Here are some alternate options to contemplate if not one of the telephones above strike your fancy. 

Asus Zenfone 8 for $499: You can nonetheless purchase the Zenfone 9’s predecessor (6/10, WIRED Review). It has flagship-grade efficiency because it’s powered by the top-end chip of 2021: Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888. It additionally has a 120-Hz AMOLED screen and IP68 water resistance. Cons? It doesn’t work on Verizon, and its cameras and battery life are so-so. It’ll additionally solely get yet another Android model improve (Android 13). 

Moto G Stylus 2022 for $200: This Motorola telephone (6/10, WIRED Review) is a wonderfully nice telephone possibility. The headphone jack is current, as is a 90-Hz LCD display, two-day battery life, first rate efficiency, and a MicroSD card slot. There’s no NFC, so you may’t pay with this telephone, and no 5G help, plus it should solely get an replace to Android 12. It has a stylus if that makes a distinction. 

OnePlus N300 5G for $230: This telephone solely works on T-Mobile and Metro by T-Mobile, so should you’re on that community, it is an excellent, inexpensive machine. It’ll solely get one replace to Android 13 and two years of safety updates, however there’s 5G service, you may pay with the telephone by way of NFC, and the 5,000-mAh battery lasts two full days. The MediaTek Dimensity 810 chipset is sort of speedy too. It additionally has a 90-Hz display, a microSD slot, and a headphone jack. As with lots of the telephones on this information, the cameras are meh, and there is not any water resistance.

Nokia G400 5G for $270: Nokia’s new telephone will work on each main US community, hooray! I’ve solely simply began utilizing it so I haven’t got a particular opinion but. But it is promising to this point. There’s a 120-Hz display refresh fee, a 5,000-mAh battery, plus the flexibility to make contactless funds. Performance appears OK, however the 4 GB of RAM already feels limiting, so you will must take care of some lag right here and there.