more expensive, but for less than a quarter of the price of a flagship phone, you can get nearly as much performance. You only give up some fancy features like water resistance, wireless charging, or multiple camera modules. Budget phones usually can’t compete with the quad HD (1440p) screens or top-of-the-line processors of flagship phones, but you don’t need those things to have a good experience.
Cheap phones make great first smartphones, especially for kids and teens or those who are too clumsy. If you lose or break a high-end phone, especially one you’re still paying your carrier for, replacing it can cost you a lot of money, often $500 or more. If you don’t have insurance, you can pay the balance of the phone you don’t have and the cost of the new phone.
We also find that cheap phones are usually unlocked, whether purchased online or directly from the manufacturer; you can use these phones on AT&T, T-Mobile or Verizon in the US and most networks in the rest of the world. More importantly, you can use an unlocked phone on a prepaid mobile virtual network operator (MVNO); these low-cost operators operate on national networks but impose more restrictions on data use or calls. You can use an MVNO, and if there’s a good deal, you can insert another carrier’s SIM into your phone and get on with your life.
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Budget phones are great for first-time smartphone buyers, especially children and teenagers, or for those who are too clumsy.
It’s a good idea to go with a reputable budget phone maker with a presence and retail presence in the United States, as such companies are more likely to address security issues by distributing patches. And choosing a phone from a big company like Google or Samsung reduces the likelihood of encountering serious security holes in the first place.
After testing dozens of budget smartphones, we’ve found that most of them aren’t worth recommending due to low prices, poor performance, excessive software, bad cameras, infrequent or no updates, or a combination of these problems. Before recommending a phone, let’s look at the following:
OnePlus has made great strides in its phones by offering a lot of power for little money, and that’s exactly what it does with the OnePlus Nord N20 5G. While most budget Android phones have average 720p LCD displays, the N20 5G has a crisp 1080p OLED. The N20 5G’s processor is also a step up from that of the Samsung Galaxy A14 5G, and its impressive battery life is supported by 33W fast charging. However, the camera performance is lackluster even for budget phones and OnePlus offers security updates for only three years, while Samsung and Google offer updates for four and five years, respectively.
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As component prices have skyrocketed in recent years, we’ve seen budget phones move away from mid-range processors to cheaper, less reliable options. The N20 5G avoids this trend by running on the Qualcomm Snapdragon 695 processor, which is more powerful than the MediaTek Galaxy A14 5G chip. The N20 5G also has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, faster than the Galaxy A14 5G or Galaxy A03s, as well as a microSD card slot. Loading complex websites, running 3D games, and installing and launching apps are all better experiences on the N20 5G than any 2022 budget phone we’ve tested save for Google’s pricier Pixel 6a . The N20 5G features NFC for mobile payments, a feature often missing on budget phones.
1080p display resolution is common on phones under $300, but supply chain issues due to the pandemic have become a rarity these days. On the N20 5G, OnePlus offers an excellent 1080p OLED screen, which is noticeably sharper than the Galaxy A13 5G’s 720p LCD, but it’s not as bright or vibrant as the Pixel 6a’s OLED. The N20 5G’s display is limited to a 60Hz refresh rate, which is lower than the A14 5G’s 90Hz refresh rate. However, the N20 5G easily maintains the 60Hz refresh rate, while the A14 5G occasionally dips below 90Hz, making its head start less than worthwhile. And resolution is more important than refresh rate on phones in this price range.
The 4,500mAh battery is enough to power the N20 5G throughout the day, no matter how hard you try to push it. You can get up to two days of charge depending on usage, and this phone’s 33W charge is twice as fast as the A14 5G’s charge (15W); Even the N20 5G beats the Pixel 6a (18W) in this regard. A full charge takes less than an hour. It’s good to see that the N20 comes with a 5G cable and charger, as many phones in 2022 don’t.
N20
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