At a glance
1. Best overall
2. Best value
3. Best battery life
4. Incredible performance
5. Best cheap phone
6. Best for taking notes
How to choose
Having a good Android phone with strong battery life and cameras is no lnger a luxury, but often a necessity. For students especially, a solid all-rounder of an Android phone is crucial when it comes to getting work done, keeping in touch, and unwinding with a game or two. The catch here though, is that such phones need to be affordable so that it doesn't make a dent in a student's budget.
Thankfully, affordable Android phones have become feature-rich and highly competitive these days. Our top picks come with good battery life, strong carrier support, and enough power for your most important apps. Here are some of our top recommendations, including the Google Pixel 8a as our best overall pick. What makes it even sweeter, is finding a good deal on the 8a, and Black Friday sales is the best time to snag a great deal on one. We're tracking the best Black Friday Google Pixel deals so make sure you don't miss out.
At Android Central, our testing and review methods include making sure each phone lives up to the marketing claims of the company, offers good value for the money, can deliver a quality photo every time, and lasts long enough to make it through the day on a single charge.
Namerah enjoys geeking out over accessories, gadgets, and all sorts of smart knickknacks. After writing about consumer tech for nearly a decade, she has become an expert in the Android accessories space. She spends her free time guzzling coffee, writing some more, casual gaming, and cuddling with her furry best friends.
At a glance
Best overall
The best phone for students is the Google Pixel 8a thanks to it good performance with the Tensor G3 SoC, seven years of software updates, and excellent camera.
Best value
With a large display, reasonably quick hardware, and a large battery, the Galaxy A35 offers a lot of performance for the money with IP67 water and dust resistance.
Best battery life
If you need something cheap, the Galaxy A25 could be the perfect fit with Android 14 out of the box and an Exynos 1280 SoC under the hood.
Incredible performance
Don't let the strange name fool you — the Nothing phone (1) is a great performer with a unique look inside and out. This phone is a stunner.
Best cheap phone
The OnePlus Nord N30 is an all-round decent phone with a large 120Hz screen, 5G support, and a decent amount of power with a Snapdragon 695 CPU.
Best for taking notes
It’s impossible to ignore the Moto G Stylus 5G with its large display and stylus. With a big battery and quick charging it’s a good value for students.
Best overall
A student needs a phone that's both reasonably affordable and reliable so it can keep working for a few years without any major issues. The Google Pixel 8a fits the bill for many with a price tag on the low side of $500 with seven years of software updates coming from Google.
While the main line Pixel series has the most features, the Pixel a-series phones are some of the best mid-range smartphones that money can buy. This is thanks to Google's excellent camera software which makes the Pixel 8A a great phone for photographers that want something that can capture a vibrant image with automatic settings. This year's model also is available with either 128GB or 256GB of storage, so you have plenty of room to save your photos.
The Pixel 8a is powered by the same Tensor G3 SoC as the main Pixel 8 phones. This isn't the most powerful smartphone chip available, but it still does a good job keeping up with Android 14 with 8GB of RAM. It's 6.1-inch OLED display is on the smaller side which works with its rounded corners making this a good options for one-handed use. Last but not least, it comes in four colors with the Aloe and Bay colors looking vibrant and colorful, plus the more serious porcelain and obsidian colors.
Best value
For a student, the Galaxy A35 is a strong choice that keeps its price reasonably low while keeping many of the most important features. The phone is powered by an Exynos 1380 SoC which is plenty fast for most apps and even some gaming, but can also sip power making the large 5000mAh last all day. The display is large with a 6.6-inch Super AMOLED panel with up to 1000nits of brightness so you can see your screen clearly while waiting on the bus. The phone comes with 128GB of storage, but microSD expansion means you can add space if you need it.
While it lacks wireless charging, this phone’s 5000mAh battery can be charged relatively quickly at up to 25W. You should be able to easily make it to the end of the day, so you’re not stuck looking for an open outlet in a crowded lecture hall. The camera system is solid with a 50MP main camera, a 5MP macro camera, and an 8MP ultrawide camera. The selfie camera is also decent with a 13MP sensor. Make no mistake, a cheap Pixel, like the Pixel 8a, will turn in better-looking results, but the A35’s camera system is no slouch.
As for network support, this phone is available through AT&T and T-Mobile with some prepaid Verizon carriers like Total and Visible also offering it. The unlocked version of this phone doesn’t list band n71 support, however, the version sold by T-Mobile does, so make sure you’re getting a version that works with your carrier of choice. Especially if you think you might switch to save with a low-cost prepaid carrier. It’s also worth noting that this phone ships with Android 14 and is set to get four Android generation updates and five years of security updates, so it should last the duration of a four-year degree, even if it takes five years.
Best battery life
With a large 5,000mAh battery and relatively low power hardware, the Samsung Galaxy A25 is should easily make it to the end of the day on a charge. It also charges quickly at up to 25W. While the phone isn’t terribly powerful, you still get a large 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display running at up to 120Hz. The AMOLED tech in the screen means you get rich colors with good contrast. There’s a small notch at the top of the screen allowing for the selfie camera, which is a bit old school, but looks decently nice.
