Buy the right phone.
The first time.

Best phones under $500 in 2026.

Five hundred bucks doesn't buy what it used to — but if you know what to skip and where to push, you can still get a phone that lasts four years. Our eight picks, ranked.

Best camera phones for creators.

We tested twelve phones against the same 47 frames, in three lighting environments, for one full editorial month. The winner isn't the phone you'd expect.

Best phones for battery life.

Manufacturer hour claims are mostly fiction. We ran a 10-phone test using continuous web browsing at 200 nits — here are the four that actually last two full days.