It may be fashionable to spend $1,000 on the latest flagship smartphone when they first get released, but it's not necessary. You don't even have to spend $500 today to get a decent handset, whether it’s a refurbished iPhone or an affordable Android phone, as there are plenty of options as low as $160 that could fit your needs.
But navigating the budget phone market can be tricky; options that look good on paper may not be in practice, and some handsets will end up costing you more when you consider many come with restrictive storage. While we at Engadget spend most of our time testing and reviewing mid- to high-end handsets, we've tested a number of the latest budget-friendly phones on the market to see which are actually worth your money.
What to look for in a cheap phone
For this guide, our top picks cost between $100 and $300. Anything less and you might as well go buy a dumb phone or high-end calculator instead. Since they’re meant to be more affordable than flagship phones and even midrange handsets, budget smartphones involve compromises; the cheaper a device, the lower your expectations around specs, performance and experience should be. For that reason, the best advice I can give is to spend as much as you can afford. In this price range, even $50 or $100 more can get you a dramatically better product.
Second, you should know what you want most from a phone. When buying a budget smartphone, you may need to sacrifice a decent main camera for long battery life, or trade a high-resolution display for a faster CPU. That’s just what comes with the territory, but knowing your priorities will make it easier to find the right phone.
It’s also worth noting some features can be hard to find on cheap handsets. For instance, you won’t need to search far for a device with all-day battery life — but if you want a great camera phone with excellent camera quality, you’re better off shelling out for one of the recommendations in our midrange smartphone guide, which all come in at $600 or less. Wireless charging and waterproofing also aren’t easy to find in this price range and forget about the fastest chipset. On the bright side, all our recommendations come with headphone jacks, so you won’t need to get wireless headphones.
iOS is also off the table, since the $400 Apple iPhone SE is the most affordable iPhone in the lineup. That leaves Android OS as the only option. Thankfully today, there’s little to complain about Google’s OS – and you may even prefer it to iOS. Lastly, keep in mind most Android manufacturers typically offer far less robust software features and support for their budget devices. In some cases, your new phone may only receive one major software update and a year or two of security patches beyond that. That applies to the OnePlus and Motorola recommendations on our list.
If you’d like to keep your phone for as long as possible, Samsung has the best software policy of any Android manufacturer in the budget space, offering four years of security updates on all of its devices. That said, if software support (or device longevity overall) is your main focus, consider spending a bit more the $500 Google Pixel 7a, which is our favorite midrange smartphone and has planned software updates through mid-2026.
Best cheap phones
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/mobile/smartphones/best-cheap-phones-130017793.html?src=rss
2024 is unquestionably the year of Balatro. It came out of nowhere to fill our heads with dreams of flush fives and legendary Jimbos. But I think what put it really over the top was when it launched on iOS and Android earlier this fall. That’s because even though I don’t have the numbers to prove it, Charlie Brooker — as he so often does in his show Black Mirror – made a particularly prescient prediction during an interview with Deadline when he said that after Balatro comes out on phones, “humankind’s activity is going to drop about 25 percent.” That said, I don’t think people were prepared for the mobile version of Balatro to be an almost flawless example of how to properly translate a game from desktop to small screens and foldables.
To start, on both the Apple App Store and Google Play, the mobile version of Balatro costs $10, which is actually $5 less than the desktop edition on Steam or the console ports on Switch, Xbox and PlayStation. But what’s even better is that in a world where seemingly every phone game is crammed full of microtransactions, there are zero intrusive ads or other extra purchases to take away from the game. This includes all the crossover cardbacks (like the ones featuring characters from The Witcher, Cyberpunk 2077 and more)and the big forthcoming update due out at the beginning of next year.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
On top of that, there’s essentially no difference in features between the mobile and desktop/console versions. Granted, that’s due in large part to the game being a relatively simple title (at least in terms of graphics). But even so, you’d be surprised how easy that is to mess up. The game boots up nearly instantly and even when you’re smashing antes while pushing your score deep into scientific notation, the game doesn’t get bogged down.
It gets even better though because developer LocalThunk paid attention to nearly all the little details. Balatro mobile features cloud saves, multiple profiles and tons of languages. The game also supports achievements while making it easy to unlock everything with a single option in case the phone version is more of a secondary platform for you. And I can't forget to shout out the High Contrast Cards option, which is not only a great accessibility feature but a generally useful tool for making it faster and easier to tell hearts and diamonds or spades and clubs apart.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
I also appreciate how Playstack tweaked the game’s UI and interface to make it easy to drag and drop objects wherever you want. I can’t speak for everyone, but there’s just something inherently satisfying about using touch controls to move cards around like in Hearthstone and Marvel Snap compared to relying on a keyboard and mouse or a controller, to the point where I prefer the mobile version over the original desktop release.
