In this article, we will look at the 20 best cheap phones for 2024. If you want to skip our detailed analysis, you can go directly to the 5 Best Cheap Phones for 2024.
Overview of the Global Smartphone Industry
The global smartphone industry is one of the fastest evolving industries and experiences regular updates and new smartphone devices to boost user experience and utility. According to a report by Mondor Intelligence, the global smartphone market was valued at $1.51 billion in 2024 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.10% to reach $1.85 billion by 2029.
The Asia-Pacific region holds the greatest market share mainly due to its highly developing telecommunication infrastructure and large customer base. Some of the leading countries with the most sophisticated technology infrastructure in the region include India, Indonesia, Japan, Australia, China, and South Korea. On April 5, Reuters reported that NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA), in collaboration with Indonesia’s telecommunication firm, PT Indosat Ooredoo Hutchison Tbk (IDX:ISAT), plans to invest $200 million in 2024 to build an artificial intelligence center in Surakarta, Indonesia. The AI center is expected to further boost Indonesia’s technology infrastructure and include a human resource center. To read more about mobile phones, you can look at 10 Smartphones with the Best Cameras and Battery Life and 15 Best Android Phones for 2024.
Upcoming Market Trends
The mobile phone market is driven by increasing disposable income, global development in the telecommunication infrastructure, and the emergence of high-tech, budget-centric phones. However, moving forward, the market is transitioning towards further enhancement of smartphone technology. According to a report by Forbes, tech experts expect future smartphones to have cutting-edge technologies, including but not limited to holographic displays, universal wireless charging, improved integration of artificial intelligence and machine learning capabilities, and enhanced health tracking.
The Tug of War Between Samsung and Apple
The global smartphone market is witnessing intense competition between Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) and Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) to secure the highest smartphone sales market share. Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) has led the smartphone market for over 12 years. However, in the fiscal 4th quarter of 2023, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) took the top position in the market for the first time in over a decade. The company held 23% of the global smartphone shipment market by shipping approximately 74.0 million phones in the fiscal fourth quarter of 2023. Moreover, according to the International Data Corporation (IDC), Apple Inc’s (NASDAQ:AAPL) global smartphone shipments grew by 3.7% from 2022 to 2023 against a drop of 13.6% for Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) during the same year. However, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) could not secure the top position as the company’s market share went down drastically to 17.3% in the first quarter of 2024. According to a report by The Guardian, Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) global shipment of iPhones went down from 55.4 million to 50.1 million during the first quarter of 2024. This steep drop in sales of iPhones has been the biggest ever since COVID-19 and is mainly due to the Chinese government’s ban on foreign devices. Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) remains a leading player in the global smartphone market. You can also look at the 10 Best Selling Smartphones in Japan.
Key Players in the Global Smartphone Market
Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL), Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF), and Xiaomi Corporation (HKG:1810) are some of the key players leading the global smartphone market.
On April 10, Forbes reported that the upcoming iPhone 16 Pro is expected to feature a multimodal large language model to enhance the phone’s user interface. It is expected that the language model would be able to understand the display on the screen regardless of the app and interact based on the open-ended instructions and prompts from the user. The AI technology is anticipated to pick icons, find text, describe text on the display, and parse widgets.
On February 26, Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) announced becoming part of the AI-RAN alliance as a founding member to lead innovation in artificial intelligence and 6G technology. AI-RAN is an alliance is a joint venture of 11 companies, including Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF), Arm, ERIC – Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson (NASDAQ:ERIC), Microsoft Corporation (NASDAQ:MSFT), and NVIDIA Corporation (NASDAQ:NVDA) to develop innovative technologies.
Xiaomi Corporation (HKG:1810) is a consumer electronic and smart technology manufacturing company based in Hong Kong, China. On February 25, Xiaomi Corporation (HKG:1810) announced the release of its flagship smartphone lineup, the Xiaomi 14 Series. The Xiaomi 14 series represents the pinnacle of its partnership with Leica Camera, as it incorporates Leica Summilux optics. The series features high strength with Xiaomi Shield Glass, an immersive display with Xiaomi-custom C8 WQHD+ 6.73″ AMOLED display, a professional quad-camera configuration, a Snapdragon 8 Gen processor, and much more. During the same event, Xiaomi Corporation (HKG:1810) also announced that the Xiaomi Pad 6S Pro 12.4, Xiaomi Watch S3, Xiaomi Smart Band 8 Pro, and Xiaomi Watch 2 would be launched soon for its customers.
With this context, let’s look at the 20 best cheap phones for 2024
Pixabay/Public Domain
Our Methodology
We employed a consensus methodology and consulted over 10 rankings online to aggregate the best cheap phones for 2024. Next, we sourced the number of reviews and customer ratings for each phone from BestBuy, Amazon, and Walmart. We chose the aggregate number of reviews for each phone across our sources as our primary metric and the average rating as our secondary metric to rank these phones. We only selected the phones with at least 1,000 total reviews and an average rating of 4 or above across our sources. Moreover, we defined cheap phones as those available for under $650 and sourced the prices from BestBuy.
The list is ranked in ascending order based on the total number of reviews and the average rating.
20 Best Cheap Phones for 2024
20. Samsung Galaxy A23
Total Number of Reviews: 1,017
Average Rating: 4.50
Price: $146.00
Galaxy A23 by Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) ranks 2oth on our list of best cheap phones for 2024. Galaxy A23 features a quad camera setup with a 50-megapixel wide-angle camera. Moreover, the phone has 128 GB internal storage and 8 GB RAM. It has an average customer rating of 4.5 and 1,107 total number of reviews across our sources.
