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Samsung Galaxy A23 5G review: The best display at this price, hands down
Budget phones are getting seriously good
Samsung has a phone for sale at just about every price point. While this has worked out very well for the company so far, it also means that Samsung has to compete with itself almost as much as with other manufacturers. Between the low-cost Samsung Galaxy A13 5G and the mid-range A53, it can be challenging to decide which phone deserves your money. Should you spend additional cash on one of the more powerful Android phones, or opt for a real budget device that might not deliver the performance you need?
The affordable TCL Stylus 5G debuts with a 50MP camera and a Dimensity 700 under the hood
Motorola better watch out; there's a new budget stylus in town
TCL has been rising in popularity lately, ranking 4th in US smartphone market share behind Motorola and just ahead of Google and OnePlus. The manufacturer has found success with budget devices in particular, and this latest isn't about to change that formula any. This week the company is announcing its Stylus 5G, with a price that's ready to go head-to-head against the non-5G version of Motorola’s own budget-friendly G Stylus.
Nokia's latest phone lands in the US with three years of updates for $150
A value proposition that's hard to beat
Nokia has pretty much stepped away from making premium phones at this point, mostly focusing on the budget market in the past few years. The brand launched a slew of affordable phones for the European market last month, and it's now bringing one of those phones to the US.
The Galaxy A32 5G is the cheapest Samsung phone on Google Fi, but not the one you should get right now
Promotional discounts and some tempting Motorola and Pixel options make this deal less appealing at the moment
The Galaxy A series represents an excellent intersection of performance and price, and now there's a new option sold straight on Google Fi. Google's offering the Galaxy A32 5G, announced at the start of this year, sold directly from the Fi store. It's $280 outright, which is only a little more than you'll find the phone unlocked. But as good a deal as that is, new Google Fi customers probably shouldn't pick one up.
Moto's latest budget phone has a processor you've probably never heard of
And nor had we, to be honest
Motorola only recently announced the feature-packed Moto G40 Fusion and the G60, but it isn't done adding phones to its increasingly bloated G lineup. The company has released yet another product in the form of the Moto G20. It's an entry-level device, but it boasts a couple of features that are not as common in the price segment.
In addition to the weirdly expensive Moto G100, Motorola is officially dropping three more phones in the G series today. They all appear to be based on the same 6.5-inch chassis, but with remixed internals to create different price points. The G10, G30, and G50 will be rolling out to various international markets over the next few weeks.
Leaked Poco X3 Pro renders show off a familiar look
Little more than a tweaked Poco X3 NFC, or so it seems
Rumors of a follow-up of the 2018 surprise budget hit Pocophone F1 have been circulating for a while and it was even teased multiple times. After Poco recently posted a teaser on Twitter with some hidden hints inside, renders of the upcoming Poco X3 Pro have now been leaked.
We tend to throw around a lot of names when talking about the pricing categories for phones, and the market has changed a lot in the last five years. Back then, a thousand-dollar smartphone would have been obscene, and here we are in 2020 talking about phones that cost twice that. With prices for flagships trending upwards, I'm wondering if that's also changed what our readers consider a "budget" phone.
Moto E7 Plus leaks reveal massive chonker of a battery
You'll know when you accidentally drop this phone
Motorola may not be the same company it was when it gained renown under Google's ownership, but it still does a pretty good job when it comes to budget devices. The Moto E line offers some of the cheapest (non-garbage) phones available in the US, and now we have a look at the upcoming Moto E7 Plus, which promises to be a longevity champ with an absolute chonker of a battery.
If you look beyond the flagship Galaxy S and Note series, Samsung’s got a pretty interesting collection of budget and mid-range smartphones, many targeting markets outside the US. The lower-end Galaxy M series just added a new member to the family, called the M51, which takes heavy design inspiration from the Galaxy A51 we checked out recently. The mid-ranger comes with a gigantic 7,000mAh battery that dwarfs nearly all mainstream phones on the market right now.
OnePlus is working on an entry-level phone with a Snapdragon 460 and 6,000mAh battery
'Clover' may cost as little as $200 and could come to the US, too
OnePlus launched one phone per year during its early days, but it has since expanded its portfolio significantly. From a top-tier flagship to truly wireless earbuds, the company seems to be exploring all kinds of markets, and there’s seemingly no stopping it with a smartwatch apparently on its way. With Nord, OnePlus recently delivered its first mid-ranger in years to much fanfare, and it’s reportedly about to step into the budget segment with a phone codenamed Clover.