Speaking of cameras, this phone features a three-camera array on the back with a 50MP main shooter, 8MP ultra wide camera, and 2MP macro camera for closeups. That main camera won’t keep up with the likes of the Pixel 8a, but given a decent amount of light, can still deliver some solid images. If you’re just looking for something good enough for Instagram, it’s a fine choice. Mid-band and low-band 5G is supported on the U.S. model with Wi-Fi 5 picking up the slack.
Incredible performance
The OnePlus 12R is an affordable phone that looks and feels high-end thanks to a design that borrows a lot from the pricier OnePlus 12, with a powerful SoC from last year's flagships. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC inside this phone is plenty for the latest Android app including 3D games. The phone packs in 8GB of RAM in the cheapest model to keep it running smoothly on Android 14. Speaking of Android, this phone is set to receive three OS updates along with four years of security updates. That's not as much as a flagship phone, but still impressive for a phone at this price.
The primary 50MP camera looks great in both well-lit and lowlight situations. The Pixel 8a is still on top overall, but for most people, both phones are excellent choices for the cameras. The OnePlus 12R is designed to work well with carriers in the U.S. with 5G support, so you can bring it to whichever carrier you want. Last but not least, this phone has a long-lasting 5500mAh battery that supports charging speeds up to 100W.
Best cheap phone
OnePlus not only manages to make waves with its high-end phones, like the OnePlus Open, but also with its cheaper devices like the OnePlus Nord N30. This phone has a nice look and feel with two large camera lenses on the back, and an expansive 6.72-inch LCD panel on the front. There’s a bit more bezel on the bottom of the phone giving it a bit of a chin, but overall looks modern and sleek.
This phone has been updated to Android 14, so you can download it straight away after setting up your phone. It’s all powered by the competent Snapdragon 695 CPU and Adreno 619 GPU, which our OnePlus Nord N30 review found was plenty for day-to-day tasks with enough horsepower for some gaming with low details. The main 108MP camera does most of the heavy lifting with a depth sensor and 2MP macro camera sharing the bottom lens.
Best for taking notes
The Moto G Stylus 5G has been one of the best cheap phones you can get for a few generations now, and this 2024 model is one of the best yet with impressive hardware and a striking new look. The vegan leather finish feels nice in the hand which is great if you plan on taking notes with the included stylus. Using the display feels nice and snappy with a 120Hz OLED panel capable of up to 1200 nits with a quick Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 with 8GB of RAM behind it. It even has a headphone jack and microSD card slot for storage expansion.
This phone has a large 5000mAh battery, which is fairly common for budget-oriented phones, but what’s less common is the 30W wired charging support and 15W wireless charging. When it comes to the camera, the main 50MP sensor and 13MP ultra-wide camera produce some nice images, though they aren’t the best you’ll find at this price. Still, with how much this phone gets right in other areas, it’s easy to forgive.
One thing Motorola gets very right is carrier support with full 5G band support for AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon. That means you can shop for the best value phone carrier so you don’t waste money on a bunch of carrier features you don’t really need. Plus, most campuses have Wi-Fi anywhere you might find a student, so you may not even need that much data. If you do, however, 5G support is strong and should give you strong speed on any carrier.
How to choose
You don't have to break the bank over the best Android phone for students
Why you can trust Android Central Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Find out more about how we test.
Android phone can be great for students with plenty of powerful for multitasking, good integration with ChromeOS and Windows laptops, and unique designs to that can fit anyone's needs. Any of the Android phones on this list will serve a student well for school, but among all of them, we have to give our top recommendation to the Google Pixel 8a.
Google's attempt at making a mid-range Pixel device turned out to be a smashing success. The Google Pixel 8a might have a smaller battery and slightly worse display compared to its more expensive siblings, but the incredible cameras, super clean software, IP67 rating, and Google's robust Tensor G3 chipset make this a phone that's genuinely enjoyable to use day in and day out.
Among all of that, though, another big reason the Pixel 8a stands out is because of its post-purchase support. Since this is a phone made by Google itself, it's set to get updates early with seven years of OS updates promised by Google. That means you'll be able to keep using this phone for years before you need to spend on a new one.
What accessories do students need?
Whether you're starting college or are on the last stretch at high school, you'll want a few accessories to make the most of your smartphone. First of all, a strong case will help you phone survive a few more bumps and drops. You can get a lot of great cases for the Pixel 8a that offer extra protection if it falls down a few stairs at a new dorm, or falls out of a pocket while rushing to class.
A portable power bank can also be useful to bring with you whether you forgot to plug your phone in the night before, or find that your laptop drained its battery in your backpack. With so much tech supporting USB-C, having a power bank can keep you going till the end of class without needing to run a charging cable across the aisle in a lecture hall.
Picking up some wireless earbuds can also be great for getting work done outside of your dorm room. If you're easily distracted by noise and talking, picking up some of the best wireless headphones or earbuds to use with your phone and laptop can help you get some peace and quiet. They can also help when you need to attend an online lecture or meeting and just can't find a quiet place to be. This can be especially difficult when you need to complete a task by 11:59pm on a Friday and you've been responsible enough to get started by 11:00.
