Top 5 LTE smartphones under $300

Having an LTE-capable smartphone isn’t a luxury anymore, as it used to be a few years back. In fact, you can now buy quite many handsets that offer LTE speeds for less than $300 (unlocked), and some of them are really good devices - although not all are from the latest generation.

Of course, LTE is now a standard feature on all high-end smartphones, and, in the near future, it will likely become a standard for mid-end handsets as well. Until then, though, if you're in search of the best LTE smartphone that doesn't cost more than $300 off-contract, you still have to consider some devices that have been around for a while.

We made a list of the best sub-$300 LTE smartphones that are available now, and you can see it below. If you feel like we should've added other handsets, let us know in the comments.

1. Motorola Moto G LTE

 

The original Motorola Moto G (launched last year) is one of the best smartphones you can currently buy for less than $200. Starting this month, Motorola is also offering an LTE variant of the handset, and it’s asking only $219 for it. Besides LTE, the new Moto G also comes with microSD card support, so it’s no doubt an excellent choice at this price point. The smartphone runs Android 4.4 KitKat and, just like the original model, it features a 4.5-inch display with 720 x 1,280 pixels, 1GB of RAM, and a quad-core 1.2GHz Snapdragon 400 processor.

2. Google Nexus 4

 

Yes, the LG-made Google Nexus 4 is still available to buy, although stock is pretty limited (for example, as we write this, Amazon US has only a few units available). An unlocked Nexus 4 16GB costs only $299, and you’ll have a hard time finding a better smartphone for that kind of money in the US. The quad-core 1.5GHz Snapdragon S4 Pro CPU of the Nexus 4 still does a great job, while the handset’s 2GB of RAM will make sure to keep everything lag-free. Moreover, the Nexus 4’s 4.7-inch display with 768 x 1,280 pixels doesn’t disappoint.

The Nexus 4 doesn't "officially" support LTE, but it has an LTE radio inside, and it can work on AT&T's LTE network. There's also this tweak that you can try to enable LTE.

3. Nokia Lumia 635

 

Microsoft started selling the brand new Nokia Lumia 635 in Europe and Asia this month, and it will bring it to the US pretty soon, too. AT&T, T-Mobile and MetroPCS have all confirmed that they’d offer the handset - which is the LTE version of the Lumia 630. The recommended retail price of the Lumia 635 is $189 (that’s the price for an unlocked unit, of course). The device has all the new features included in Windows Phone 8.1, while also offering a 4.5-inch display with 480 x 854 pixels, 5MP rear camera, a quad-core Snapdragon 400 CPU clocked at 1.2GHz, 8GB of expandable internal memory, and 512MB of RAM.

4. Samsung Galaxy S III

 

Samsung’s flagship smartphone from two years ago is now just a mid-range device. If you’re lucky, you can buy it for about $300, or even less. Some prepaid US operators, like Virgin Mobile and Boost Mobile, are offering the Galaxy S III for under $300, no contract required. While the non-LTE Galaxy S III won’t be officially updated to Android 4.4 KitKat, Samsung already started updating the LTE model (the one sold in the US) to the latest version of Android.

5. OnePlus One

 

 

The problem with the OnePlus One is that, for now, it’s pretty hard to find. If you have the chance to buy one, though, you may be able to get the 16GB version for only $299. Based on CyanogenMod 11S, the OnePlus One is the only high-end smartphone on our list. Its features include a 5.5-inch IPS display with 1080 x 1920 pixels, 13MP rear camera, 5MP front-facing camera, 3GB of RAM, and a quad-core 2.5GHz Snapdragon 801 processor.