But perhaps the thing I like the most about Balatro mobile is how well it plays on pretty much any device, but foldable phones most of all. I’d argue that handsets like the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 are the perfect joker-hunting devices. Their large screens feel like a perfect match for the title’s UI without ever feeling cramped, which happens sometimes on older gadgets with less roomy displays. Text is generally easy to read (though sometimes less so on tiny devices) and there’s plenty of open space to push things around without getting in your own way.
Photo by Sam Rutherford/Engadget
That said, if I had to nitpick, my complaints boil down to two (maybe three) things. The first is that on foldables, Balatro doesn’t take full advantage of the extra vertical screen space. But since there’s already plenty of room, it’s not a huge deal. I also wish the Skip button when opening packs was in a different place, because I’ve accidentally fat-fingered it more times than I’d like to admit, resulting in not picking a joker or Spectral card that I really needed. But perhaps the biggest issue (or not) is that when I’m playing the game outside, when people who aren’t Balatro fans see my screen, they probably think I’m a true dirtbag that just can’t wait till I get home to make a bet. And in many respects they’re right, but since I’m not actually gambling, it’s still the wrong impression.
Regardless, the mobile version of Balatro has basically everything I could want in a phone port. And in a world where more and more portable titles feel like low-effort cash grabs than projects meant to delight and entertain, Balatro is something I’m going to get more than my money’s worth out of for years to come.
This article originally appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/balatro-is-an-almost-perfect-mobile-port-163050971.html?src=rss
Fast chargers are basically a must-have nowadays. With so many of our devices demanding more power — think phones, tablets, laptops and even wearables — a standard charger just doesn’t cut it anymore. Fast chargers come in all shapes, sizes and types, each designed to get your device back to full battery as quickly and efficiently as possible. But not all fast chargers are created equal. Depending on your device and charging needs, you’ll find different standards and technologies that can make a huge difference in charging speed and compatibility.
One popular type is the power delivery (PD) wall charger (Power Delivery), which has become the go-to for many people using USB-C-enabled devices. It offers a universal standard, meaning you can use the same USB-C wall charger to power up your smartphone, tablet and even some laptops. Another advancement in fast-charging tech is the Gallium Nitride (GaN) wall charger. Unlike older adapters, GaN chargers are more compact and efficient, handling higher power levels without overheating. This makes them perfect for anyone wanting a small but mighty charger they can toss in their bag.
For Apple users, MagSafe fast charging has also become a big trend, providing a seamless way to snap your iPhone onto a magnetic charger and enjoy speedy, wireless charging. And if you have an older iPhone and you’re looking for the quickest charge possible, pairing a USB-C to lightning cable with a compatible fast charger can work wonders.
Ultimately, finding the right fast charger is about matching your devices with the correct power and standard. Whether you’re looking for a super-fast charge for your phone, need to juice up your laptop on the go or want something versatile for multiple devices, there’s a fast charger out there that fits the billl. Editor's Note (June 2024): While we’re still waiting for more new chargers to come out so we can do a full update to our guide, some appealing options have hit the market recently. At the end of March, Pluggable announced a super slim two-port 40W USB-C adapter that seems like a great travel companion for keeping a phone and a tablet topped up simultaneously. One neat feature is its smart power allocation tech, which allows the charger to dynamically shift how much juice each device gets to best maximize efficiency.
Meanwhile, for those looking for something beefier, UGreen released an entire new line of devices with enticing specs. The most notable of these is a 160-watt GaN charger, featuring four ports (three USB-C and one USB-A) that can split power output between multiple devices at once or charge one laptop at up to 140 watts. This gives UGreen’s brick a ton of flexibility while still being able to refill even a beefy 16-inch MacBook Pro at top speed. Alternatively, Satechi’s latest 145w charger offers similar (though slightly lower) power output and comes with an assortment of international plug adapters, which could be a real luxury for frequent travelers. But perhaps most importantly, both of these devices cost $40 to $50 less than our current favorite high-wattage charger (Razer’s 130W GaN adapter), so we’re looking forward to testing these out in more depth soon.
Best fast chargers for 2024
When it comes to charging small devices, 30 watts is by far the most popular as it covers most cell phones along with some larger devices like the Nintendo Switch. In our testing, all of the 30-watt chargers performed equally well, with each one able to get the iPhone to around 80 percent battery charge in less than an hour while also completely refilling the Galaxy phone in 60 minutes. However, as you can see, these smaller, low-wattage bricks struggled to refill both the XPS 13 and especially the MacBook Pro. Yes, you can do it, but it's rather sluggish (the XPS 13 even surfaced a slow charger notification), and because I tested each device while idle, there’s a good chance these chargers may not be able to keep these laptops topped up while under load.
