The best 2026 phones we’ve tested under $1000
Even though new smartphones come in a wide price range, most of us automatically go for the biggest and best, even if they come with a $2000 sticker. If you’re hoping to get some of that flagship magic for half the price, here are some brand new options that fit the bill.
If you want a brand new 2026 iPhone for $1000, the 17e is of course your only option. But it’s still an excellent choice; It offers most of the iPhone 17 features in a slightly smaller package for $400 less. From the front, it looks the same as 2021’s iPhone 13, but the action button on the side and the silky frosted glass on the back indicate that it’s more modern. Looking at the specs you get the impression that this is a smaller phone than the 17, but it feels exactly the same when held in the hand; it just has a smaller screen due to thicker bezels around the edges. Personally, I think this is a great size for those who like small phones. With its weight of 169 grams, it is easy to use with one hand, and with its length of less than 15 cm, it is stylish and pocketable.
Compared to last year’s 16e, the changes are quite minimal. But you’re probably coming from an iPhone that’s a few years old, in which case you’ll notice some obvious upgrades. The A19 chip powering the phone is the same as the one in the iPhone 17; shaved off a few graphics cores; This means it’s incredibly fast, great for graphics-intensive apps and games, and supports Apple Intelligence. The 17e also has 256GB of storage as standard; That’s double what many older iPhones (and the 16e) came with. The OLED is just as sharp as on the 17, and while it’s not as bright, it has the same anti-reflective coating and Ceramic Shield 2 that protects it. And like all new iPhones except the 16e, it supports MagSafe for easy wireless charging and accessory attachment.
iOS 26 looks and runs great on this device, the battery lasts all day, and I’ve rarely felt like I’ve had a worse experience using the 17e than the iPhone 17. Of course, it doesn’t have a dynamic island or camera control zone, the 60Hz display without an always-on display feels like a step back, and there’s no ultra-wide camera. But these all feel like things few people care about, so they’re good features to drop for a cheaper phone.
Speaking of cameras, I was pleasantly surprised by the single rear shooter on the 17e; This easily produces images of the same quality as the main camera on the 17, and brings the same improvements to portrait mode. The 17e doesn’t support Cinematic Video mode, so you won’t get the same background blur in your clips, but it looks great in stills. Low-light performance is also excellent, and the selfie camera is very good, although it doesn’t have the same automatic reframing as other new iPhones when multiple faces are detected.
Compromising in clever ways to deliver high-end design and features at a lower price is one of Nothing’s main things, so it’s no surprise to see the British tech firm’s latest a-series achieve that here. While previous phones have opted for the clear under-glass tech look, the 4a Pro limits this to the camera bump area, leaving the rest of the metal to emphasize the strong new aluminum unibody design. Combine this with the chunky retro minimalism of Nothing OS, a triple rear camera, and distinctive features like Essential AI and Glyph Matrix, and you’ve got a very capable phone that also stands out.
I love that the phone looks like a future retro version of the iPhone Pro Max for less than half the price, but it also sports it. The triple-lens camera system includes a telephoto (clean-looking at 3.5x, with up to 7x zoom), a rarity in this category, and both performance and battery life are excellent. Of course, in detail, it cannot carry phones up to $2000; For example, I found that the image in the camera app sometimes looked a little distorted, even though the images came out fine and the zoom wasn’t smooth when shooting video. However, in general use, most people believe that this is a high-end phone.
If you stick with Nothing’s sleek approach to Android (and you don’t have to), you can end up with a device that looks and feels quite different from Google or Samsung. Apps have simple monochrome icons, system widgets have a playfully retro Tamagotchi vibe paired with the beeps and bugs of notification sounds, and there’s an emphasis on doomscrolling and breaking away from overbearing app control. On the back, the Glyph Matrix is larger than on last year’s Phone 3 and is still pleasantly whimsical. It’s a low-resolution screen that can be set to show information like time or battery life, but it also reacts to notifications or shows the progress of events like food delivery. The idea is to encourage placing your phone face down.
Nothing beats an interesting take on community and generative AI content. You can have the phone invent new ringtones and assign them to each contact so you know who’s calling, or set rules so only certain notifications are delivered at certain times with custom Glyph icons. For example, you know your partner is trying to contact you because he or she is showing a heart. You can press the Essential button on the left side of the phone to capture a voice memo, screenshot or photo; This is added to the Essential Space app, which uses AI to make inferences, add calendar notes, reminders or offer suggestions. There are more AI routing options like ChatGPT integration, but I like that they’re not constantly forced on you like they are on other Androids. There are also widget apps, camera presets, music EQ profiles, and Glyph Matrix toys created by other Nothing users that you can download.
