Unlocked phones — outside the shackles of the carriers and able to work on any GSM operator worldwide — are finally starting to have their moment in the sun.
And we're not just talking more expensive versions of top-shelf phones. There are a number of mid-range unlocked phones that will serve you very well — and not burn a hole in your wallet. Let's take a look.
The Breakdown
Motorola Moto G 2015
Easily the best bang for your 200 bucks
- Solid, water-resistant design that's not too huge
- “Pure” Android experience
- A price you just can't beat
- Not the highest specs
- Good camera, but not the best available
- No NFC
We hem and haw a bit over what the "best" Android phone is. We might well have found it in the 2015 Moto G. It doesn't have the newest specs. It's missing a couple ancillary features. (Mainly, NFC.) But for about $200 — it starts at $179.99, but a $40 upgrade will double the RAM, and we recommend doing so — you get full LTE data, a decent display, and surprisingly good battery life. Plus it's Motorola's usual "Pure Google" experience. It's got a few Motorola customizations, but nothing we'd really consider "bloatware." It does everything you'd expect a smartphone to do, without some of the hangups you'll find in more bleeding-edge devices.
The 2015 model also includes a microSD card slot for expandable storage, and you can purchase replacement shells to swap colors whenever you want.
Put simply, you almost certainly cannot spend $200 and find anything better than the Moto G.
Alcatel OneTouch Idol 3
Big, vibrant, unlocked
- Running Android 5.0 Lollipop
- Large, 1080p display
- Very good sound quality
- Plastic phone is plastic
- The camera won’t blow anyone away
- Quite a bit of bloatware
Alcatel OneTouch set out to make a high(ish)-spec’d phone at an affordable price. And it’s done just that in the Idol 3. It’s got a large, vibrant display, good sound (with some help from JBL) and a battery that should almost certainly get you through the day.
The Idol 3 is running Android 5.x Lollipop — not quite the newest build, but it’s definitely not lagging behind. And the user interface has a neat feature in which you can rotate it any direction and it’ll still work.
For the $249 price, it’d be tough to go wrong with the Idol 3. It’s comparable to the other top phones in this list — the question likely will come down to one of taste.
Read MoreReviewAccessoriesAmazon ASUS ZenFone 2
A compelling, plasticky, unlocked option
- Great specs and performance for the price
- Excellent battery life
- Loads of accessories
- Camera performance is just OK
- Speaker is weak
- Plenty of software bloat
ASUS has jumped near the top of the list of unlocked phones to consider, with the ZenFone 2 checking the boxes most people want. It has a big 5.5-inch display at 1080p resolution, great performance thanks to high-end specs and a pretty solid camera considering the price. You also get a few extra perks like quick charging, an SD card slot, a big battery and dual SIM slots (though only one can be used for 3G/LTE).
The software takes a little time to get used to, you’ll need to uninstall lots of unwanted apps and the screen isn’t the best out there, but those are small marks against a device that otherwise offers a great value.
The starting price of $199 for a model with solid specs is
very appealing for those looking to pick up an unlocked phone on a budget, but if you can spring for it we recommend the $299 model. You’ll get double the RAM and four times the storage — 2GB and 64GB, respectively — as well as a slightly faster processor and a quick charger in the box. But no matter the model you choose, you’re getting a solid unlocked experience for an affordable price.
OnePlus 2
Never settle — except settle
- Excellent hardware design
- Quality fingerprint sensor
- Available with 64GB of storage
- Invite system means no instant purchase
- No NFC
- No wireless charging
As sophomore efforts go, OnePlus has done well to create a device that improves upon its predecessor in nearly every way. The aluminum band around the outside of the phone gives the OnePlus 2 a sturdy heft, and the ability to swap backplates means you can have grip, style, or durability with ease.
OxygenOS is a new Android fork, but like Cyanogen OS before it the focus is a clean, fast experience with a UI that closely resembles the Nexus experience. What few changes you find are subtle, visually pleasing, and often easy to disable if you decide it's not for you.
At $389, OnePlus has struck an interesting balance between performance and price. While it doesn't have every bell and whistle you'd see in a high-end smartphone, the OnePlus 2 is more than capable when it comes down to performance and battery life.
(Ed. note: The OnePlus 2 makes this list based on our initial hands-on impressions with the phone. We'll have more in-depth thoughts on the OnePlus 2 in the coming weeks.)
Read MoreHands-onOnePlus Huawei P8 lite
Good phone, bad software
- Solid hardware design
- Good post-sale customer service
- Decent specs
- Running old version of Android
- No idea when it’ll be updated
- Off-putting user experience
Huawei has finally decided to make a proper push into North America with the P8 lite. It’s got decent specs for a phone that tops out at $249. The 5-inch display is only 720p, but it’s decent enough.
