If sticking to a budget is important, there are plenty of worthwhile phones for less than $300 . But there's a big tradeoff. A phone with modern specs like an eye-catching design, better multitasking and even wireless charging might only get one major software update and three years of security updates.
Some sub-$300 phones have a longer timeline of four years for software updates and five years of security updates. But those devices skimp on certain features, possibly leaving you wanting to upgrade sooner anyway. This is the dilemma I've been weighing after testing a variety of phones that cost less than $300.
We take software and security timelines seriously in our reviews because these updates can dictate whether devices get new software features and critical fixes. Now that premium phones like the Samsung Galaxy S24 and the Pixel 8 are promised to get seven years of software and security updates, we'd like to see more affordable phones step up to at least four to five years. However we're not there just yet.
Most phones that cost $300 or less are shipping with a promise of one additional software update and three years of security updates. While Samsung is taking the opposite approach with its $200 Galaxy A15 5G and $300 Galaxy A25 5G , both of which get four years of software updates and five years of security updates, both of those phones already have a dated design and lack features found on comparable phones. That means shoppers have to contend with the very same deci.