Many of the links on this site are “affiliate” links. If you use the links provided to purchase the recommended items, or to navigate to the web retailer site to purchase anything at all, I may receive a small commission. These commissions will help me expand this site and provide you with additional recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!
After dorking it up for some time, I recommend:
Google Pixel 3a and Google Pixel 3a XL:
- 90% as good as “flagship” phones, but less than half the price.
- Fast, great screen, good battery life.
- EXCELLENT camera.
- Clean interface, no garbage apps pre-loaded.
- Comes unlocked, will work with any cell phone service, plan, or carrier.
There are a gazillion websites out there obsessing over, comparing, and recommending phones. The truth is, most of the mid to high end phones from the major brands for the last several years are excellent, including the Apple iPhone, Samsung Galaxy/Note, and Google Pixel. They basically do all the same things very well for most people. So if that is the case, why spend spend twice as much as you need to? The Pixel 3a and Pixel 3a XL are Google’s “budget” or “mid-range” phones, but you wouldn’t know that from handling and using them. They perform amazingly well for less than half the price of the true flagship phones. Seems like a no brainer to me.
Are the latest flagship phones better? Sure. The iPhone 11 and iPhone 11 Pro, Google Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL, and Samsung Galaxy S10 and Note 10 have faster processors, more camera lenses, and some extra fancy things. If you have the extra cash for them, or really value these upgrades, go for it. I’ll keep the extra $500 and do something fun with it.
There’s a valid argument that, since most of us use our phones every single day, to get the very best one. I agree with this in principal (I don’t want a crappy phone to use every day!), but still think that the Pixel 3a is pretty great. I don’t feel like I’m missing out. I do sometimes wish it had a 2nd telephoto camera, but so far, I’m quite pleased with the single camera.
I use and recommend the Google Pixel 3a. It’s a “budget” phone that doesn’t act like one. It’s truly a great phone, and doesn’t cost a ridiculous amount of money. I paid for it with my own money, and am sharing my personal experience with the phone.
If you want a larger screen, I recommend the Google Pixel 3a XL. All commentary in this post on the Pixel 3a also applies to the Pixel 3a XL. The XL is basically identical to its smaller sibling, just with a bigger screen and bigger (longer lasting) battery.
Alternatives
Want the absolute best?
Get yourself an Google Pixel 4 or 4 XL, or iPhone 11 or 11 Pro. They are all amazing phones.
Samsung Galaxy S / Note phones are great, but their cameras are missing something. The camera specs are great on paper, but the photos don’t have the same quality to them. When it comes to cell phone cameras, the magic is in the software, and Samsung doesn’t have the secret sauce for photo processing that Apple and Google have to get great color and exposure. Extra megapixels don’t matter on the tiny camera sensors on phones.
I don’t think I need to get into an Apple vs. Android discussion – choose what you prefer. iPhones phones are great, and also have excellent cameras. I happen to be an Android person.
Want something cheap?
Apple doesn’t really sell a budget model at the moment. They do sell older models for less money. The iPhone 8 came out in late 2017, and as of January 2020, is still being sold for $449 on Apple’s website.
Samsung sells the Galaxy A50, positioned as their best cheap phone. I haven’t used this particular phone, but have used budget Samsung phones in the past, and they have been fine for general use.
Want something REALLY cheap?
The low-end Android phones are actually still pretty good for the basics – talking, texting, app use, or navigation. They are a touch slower, have less crisp screens, cheaper physical feel, have kind of crappy cameras, and likely an outdated version of Android the day you buy them, but are still pretty great for less than $200. Checkout the Samsung Galaxy A20 or Motorola G7 series.
IMPORTANT: I recommend you get a “factory unlocked” phone, that is compatible with both CDMA and GSM (meaning it will work well with all the major cell phone carriers), and is not locked to any particular carrier. Any Google Pixel or iPhone will be factory unlocked by default, other brands like Samsung and Motorola sell both locked and unlocked phones. All of my links point to factory unlocked phones.
Keep reading to Dork It Up!
Functional Requirements (in order of importance, for me):
- Excellent camera.
- Usability.