Poco unveils M2 Pro with Snapdragon 720G and hefty fast-charging battery for under $200
Xiaomi’s latest appealing entry into the budget smartphone segment
Xiaomi’s spin-off brand Poco started off with a spec-packed handset for less money but soon shifted to even more modest price segments to appeal to a broader userbase in markets like India. The last mid-ranger from Poco was the X2, and now the brand is bringing an even cheaper model. The latest entrant to the category is the Poco M2 Pro, which is an ambitious phone from Xiaomi costing a little under $200 in India.
Samsung's upcoming A21s phone leaks with a rumored starting price of €199
It has a hole-punch display and a headphone jack
Someone call the plumber because Samsung has sprung another leak. Coming on the heels of the Galaxy Fold Lite rumors, it looks like a new contender from Samsung will be entering the budget arena soon. The A21s allegedly features a 6.5-inch hole-punch display, 48MP camera sensor, and a low price tag.
Motorola's product strategy for the past few years has been to release a phone at every price point imaginable. The Moto G8 was announced last month, while the G Power and G Stylus just went up for pre-order, and now another G8 model is here: the Power Lite.
Samsung publishes photos and specs of the upcoming Galaxy A11
Packs an 8-core chipset, bigger 4,000mAh battery, three rear cameras, and a hole-punch display
Although there has been no formal announcement yet, Samsung just published almost all the details regarding its upcoming Galaxy A11 phone, including plenty of photos and nearly complete specs. The A11 will sport an unnamed 8-core chipset, 6.4" HD+ (720p) TFT display with a hole-punch camera cutout, a big 4,000mAh battery, and three rear cameras.
LG’s new budget K series phones have quad cameras, large batteries, and USB-C
Bringing a lot of flagship features to entry-level phones
LG originally wanted to present its 2020 lineup during MWC, but with the event canceled due to coronavirus concerns, the company has decided to release the update to its entry-level K series ahead of the designated show date. All three phones, the K61, K51S, and the K41S, will come with 6.5-inch screens, 4,000mAh batteries, a Google Assistant button, and a quad-camera array consisting of a "standard" lens combined with a super-wide, a macro, and a depth sensor. The K61 goes up to an impressive 48MP on the primary camera.
If you're looking for an affordable Android device that packs all the essentials, the Nokia 2.3 could have been a good option. Unfortunately, it wasn't officially available in the US until now, but HMD just announced the phone's upcoming release in North America.
Xiaomi just introduced its crazy concept phone, the Mi Alpha, coming with a display that wraps all around to the back of the device, but of course, the company also keeps working on its bread and butter mid-range and entry-level phones. Thus, Xiaomi has just launched the Redmi 8A in India, pairing a USB-C 18W fast-charging 5,000mAh battery with a Snapdragon 439, which could allow for quite long browsing and video-watching sessions.
Prime Day is upon us and the deals are coming fast and furious. Here's a budget phone sale that caught our eye — the Moto G7 can be had for two Benjamins right now, down from $300 when Ryan reviewed it just a few months ago. Also on sale are its younger siblings, the G7 Power and G7 Play.The Moto G7 makes a decent entry-level option, with a 6.2-inch 1080p display, 4GB of RAM, 64GB of storage with a microSD card slot, and a Snapdragon 632 processor powering it along. The 3000mAh battery quick-charges over USB-C, and you get facial recognition and a fingerprint sensor to unlock your device. You can check out Ryan's review of the phone, where he praises the design, software experience, and the fact that it retains a headphone jack.Along with this, the Moto G7 Play is on sale for $156, the lowest I've seen this drop to. It's basically the G7, with a smaller 5.7-inch 720p display, a larger notch, and less RAM and storage. No to be left out, the G7 Power also went on sale yesterday for $190. This is a G7 Play, with a larger 6.2-inch display, in case 5.7" was too compact for your liking.These are Prime Exclusive variants of the Moto G7 family, so Alexa will be built-in, but you aren't restricted from disabling any features or using the network provider of your choice — it works on everything but CDMA operators like Verizon.Buy: (G7: 0), (G7 Play: 6), (G7 Power: 0)
Last month, Samsung promised that more of its recent A-series phones would arrive in the US over the coming weeks. Following Verizon picking up the A50, another one is here: The Galaxy A10e has surreptitiously arrived at AT&T's digital storefront for $210 outright or $7 a month, bringing a notched 5.83" 720p display, 8-core Exynos SoC, 32GB of storage, 2GB of RAM, and a 3,000mAh battery.