Best Android phones for students 2024

Whether you're a high schooler's parent or a student getting ready to head back to college, having a trusty Android phone by your side can make life a lot easier. Problem is, most students don't have the budget to purchase top-of-the-line phones because of financial constraints. 

Thankfully, affordable Android phones have become feature-rich and highly competitive these days. Here are some of our top recommendations, including the Google Pixel 8a as our best overall pick.

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 Saud Fatmi

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

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

If you like Samsung’s flagship Galaxy phones’ designs but not their price, the Galaxy A54 5G bridges the gap between budget phones and premium models. It has a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with HDR support for vibrant colors and a 120Hz refresh rate for smoother usage. While the screen has a bit more bezel between the pixels and the edge of the phone, the glass runs out to the edges making the phone look quite premium. Just be sure to grab a Galaxy A54 5G case to keep it from getting damaged if you drop it.

The battery is large at 5,000mAh, and our Galaxy A54 5G review notes that the phone will easily make it to the end of the day on a single charge. If you forget to plug it in at night, 25W fast charging should get your enough power to make it through classes while getting ready to leave. Performance is solid with the Exynos 1380 SoC handling most apps with ease, but struggling with 3D gaming.

Finally, support for 5G and Wi-Fi 6 means you can get fast download and upload speeds whether you’re waiting for the bus, or waiting for class to start. Finally, Samsung has promised four years of updates so you can stay up to date with the latest security patches for years to come.

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

There are two versions of the Moto G Stylus released in 2023 with an LTE and 5G version. The differences go further than just connectivity, however, with several other difference under true hood. For most students, though, the LTE model could be all they need. As we saw in our Moto G Stylus 2023 review, this phone gets a lot right for a budget-oriented phone. It’s powered by a Mediatek Helio G85 SoC paired with 4GB of RAM which is enough for most apps, but games will likely need to be set to their lowest detail setting for smooth performance.

Motorola has included a large 5,000mAh battery that makes it easy to get to the end of the day on a charge, but unlike some of the more expensive phones above, charging is quite slow at just 15W. Camera performances is solid with the main 50MP shooter and a 2MP macro camera. Motorola launched this phone with Android 13, and while it has promised an Android 14 update, it hasn’t arrive yet.

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How to choose

You don't have to break the bank over the best Android phone for students

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.

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