The best Android phones under $100 do exist, you just have to know where to look. If you’re on a tight budget, these devices will give you a fairly decent user experience.
They are obviously not going to be the most feature-packed or anywhere close to the best Android phones on the market, but we’ve used nearly every device on this list and can recommend ones that will function reliably without breaking the bank. You might even be surprised by some of the specs. The NUU A23 Plus, for example, gets the top spot for the best bang for buck below $100. For users outside the U.S., the Xiaomi Redmi 12C is a great option, even if you might have to wait a little for it to get a bit discounted. Some of these smartphones, like UMIDIGI’s Power 5, even manage to pack in features that are found in flagship smartphones.
Patrick Farmer
Patrick is a no-nonsense deal hunter with over 10 years of experience in the eCommerce space. Whether you’re interested in a new wireless carrier, smart home device, or Android phone, Patrick combines hands-on research with practical shopping advice to get you the answers you need.
At a glance
Best overall
Designed to look like a phone that costs thrice as much, the NUU A23 Plus comes with a 6.3-inch display, dual rear cameras, Android 13, 3GB of RAM, and 64GB of internal storage.
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Best international
Although it doesn’t support CDMA carriers in the U.S., Xiaomi’s Redmi 12C has goodies like a reliable fingerprint sensor and a 50MP camera.
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Best budget
With the affordable BLU G33, you get a clean Android 13 Go experience, a neat textured back panel, lots of accessories, and guaranteed support for T-Mobile.
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Best dumb phone
The Cat S22 Flip includes all the essentials of a smartphone like support for Android 11, good cameras, and more, in a funky flip form factor.
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Best Verizon
The TCL 30 Z works perfectly with Verizon and has decent specs like MediaTek’s Helio A22 SoC, face unlock, and expandable storage.
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Best upgrade
UMIDIGI’s Power 5 sports a large 6.53-inch HD+ display, a triple-lens rear camera array, and even a contactless IR thermometer.
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Best overall
The NUU A23 Plus has many exciting features, including a 6.3-inch HD+ display, a MediaTek Helio A22 chipset, 3GB of RAM, and 64GB of storage with a microSD slot. You can use memory cards of up to 512GB storage size with this mighty sub-$100 device. Its sleek back design is reminiscent of the OnePlus Nord N30 5G’s premium looks, which is a smartphone that costs nearly thrice as much.
NUU also gives you an 8MP rear shooter and a 5MP front camera, a 3.5mm audio port, as well as a 3,850mAh removable battery paired with a Type-C charging port. But the most significant advantage is that you get a stock version of Android 13, and that makes the phone a delight to use. The combination of specs is among the best you’ll find in this particular category.
This budget Android phone costs well below $100 and supports major U.S. carriers like AT&T, T-Mobile, as well as all their MVNOs. Even if that leaves Verizon, the dual-SIM NUU A23 Plus a fantastic option for U.S. residents.
Best international
Although the Xiaomi Redmi 12C usually costs a little over $100, you can easily get it for less than that during sales and promotions. This Xiaomi phone’s design itself is pretty standard for this price range — a full-plastic body and a small camera cut-out in a waterdrop notch on the front — but you do get a very convenient rear-mounted fingerprint sensor, and the camera experience is better than you might expect.
The MediaTek Helio G85 SoC inside offers plenty of performance for everyday use, pushing the boundaries of what a cheap smartphone is capable of. You get multiple memory combos, but the cheapest variant of the Xiaomi Redmi 12C comes with 3GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage.
You even get a delightfully large battery rated at 5,000mAh. A single charge could get you two to three days of use, which is good as the 10W microUSB charger included in the box will take several hours to juice things up. Best charge it overnight and just enjoy using it while you’re awake.
The 50MP primary camera is the star of the show, delivering the best results of any phone at this price range. Sadly, the Xiaomi Redmi 12C isn’t officially available in the U.S. and even if you get your hands on it, carrier support can be a bit problematic. If that doesn’t matter to you, it’s definitely among the best phones for anyone having a $100 budget.
Best budget
Exquisite design isn’t something you see on Android phones in this price range, and while ‘exquisite’ isn’t exactly the word we’d use to describe the BLU G33, it certainly stands out from the rest of the phones on this list. The eye-catching textured design on the back is bold and attractive.
Joining that design is a well-rounded set of specifications, including a 6.26-inch LCD display, a dual-lens rear camera setup with a 5MP unit and a 0.3MP module, a side-mounted fingerprint reader integrated into the power button, upgradable storage, and even face unlock for further security.
The chipset features an octa-core ARM Cortex A55 setup, but the 2GB/16GB option is very poor for RAM and internal storage. It’s got some of the worst battery life on this list though, as the 3,000mAh battery probably won’t last more than a day. You do get some consolation in the form of the USB-C charging port.
