We test a ton of Android phones. We like the ones below, but you’ll be better off with one of the options above. If you haven’t yet done so, check out our Best Cheap Phones guide for more.
Google Pixel 6A for $349: Google’s continuing to sell last year’s Pixel 6A (8/10, WIRED Recommends) at a marked-down price. It’s still excellent value and a worthy purchase. It’s powered by Google’s first-gen Tensor chip, which means you’re getting some of the best performance for the money, and it supports all the same great (and helpful) software smarts as the flagship Pixel 6 series. It’s got an OLED screen, a decent camera system, and lengthy software support. There’s no wireless charging and it has a 60-Hz screen.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 for $1,920: The Fold4 (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is all about multitasking. Open it up like a book to reveal a 7.6-inch screen and you can easily run multiple apps side by side, no app juggling required. There’s a permanent taskbar that lives at the bottom of the screen, which makes it really intuitive to use. I prefer Google’s Pixel Fold because the wider screen is easier to handle and apps look better in this aspect ratio, but the Fold4 is still an excellent and well-built folding phone.
Asus Zenfone 9 for $580: What’s that? You don’t want a tiny folding flip phone? You just want a normal tiny phone? Well, Asus saves the day with its Zenfone 9 (7/10, WIRED Recommends). It’s one of the tiniest high-end phones around with a 5.9-inch AMOLED screen. It’s powerful—inside is the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset from 2022, meaning the Zenfone can tackle any game with ease. The display supports a 120-Hz screen, and in my testing, the 4,300-mAh battery comfortably lasted well into a second day on a single charge. There’s even a headphone jack! There’s no wireless charging, which you can probably live without, but carrier compatibility is an issue. It’ll work on T-Mobile and AT&T, but not on Verizon. Asus also has lackluster software updates, only committing to two years of OS upgrades and security updates, which is the worst policy for a phone at this price. It’s worth noting that Asus just announced the Zenfone 10, which will launch later this year.
Lenovo ThinkPhone by Motorola for $699: This Motorola phone is a collaboration with Lenovo’s ThinkPad department, maker of the famed business laptops with the little red nubs. It’s a pretty good phone all-around (7/10, WIRED Recommends), with features like flagship performance, two-day battery life, and an OLED 144-Hz screen, but it just doesn’t measure up to its peers.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Series for $700+: Yes, last year’s flagship Samsung phone lineup is totally fine to still buy (9/10, WIRED Recommends). It consists of the S22, S22+, and S22 Ultra. They’re quite similar to the Galaxy S23 series up above, though battery life isn’t as nice (still pretty good). They’ll keep getting software updates for a really long time too. Just try to buy them during sale events, where I expect prices to dip even lower now that there are successors on the market.
OnePlus 10 Pro for $450: OnePlus’ 2022 flagship phone is good but not great (7/10, WIRED Recommends), though it’s a smart buy at this price. It’s spiffy and has powerful hardware, including a 120-Hz AMOLED screen that gets bright, speedy performance, and some of the fastest wired and wireless charging you’ll find in the US. (Yes, unlike the new OnePlus 11, the predecessor has wireless charging support). It’ll get two more OS upgrades and three years of security updates. You should know that there’s no millimeter-wave 5G here, just sub-6, which is odd for a flagship.
Motorola Edge+ 2023 for $800: A Motorola smartphone with contactless payment support, 5G, wireless charging, plus a promise of three OS upgrades and four years of security updates? Say it ain’t so! The Motorola Edge+ finally matches its peers on several counts and exceeds them in some ways. It has a bright 165-Hz OLED screen, it’s lightweight, and its 5,100-mAh battery easily lasts two days. The downside? The cameras don’t measure up to the cheaper Pixel 7A. I also liked last year’s Motorola Edge (7/10, WIRED Recommends), and it’s frequently on sale for $350.
OnePlus Nord N30 5G for $300: This OnePlus phone (6/10, WIRED Review) doesn’t break the mold, and you should absolutely pay up for a Pixel 6A or any of the phones above if you can. But if your budget is really tight and this phone goes on sale, it does the job. Performance is good, and there’s two-day battery life.