19. OnePlus Nord N30 5G
Total Number of Reviews: 1,234
Average Rating: 4.45
Price: $249.00
The Nord N30 by OnePlus ranks 19th on our list of best cheap phones for 2024. The phone features a 108MP camera and a 50W supercharging for its 5000mAh battery. Nord N30 has an average rating of 4.45 and 1,234 reviews across our sources.
18. OnePlus Nord N200 5G
Total Number of Reviews: 1,261
Average Rating: 4.10
Price: $199.99
Making it to the 18th position on our list of 20 best cheap phones for 2024 is the Nord N200 5G by OnePlus. The phone features a long-lasting 5000mAh battery, a triple camera setup on the back, and is compatible with 5G. It has an average rating of 4.10 and 1,261 reviews across our sources.
17. Motorola Moto G31
Total Number of Reviews: 1,291
Average Rating: 4.20
Price: $124.99
Ranking 17th on our list is Moto G31 by Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI). The phone has a Li-Po 5000 mAh non-removable battery and a triple camera setup featuring 5o-megapixel wide, 8-megapixel ultrawide, and 2-megapixel macro cameras. The phone has an average rating of 4.20 and 1,291 reviews across our sources.
16. Google Pixel 8
Total Number of Reviews: 1,497
Average Rating: 4.40
Price: $549.00
Alphabet Inc’s (NASDAQ:GOOG) Google Pixel 8 ranks 16th on our list of best cheap phones for 2024. Pixel 8 offers two variants, both featuring 8 GB RAM. However, they differ based on the internal storage, giving a choice between 128 GB and 256 GB internal storage. The phone has an average rating of 4.40 and 1,497 customer reviews across our sources.
15. Samsung Galaxy A54
Total Number of Reviews: 1,696
Average Rating: 4.40
Price: $449.99
Galaxy A54 is a 5G enabled smartphone that ranks 15th on our list. Some of the notable features of Galaxy A54 include a triple camera setup on the back, a 32-megapixel selfie camera, a long-lasting 5000 mAh battery, and 8 GB RAM. The phone has an average rating of 4.40 and 1,696 reviews across our sources.
14. Samsung Galaxy s23 FE
Total Number of Reviews: 1,899
Average Rating: 4.70
Price: $599.99
Galaxy S23 FE is another flagship phone by Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) that ranks 14th on our list. The phone features a 50 MP camera, a special night photography feature, and a vision booster to enhance the viewing experience. It has an average rating of 4.70 and a total of 1,899 reviews across our sources.
13. Apple iPhone 13 5G
Total Number of Reviews: 1,978
Average Rating: 4.60
Price: $629.99
The iPhone 13 by Apple Inc. (NASDAQ:AAPL) is the 13th best cheap phone for 2024. The phone has an average customer rating of 4.60 and 1,978 reviews among our sources.
12. Samsung Galaxy A14
Total Number of Reviews: 1,997
Average Rating: 4.10
Price: $139.99
Galaxy A14 by Samsung Electronics Co, Ltd (OTC:SSNLF) ranks 12th on our list of best cheap phones for 2024. It is another 5G enabled phone with a long-lasting 5000 mAh battery and a triple camera setup with a 50-megapixel main camera. Galaxy A14 has 1,997 reviews and an average customer rating of 4.10 across our sources.
11. Jitterbug Smart3
Total Number of Reviews: 2,045
Average Rating: 4.20
Price: $60.99
Jitterbug Smart 3 ranks 11th on our list of best cheap phones for 2024. Smart 3 features a 13-megapixel rear-facing camera, a 5-megapixel front camera, and a 6.2-inch display. The phone is considered a good fit for seniors due to the medical alert service and Lively’s caring team being connected to the phone 24/7. The phone has an average rating of 4.20 and 2045 reviews across our sources.
10. Google Pixel 6a
Total Number of Reviews: 2,456
Average Rating: 4.40
Price: $349.00
Pixel 6a by Alphabet Inc (NASDAQ:GOOG) ranks 10th on our list. It has an average rating of 4.40 and has a total of 2,456 reviews across our sources. The phone is available for $349 at BestBuy and is one of our best cheap phones for 2024.
9. Motorola Edge+
Total Number of Reviews: 2,665
Average Rating: 4.23
Price: $599.99
Motorola Edge+ is another best cheap phone for 2024, ranking 9th on our list. The phone has an average rating of 4.23 and 2,665 customer reviews across our sources. It is one of Motorola Solutions Inc’s (NYSE:MSI) fastest smartphones, featuring a high-resolution screen, loudspeakers, 108 MP camera, and much more.
8. Motorola Moto G Play
Total Number of Reviews: 3,062
Average Rating: 4.0
Price: $129.99
Moto G Play by Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI) ranks 8th on our list of best cheap phones for 2024, with an average customer rating of 4.00 and 3,062 reviews across our sources.
7. Motorola Moto G Stylus
Total Number of Reviews: 3,388
Average Rating: 4.20
Price: $199.99
Moto G Stylus by Motorola Solutions Inc (NYSE:MSI) is a 5G-enabled smartphone featuring a 48 MP camera and a Qualcomm SM4350 Snapdragon 480 chipset. The phone ranks 7th on our list of best cheap phones for 2024.
6. Samsung Galaxy A03S
Total Number of Reviews: 3,900
Average Rating: 4.0
Price: $74.99
Samsung Galaxy A03S ranks 6th on our list of best cheap phones for 2024. Galaxy A03s has a triple camera setup with a 13-megapixel main camera and has 4 variants featuring different internal storage and RAM capacity. Moreover, the phone has a MediaTek MT6765 Helio P35 (12nm) chipset with an octa-core processor.
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Disclaimer: None. 20 Best Cheap Phones for 2024 is originally published on Insider Monkey.