Finding the best Samsung phones on a budget doesn’t have to be an impossible mission. You have better things to do than compare phones, but which Samsung phone should you use? It’s a tough question to answer.
The brand has great entry-level phones in the Galaxy A Series and as we already know, the Galaxy S Series is fantastic, albeit pricey. Samsung has phones you can choose from as low as $160 to less than $500 and still get a near-premium experience.
By going to Samsung for your phone choice, you will enjoy exclusive Samsung features that will only make others want to get the same phone. Let’s see what phones you can consider as your choice.
At a glance
Best overall
The Galaxy A34 5G continues to be the best overall choice if you want a Samsung phone for less. The Super AMOLED screen has vibrant colors, powerful hardware, a 48MP camera that takes excellent photos, and a battery that lasts two days on regular use. Combine that with long-term Android updates and get a fabulous budget phone.
Best mid-range
The Galaxy A54 5G doesn’t differ too much from its predecessor, with Samsung introducing iterative changes. It’s slightly faster in daily use, the camera is slightly better, and the design is a little more modern. But if you need the best that Samsung has to offer in this category, the Galaxy A54 is the one to get.
Best battery life
It is powered by the Exynos 1280 chip, a 5,00mAh battery, and Android 14 out of the box. It has a decent 50MP (OIS, PDAF) camera, which might shock some on how decent the pics look for a budget phone. You can’t call this model slow, thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate.
Best upgrade pick
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE is what I’d suggest if you want a budget Samsung phone designed for long-term use. You get loads of premium features thrown in, along with very capable hardware and the promise of updates for five years.
Best entry-level
Need a basic phone that doesn’t miss out on the essentials? You should take a look at the Galaxy A05s. It doesn’t have 5G, but you get a familiar design, decent hardware, a large battery, and good software features.
Best value
The Galaxy A15 5G proves you don’t need to shell out a lot of cash to get a good phone. It has a modern design, doesn’t lag in daily use, and the 50MP camera at the back is good in most situations. The best part is that you get 5G, and the battery easily lasts two days on a full charge.
Best overall
If you want a flagship-level experience without paying flagship prices, then the Galaxy A34 5G is an easy recommendation. Samsung made many changes to this iteration, resulting in the phone being markedly different from the Galaxy A32 5G.
The phone now has a Super AMOLED panel, offering better color vibrancy and contrast levels. The 120Hz refresh rate ensures the screen feels smooth in daily use, and whether it’s playing games or streaming videos, the screen is a delight.
The phone also has much better hardware in the form of the MediaTek Dimensity 1080 processor, and you’ll notice the difference immediately. There’s no noticeable lag in daily use, and the phone is also decent enough for gaming.
There’s also IP67 dust and water resistance this time around, ensuring the Galaxy A34 5G withstands the elements. It can be dropped in a meter of fresh water for 30 minutes. Other than that, the essentials are intact: the large 5,000mAh non-removable battery lasts nearly two days on a full charge with average use, you get a reliable camera at the back that takes excellent photos in any scenario, and the software is among the best in this category.
Sure, the phone misses out on a 3.5mm jack, and thanks to all the upgrades, it is costlier than its predecessor. But if you want a budget Samsung phone right now, the Galaxy A34 5G is the obvious choice.
Best mid-range
The Galaxy A54 5G doesn’t differ too much from its predecessor, with Samsung choosing to retain many of the same features. That’s understandable given the A53 is one of the best Samsung phones introduced in the last 18 months. Don’t fix what’s not broken, as the saying goes.
That said, the A54 covers the basics: it has a bright AMOLED panel with 120Hz refresh, terrific cameras, outstanding battery life, and an excellent software package with plenty of features and four guaranteed Android OS updates as well as five years of security updates.
It is also marginally faster than the A53, and the design feels refined. Outside of that, this is still one of the best overall packages you get in the mid-range segment.
Best battery life
The Galaxy A25 5G is an outlier in that it uses Samsung’s own Exynos designs and is considered the best phone for Galaxy fans under $400. The result is that the Galaxy A25 5G offers stable performance to complete your day-to-day tasks. The 5G modem has global connectivity, ensuring the phone has adequate 5G.