The Anker 711 (middle right) is our favorite 30-watt charger thanks to its fast speeds and compact size.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
However, the one thing that sticks out is the performance of Apple’s 20-watt brick, whose lower output caused it to lag behind — every other adapter provided faster charging. While it was able to keep up with rival devices when refilling the iPhone, its wattage is so low it couldn’t even trickle charge the XPS 13. Dell’s power management did not even recognize that a charger was plugged in. That means this adapter is much less useful if you need to quick charge more power-hungry gadgets in a pinch. And I should mention I didn’t bother testing the old 15-watt Apple power cubes, which can’t even support the iPhone’s full 20-watt charging speeds. Anyone still using one of those really ought to upgrade to a fast wall charger.
If all you want is a power brick to keep small devices powered up, our choice for best charger is clear: the Anker Nano. Not only did it deliver the best speeds in its class, but it's also the smallest, which makes it super easy for it to disappear in a bag. The one we tested, the Anker 711 charger, is an older model at this point, but you should get the same performance from the latest version, the 30W Nano 3. However, it’s worth noting that both models support Type-C charging only, and do not feature a USB-A port.
Here’s where things start to get interesting because while a number of these chargers have similar power outputs (aside from the Samsung 45-watt brick, of course), the actual results were a bit more varied. Both the Nekteck and the Belkin only managed to get the Galaxy phone to around 80 percent battery after an hour, compared to the Anker, Samsung and Satechi chargers which all hit 100. This suggests that both chargers aren’t properly communicating with Samsung's phone in order to take advantage of its super-fast charging speeds, which I was able to confirm by using a USB-C volt meter. Meanwhile, as expected, Samsung’s 45-watt charger did great when connected to the Galaxy handset, but its lower output meant it could not keep up with the 60 and 65-watt bricks.
Anker once again takes the crown for our favorite 60-watt charger with the 735 (middle), because even though it's a bit more expensive than the Nekteck, it's smaller, has more ports, and features wider compatibility with more devices like the S22 Ultra.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Somewhat surprisingly, every charger in this category performed well when hooked up to the XPS 13, with each adapter finishing within one percent of each other (around 58 percent) after an hour. However, when it comes to the thirsty MacBook Pro, every extra watt makes a difference, with the Anker 735 and Samsung Triple Port Charger edging out the competition, even though they’re still much slower than Apple’s included brick. It’s also telling that on the Belkin 60W, its fastest charging port actually denotes charging speeds of between 50 and 60 watts, which is why it couldn’t quite keep up with the other 60-watt chargers I tested.
As for picking a winner, Nekteck’s 60-watt brick is the cheapest while also being one of the few options that come with an included charging cable. However, with only a single charging port and sub-optimal compatibility with the Samsung phone, it’s hard to fully recommend. For my money, I’d go with the Anker 735 as it's smaller, slightly faster and the same price as Samsung’s 65W Triple Port charger, while still offering a total of three USB ports (two USB-C and one USB-A port). Plus, its foldable prongs make it perfect for traveling.
For anyone considering a high-power USB-C fast charger, here’s where it’s important to pay attention to the fine print. While all of these bricks are listed at or above 100 watts, the primary charging ports on the Satechi and Belkin are actually capped at 90 or 96 watts. And that’s before you consider multi-device charging, which splits the total output across the other ports with the ratio varying depending on the specific model. This is where hubs or dual-port chargers can come in handy, as they allow you to charge multiple devices more efficiently.
While Razer's 130-watt GaN charger (top middle) is the most expensive of the bunch at $180, it earned our pick as the best 100-watt or higher charger due to its more compact design, strong power output and the inclusion of useful extras like international outlet adapters and a braided 100-watt USB-C cord.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
During testing, all four had no issue topping up the smartphones, the Switch and the XPS 13, though once again Belkin’s adapter couldn’t fully recharge the Galaxy phone despite having more than enough wattage. On the flip side, while Razer’s USB C charger has a higher max output than either the Belkin or the Satechi, there wasn’t much difference in charging speeds when connected to the MacBook Pro. And this isn’t due to a lack of higher wattage cables, as both USB-C ports on the Razer brick are capped at a combined 100 watts.
Meanwhile, as one of the rare 140-watt power adapters on the market, Apple’s brick is super quick and did an expectedly great job of refilling the MacBook Pro. However, I should mention that it's the only power brick in this segment that comes with a single port, which kind of feels like a missed opportunity for the Apple ecosystem. For those who need extra flexibility, wireless charging options are worth considering, though they might not offer the same speed as wired connectors.
