The Phone Shelf

Best phones under $300 (October 2026)

Three phones cost under $300 on their makers' US stores on October 15, 2026. The Galaxy A17 5G leads on update support; two Motorolas cost less.

Published by Yuriy Andreyev

Published October 15, 2026

Top half of a Samsung Galaxy A17 5G on a store display, its screen reading "Galaxy A17 5G, Discover what's new with Galaxy"
Photo: Captainmorlypogi1959, CC BY-SA 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons (cropped) (license)

The Samsung Galaxy A17 5G is the best phone in this price range. It cost $269.99 on samsung.com on October 15, 2026, it works on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile, and Samsung promises six Android upgrades and six years of security updates. The two Motorola phones on this list cost less, but Motorola's support pages give each of them about three years of security updates.

This is a short list on purpose. Only three phones we track pass our rules at this price, and we would rather show three than pad the page with phones that don't.

How we picked

We looked at every phone we track from Apple, Google, Samsung, Motorola and Nothing that cost $299.99 or less on its maker's US store on October 15, 2026. Then we applied the rules on our how we research page: at least three years of promised security updates, support on at least two of the three national carriers, and sold new. Three phones passed, and all three work on AT&T, Verizon and T-Mobile.

We haven't held these phones. The figures come from Samsung's and Motorola's spec pages, press releases and support pages. Each card shows the launch price. The text gives the maker's own price on October 15, because all three cost more now than when they launched.

Galaxy A17 5G: six years of updates for $269.99

Samsung launched the A17 in the US at $199.99 in January 2026 and has raised it since. On October 15, samsung.com listed it at $269.99 with no sale. Our Galaxy A17 5G overview covers it in more detail.

What decided it is support. Samsung's US spec page lists security updates through August 2031. Samsung counts from the phone's 2025 global launch rather than the January 2026 US release, so a US buyer gets a little over five and a half years. That is still nearly twice the window Motorola lists for the other two phones.

On paper the A17 has the only AMOLED screen here: 6.7 inches at 90Hz. It has a 5,000 mAh battery, 25W wired charging, 128GB of storage with a microSD slot for cards up to 2TB, and an IP54 rating. The trade-offs are 4GB of RAM, a slower refresh rate than the Motorolas, and a camera setup of a 50MP main, a 5MP ultra wide and a 2MP macro.

moto g 2026: smoother screen, bigger battery

Motorola launched the moto g 2026 at $199.99 in December 2025. On October 15, motorola.com listed it at $299.99 and had it on sale for $249.99. Even at the full list price it stays in this range.

Next to the A17, the spec sheet gives it a 120Hz screen (LCD rather than AMOLED), a slightly larger 5,200 mAh battery and 30W charging. It has the same 4GB of RAM and 128GB of storage with a microSD slot. The rear cameras are a 50MP main and a 2MP macro, with no ultra wide.

The weak points are durability and support. Motorola lists a water-repellent design but no IP rating. Its support page ends security updates in December 2028, three years after launch, and Motorola publishes no Android upgrade count for this model.

moto g play 2026: the lowest price

The g play launched at $169.99 in November 2025. Motorola has since raised its list price to $249.99, and motorola.com had it on sale for $199.99 on October 15. That still makes it the cheapest phone here.

It shares the moto g's 6.7-inch 120Hz LCD, MediaTek Dimensity 6300 chip, 4GB of RAM and 5,200 mAh battery. The savings come from three places: 64GB of storage, a single 32MP rear camera, and 18W charging. Like the moto g, it has no IP rating, and its security updates end in December 2028.

If you go with the g play, budget for a microSD card. Its slot is the only way to add storage, and 64GB is half of what the other two phones start with.

Side by side

SpecGalaxy A17 5Gmoto g (2026)moto g play (2026)
Launch price$199.99$199.99$169.99
Released in USJanuary 2026December 2025November 2025
Screen6.7-inch Super AMOLED 90 Hz6.7-inch LCD 120 Hz6.7-inch LCD 120 Hz
ChipExynos 1330MediaTek Dimensity 6300MediaTek Dimensity 6300
RAM4 GB4 GB4 GB
Storage128 GB128 GB64 GB
Battery5,000 mAh5,200 mAh5,200 mAh
Wired charging25 W30 W18 W
Rear cameras50MP main, 5MP ultra wide, 2MP macro50MP main, 2MP macro32MP main
Weight192 g202 g202 g
Water resistanceIP54none (water-repellent design)none (water-repellent design)
Updates promised6 years of OS and security updates3 years of security updates3 years of security updates
US carriers (maker and carrier listings)AT&T, Verizon, T-MobileAT&T, Verizon, T-MobileAT&T, Verizon, T-Mobile

Sale prices and what they mean

Both Motorola prices above are sale prices. If the sales end, the moto g goes back to $299.99 and the g play to $249.99, and both would still fit this list. Samsung's $269.99 for the A17 is its regular price.

All three phones cost more than at launch. The A17 went from $199.99 to $269.99, the moto g from $199.99 to a $299.99 list price, and the g play from $169.99 to $249.99. Our article on why phones cost more in 2026 looks at the increases across the phones we track.

What you give up at this price

On paper, all three phones skip things you get higher up. None has a telephoto camera, all three have 4GB of RAM, and none charges faster than 30W. Only the A17 has an IP rating at all, and IP54 covers splashes, not a drop in the pool.

If you can spend more, our next list up in price starts with the Galaxy A37 5G at $489.99. It adds an IP68 rating, a 120Hz screen and 45W charging, with the same six-year promise as the A17.

What we left out and why

  • moto g power 2026. It launched at $299.99 in January 2026, but motorola.com listed it at $399.99 on October 15 with no discount. A price increase pushed it out of this range.
  • Samsung Galaxy A27 5G. It costs $379.99 on samsung.com (it launched at $349.99 in July 2026), so it is over this range. It also fails our carrier rule: AT&T's list of Samsung phones didn't include it on October 15, and we found no Verizon or T-Mobile listing.
  • Google Pixel 10a. It launched at $499 and Google raised it to $599 in October. No Google phone comes close to this price.
  • Every iPhone. The cheapest iPhone we track, the iPhone 17e, was $699 on apple.com on October 15.
  • Brands we don't track yet. Our database covers Apple, Google, Samsung, Motorola and Nothing. Other brands sell phones at this price in the US, and they stay off this page until we have checked their spec sheets, update policies and carrier support the same way.

Sources

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