- Battery life.
- Reasonably priced.
Excellent Camera
I’m into photography, and haul around a mirrorless camera fairly frequently, sometimes with multiple lenses. But having a phone with a great camera in my pocket literally all the time means I can take great photos any time. I have 14 x 20 inch printed landscape photos from my Google phone on my wall at home, but you can’t tell they were taken with a camera phone.
I put this functional requirement at the top of my list because pretty much every decent phone fulfills the other functional requirements below. The camera on the Google Pixel 3a (and every other Pixel model) is truly excellent.
The Pixel 3a has a sharp lens, great HDR functionality, and face detection that works well. I’m simply amazed at the quality of photos it takes. In decent light, the photos are very comparable to a real camera.
Portrait mode does good job of digitally faking the bokeh of a real camera lens with shallow depth of field. Night Sight takes surprisingly good pictures in terrible light. Videos look great.
Google also has a great feature for quickly getting the camera ready. Press the power button twice quickly, and the camera app comes right up. Speed from pocket to ready is critical for capturing that special moment.
iPhones have great cameras too. Other brands are lacking a bit. Apple and Google develop the special image processing algorithms to create amazing photos from tiny camera sensors. The other brands haven’t kept up.
Usability
I lump lots of qualities of a phone into a general category of usability. The phone needs to be fast enough to not annoy you. Apps need to load quickly, and the phone needs to just work without making you wait. The screen needs to look nice, clear, and bright. The phone interface needs to be easy to follow, and configurable for my tastes. I need a way to quickly unlock the phone.
The Pixel 3a checks all these boxes. Its plenty fast for everything I do, the screen is pretty, the clean Android straight from Google is wonderful, and the fingerprint ready works well. There is no need for a faster processor unless you are playing games with intense graphics. I don’t need face unlock.
The Pixel 3a meets these criteria, but so do most mid to high end phones.
Google Pixel phones run on “pure” Android software. It’s clean, pretty, and works well. Most other makers of Android phones put another layer of software on top of Android. I think they do this to have their own special look, but in the end, it’s worse. It makes the usability of the phone more clunky, and likely slows it down too. Samsung puts a bunch of nonsense software on their phones, requiring me to spend time removing it all. The native and free Google apps (Mail, Calendar, etc.) are better, why does Samsung think they need to include their own version of the same thing?
Battery Life
Battery life could be considered usability too, but it’s critical, so it gets its own requirement. I do not want to charge my phone in the middle of the day. Period. The battery needs to last through at least a day of moderate use.
I also use my phone in airplane mode for days at a time away from power sources while backpacking and camping. I turn off the “phone” part, but still use the camera, wilderness GPS app, and for reading e-books. The battery needs to last several days with moderate use in airplane mode. FYI, cell network connectivity is a huge drain for the battery, so most phones do actually last several days in airplane mode, where the cell connection and Wi-Fi are off.
The Pixel 3a meets both of these criteria, but so do most mid to high end phones.
Reasonably Priced
Cost is where the Pixel 3a shines. It does everything great, but costs less than half of most other great phones!
Price is last on my functional requirements list, yet is a primary reason I recommend the Pixel 3a. I want a good phone. I use it every day. But there are lots of good phones, and the Pixel 3a is half the cost! If Google didn’t sell a mid-priced phone, I would probably spend the cash for a Pixel 4 or other flagship phone. But I don’t have to! The Pixel 3a is 90% as good as the best phones, for half the money.
Recommendation
I use and recommend the Google Pixel 3a. I paid for it with my own money, and am sharing my personal experience with the phone.
Many of the links on this site are “affiliate” links. If you use the links provided to purchase the recommended items, or to navigate to the web retailer site to purchase anything at all, I may receive a small commission. These commissions will help me expand this site and provide you with additional recommendations. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. Thank you!
Dork It Up Yourself
There are endless sources of info out there on cell phones. It can be never ending.
Here’s one thoughtful comparison of the Pixel 4 vs. iPhone 11 cameras. With the exception of the telephoto lens, the Pixel 3a’s camera is identical to the Pixel 4, so the article is relevant to the 3a also.