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Many of the latest and greatest phones are going to leave your wallet feeling light. But the good news is that if you're okay with cutting some corners, there are plenty of good smartphones to choose from within your budget. Whether you’re an Android fan, loyal to the iPhone models, or want something completely different, this list includes all of these affordable phones and more.
We also put together a general roundup of the best smartphones, such as the iPhone 14 Pro Max that includes Dynamic Island and an A16 Bionic Chip, the Google Pixel 7 Pro, and the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. These models are newer, more expensive, and more advanced with their features. With the holidays just around the corner, we also believe that a wireless charging dock would be a cool gift for anyone in your family who’s tech savvy.
To help you find the perfect phone under $500, we explored a variety of options available online below the $500 price range. Based on our research, these are some of the best phones you can buy for under $500 right now.
Top-of-the-line camera
Long battery life
Outstanding performance
Poor fingerprint-scanner placement
Useless virtual assistant
Top-of-the-line camera
Fun, intuitive stylus
Outstanding performance
Poor fingerprint-scanner placement
Useless virtual assistant
Top-of-the-line camera
Long battery life
A breeze to use
Some unnecessary bloatware
Useless virtual assistant
Small and lightweight
Decent camera
5.8 in OLED display
Average battery life
Multiple color options
5000 mAh battery
50 MP camera
None that we can find
Water and dust resistant
Strong security
Easy to unlock
Phone gets hot easily
Easy to use
Reliable
Strong battery life
Issues with connecting to car bluetooth
Comes unlocked
Affordable
Very good camera quality
Weaker battery than newer models
Before purchasing a smartphone, there are a few variables to look at. You should consider if the smartphone you want is compatible with your phone carrier, how great the camera and battery life are, the amount of storage space you want, the size of the phone, and which operating system it holds.
For smartphones, you will find that Android and iOS are the two common operating systems. The main differences between these is that Androids are more customizable, while iOS is a closed source that allows for less flexibility.
If you have a particular game or piece of software that’s important to you, find out which ecosystem best supports it before you settle on a phone.
If you purchase a smartphone that is unlocked, it will work with any phone carrier. For ones that aren’t unlocked, many of the common smartphones will still work with most phone carriers, such as Sprint and Verizon.
Either way, you should still find out which phone plans your phone carrier offers and if it is within the budget for the smartphone you want. Find out what carriers have service and brick-and-mortar locations near you, then ask about any special deals they might have.
Ask about prepaid plans; they can save you a lot of money.
Many people choose 128GB for their phone since it is the perfect balance between space and price.
Choosing how many GB you want for your phone depends on how much information you plan to keep on it. If you’re one to take lots of pictures, for example, you may want to consider buying more GB. The lowest option is 8GB, but that is a very uncommon pick since it doesn’t have much space. The highest you can find, generally, is about 512GB.
The size of the phone really depends on personal preference. For those who love streaming and gaming, perhaps a larger screen display would be more ideal; but for those who like to keep their phone in their purse or pocket, one with smaller dimensions may be a better fit (no pun intended).
If you’re buying a used phone or older model, then you likely won’t be getting the best phone cameras on the market, since most of the newer models have the best cameras.
Camera quality is measured by the number of megapixels there are. The more megapixels there are in the camera, the sharper your photos will be. For example, the new iPhone 14 models have a 48MP camera system, which is the best camera iPhone has released so far. That is not the camera quality you’ll get in the iPhone 11, even though this model’s camera is still very, very good.
The most common battery seen in smartphones is the lithium-ion battery. The strongest batteries will charge fast and likely last all day.
A smartphone battery typically lasts anywhere between two to five years (about 300 to 500 charging cycles). But the more you charge your battery, the quicker it will weaken, which is why it is good to let your phone die or wait until it is almost dead to recharge it. Renewed smartphones will have batteries that are slightly less reliable than new smartphones.
Lily Hartman
Staff Writer, Search
Lily Hartman is a staff writer who also enjoys writing magazine articles about health and outdoor recreation. In her free time, she likes to hike, camp, run, and lift weights.
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