It's possible to get a decent Android experience, even on a shoestring — and unsurprisingly Motorola dominates this field.
Best overall
Moto G Play (with ads)
The Amazon-exclusive Moto G Play is a $150 phone reduced to $100. The catch? You'll get ads and offers from the retail giant on your lock screen, which may or may not be a deal-breaker depending on how you like to use your phone. (We've got a good breakdown of what it means here).
Otherwise, you're getting a decent entry-level Android phone for not a lot of money at all. The Moto G Play (a.k.a. Moto G4 Play) packs the same soft-touch polycarbonate body as its big brother, the Moto G4, and runs a Snapdragon 410 processor, which has plenty of power to run Android 6.0 Marshmallow on a 5-inch 720p display. There's a reasonable 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD, and an 8-megapixel camera that handles the basics well.
Bottom line: Putting up with lock screen ads allows you to get a $150 phone for $100. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than you'd otherwise get for the cash.
One more thing: It's unlocked, so you can use it on any carrier of your choice. And if you know where to look, there are some places on the Internet that'll help you take care of those pesky ads.
Why the Moto G Play is best
Amazon plugs the price gap with offers on your lock screen.
With ads from Amazon, or without ads from Verizon, the Moto G Play gets you a great core Android experience — fast software, thanks to Motorola's hands-off approach towards customization, and decent specs all-round.
It's not the flashiest or showiest smartphone, with a relatively generic design, but you don't expect pizzaz when you're paying less than a Benjamin for a full-featured smartphone. Same deal with bonus features like water resistance and swappable backs, like you might get from last year's Moto G (third generation).
Instead, the Moto G Play is just a solid all-round phone for not a lot of cash.
Best ad-free
Moto E LTE
The unlocked Moto E LTE can be used on any supported network, and doesn't come with any of the bloatware you'd expect from the U.S. carriers. And better still, it's only $81. It's powered by the same Snapdragon 410 chip that's inside the Moto G Play, however you do lose a few important features compared to that phone — a smaller 4.5-inch screen with a less impressive qHD (960x540) display. And there's only 8GB of storage, so an SD card will be an essential purchase.
Bottom line: You're getting less phone than a Moto G Play, but also at a lower price without bloatware, carrier locks or ads.
One more thing: You'll definitely want to snap up a microSD card.
Best on Verizon
Moto G Play Droid
If you're settled on Verizon as your carrier of choice, you can get the Moto G Play (Droid) for $85 without the need to see any ads on your lock screen. Droid branding aside, this is the same phone as the Amazon version, just running on Verizon's network with the expected loadout of pre-installed bloatware apps. On paper it's close to last year's third-gen Moto G, with a Snapdragon 410 processor, a 5-inch 720p display and 16GB of storage.
The main trade-offs between last year's G: Lack of water resistance and a less spectacular camera. The Moto G Play is splash-resistant however, which means you won't need to worry about using it out in the rain.
Bottom line: Trading ads for bloatware gets you Moto's best super-cheap phone for less — if you're on Verizon.
One more thing: Don't expect software updates to be as quick as the unlocked version.
Best on AT&T
Samsung Galaxy Express Prime (GoPhone)
In AT&T's GoPhone range, the somewhat ridiculously named Samsung Galaxy Express Prime stands out as offering the best bang for your buck. You'll get Android 6.0 Marshmallow and Samsung's TouchWiz UI on a 5-inch 720p SuperAMOLED display, powered by the Korean firm's own Exynos quad-core processor. And an ample 2,600mAh battery should be enough to see you through the day.
The Galaxy Express Prime also looks a little more eye-catching than other devices in this range, appearing like a shrunken-down Galaxy S5. Other specs aren't the greatest — only 1.5GB of RAM and a mere 5-megapixel camera, but at least there's a reasonable 16GB of internal storage, expandable via microSD.
Bottom line: Probably the best Samsung phone you're gonna find for under a hundred bucks.
One more thing: Don't expect an update to Android Nougat anytime soon, if ever.
Best on T-Mobile
Samsung Galaxy J3 Prime
A distant cousin of the AT&T Express Prime, T-Mobile's Galaxy J3 Primepacks in the essentials for a good deal less than $100. Once again you're dealing with an entry-level quad-core processor, at 1.35GHz, 1.5GB of RAM, and a similar style of chassis.
The biggest difference is the network — if you're in a great location for T-Mobile coverage, you'll get largely the same experience as the AT&T GoPhone offering, only for less cash on a network that might suit you better.
Bottom line: You'll get Android 7.0 Nougat out of the box, which is rare for a phone this cheap.
One more thing: You'll need to buy a refill pack to get the J3 Prime for this price, which nudges the price a little over $100 in total.
Best on Sprint
Virgin Mobile Samsung Galaxy J3 Emerge
Deja vu? Virgin Mobile's Samsung Galaxy J3 Emerge is basically the same phone that's sold on T-Mobile, only in a slightly different color, and running older software. You get the same core experience and feature set, only with a less up-to-date operating system and on a network that may be more convenient for you.
Bottom line: Unlike its Tmo-toting counterpart, the Galaxy J3 on Virgin and Sprint ships with Marshmallow not Nougat.
One more thing: Virgin's promotional price cut of $50 drops the J3 Emerge down to significantly under our $100 target budget.
Conclusion
You'll need to put up with the occasional ad, but Amazon's offer of a Moto G Play for under $100 is really hard to beat.
Best overall
Moto G Play
The Amazon-exclusive Moto G Play is a $150 phone reduced to $100. The catch? You'll get ads and offers from the retail giant on your lock screen, which may or may not be a deal-breaker depending on how you like to use your phone. (We've got a good breakdown of what it means here).
Otherwise, you're getting a decent entry-level Android phone for not a lot of money at all. The Moto G Play (a.k.a. Moto G4 Play) packs the same soft-touch polycarbonate body as its big brother, the Moto G4, and runs a Snapdragon 410 processor, which has plenty of power to run Android 6.0 Marshmallow on a 5-inch 720p display. There's a reasonable 16GB of storage, expandable via microSD, and an 8-megapixel camera that handles the basics well.
Bottom line: Putting up with lock screen ads allows you to get a $150 phone for $100. It's not perfect, but it's a lot better than you'd otherwise get for the cash.
One more thing: It's unlocked, so you can use it on any carrier of your choice. And if you know where to look, there are some places on the Internet that'll help you take care of those pesky ads.
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