5 Cheaper Android Phones You Should Try Instead of the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra

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Compared to today’s flagships, smartphones started out pretty small. Early versions were primarily intended as productivity add-ons, allowing users to check email, browse the web, and listen to music. As users demanded features like improved cameras, longer battery life, and larger screens, the size of the average smartphone increased. Although all relatively similar in size, current flagship series like the iPhone 17, Google Pixel 10, and Samsung Galaxy S26 are much larger than their original iterations.

But a portion of smartphone users want something even bigger. The bigger the phone, the better hardware that can be built into it, and most phone manufacturers now make a phone that falls into the premium or ultra-premium category. The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s ultra-premium flagship. It has a 6.9-inch AMOLED display, a built-in S Pen, and a multi-camera system. Samsung has even integrated a range of AI capabilities with Galaxy AI. We found it to be a quality and well-refined phone in our Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra review.

However, with the base model S26 Ultra priced at $1,300, the phone also falls into the ultra-premium price category. We’ve sorted through the competition and picked out some cheaper Android phones that are worth a try. A number of phone manufacturers are making smartphones with similar features at much lower prices. Major players like Google and Motorola have their own premium flagship models, and brands like Nothing and OnePlus are influencing the market with their larger phone models.

Samsung is one of the most recognized names when it comes to Android phones. If ecosystem awareness is something you want to keep on your smartphone checklist, the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is worth a look. This is a flagship offering from one of the few companies that can rival Samsung in terms of recognition – after all, Google itself makes Android. The 256GB model is priced at $949. Google offers 512GB and 1TB storage options, with the maximum version priced the same as the base Galaxy S26 Ultra. It has a 6.8-inch Super Actua display, almost the same screen real estate as the S26 Ultra’s 6.9-inch AMOLED display.

Of course, even tech giants are imperfect, and the Pixel 10 series phones have left some users frustrated. But in our review of the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL, we let it be known that we think it’s the big-screen Android phone to beat. It uses a custom Google Tensor G5 chip, is packed with video and photography features, and integrates Gemini AI in several creative ways. It’s also a phone built to last, as Google has guaranteed at least seven years of new features and OS updates for the Pixel 10 Pro XL.

Motorola has been in the mobile business longer than anyone, and with the Motorola Moto G Stylus, the company presents a somewhat throwback alternative to the Galaxy S26 Ultra. Priced at just $500, the Moto G Stylus is a fraction of the cost of the S26 Ultra. As the name suggests, the Moto G Stylus comes with a stylus for use with the touchscreen. It’s the only smartphone in its class with a built-in stylus, but Motorola has doubled down on the old-school vibe by making the Moto G Stylus one of the few Android phones that still comes with a headphone jack.

The Moto G Stylus’ screen is a bit smaller than the S26 Ultra’s 6.9-inch screen, but it might be worth giving up a little screen real estate for all the other features included in the phone at its $500 price. It has a 50-megapixel camera system capable of handling 4K photos and videos in low-light situations. It meets water and dust resistance standards to ensure it holds up wherever you go. It can even reach up to 44 hours of battery life between two charges. The Moto G Stylus also has some AI integrations, including Google’s Circle to Search feature and AI-based creation tools.

Another affordable alternative to the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is the Nothing Phone 4a Pro. It features a 6.83-inch AMOLED display, an all-day battery with 50W fast charging capabilities, a camera system with 3.5x optical zoom and 140x ultra zoom, and a base price of just $499. The $499 version of the phone comes with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage space, and while those specs don’t match what you’ll find in the base model Galaxy S26 Ultra, the Nothing Phone 4a Pro can be upgraded to 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage space for just $100 more.

But where the Nothing Phone 4a Pro excels is in performance. It is one of the affordable smartphones that are ridiculously overpowered, as it uses a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 processor. This chip allows the Phone 4a Pro to multitask on a number of intensive tasks, including 4K video editing. Nothing has integrated AI into this smartphone in the same way that big companies are starting to do with their flagship phones, but the Phone 4a Pro has the essential elements of AI to help with productivity and tasks throughout the day, as well as AI-powered search features designed by Nothing and intended to make searching simple and convenient.

OnePlus has made a number of smartphones intended to compete with popular flagship phones. The OnePlus 15 is one of them, originally launched to compete with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra and now available for those looking for a more affordable alternative to the S26 Ultra. The base model OnePlus 15 matches the base S26 Ultra with 12 GB of RAM and 256 GB of storage space. The OnePlus 15, however, starts at $900, which is $400 less than the S26 Ultra’s starting point.

With this smartphone, you can expect a 6.78-inch AMOLED display that is similar in size to the Galaxy S26 Ultra, as well as a massive battery that OnePlus offers for two days or more of battery life between charges and which supports 100W fast charging. In fact, the OnePlus 15 is among the many Android phones with better battery life than the Galaxy S26 Ultra. In our review of the OnePlus 15, we note how impressive its battery life is, but we also note that the camera system isn’t quite up to its specs.

But the OnePlus 15 compares well to the Galaxy S26 Ultra in many other ways. It uses a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor and a dedicated Wi-Fi chip. Google Gemini is included to help AI improve productivity, search and creativity. And OnePlus has even put a lot of emphasis on build quality, ensuring that the OnePlus 15 meets numerous dust and water resistance benchmarks and including Gorilla Glass on the phone’s display.

Although the Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung’s last big phone on the market, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra still holds up well alongside it. Some of Samsung’s cheaper phones outsell the S26 Ultra, and while the S25 Ultra doesn’t necessarily sell for less than the S26 Ultra, it has been on the market longer and has started seeing deep discounts since its successor hit the market. Like the S26 Ultra, the S25 Ultra has an MSRP of $1,300, but is now often priced between $1,000 and $1,200. And many key specs match its predecessor: 12GB of RAM, 256GB of storage space, a 6.9-inch AMOLED display, and a camera system with multiple lenses and megapixel counts.

If you look at the MSRP, the Galaxy S25 Ultra might not seem like a phone worth trying instead of the S26 Ultra – but then again, real-world prices are often several hundred dollars lower these days. We noted the refinement of the phone compared to previous generations of the Galaxy S Ultra in our review of the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, although the S26 Ultra will likely still favor those who want the latest features and an even more refined version of the smartphone. Nonetheless, the S25 Ultra was sold for just $1,030 on Amazon. Samsung is also selling certified renewed Galaxy S25 Ultra models for $979.

A larger form factor and the hardware and features it can accommodate are what sets the Galaxy S26 Ultra apart from other phones in Samsung’s lineup. Some features that stand out are its large screen, long battery life, advanced camera system, and things like its built-in S Pen and premium build quality.

Here, we’ve selected phones that compete well with the S26 Ultra when it comes to these features. With the goal of providing more affordable alternatives, we used the $1,300 retail price of the base model S26 Ultra as a ceiling. Every phone you find here is available for less than the base model Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra and comes with at least one flagship feature that stands out alongside it.