Android
Best Cheap Android Smartphones [March, 2015]
Buyers that are in the market for an affordable yet quality smartphone you have a lot of options available here as 2015 moves forward. There are tons of decent budget smartphones to choose from, ones that are actually worth the money. Users may not want expensive flagships like the new Galaxy S6 or Google’s Nexus 6, but instead budget devices like the popular Moto G, which was recently replaced by a new Moto G 2014.
Those trying to decide on a new smartphone that didn’t get one during the holidays, don’t worry, because you have more than a few good options. It’s a daunting task if you’re not up with the latest news, but our list below has everything you need to know. If you’re looking for some of the best cheap Android smartphones, ones that aren’t awful and complete junk, we’ve outlined a few good choices below.
Read: Best Android 4.4 KitKat Smartphones Under $200
While we’ve yet to see any major new phones in 2015 aside from a few BLU options and the new Moto E (2015), most are the same that were available late last year, but that is not a bad thing. There are also devices from recent years that are now starting to become lower in price as they age, like the Galaxy S4, LG G2, and even the LG G3. Below we’ve detailed a few excellent cheap Android smartphones, or options for those who don’t want to sign a 2-year contract.
Premium devices like the new HTC One M9 or Google’s Nexus 6 are awesome looking phones, but they’re extremely expensive and out of reach for many potential buyers. That said, you can always get a payment plan or buy one of the many options we’ll share today. We’ll rundown a few of those below. Most are new smartphones for those on a budget, not just old phones that have received heavy discounts.
Not everyone can spend $599 and up, or want to sign a new 2-year contract for the Galaxy S6 or the iPhone 6. If you’re one of the millions looking for a better and cheaper route, read on.
Everyone is different, and each buyer has different needs or wants. With that said, we’ve gathered a few excellent options in no particular order below for those seeking a wallet-friendly smartphone for 2015. One that isn’t a pile of junk. These are a few the editors here at Gotta Be Mobile deemed acceptable enough to make the list. Lets get started with a few of your best choices here early in 2015, and we’ll update as more manufacturers release phones this year.
Moto G 2nd Gen (2014) | |||||||||
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The original Moto G in 2013 was extremely popular and Motorola's most successful smartphone to date. Which is saying a lot. It was only $179, and offered an excellent experience for those on a tight budget. In 2014, the all-new Moto G (2nd Gen) is bigger, better, and has front facing speakers all for the same low price. Yes, the same price. It was released in September of 2014. The new Moto G should be the first choice for most buyers, and is our #1 choice. It offers a 5-inch 720p HD display, Quad-core Snapdragon processor with 1GB of RAM, 8/16GB storage options, an improved 8 megapixel camera, dual front facing speakers, and 8 custom backplate colors all for $179 with no contract. Read: New Moto G Hands-On The link and video will tell you everything you need to know about this impressive budget-friendly stock Android 5.0 Lollipop smartphone. It doesn't have 4G LTE, but does support 4G HSPA+ from AT&T, T-Mobile, and other GSM carriers, so it is worth the money. Oh, and it is already running Android 5.0 Lollipop, Google's latest version of Android. Motorola already updated many Moto G units, so get one and enjoy the best budget Android around. | |||||||||
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Cobra Jockey
03/18/2015 at 7:44 pm
What the hell is wrong with Google lately, nothing but buggy Android OS releases for the last 3 years! Their F’ed Up my 2012 Nexus 7 with both 5.01 and 5.02. I had to do complete resets to get it even working but still crippled, hell if I’ll do this again with 5.1 and I’ve refused LolliCrap all together on my 2013 N7 32GB! Jesus, Google has turned into buggy OS Update CrApple!! Maybe we should switch to Window Mobile!!
George keith
03/22/2015 at 4:40 am
thats exactly what I will do next, turn to Windows 10 once it hits the market. Lollipop is a nightmare, full of bugs and instability and renders a phone, which cant make phone calls anymore completly useless.
Thor Aackerlund
03/22/2015 at 1:01 pm
I hear ya on the Lollipop complaints. After reading about it, I’m going to hold out for awhile for the issues to settle down. The good thing is that if you have a device already running Kitkat or older, there’s not really any pressing need to upgrade. I always like to let others do the testing if I can :) Obviously that’s not an option with a phone that comes with stock 5.0+.
Windows Phone is a fine OS, but the apps are minute by comparison. If you mainly use the built-in apps, and a handful of major market apps that are on basically everything like FB, Twitter, etc, then you are okay. If you like to use more obscure apps, you may be disappointed. Windows phones are also notorious for lacking an upgrade path. I had a flagship windows 7 phone that had more than the necessary specs to run windows 8, but of course they never bothered to do the work of actually doing it.
And of course, Apple runs the iOS treadmill where they make the releases available for their older phones, but they end up somewhat crippled in performance with the upgrades. To be fair, their phones are usually good for about 1 OS upgrade and still work fine, but by the 2nd OS release, they’re in trouble.
These things are too expensive on the high end to be obsoleted so quickly, and I find Android to be the best in terms of handling that. With custom super low resource roms, you can have a very old dual-core Android that runs like a beast outside of gaming :)
I find that many people that have complaints about Android are closely related to big carriers and some phone makers adding TONS of garbage to the OS. Android is SO much better running and stable in stock form, with only the apps and add-ons that YOU want. A stock AT&T, Verizon, etc Samsung Galaxy phone is an absolute cluster%$ck of junk. It’s a shame, because then people get the idea that Android is just a mess, when it’s just the carrier and Samsung crappiling things in there like there’s no tomorrow. It also makes the battery life a ton worse.
Ah well, use what you like, enjoy it, and always wait a little bit before ‘upgrading’ :) cheers.