The Pixel 10a is quite disappointing in one sense because it’s barely different from the Pixel 9a in terms of chip, display, and camera. But the 9a is a gorgeous phone and there was a nice coat of paint here. I like that the rear cameras are now completely flush and the phone lies flat on the table, and this year’s colors (scorching hot pink, strong purple, subtle green and regular old black) are gorgeous. It’s a very nice device.
Google’s entry-level model appears to be specifically designed to compete with Apple’s at $150 less, making for a compelling alternative. It’s about the same width but has a noticeably larger screen; This screen is also much brighter, smoother and protected by Gorilla Glass thanks to 120Hz refresh. In fact, the panel is bright even by flagship standards, with a peak of 3000 nits (you’ll only see it in HDR content) and a steady 2000 nits in automatic mode when the phone detects a lot of ambient light. Google has even added some new iPhone-like features to the a series, including emergency satellite SOS calls and automatic screen tone adjustments. Thanks to the slightly slippery plastic back panel, the Pixel’s handling isn’t as good as the iPhone, but it’s pretty good.
I think the Pixel version of Android is the best option for daily use, and 10a is the cheapest way to get it on a brand new phone. The operating system has a bright and cheery look, and since your home screen is populated with a few system widgets and maybe four app icons (the system is proactive enough that it won’t need them all sitting there), it feels calmer than its rivals. If you like productive AI features, Pixels is definitely for you. You can have a two-way chat with Gemini while sharing the feed from your camera, edit your photos by describing changes, or have the AI answer and display your calls. Magic Cue is a new feature that comes in handy when it chooses to pop up, pulling suggestions from your calendar, messages, photos, and more.
Google has long been a leader in photos, and the shots from the main camera here are always excellent. Since it’s not a telephoto lens, you can’t zoom more than 2x, but the 10a gets top marks for color and clarity. Additionally, AI tools like auto best shot (which automatically creates a composite when multiple photos are taken, giving each subject their best facial expression) and camera ram arrived from the Pixel 10. In terms of performance, the 10a won’t win any awards, but it holds up just fine for general use and light gaming. I noticed that battery life was significantly better than the 9a, despite similar spec sheets showing that Google has changed things.
Here is a classic of the Chinese smartphone genre; A phone with the screen, battery life and general shape of a high-end flagship phone, combined with some ugly specs in the camera and charging speed department, all for a surprisingly lower mid-range price. The Redmi Note 15 Pro+ comes with some significant drawbacks, and these will sound familiar to anyone who pays attention to Xiaomi phones. But if your main priorities are very high quality and very long battery life, this is a great option for the money.
When you compare the 15 Pro+ to the $2000 iPhone Pro Max, it performs surprisingly well at first glance. It has the same height and width as the same size screen, but is noticeably thinner and lighter. The screen is equally bright and smooth and supports Dolby Vision, so playing movies side by side is surprisingly similar, with the iPhone having a slight edge in terms of color and contrast. In terms of battery, the unit on the Redmi is one-third larger in capacity than the unit on the iPhone Pro Max. Does this mean it beats the iPhone in terms of battery life? Not if you leave the screen on; Apple’s display technology is extremely efficient. But it will last longer than the latest versions from Google or Samsung, and in my testing I had no problems when only plugging it into a charger every other night.
Speaking of chargers, this phone supports up to 100W if you have a suitable outlet; This means you can go from 25 percent to 50 percent in about 10 minutes. I think the benefit of this is debatable, but if fast charging is important to you, it’s there. It’s a similar deal for the alleged 200MP main camera; It delivers consistently good shots under good lighting, but it doesn’t have any obvious advantages over a good 20MP camera. In fact, despite the ability to crop and zoom being the supposed advantage of a large sensor, I found shots taken at 4x to be quite inconsistent.
The mid-range Snapdragon chip is perfectly adequate for general use, but overall there are three issues with the 15 Pro+ that I think should be judged on display and battery power. First, while plastic housings aren’t necessarily bad, my black review unit is so slippery that I had to apply the included silicone sleeve to keep it from falling off my desk. There is a brown model with faux leather trim that might be better. Secondly, the phone runs Xiaomi’s older HyperOS 2, so it will likely be hit with one of the four major upgrades heading into 2026. Third, HyperOS, as usual, comes full of junk that you need to delete immediately, including adware, casino games, and shopping services.
Get news and reviews on tech, gadgets and games in our Tech newsletter every Friday. Sign up here.
Tim Biggs is a writer covering consumer technology, gadgets, and video games.Connect with: X or email.
