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Every month, hundreds of smartphones are released on the mobile market, and with time, they are becoming more powerful and affordable than the previous ones.

No problem if you are looking for just the performance of the phone or need a good camera, any mid-range mobile phone can fulfill all of your requirements. Our writing team did the proper research and compiled a list of some of the best phones under 500 dollars you can get in the year 2023.

Picking up the right mobile device in the crowd is confusing, but there are some factors you need to know before considering any mobile device. Some of the essential features you have to know about the device are the camera, processor, memory, screen size, screen type, etc.

In this list, we will review the seven best smartphones based on their features. So without further ado, let’s check out the list of cell phones under 500.

Best Phones Under 500 Dollars

This list is not compiled in arranged order, and I would recommend you check out every phone, compare their specs with others, and then consider them buying. We picked up all of these smartphones based on their features, price, and performance, and you can consider anyone from this list according to your budget.

1- Google Pixel 3A XL (BEST PHONE UNDER 500)

Google Pixel phones are known for their camera quality and long-lasting battery, and if you are looking for something like this, we have an option for you. If you are looking for the best camera mobile phone, there is the Google Pixel 3A XL, which has a large screen and long-lasting battery quality.

This series’ design doesn’t stand out, but these phones are the best release in the market in terms of overall performance. This smartphone is based on its flagship smartphone, the Pixel 3, but has a budget-friendly price point and is the best camera phone under $500.

In terms of performance, the Google Pixel 3A XL lacks the hardware found in the Pixel 3, but Google has managed to provide the best in this price range. This mobile phone is using the Qualcomm Snapdragon 670 chipset paired with the Adreno 615 graphics processing unit.

SD 670 is equipped with eight cores in the configuration of 6+2 and gives you the best performance out of it. Pixel 3A XL has 64GB of storage and 4GB of memory, but it doesn’t support expandable storage options.

You will get this phone with Android Pie out of the box, but there are updates available for Android 10.

With these incredible features, the Google Pixel 3A XL is without a doubt the best value mobile phone under $500. This mobile lacks some premium features like water resistance, wireless charging, and expandable memory found in high-end models.

Also, if you are a Pixel 3A XL owner, Google offers you unlimited storage for Google Photos, but they will decrease down the photo size from original to high definition in this service.

It would be much better if this mobile phone comes with a fast processor and more memory as seen in other mid-range mobile phones for the same price point.

2- Samsung Galaxy A71

Most of the mobile phones in the Samsung A-series are refreshed models of their predecessors, and that’s the same case with the Samsung Galaxy A71. This smartphone is based on Galaxy A70 but got a 64MP rear camera and refreshed design for 2023.

One best thing is a 6.7-inch AMOLED display, which is very rare in budget-friendly mobile phones. The Snapdragon 730, which performs well in mid-range mobile phones, is equipped in this smartphone. For users who are looking for a cheap Samsung phone under 500 dollars, this one is the best choice to consider.

The display of this mobile phone is the best in its class, and you can enjoy all of the awesomeness of an AMOLED display with this phone. The previous mobile phones came with on-screen fingerprint sensors, and this one also has those features but with more accuracy.

Even the face recognition features are integrated into this phone to add your face twice from different angles so that it will never fail in recognizing you. In the box, you will get a 25W fast charger (Type-C), earphones but don’t have a screen protector applied and don’t have a phone case.

The 64MP primary camera of this phone takes snaps at 16MP using Pixel binding, and with the best lighting, you can get excellent photo quality. Samsung releases security updates every three months, and with this phone, you will also get those updates.

The Snapdragon 730 gives you the best performance in games and applications, and you will enjoy a new experience with this smartphone. The bad on this phone we have noticed is rear camera quality is average and plastic buttons.

3- Samsung Galaxy A51

Samsung has the largest market share in the mobile phone industry, and the reason behind this is that it offers the best quality components at an affordable price. If you are looking for something more affordable than the Samsung Galaxy A71, this phone is best for you.

Although you have to compromise on a few features that the successor model offers, this phone comes with 6.5 inches AMOLED screen and an infinity O punch hole on the screen but has a blue hue. Overall this is one of the best-unlocked phones under 500 you can get in 2023, so let’s look at its specifications.

The screen brightness of this phone is quite good, but it’s not good as found in the Samsung Galaxy S20. This mobile is available in two different variants, but the 5G model costs you $100 more than the normal one. It has 4GB memory, common in mid-range mobile phones, and has 64GB storage but available in different memory sizes.

Samsung Galaxy A51 comes with Android 9, but you can upgrade it to Android 10 and have Samsung custom ROM.

A lower price point affects the overall quality and performance of this mobile phone. The back of this mobile is made up of plastic instead of glass and other materials. This phone is equipped with five cameras, but its overall camera quality is not that good.

This phone comes with Exynos 9611 chipset, which is good but not that good as found in other mid-range phones for the same price. This phone also lacks premium features like water resistance and much more, but all of these features are found in expensive mobiles, and for this price, this phone is the best.

4- Samsung Galaxy S10e

There we have another excellent addition to our best phones under 500 list from Samsung, which offers superb value for its price. For those users who like to have small mobile devices in their hands, this phone is best at an affordable price point.

Samsung Galaxy S10e comes with all core features found in Samsung Galaxy S10, like it has Snapdragon 855 and the same camera found in s10. These features give you the best performance and gorgeous photo quality that you will enjoy. 

Some noticeable features of this mobile phone are long-lasting camera quality and wireless charging, also available in S10 and S10 Plus.

This mobile phone comes with a 16-megapixel camera on the rear and a 10-megapixel selfie camera with a 4K/30 FPS video recording feature. The Samsung Galaxy S10e has a 5.8-inch AMOLED display, but you will not notice any typing issues, which is another thing if you are already using a large-screen panel phone.