The Super AMOLED screen on the Galaxy A25 5G goes up to 120Hz. With this technology, you get a more advanced technology that features touch sensors on a single layer. Unlike LCD screens, Super AMOLED uses less power and gives you more vivid images.
The cameras are also reliable with a 50MP (OIS, PDAF) wide lens, an 8MP ultrawide lens, and a 2MP macro lens. Under the hood, the A25’s 5,000mAh battery lasts two days between charges. You also get the latest software package on the A25 5G with Android 14, and overall, it is a great option to consider if you want a good phone for $350 to $400.
Best upgrade pick
The Samsung Galaxy S23 FE isn’t exactly a part of the Galaxy S Series, but that means it’s a great contender for the best cheap Samsung phones. The $450 price tag is very attractive, to say the least.
Samsung has promised a solid four years of Android updates as well as five years of security updates. And the best part is that Samsung rolls out monthly security updates to the phone, making sure that it gets all the essential patches on a timely basis.
Then there’s the hardware itself: the Galaxy S23 FE has a sublime 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel, cameras that take great photos, and decent battery life to get you through the day with average use. Sure, it isn’t quite as good as the Galaxy A34 or Galaxy A54 with its 4,500mAh battery, but it still does a decent job.
What makes the Galaxy S23 FE tick is the fact that it brings the latest features and a flagship processor, so you never miss out on the latest and greatest from One UI.
Best entry-level
The Samsung Galaxy A05s is a decent upgrade from its predecessor, with a larger screen and better resolution. There is also a new chipset, and you don’t have to wait too long to top up your phone thanks to faster charging.
With this budget phone, you get a 6.7-inch 1080p PLS LCD screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. Meanwhile, it retains the classic design of the screen and bezels without the home button. The Galaxy A05s will appeal to those who have a minuscule budget but still want something that looks familiar from Samsung.
The brightness is better than its predecessor, reaching 470 nits. Unlike the latest S Series models, the Galaxy A05s comes with a 3.5mm headphone jack. For biometric security, you get a highly responsive side-mounted fingerprint reader.
Unless you have to save large files constantly, the phone’s onboard 128GB storage is a good option, but it also offers expandable storage. Unfortunately, the internal storage is the eMMC 511 variety and not the speedier UFS (Universal Flash Storage) storage. Its processor is two years old, but it is still an improvement from the previous Exynos 850 model. With this model, Samsung brings a trio of 50MP, 2MP, and 2MP cameras to the table.
Best value
If you want a Samsung phone that delivers the essentials, the Galaxy A15 5G (considered one of the best Android phones under $200) may be the ideal choice. The phone has 5G connectivity, so you can easily watch your favorite videos at lightning speed when streaming over mobile data, and it comes with reliable hardware that’s decent for daily use. There is also a massive 5,000mAh battery that lasts two days between charges with average use.
There’s also a large Super AMOLED screen with a 90Hz refresh rate. You’ll love looking at this screen with its 800 nits of brightness at High Brightness Mode, and you can also count on high and standard Motion Smoothness modes. Even though it has an energy-efficient chipset, keeping the brightness to a standard also saves battery power.
The software has many features, and Samsung will deliver three Android OS updates to the phone. You also get an extra year of security patches through the firmware upgrades. It doesn’t fall far behind other models, so you’re good for a few more years.
How to choose
If you want to live in the Samsung world without paying a premium price tag, then the Galaxy A34 5G is your best bet. It delivers all the essentials while still being affordable and is guaranteed to get long-term updates.
But if you’re willing to cough up some extra cash, you can go for the Galaxy S23 FE and take advantage of its more premium features. If you need powerful hardware and better cameras, you should also turn to the Galaxy S23 FE. The phone gets five years of updates, and now that it’s been in the market for a few months, you can find lucrative deals for it too.
On the other side, if you want an entry-level option that nails the basics, the Galaxy A05s is a solid pick. Samsung improved a lot of the features from last year’s model, making it more attractive to Samsung fans with very limited cash at hand.
