When buying smartphones, I was always a “new is always better” kind of guy. As a result, I would occasionally opt for a newer budget phone over a slightly older flagship.
That’s how I ended up purchasing the Pixel 8a after using and loving my Pixel 7.
Unfortunately, the budget experience — even with one of the best in the Pixel 8a — left a bad taste in my mouth that led me to jump back a generation and opt for the Pixel 8 Pro.
The difference was immediate and eye-opening.
So, as a result, I have officially decided to swear off the low-cost alternatives for the foreseeable future.
From poor performance and small displays to missing camera features and terrible trade-in value, I refuse to subject myself to daily tribulations for the sake of saving a few bucks.
The performance lag is noticeable
RAM: It’s more important than you think
You won’t realize how much you use your smartphone until you have a budget device.
I regularly scroll through social media and need to quickly switch over to the Notes app to set a reminder, while also ordering a Lyft and participating in an ESPN fantasy football mock draft.
As you can imagine, all that takes a lot of power, and budget smartphones like the Pixel 8a – which offers about 8 GB of RAM maximum – just don’t have it.
Regularly, my phone would freeze, lag, or just generally going berserk when asked to do basic tasks like swap between apps.
The displays are always too small
Bigger is simply better
I hate when a big smartphone ruins your pantline as much as the next guy, but the 6.1-inch display of the Pixel 8a isn’t doing much to help that over the 6.8-inch display of the Pixel 8 Pro.
There are no larger XL options when it comes to the Pixel a series, which means if you want to save money, you’ll be forced to endure a small screen, typically with larger bezels to boot.
Granted, this is mostly only a problem for painstakingly loyal users of Google Pixel phones, which are regularly smaller than their flagship and Pro counterparts.
The Samsung A Series, for example, doesn’t have as much of a problem with this, with the Galaxy A54 sporting a 6.4-inch display, which is actually bigger than the 6.2-inch display on the Galaxy S24.
The missing camera features are brutal
You don’t miss them until they’re gone
As the only Android user in my entire extended family, I have become known as the person who takes pictures of the family.
Family selfies with the ultra-wide lens, zoomed-in shots of the grandkids playing at the beach, and group shots that involve me running around everyone before the timer runs out.
However, I nearly lost this title during my time with the Pixel 8a.
The missing camera features, like less zoom power, no action pan, no cinematic blur, and no dual exposure on the wide camera, eventually add up to a less enjoyable experience for those who really want to use the widely-celebrated Pixel camera to its full potential.
The trade-in value is heartbreaking
Good luck getting a new phone for cheap
If, like me, you simply cannot resist the lure of a new phone after a year or two, you’re probably very aware of the trade-in value of your particular device.
Suppliers like Google can be a bit tight with their purse strings when it comes to their trade-in offers, but some phone providers like T-Mobile are a bit more generous, as long as you don’t have a budget phone.
That’s right, some phone providers, like T-Mobile, only differentiate their trade-in offers based on whether you’re trading in a budget phone or a non-budget phone.
While researching this article, I realized that T-Mobile is offering up to $800 to trade in any smartphone that isn’t a budget device.
The Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9, Pixel 8 Pro, Pixel 8, and even Pixel 7 offer that huge trade-in value for eligible customers.
Alternatively, if I still had my Pixel 8a, I would be subjected to a mere $400 trade-in value despite it being almost two years younger than the flagship from 2022.
Budget phones still have their place
If you want to save money, you’ve got options
To be fair, this is mostly personal preference we’re talking about here.
The affordable price tag of some budget phones is just too much to pass up sometimes, with certain devices costing as little as $200 for a surprisingly enjoyable experience.
In 2025, there are plenty of budget smartphones that will check a lot of boxes for users who aren’t prone to multitasking, picture-taking, or phone trading.
I am, however, not one of those users. I mind the laggy performance, I detest the small displays, I loathe the knee-capped camera features, and I simply will not stand for the abysmal trade-in value.
All that to say, budget smartphones, I fare thee well.