And Huawei has some great post-sale support going on, with U.S.-based call centers and support, a two-year warranty and localized repair with free shipping.
The problem with the P8 lite starts and ends with the fact that it’s running Android 4.4.4, which is absolutely not acceptable at this point in 2015 — especially given that the big brother to this phone has Android 5.0.
Motorola Moto Style (aka Pure Edition)
A promising update awaits us
- Great starting price
- Custom design options
- Front-facing speakers
- Body is a good deal bigger now
- No wireless charging
- Untested camera
Motorola's made one of the more beloved (if imperfect phones) of the past few couple years. The 2015 edition — the Moto X Style, or the "Pure Edition" if you're in the U.S., also looks to be a good one. But the body of the phone has gotten even bigger, approaching Nexus 6 size. That's going to be a deal-breaker for some folks. But Motorola has slipped an SD card slot into this phone, which opens it back up to many other folks.
We've also got dual front-facing speakers this time around, and Motorola promises we'll be impressed with the camera this year, after two years of disappointments (and more promises). We'll just have to wait and see.
So far the Moto X Style (when it's released sometime in September) will only be available in the U.S. through Motorola, Amazon and Best Buy. (Outside the U.S. is another story, but usually a better one, too.) Price starts at $399.
(Ed. note: The Moto X Style (Pure Edition) makes this list based on our initial hands-on impressions with the phone. We'll have more in-depth thoughts in the coming weeks.)
Read moreHands-onPurchase information Sony Xperia Z3 Compact
A strong, svelte but aging option
- Svelte design
- Impressive camera
- Excellent battery life
- Getting up there in age
- Hard to find, and expensive when you do
- Lot of software you might not need
The Xperia Z3 Compact is one of the first “mini” models that kept the same strong internal specs of it’s bigger siblings. That makes a big difference when it comes down to actually using your phone.
Besides delivering the same performance of it’s big brother the Xperia Z3, it keeps the same external styling. Glass all around, a camera button, water and dust “proof” are some of the reasons why we love Sony’s Xperia line.
One thing to consider when buying the Z3 Compact is that you’re getting last year’s specifications. This won’t mean much in the long run, but having a 32-bit processor could cause issues during the phone’s normal lifespan. There are also a lot of apps and Sony software that you might not need or ever use on board.
Nexus 6
Nexus goes
big - Always on the latest version of Android
- No bloatware
- Huge display
- Huge display
- Battery life can be tricky
- No microSD card, if you’re into that sort of thing
We we reviewed the Nexus 6 we sort of pegged it as a larger Moto X, minus most of the cool software tricks. And while that largely remains true, the Nexus 6 remains a must-have phone for the most hard of the hard-core Android fans. And it’s still a pretty good purchase, especially as we’ve seen it get hit with discounts of late.
The Nexus 6 is still a very large phone, however, and that’s going to be a turn-off for some. But then again it’s also one of two phones running the Android M Developer Preview. So while maybe it’s not as commercially viable a phone as Google might have liked — low Android Lollipop adoption numbers have spoken to that — you could definitely do worse, especially since it’s ready for T-Mobile or AT&T out of the box.
HTC One M9
Another solid but imperfect effort
- Mostly great software
- Excellent build quality
- Timely updates
- Disappointing camera
- No wireless charging
- UI is looking stale
HTC’s long been a fan-favorite smartphone manufacturer, but it immediately found itself on the defensive with the M9 because of concerns over the new Snapdragon 810 processor and an underwhelming camera. That combined with an overall design that to many was too much like 2014’s M8, and HTC’s been playing catch-up this year.
That’s not to say there’s not a lot to like about this phone. The build quality is excellent, as is the speed of the software. You can’t beat the BoomSound front-facing speakers. And HTC’s new “Uh Oh” support gets you a free replacement for breakage, or $100 off your next HTC One.
And HTC is one the only manufacturers to offer proper unlocked models.
Criteria
Price
More so than when you buy a phone on-contract from a carrier, price is a major consideration when buying an unlocked phone. There's no carrier here subsidizing the cost to a more palatable $200 or $100 or even free — you're paying for the entire phone up front when you buy unlocked. Of course, that gives the a measure of freedom to do with your phone as you want that you can't get from your carrier, but a phone that's $200 from your carrier could run you $600 unlocked. There are a lot of unlocked phones, including many on this list, that simply aren't available from your carrier, and often times they offer competitive specs and builds to the higher priced phones at a much lower price.
Display
Displays on smartphone today are almost universally good, and you won't be disappointed by the screen on any of these phones. A larger screen will be better for gaming and watching movies, while those that spend their time browsing and networking (or just have cramped pockets) might appreciate a smaller phone. A bigger screen does mean it'll draw more power, but we're at the point today where the extra battery you get in the larger footprint equals extended runtime as well.
