You shouldn’t buy the best Android phone

Last week, I came across a now-deleted Reddit thread from a Google Pixel user who discussed their perceived satisfaction when using a Google Pixel 9a versus the more expensive Pixel 9 Pro. The original poster detailed their experience buying the most expensive Pixel out there, not being happy with it, returning it, and buying the Pixel 9a instead, and ending up much more content with the cheaper phone despite their (very tech-savvy) friends’ constant taunting about the 9a’s lower specs and cheaper build quality.

That thread hit a chord for me because it’s something I’ve experienced time and again when buying or reviewing phones for , as well as when talking about phone purchases with my friends and family. Everyone is just happier with the cheaper phones; it’s anecdotal evidence, sure, but looking for the absolute best Android phone is bound to end in misery and dissatisfaction.

If I had $5000 in my pocket and decided to buy the best Android phone out there today, I couldn’t. Not because it costs more, but because that phone just doesn’t exist.

$2,000 could get me the productivity beast that is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, but that phone doesn’t have the best camera setup, especially for zoom, and the outer display aspect ratio remains too tall compared to other foldables and most smartphones. €1,500 could get me the Xiaomi 15 Ultra, a photography, performance, and battery life champion, but I would have to deal with Xiaomi’s interface and limited AI capabilities. Even paying around $2,500 for the upcoming tri-fold HUAWEI Mate XTs with its phone-and-tablet-in-one form factor limits me to whatever HUAWEI’s current software situation is (read: not ideal).

You get the idea, right? The more I’m willing to pay for “the best,” the more picky I get, and the less I’m willing to tolerate minor issues. Bugs become more insufferable, hardware limitations more frustrating. Things that I’d generally consider niggles and unnecessary in my everyday use suddenly become big annoyances or downsides because I wanted the best, and this isn’t the best, darn it!

Worse yet, if I miraculously manage to buy “the best” phone out there, odds are it will be outdated in a few months max. Whatever glee and satisfaction I thought I’d gain by being on top of the phone pyramid is bound to collapse sooner or later, thanks to the incessant churn of newer, better, faster phones. That’s why aiming for or arguing over the best Android phone is so futile.

All of this hit home for me a couple of weeks ago. I got my Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, and because I’ve been a Pixel user for years now, New-Pixel-Day is usually a momentous occasion for me every year. Did I instantly unbox it? Yes. Did I set it up right after? Uh… Kinda. I’m testing things on it, but I still haven’t migrated my SIM card from the Pixel 9 Pro XL, not because I don’t want to, but because I don’t feel the need to just yet. Meanwhile, my husband tells me at least once a week how happy he is that he’s kept his Pixel 7 Pro this long. Lesson learned: Save your money, either don’t upgrade or just buy cheaper.

Let’s be honest for a second: Most of us aren’t utilizing half of the power in our phones. We take photos, send messages, browse the web, check social media, watch some videos. Any $300 Android phone can do that. Yes, it might be a tad slower, but it’ll handle all of it just fine.

If I were to quantify the functionality that I gain by buying a $600 phone, a $900 phone, or a $1200 phone, it certainly wouldn’t be double, triple, or quadruple what the budget $300 Android phone can do. I’d say it’s more in line with an incremental gain of 30%, 40%, and 50% in terms of speed, power, and features. On paper, that’s not enough to justify the much bigger increase in price, yet most of us still make the financially wrong decision and pay for the premium. Why? Status symbol, peer pressure, deceptive carrier deals, a misguided knowledge of what cheap phones can do — you name it.

Those who buck the trend and buy cheaper phones, though, often end up happier with their decision because they knew they were compromising and they got exactly what they paid for. Plus, at the rate that budget phones are improving now, they might’ve even gotten more than what they expected.

I noticed this a lot when a 6000% currency inflation hit my home country of Lebanon a couple of years ago. In the span of a few months, people who were buying luxury items and upgrading to flagship phones yearly could barely afford to eat, which made any new phone-buying decision a last-ditch resort if their phones completely died. Suddenly, I wasn’t being asked about the latest Galaxy S or iPhone, but about the most budget Galaxy A phones.

Yet everyone I recommended a Galaxy A to (or any other budget phone, depending on requirements) was happy with their choice. “It does it all!” “It’s actually more than what I need.” “Yeah, I miss my Note, but this is still excellent.” I heard these comments all the time from friends, friends’ parents, neighbors, and my own family members. There were fewer complaints and arguments, and much fewer instances of “Rita, I saw [insert_feature] on my friend’s phone, why can’t mine do it?”

Look, I’m not going to pretend that everyone should go out and buy a budget Android phone and let the flagships die. There’s a reason why the average price of a phone is going up; every service we use in our daily lives relies on these phones, and people are willing to pay more for a better experience.

What I’m saying is that there’s room for nuance and many phone buyers are making the mistake of chasing the best when a) they don’t need it, b) can barely afford it, and c) a cheaper option would certainly fit the bill and leave them feeling less jaded or swindled out of their money.

My personal advice? Buy the best phone for you. Only you will know what that is because you understand your needs better than anyone. A great camera or any camera? Excellent performance for gaming or no heavy gaming? Long days out or limited daily screen time? Do you really need 240W charging, a 7,000mAh battery, a Snapdragon 8 Elite, a 200MP camera, 100x zoom, an IP69 rating, a larger-than-life and brighter-than-the-sun display, and built-in Qi2? Do you? Really? Or are you just scrolling Instagram and TikTok for three hours every day?

There are people for whom a $1000+ phone will make sense. I take thousands of photos every year on my Pixel and I love it, so I know I’m always going to pay more for a better camera. You might pay more for performance, battery life, or an S Pen. Others might not need any of these; they’d be better served with last year’s phone on discount, an FE or non-Pro, an A series, or any other budget device.

For the majority of people, I think there’s a sweet spot around the $300-500 mark, where you get what you pay for, perhaps even more, and you feel you’ve made one of the best deals in the world, which is where the original Redditor falls with their Pixel 9a. Android phones in this range can do it all and do it well. Don’t dismiss them because they have a polycarbonate back.

So before you make up your mind because a YouTuber recommended this phone, a drop test broke that phone, or a benchmark result smoked that other phone, stop and think about your expectations versus the money, and the value you’ll get from this new purchase. Do you need all of it? Do you need it now? If so, make that purchase. You’ll be happier than if you just upgraded like clockwork because the new successor just dropped or your carrier upgrade offer is up.