In addition to the phone itself, BLU gives you all of the accessories you could possibly need, right in the box. These include a screen protector, a silicone case, a charger and cable, and even a BLU sticker for you to place wherever you want. All in all, the water-resistant BLU G33 is a great budget phone for well below $100.
Best dumb phone
In case you are not familiar with the term, dumb phones are essentially just super simple devices that lack all of the bells and whistles found in modern smartphones. There are typically no apps, no touchscreen, and no high-tech camera software; just try to picture the phone you used in 2006. Durable, cheap, and long-lasting, these devices have been seeing a resurgence in popularity among people who are trying to disconnect from being constantly online. Others may be interested in a dumb phone for privacy reasons or to improve their work/life balance. No matter the reason, the Cat S22 Flip is still among the best dumb phones with Android that costs less than $100, even if the company behind it probably won’t be making any more devices.
Now, if you want to get technical, it’s worth noting that the Cat S22 Flip cannot really be called a true dumb phone since it runs Android 11 (Go Edition). If you’re willing to ignore the semantics, it’s a great phone powered by the quad-core Snapdragon 215 chipset. You can download simple apps like Facebook and YouTube, the phone has a 2.8-inch touchscreen and a 1.44-inch outer secondary display, and the whole thing is military-grade tough, offering resistance to water, dust and insane temperatures.
The Cat S22 Flip comes with up to 12 hours of battery life, 2GB of RAM, 16GB of internal storage, USB-C charging, a programmable button, a 5MP primary camera, a 2MP selfie lens, and a microSD card slot for expandable storage.
Best Verizon
While the TCL 30 Z isn’t as fancy of a phone as the company’s newer TCL 40 XL, it’s a solid option in the sub-$100 bracket. There’s something to be said about simplicity, and even though the TCL 30 Z is simple, it still has all the basics of a cheerfully cheap smartphone to keep you satisfied.
Running Android 12 out of the box, the TCL 30 Z has a MediaTek Helio A22 SoC, and pleasantly, 3GB of RAM. You get 32GB of storage onboard and it can be increased up to a whopping 512GB via a microSD card. The smartphone’s 6.1-inch HD+ LCD panel is dwarfed by a thick forehead and chin, but it still looks nice and crisp.
There are dual cameras — an 8MP rear sensor and a 5MP front-facing lens. They get the job done, but obviously won’t come anywhere close to the best Android camera phones out there. Thankfully, you can expect excellent battery life, even with the small 3,000mAh battery of the phone. Although the microUSB port is a letdown, but at least you get Verizon support, which is hard to come by in this price range.
Best upgrade
It may not be the flashiest thing out there, but UMIDIGI’s Power 5 offers just about everything you could possibly want in a sub-$100 Android smartphone, while also packing a few extras.
While the 6.53-inch HD+ display of the Power 5 obviously can’t hold a candle to the Super AMOLED screens you’d find in some of the best Android phones in the market, it’s perfectly fine for everyday usage. The smartphone is powered by MediaTek’s Helio G25 SoC and comes with 3GB or 4GB of RAM. You can also choose between 64GB or 128GB of internal storage and expand it further up to 256GB via a microSD card. That said, the biggest highlight of this affordable smartphone is its built-in contactless thermometer, which uses Infrared technology to measure your body temperature. The only other smartphone (that we know of!) having this feature is the Google Pixel 8 Pro, and that thing costs more than ten times as much.
UMIDIGI Power 5 comes with a triple-lens rear camera setup, comprising a 16MP primary sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide lens, and a 5MP macro module. The software — Android 11 — is quite dated and there’s no 5G connectivity, but you can’t have everything at this price. Among other goodies are a side-mounted fingerprint sensor, and a 6,150mAh battery with support for 10W charging support.
How to choose
There are many junk Android phones that you can buy in this $100 price range, but there are also many great ones, as seen above. Overall, the NUU A23 Plus stands out as the best cheap Android phone that we’ve managed to find under the $100 price point. When it comes to buying cheap phones, you want to get as many features as possible. Even then, the NUU A23 Plus gives you bang for your buck, complete with a clean Android 13 experience.
For Verizon support in the U.S. however, the TCL 30 Z remains our top pick. It costs way less than $100 and comes with a number of decent features including a great screen, plenty of storage, decent performance, expandable storage, and face unlock. The one caveat here is the dated micro-USB port, but it’s probably not a big deal at this price point. We also suggest the UMIDIGI Power 5, which offers decent specs, a big battery, and even a contactless Infrared thermometer, all for less than $100.
If none of these phones tickle your fancy and you’re willing to stretch your budget a little, we’ve also gathered the best Android phones under $200 for you to choose from.
