It works on all three major US carriers.
The iPhone 12 (7/10, WIRED Recommends) will last you a few years if you can justify the price. It’s Apple’s flagship from 2020 and the first to bring MagSafe, so you can use magnetic charging systems. It has Apple’s new design, with smaller bezels, a bigger screen, and Face ID instead of Touch ID (though no 5G). Apple sold the old version of the iPhone for $499 but, unfortunately, this is your next best option from an unused or refurbished iPhone SE.
The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G (8/10, WIRED Recommends) is a great alternative to the Pixel. Its camera system isn’t quite as good, but it comes close, and the 5,000-mAh battery offers comparable battery life during the day. Performance puts another mark under the Pixel-it is one of the first Samsung phones sold in the US to run the company’s in-house processor, the Exynos 1280. You can run almost any program and game perfectly but expect stuttering and slowdown here and there.
The standout feature is the AMOLED screen, which is similar to the Pixel 6A in inky black, but supports a 120-Hz refresh rate, meaning it’s sharper when scrolling through Twitter late at night. The A53 5G also supports the Pixel 6A in terms of software updates, with the promise of four OS updates and five years of security updates compared to Google’s three years of support.
It has the same advantages, such as IP67 water- and dust resistance to protect the phone from entering the pool, sub-6 5G connectivity, NFC for contactless payment, and a microSD card slot to expand the built-in 128. GB of storage if you want to download more videos and movies. Sadly, it also lacks a headphone jack. The A53 5G usually drops to $350, so it’s worth waiting for a sale and buying at that price.
It works on all three major US carriers.
This Motorola is rare (6/10, WIRED Review). Unlike its Moto G siblings, it has an NFC device so you can pay via Google Pay in stores, which is handy when you forget your wallet at home. Its battery lasts almost two full days, there is 5G connectivity, and its performance is excellent. It also has a microSD card slot for storage more about storage. It usually drops below $400. Don’t expect much from the cameras, but if you don’t care about ’em or software updates too much, this will do.
In the US, most cheap unlocked phones don’t work well on all major carriers. Some may not work on Verizon, while others may not have access to 5G on AT&T. The carriers bear all the blame for this mess. Fortunately, you don’t have to worry about compatibility with the Samsung Galaxy A13 5G (7/10, WIRED Recommends). I tested it on AT&T and had access to a sub-6 5G network, but I’ve confirmed with Samsung that it will also work fine on Verizon and T-Mobile.
The Mediatek Dimensity 700 processor running the device worked well—I never experienced any lags or stutters—and the 5,000-mAh battery lasted me a day and a half, if not more. It has a fingerprint reader baked into the power button on the edge, a MicroSD card slot, a headphone jack, and support for payments that aren’t compatible with Google Pay or Samsung Pay. The best part? Samsung promises OS upgrades (up to Android 13) and four years of security updates. That’s more than any other phone that costs under $300.