The memory of this phone is 6GB, and it has storage of 128GB and also supports expandable storage cards. The phone is using Snapdragon 855 chipset, which gives you the best performance in games and applications.

The operating system of this phone using is the latest from Google, but for some countries, you have to upgrade it from Android Pie to Android 10.

This phones bad is for lefties because it’s quite hard to use the fingerprint sensor as its placement is quite inconvenient. You have to compromise on dual cameras with this phone, offering a single 16MP camera on the rear side.

This smartphone also lacks a fingerprint sensor on display, while there are some phones for the same price and have this feature. Comparing this phone with the S10 original, the core features are identical, but it lacks some features and is quite thicker than the original version.

5- Xiaomi Mi Note 10

Xiaomi has been building its reputation for several years by providing its customers with quality products at the most affordable prices. If you are looking for features found in Samsung smartphones but at a budget-friendly price, Xiaomi phones are best for you.

Xiaomi Mi Note 10 is built for those users who like to take snaps at HD quality as it got the best camera than any other phone in the market. With the camera, this smartphone has long-lasting battery timing so that you can take pictures with your friends for a long time. Our review on this phone is it’s another best camera phone under 500 dollars on this list.

The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 has a camera of 108 MP, which is better than any other mid-range phone in the market. This phone has a 6.47-inch AMOLED screen, which provides the highest color quality of any LCD screen. The chipset this phone uses is the Snapdragon 730G, which also supports 5G and offers excellent game performance.

For memory, Mi Note 10 has 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, but this phone is available in different variants. Out of the box, this phone comes with Android 9, but there is an option available to you to upgrade it to Android 10 and MIUI 11.

So that’s all about the company’s specifications and reputation, but there are some cons to this phone that you must know before considering it. First of all, the chipset this phone is using is weaker than the ones launching in 2023.

You might notice some performance differences with the latest phones, but it’s acceptable for this price point. Secondly, this phone’s battery life and Bluetooth connectivity are average, as reported by its users. There is also misleading about this device’s optical zoom as it’s printed more than it has.

6- Huawei Nova 5T

You might have seen many threads on online forums asking which phone is the best value for money, Huawei or Samsung, or something similar to this? Both companies have the largest market share in the smartphone industry and produce the best quality phones.

When it comes to display and performance, Samsung leads, but for fast charging, long-lasting battery, and HD cameras, Huawei has a plus point. Huawei Nova 5T is a great smartphone that comes at an affordable price point and best in class quad cameras.

This phone comes with a 48-megapixel quad-camera mode with which you can take high-quality snaps and record the best moments of your life at 4K/30 FPS. This phone has a large, 6.26-inch OLED display, which might not give you results like Samsung’s flagship phones but still gives the best quality.

Huawei Nova 5T is equipped with a Kirin 980 chipset paired with 6GB of RAM and has 128GB of storage. This phone doesn’t support expandable storage cards, so you have to stick with the storage given in it. Out of the box, you will get Android Pie, but an update for Android 10 are also available, and it has Huawei custom EMUI 10.

Some don’t have this mobile phone we have noticed, and you need to know them. If you are from the USA, you can’t get this phone because of some recent bans on Huawei from the US government. This phone lacks a telephoto camera, which is available in most smartphones these days. It requires an SD card slot means you can’t expand its storage and have to stick with the onboard storage.

7- Moto G Stylus

If you are looking for a very reputed brand, Motorola is there, as it’s one of the oldest brands manufacturing smartphones and currently working under Lenovo. Their mobile phones are the only ones in the market that offer the stock Android experience to their users and don’t use any custom ROMs. The

Moto G Stylus includes a stylus, has a large battery that lasts a long time on a single charge, provides excellent value for money, and is very affordable.

This phone is equipped with three cameras on the rear side, including 48 MP, 16 MP, and 2 MP, and for the selfie, it has a 16 MP camera with 1080p/30 FPS video recording support. It has a 6.4-inch IPS display with 16 million colors, giving you a great experience but not like the AMOLED display phones.

Moto G Stylus has a Snapdragon 665 chipset paired with 4GB of memory and has 128GB of memory. You might not experience performance like another phone because of this chipset, but it’s still good for its low price. Like other smartphones in this list, it also comes with Android 9 but with stock android, and upgrades to Android 10 are available.

Take a look at the list of disadvantages of this smartphone. Because of the IPS display, you might not experience true colors like on other AMOLED displays on this phone. This phone’s stylus lacks some features that another phone’s stylus offers, especially the Samsung Note series stylus.

This phone’s night mode is not that good as mentioned by the company and needs some improvements. But if you are looking for the best phone under 250 dollars, you are good to go with the Moto G Stylus.

ARE YOU STILL LOW ON BUDGET?

DON’T WORRY YOU CAN TRY OUR:

BEST PHONES LIST UNDER 400 DOLLARS.

BEST PHONES LIST UNDER 250 DOLLARS.

BEST PHONES LIST UNDER 150 DOLLARS.

OR YOU CAN GRAB A LITTLE HIGH-END PHONE HERE:

BEST PHONES LIST UNDER 600 DOLLARS.

BEST PHONES LIST UNDER 700 DOLLARS.

BUYING GUIDE

We did proper research to find the best Android phone under 500 for our users, which offers excellent value for its price. I would not recommend considering older high-end hardware because it will not perform as well as new hardware and you will have to sacrifice features.

The best camera phone on this list is Google Pixel 3a XL, but if you prefer performance, it is recommended to go with Samsung Galaxy S10e. There is another best camera phone in this list with a 108mp camera, Xiaomi Mi Note 10, but it has a weak chipset compared to other phones. You can also give a look at other phones according to your budget.