The best budget smartphones of 2026 so far

Everything is getting more expensive these days, but that doesn't mean you need to spend $1,200 to get a decent smartphone.

Even in the age of RAMageddon, there are solid deals to be found on phones for $700 or less.

Companies like Apple, Samsung, Google, and OnePlus have all released such budget or midrange handsets in the past several months. So if you're in the market for a quality smartphone that won't break the checking account, here's our pick of the best currently available options.

Apple iPhone 17e

Price: $599

Apple's iPhone 17e is one of the more pricey phones on this list — but paying an extra $100 to get the benefits of Apple ecosystem has long been worth the scratch.

For that price, you get a dang good smartphone. It's powered by the A19, one of the newer chips in Apple's portfolio, meaning it can access pretty much all current and near-future Apple Intelligence features while maintaining solid performance. Battery life is similarly good enough for the price.

You will be compromising on camera and display quality if you go with the 17e instead of a pricier model. But if that's less important to you, even a compromise iPhone can stand out amongst this budget-level competition.

Google Pixel 10a

Price: $499

Google's Pixel A-series line has been a mainstay on "best budget smartphone" lists for years. That's thanks to Google's ability to make each release shockingly close in quality to the flagship phone it's based on.

The Pixel 10a doesn't quite reach that level, but it's still a nice device. Google's renowned camera quality is largely intact on the Pixel 10a, to go along with a newly flat backside that can sit totally flush on your desk — something even a flagship Samsung phone, with its camera bulk, can't manage.

Faster wired and wireless charging are also neat additions to the Pixel 10a, as is a brighter display. You won't get the latest and greatest Google Tensor processor or all of Google's AI features — but at $499, there's still plenty of bang to the buck.

Samsung Galaxy A57 5G

Price: $549

Samsung's Galaxy A57 5G is probably the least good phone on this list. But if you want to live in the Samsung ecosystem, you could still do a lot worse.

The A57 has some problems. It can have poor WiFi connectivity in awkward network environments. The face ID unlock is too slow. And if you're looking for Galaxy AI features, you won't find many here.

But it's still only $549 and comes with a good display, solid performance, and nice battery life. If you don't need all the fanciest, newest bells and whistles out of a phone, you'll do just fine with an A57 5G.

Nothing Phone 4(a) Pro

Price: $499

Nothing has been one of the most interesting phone manufacturers in the past few years. The British design-centric firm ignores the highest-end features in its affordable phones, focusing instead on style and cool.

The Nothing 4(a) Pro fits in this category. For just $499, you get a huge 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a blazing fast 144Hz refresh rate and a 5,000mAh battery — not to mention a fun LCD "Glyph Matrix" on the rear.

Sure, you're getting a midrange Snapdragon chipset and a maximum of 256GB of storage, but those are acceptable tradeoffs for such a cheap phone. If you'd rather have a great display and great battery life than all the latest AI features, Nothing may be the one you want.

OnePlus 15R

Price: $699

The most expensive phone on our list, the OnePlus 15R almost got lost when it launched in the middle of December last year. Mashable didn't get a chance to review this one — but our colleagues at PCMag did, and they had plenty of kind things to say about it.

$699 is almost out of midrange price territory, but you get plenty of nice things for that price. Gaming is great on this phone, since the OnePlus 15R's 6.8-inch display can go all the way up to a 165Hz refresh rate. It has an impressive enough resolution and maximum brightness. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset is also one of the more powerful ones you'll find in any phone in this price range.

OnePlus cut some corners in terms of cameras and mmWave 5G support — but otherwise, this might be the closest you'll get to a flagship phone at a high-midrange price.