So for anyone that wants a charger that can top up an ultraportable laptop quickly while still having juice to spare, I prefer Razer’s 130-watt GaN adapter. It’s the best charger in this category, as well as the smallest and most expensive at $180. On top of that, it comes with two international wall adapters (for UK and EU outlets) and a braided 100-watt USB-C cable, all of which you don’t get from any others in this category. If you need a reliable power bank or fast charger on the go, this could be a good investment.
Wrap-up
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
Obviously, there are a lot more than just 14 super fast chargers on the market, and sadly I don’t have the time to test them all. These days, discharging a phone from 100 percent battery to dead can take upwards of 15 hours, so depending on the device, I can only test one USB phone charger per day. Just gathering all this data took the better part of two months. And unfortunately, while I was running this test, Anker came out with a new generation of power adapters that I haven't had the chance to evaluate just yet.
That said there are still some important takeaways. First, in order to ensure optimal charging speeds, you should pay attention to the charging standards of your device and the fast charger; make sure your charger can supply the proper amount of power. Manufacturers typically list a device’s max charging speeds, while power adapters clearly label their USB types and outputs. And when in doubt, you can look at the fine text on the charger itself, though you might have to do some math. Just remember, watts equals volts times amps. Furthermore, in the case of adapters with multiple ports, you’ll check to see how its total wattage is split when connected to multiple devices.
Then there are other factors like size and weight you’ll want to consider, with newer gallium nitride adapters (GaN) often featuring more compact designs and better power efficiency. And if you’re ever truly in doubt, you can simply opt for a fast charger made by the same company as your Android phone, iPhone, laptop or other gadgets, something that’s especially true for devices like the OnePlus 10T that feature speedy proprietary charging protocols.
How we tested fast chargers
The methodology for my fast charging experiment is intended to be as straightforward as possible. I drained each device to 10 percent battery, plugged in a power brick and then recorded the amount of charge added every 10 minutes for an hour. Each adapter was plugged directly into a standard 120-volt outlet (without the use of a power strip or any extension cords), and when possible I used the cable that either came included with the battery charger or one made by the same manufacturer as the device. If that wasn’t an option, I used certified 100-watt USB-C cables made by Anker, Apple and others.
Because the charging rate for devices varies depending on how much juice you have, I wanted to measure how well each adapter was able to match each gadget’s optimal charging speed. Generally, charging is slower between zero and 20 percent before speeds ramp up until the battery hits 80 percent, at which point things slow down again to protect and preserve the health and longevity of the power cell. For charging stations with multiple ports, I always selected the port with the highest power output while also not having multiple devices connected.
Sam Rutherford/Engadget
As for the devices themselves, I selected an Apple iPhone 13, a Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, a Nintendo Switch (a launch model from 2017), a 2021 Dell XPS 13 and a 16-inch M1 Max MacBook Pro. This assortment was chosen to cover a wide range of specs and power draws from 20 watts (iPhone 13) all the way up to 140 watts (M1 Max MBP). Also, every system was tested while idle (i.e. no additional apps or games running) in order to ensure consistent results.
One important thing to note is that while the USB Implementers Forum has approved support for USB Power Delivery (USB-PD) charging at up to 240 watts, adapters that actually support that power output don’t exist yet. Additionally, while there are a handful of cables that can handle more than 100 watts of juice, they are somewhat rare or hard to get.
What is GaN?
When looking for chargers, you may notice that some are marked as GaN, which stands for gallium nitride. This is an important distinction because, compared to older adapters that use silicon switches, GaN-based devices support increased power efficiency and output, allowing manufacturers to create more compact chargers that run cooler and support higher wattages. Depending on the specific power output, GaN chargers can be 30 to 50 percent smaller and lighter than silicon-based alternatives. That might not sound like much, but when they’re sitting in a bag alongside a laptop, phone and any other accessories you might have, cutting down on excess bulk and weight can go a long way.
Fast chargers we tested
With so many different chargers of varying power outputs to test, I broke things down into three categories. There are the 30-watt and under chargers, which are primarily designed for smartphones and other small mobile devices. Then we move up to 45 to 65-watt chargers (give or take a watt or two) that can handle things like phones along with a number of thin and light laptops. Finally, we have chargers that output 100 watts or more, which are good for pretty much anything besides the biggest and most power-hungry gaming laptops. Many of these higher wattage adapters also feature multiple ports, so can you top up additional devices at full speed. However, because not every power brick supports multi-device charging, I didn’t include that as a testing metric.
You can see a full list of the chargers we tested below:
