Seven hundred dollars used to buy a compromise in the United States. Right now, it buys a choice, and a good one. The verified United States catalogue has several phones at or below $700, and they are not all doing the same job. Some are the newest generation at the top of the budget, some are the previous generation at a lower price, and one is a carrier price that looks like a bargain until you read the small print. This guide sorts them out using only US prices checked on 3 and 4 November 2026 at Best Buy and Amazon.com, with the exact variant named each time, so you can compare like with like.
Prices in this post are US prices only. Where a price is for an unlocked phone, it is called unlocked. Where it is a carrier Activate Today price, it is called a carrier price, and it is not ranked against unlocked prices as if it were the same kind of deal. That matters more than any specification, because an unlocked price is the whole price of the phone, while a carrier price is tied to activation on that carrier.
How the prices in this post were checked
Every price below comes from the verified 52-product US catalogue and the US product page behind it. The Google Pixel 11 is $699 for the 256GB unlocked model in Obsidian, checked on 3 November 2026 at Best Buy. The Samsung Galaxy S25 is $699.99 for the 128GB unlocked model in Navy, checked on 3 November 2026 at Best Buy. The Google Pixel 10 is $599, checked on 4 November 2026 at Amazon.com. The Apple iPhone 17e is $699.99 for the 256GB model on AT&T Activate Today, a carrier price, checked on 3 November 2026 at Best Buy. The Google Pixel 10a is $549, checked on 4 November 2026 at Amazon.com. The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE is $649.99 for the 128GB unlocked model in Jet Black, checked on 3 November 2026 at Best Buy. The Nothing Phone (3) is $699.99 for the 256GB unlocked model in Black, checked on 3 November 2026 at Best Buy. The Google Pixel 9a is $339, checked on 4 November 2026 at Amazon.com. Prices can change after those dates, so check the listing before you buy. These were the prices in force when this post was written on 5 November 2026, and the full list is on the US products page.
The short list at a glance
At the top of the budget, the Pixel 11 and the Galaxy S25 both sit within a cent of $700, and both are unlocked. The Pixel 10 sits $100 below them at $599, and the Pixel 10a sits a further $50 below that at $549. The Galaxy S25 FE sits in the middle at $649.99. The Nothing Phone (3) is also $699.99 unlocked. The Pixel 9a is the cheapest phone in this group by a long way at $339. The iPhone 17e is listed at $699.99, but that figure belongs in a different column: it is a carrier price, for AT&T Activate Today, not an unlocked price.
That last point is worth pausing on. A shopper who lines up $699.99 against $699 and $699.99 and treats them as three equal offers is making a mistake. The unlocked phones can be used without a new carrier agreement. The iPhone 17e price in this listing is for a phone bought with AT&T activation, so the right comparison is with other carrier offers, not with unlocked phones. This post keeps it in the guide because many US buyers do buy on a carrier, and because it is worth knowing what the phone itself offers. It does not, however, let that carrier figure win a ranking against unlocked phones.
Google Pixel 11: $699 at Best Buy
The Pixel 11 is the newest phone in this group, and the price reflects it. For $699, the 256GB unlocked model in Obsidian gives you a Tensor G6 chip, a 6.3-inch Actua OLED display running from 60 to 120Hz and reaching up to 3,000 nits, and a triple camera with a 48-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide and a 10.8-megapixel camera with 5x telephoto. The front camera is 10.5 megapixels. The battery is 4,985mAh, with 30W wired charging and 25W charging through Pixelsnap. It has 12GB of RAM and runs Android 17, with seven years of updates on the listed figures.
What that means in practice is simple: this is the phone in the group with the longest support window on the published figures, and the one that pairs a telephoto camera with the newest software. Its trade-off is that it sits at the very top of the budget, so there is no headroom left for a case, a charger or anything else if $700 is a hard limit. It is also the phone that makes the Pixel 10, at $100 less, look like a deliberate value choice rather than a lesser phone.
Samsung Galaxy S25: $699.99 at Best Buy
The Galaxy S25 is the other $700 phone in this group, and it takes a different route to the same price. It is smaller, with a 6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display at 120Hz, and it runs on the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy with 12GB of RAM. The camera is a 50-megapixel main camera with a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 10-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, and the front camera is 12 megapixels. The battery is 4,000mAh with 25W wired charging. It runs Android 15 with One UI 7, and the listed variant is the 128GB unlocked model in Navy.
The S25 is the phone to choose in this group if you want a smaller phone in the hand and you value Samsung’s camera and software setup. Its trade-off is storage and battery on the published figures: the listed variant is 128GB, where the Pixel 11 at the same money is 256GB, and the 4,000mAh battery is the smallest in this group. That does not make it a bad buy. It makes it a buy for someone who knows they will not fill 128GB and who prefers a compact phone to a larger one. If you do fill storage or you want the longest time between charges on paper, the Pixel 11 is the better fit at the same price.
Google Pixel 10: $599 at Amazon.com
The Pixel 10 is the value argument in this guide, and it is a strong one. At $599, checked on 4 November 2026 at Amazon.com, it has a Tensor G5 chip, a 6.3-inch Actua OLED display at 120Hz and up to 3,000 nits, and the same style of triple camera as the Pixel 11: a 48-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultrawide and a 10.8-megapixel camera with 5x telephoto, plus a 10.5-megapixel front camera. The battery is 4,970mAh, with 30W wired charging and 15W Qi2 wireless charging. It has 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on the listed figures, and it runs Android 16. It is also rated IP68.
Read that list again and the $100 saving over the Pixel 11 becomes the whole story. You keep the same display size, the same refresh rate, the same peak brightness figure, the same camera arrangement and almost the same battery size. What you give up is the newer Tensor G6 chip, the newer Android 17 software and the seven-year update figure that comes with the Pixel 11. For many buyers, that is a fair exchange for $100. For a buyer who keeps a phone for five or six years, the Pixel 11’s longer support is worth the extra money.
Apple iPhone 17e: $699.99 as a carrier price at Best Buy
The iPhone 17e is the only Apple phone in this price group, and it needs a careful reading. The listed price is $699.99 for the 256GB model on AT&T Activate Today, checked on 3 November 2026 at Best Buy. That is a carrier price. It is not an unlocked price, and this post does not rank it against the unlocked Pixel 11, Galaxy S25 or Nothing Phone (3) as if it were.
On the phone itself, the published figures are: an A19 chip, a 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR OLED display at 1170 by 2532 pixels and 60Hz, a 48-megapixel Fusion camera with optical image stabilisation and 2x zoom, a 12-megapixel front camera, a 4,005mAh battery, 15W MagSafe and Qi2 charging, an IP68 rating with Ceramic Shield 2, 8GB of RAM, and iOS 26.3. It launched on 2 March 2026. The 60Hz display is the part of that list that stands out most in this group, because every other phone here runs at 120Hz. If you are already on AT&T and you want an iPhone at this price, it is worth a look. If you are comparing unlocked prices, compare it only after you have worked out what the carrier terms add.
Pixel 10a, Galaxy S25 FE and Nothing Phone (3)
The rest of the group fills the gaps. The Pixel 10a, at $549 at Amazon.com, is the cheapest way into the current Pixel camera and software approach, with a Tensor G4 chip, a 6.3-inch Actua P-OLED display at 120Hz and up to 3,000 nits, a 48-megapixel main camera with a 13-megapixel ultrawide, a 13-megapixel front camera, a 5,100mAh battery with 30W wired charging and 10W wireless charging, 8GB of RAM and Android 16 with seven years of updates. It is also rated IP68. Its trade-off is the older chip and 8GB of RAM, against a $150 saving over the Pixel 11.
The Galaxy S25 FE, at $649.99 for the 128GB unlocked model in Jet Black at Best Buy, is the larger Samsung in this group, with a 6.7-inch Full HD Plus Dynamic AMOLED 2X display at 120Hz, an Exynos 2400 chip, a 50-megapixel main camera with a 12-megapixel ultrawide and an 8-megapixel camera with 3x optical zoom, a 4,900mAh battery with 45W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, 8GB of RAM and Android 16 with One UI 8. It launched on 4 September 2025. It is the phone to look at if you want a big Samsung screen and the largest battery among the Samsung phones here, without paying for the S25 Edge or a foldable.
The Nothing Phone (3), at $699.99 for the 256GB unlocked model in Black at Best Buy, is the outlier in looks and the most distinctive phone in the group. It has a Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chip, a 6.67-inch 1.5K OLED display at 120Hz with a peak brightness figure of 4,500 nits, a 50-megapixel main camera with a 50-megapixel periscope camera with 3x zoom and a 50-megapixel ultrawide, a 50-megapixel front camera, a 5,500mAh battery with 65W wired charging and 15W wireless charging, 12 or 16GB of RAM and Android 15 with Nothing OS 3.5. Its trade-off is that it sits at the top of the budget for a phone from a smaller brand, so support and resale are questions to weigh for yourself rather than points this guide can settle from the catalogue alone.
Verdict: buy the Pixel 11, unless the Pixel 10’s $100 saving matters more
Our pick is the Google Pixel 11. At $699 for 256GB unlocked at Best Buy, checked on 3 November 2026, it is the newest phone here, with the longest support on the published figures, a telephoto camera, a bright 120Hz display and a 4,985mAh battery, all at the top of the budget but not over it. The trade-off is real: you spend the whole $700, and you give up the $100 saving that the Pixel 10 offers for a very similar day-to-day specification. If that $100 matters, buy the Pixel 10 at $599 instead and keep the same camera arrangement, display size and battery size in practical terms. If you want a smaller phone, buy the Galaxy S25 at $699.99 and accept 128GB and a 4,000mAh battery. If you want an iPhone, the iPhone 17e is here, but only as a carrier price, and only after you have read the carrier terms. CompareIdea does not hands-on test phones, so this verdict comes from the published US specifications and the verified US prices, not from carrying any of these phones for a week.
What to check before you buy
Check the variant first: the Pixel 11 price is for 256GB in Obsidian, the Galaxy S25 price is for 128GB in Navy, the S25 FE price is for 128GB in Jet Black, and the Nothing Phone (3) price is for 256GB in Black. A different storage size or colour can carry a different price. Check whether the price is unlocked or carrier, because the iPhone 17e figure in this guide is a carrier price. Check the date: Best Buy prices here were checked on 3 November 2026 and Amazon.com prices on 4 November 2026, and a Holiday Deal can end. Finally, check the return terms at the retailer before you buy, because a price is only a good deal if the phone suits you once it arrives. More US price changes are on US Latest News.
Sources
Best Buy US product page for Google Pixel 11 256GB (Unlocked) Obsidian. Other prices in this post are the Best Buy and Amazon.com prices checked on 3 and 4 November 2026 and listed on the US product pages linked in the text.
Last updated: 5 November 2026