There are all sorts of other factors that go into a screen, including the kind of screen it is. Smartphone displays today are predominantly IPS-LCD and AMOLED, and each has their strengths and weaknesses when it comes to contrast, color representation, brightness, and outdoor performance. But really, you just want one that looks great to you.
Software
While we're focused on Android here, it's worth noting that there are other platforms, namely Apple iOS and Windows Phone. iOS only comes on iPhones, and Apple's happy to keep it that way. With it you get a platform that is simple and straightforward to use at the expense of some customization choices, and you can be assured that a new iPhone today will get iOS updates for years to come.
Windows Phone offers a completely different take on the user interface of a smartphone, focusing on "tiles" that let apps display far more data than a mere icon could ever hope to manage. Windows Phones work seamlessly with the Microsoft ecosystem of hardware, software, and cloud products, and will do so even more tightly when Windows Phone 10 is released.
The leader in the unlocked phone space is Android. Created by Google and available to all manufacturers free of charge (with Google's apps too, if they agree to some stipulations), Android offers both device makers and users practically unlimited customization choices. The side effect is that users are largely dependent on the manufacturers to offer updates for their devices, which is never guaranteed.
All platforms cover the basics, which are becoming increasingly more impressive with things like voice control and predictive assistants considered par for the course these days. They all have burgeoning application stores that offer apps free and paid (though iOS and Android have a considerable lead over Windows Phone in this department).
Which you choose comes down to a variety of factors, including whether or not you like how the system operates. Sometimes it comes down to just what you're comfortable with, and there's nothing wrong with buying the next generation of a platform simply because you liked the older one you already had.
Battery
Considering that the battery is what provides the juice to make all of the smartphone work, it's worth considering the power cell inside your phone to be an important feature. Typically a bigger battery is better, though a larger battery does pack on the bulk. How you use your smartphone will affect the kind of life you get out of it, so what gets you through the day with no problem might not be adequate for a heavier user. Screen, processor, or radio-intensive activities like gaming, streaming music, or watching videos will drain you battery much faster than lighter fare like social networking and web browsing.
Most newer devices are designed to make it through a day of typical use, but if you're a heavy user you might find yourself reaching for a power cord before the day is done. There's plenty you can do to extend your daily battery life, from turning down the screen brightness to topping off the battery when you get the chance (this is especially easy if your phone supports wireless charging). We’ve got plenty more battery-saving tips which should help you prolong your phone's battery life regardless of which one you pick up.
Camera
The saying has always been that "the best camera is the one you have on you", meaning that it doesn't matter if you have a nicer camera if you don't have it with you to capture a fleeting moment. For a long time that meant people carried around a standalone camera, and some still do, but for the vast majority of people their smartphone camera has become more than good enough to manage these duties (better than many pocket cameras, in fact).
There are megapixels (more equal a dimensionally larger image), apertures (lower numbers mean a larger opening, which lets in more light for better low-light images), sensor sizes (the size of the physical chip that collects light that passes through the lens), and more that go into determining how good your photo will turn out. If you're a serious photographer, there are certainly smartphones that will be up to the challenges you'll through at it, but if you're just throwing photos onto Facebook and Instagram, most any modern smartphone will do. Take a look at our photography hints and tricks guide to amp up your phone photos game.
Up front on most every modern phone you'll find a front-facing camera, increasingly branded as a "selfie" camera. You can, naturally, use it to take photos of yourself ("selfies", in the common tongue), but they're also useful for features like video chat.
Support
Going unlocked means you need to do a little bit of research — not every phone will work with every carrier. (Though a magical few do.) If you're a U.S. shopper, you won't be able to use any of these unlocked phones on Verizon, Sprint, Boost Mobile, Virgin Mobile, and other CDMA-technology networks (though compatible versions of some are offered by the individual carriers). And while things are getting better in this department, not all unlocked phones support the full range of carrier frequencies, you'll want to be sure that the phone you're looking at will work with the carrier you want to use. That said, the benefit of an unlocked phone is that you generally have your choice of carriers. Many lower-cost smartphones also don't include 4G LTE, so you'll find your download speeds limited in comparison to the higher ends of unlocked smartphones.
Another thing to consider is that you'll be without support from your carrier on issues with the phone itself. They'll still happily help you with your service, but they're not likely going to offer support to a smartphone they didn't sell you.
Bottom Line
By no means is this a conclusive list of all unlocked smartphones, Android or otherwise, these are just those that are among the best available. They span the range of prices and are all generally capable — you wouldn't go wrong buying any of these phones. And though there's a bit of hassle with going unlocked, you'll also be entering a world of flexibility and choice that's simply not available from your local carrier store.
