The best phones under $500 in 2024

While flagship phones are getting more expensive every year, more and more people are looking for a cheaper way to get a good smartphone. A $500 budget used to be more than enough to buy a cutting-edge device, but is that still true, especially considering the ricing prices in the tech industry? What do manufacturers sacrifice in order to make a quality phone for half the price of their high-end flagship? This is what we’re going to find out on this list of the best phones under $500.

iPhone SE (3rd gen)

The iPhone SE 3rd gen offers high-end performance at a competitive price. It's powered by Apple's A15 Bionic, which is the same silicon that powers the whole iPhone 13 lineup. The phone is also compact and easy to carry, which is something we need to appreciate in the era of gigantic smartphones.

Samsung Galaxy A54

We move on to a much newer phone, the Galaxy A54, which was released very recently. This phone has a great 120Hz refresh rate screen and a nice camera setup. The Galaxy A54 rocks an Exynos 1380 processor, which isn’t a bad chip at all, as it offers plenty of speed. This phone also offers great software experience and a nice design. 

Other pros of the Galaxy A54 include its amazing battery life and good build quality. This is a great phone for all types of people, especially the ones who don't want to change their phone every two years. At a price of $449 the Galaxy A54 is definitely a safe choice. 

Google’s new Pixel could become one of the best mid-range phones out there. It has an OLED, 6.1-inch display with an FHD+ resolution. Its refresh rate is only 90Hz, but this isn’t very concerning, as its clean Android software should be fluid enough. It also rocks the processor of its more premium Pixel cousins, the Google Tensor G2 chip. The Pixel 7a has 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

Like every Pixel phone, this one should be great in the camera department too. It has a dual-camera system consisting of a 64MP main shooter and a 13MP ultrawide one. The new Pixel 7a has a 4,385mAh battery, which should get you trough the day with ease. This phone's fingerprint scanner is located under the display, which is welcome, considering the ones on some phones in this price range are still located on their side. You can count on receiving upcoming Android software first and for years to come, which is very important.

At $399.99, the Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G 2023 is a real bargain. The phone delivers solid mid-range performance and takes decent-looking photos. Its biggest feature is, of course, its built-in stylus, which you can use for faster note-taking and even as a paintbrush.

Moreover, retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and even Motorola itself, love to sell the Moto G Stylus 5G 2023 at a sweet discount, so you can easily find an awesome deal on this bad boy, scoring a truly great phone for less.

The Moto G Stylus 5G 2023 offers a lot at a lower price, and that's why it's among the best phones under $500 you can buy right now.

TCL 20 Pro 5G

$500 phones finally offer enough

Why buy a $1000 flagship phone when you can buy a great phone for half this price? Well, it all depends on what you're looking for, but the truth is that you don’t need to spend all of that money to have a device that will last. The phones under $500 on this list will continue being great for years to come, and some are so good that they are even a threat to their more expensive siblings in terms of sales. 

Companies like Samsung have started to give the good stuff to their mid-range phones too, which might be just another explanation for Android's decline in flagship sales. Motorola's game in this segment is also pretty strong, and its phones should definitely be considered when buying. Google's Pixel 7a is a phone that's very well thought out, and if it wasn't for its 90Hz screen, it would've been perfect. Well, there is a reason behind everything, but we customers should be happy - this is our time so spend less on much better. Hurray!