The Blu R1 HD is the Amazon Fire of smartphones: Nothing about it is great, but it's way, way better than it has any right being. It goes for as low as $100 unlocked on its own, but that can go down to just $50 if you're an Amazon Prime member. It's a good bargain either way, but if you get the model that's $10 more, you get a perfectly competent performer that doesn't feel cheap and has a nicely bright, 5-inch, 720p display.
The catch with that "Prime exclusive" deal is you have to deal with a torrent of Amazon-sponsored bloatware and lock screen ads. Yes, lock screen ads — as in, your phone becomes a pocket billboard every time you turn it on. You might find this dystopian, or you might learn to live with it. Maybe you'll do both. Whatever the case, until we're able to try a new Moto E, this is the only phone worth considering for under $100.
Let's be clear: This year's Moto G has its issues. It's big, it's not water-resistant anymore, and the Snapdragon 617 chip at its core isn't terribly smooth. It doesn't feel like an outright steal the way its predecessors have, and "Motorola, The Lenovo Years" hasn't improved on anything the company did when it was owned by Google.
Still, the Moto G formula is hard to screw up. For $200 (or $150 with the Prime offer noted above), you get a great 1080p panel, a nice build, enough battery life, and a respectable camera. The totally clean take on Android, meanwhile, is excellent at any price. (As is the microSD slot.) It runs quickly enough for casual use, too — just don't expect it to punch far above its price tag this time out.
There are three main issues. One, again, it performs fine — especially after its latest software update — but it's not great. Two, that display lacks an oleophobic coating, meaning it picks up finger grease and smudges like mad. Three, and most importantly, Huawei's EMUI skin is a thick iOS knockoff, the exact opposite of the G4's cleanliness. If you really dig the Honor's design, though, you might be fine installing a launcher and calling it a day.
If you can push closer to $300, the Nexus 5X is marked step above the Moto G4 and Honor 5X. The 5.2-inch 1080p display, Snapdragon 808 chip, and 12.3-megapixel camera are all much closer to "midrange" than "budget." A speedy fingerprint reader and fast charging support help, too. Plus, since this is one of Google's Nexus devices, you don't have to worry about muddled software or late updates.
If you can only buy one phone on this list, buy the OnePlus 3. Simply put, it has no significant weaknesses. It did have a problem with its display's color accuracy when its first launched, but a timely software update has largely put that to rest.
Beyond that, this phone could easily cost $600: The smooth metal design looks and feels great, the Snapdragon 820 chip and 6GB of RAM just fly, the software is clean, and the 16-megapixel camera is excellent. The 1080p panel isn't as sharp as those on other flagships, but it's more than fine if you stay out of VR. And while there's no microSD slot, the 64GB of storage is plentiful. If you can't afford a decked-out flagship like the Samsung Galaxy S7, the OnePlus is arguably your best Android alternative.
ZTE's Axon 7 is another flagship-level phone masquerading at a mid-tier price. It's a pinch slower than the OnePlus 3, but the difference is small, and its 5.5-inch 2560x1440 display looks superb. The camera and battery life are strong as well.
The big separation from the OnePlus is in its design — the Axon 7 has heft, which some might not like, but gives the device a more expensive feel. It's exceptionally slim for a handset with a screen this big, and its dual speakers are powerful.
The $400 iPhone SE is my personal favorite on this list. It didn't have to do much to get there: It is a tremendous, genuinely compact phone, and almost nobody makes those anymore. After years of fumbling with phablets on the train, I cannot tell you how refreshing it is to go back to a 4-inch device you can actually use with one hand or stash in a shirt pocket.
There isn't one thing the $400 Alcatel Idol 4s does better than the OnePlus 3, but it doesn't get much wrong either. It's a bit slower, but fine, with a good display and a thin and light design. The hook is that it's unique — it comes with a (very basic) VR headset, has a side key you can customize to launch various apps, and can reorient its display when it's held upside down.
Is that enough to overcome its lesser specs? For most people, no. But if you're smitten with VR, or just like the look of it, you aren't totally doing it wrong by picking one up. It's just a little more mid-range than everything else in this tier.