Best Phone Deals in February 2026

As long as carriers want to entice new customers, you'll always be able to find phone deals or cheap unlocked phones. You'll want to be selective and apply some strategy so you save money over the long run.

Phone buying tips:

• Don't let pressure tactics like limited-time offers or "special sale" events rush you into something. Instead, decide what phone you want and watch prices over time so you can grab a good phone deal when you spot one.
• To save the most money, get a great unlocked phone deal then pair it with a cheap phone plan like TextNow's $0 Free Flex Data plan.
• Be wary of carrier promotions that give you a free phone via bill credits over 24 or 36 months. That's a long time to be committed to a carrier, and you'll be on the hook for the remaining phone cost if you try to leave early.

To help, we put together a handy list of the best cell phone deals right now, scouring the internet to do the work for you.

Summary of the Best Phone Deals Right Now

Best Phone Deal Overall

Best Unlocked Phone Deal Right Now

Best Phone Deal under $200 Right Now

Best Free Phone Deal Right Now

Best iPhone Deal Right Now

Methodology: How we select the best phone deals 

While price is a key factor in phone purchases, you also want the modern features that are integral to your everyday phone experience. In addition to cost, we account for camera quality, storage, and 5G capabilities.

• While camera quality needs will vary person to person, it's important that a minimum standard (16 megapixel resolution) be met. We know how important those photos are! 
• Storage is equally as important, because low storage can affect phone performance overall (slower apps and errors on certain apps). If 128GB isn't standard, we look for phones that can support expendable storage to avoid poor performance. 
• And lastly, 5G is becoming the standard network. To get your money's worth with the higher-end models, they need to support the fastest network to give you an easier time downloading and uploading your content. 

Guide to finding the best phone deals

When looking for a phone deal, whether you're ready for an upgrade, looking to get your kid their first phone, or just looking for a sale, there are different considerations. Here's everything you need to know.

Difference between locked and unlocked phones

We use "unlocked" and "locked to" a lot, so here's a a simple explanation of what those mean!

An unlocked phone means it's carrier-unlocked – it isn't limited to any one carrier for phone service. These are usually bought from a retailer (not a carrier) like BestBuy, Amazon, or even directly from the manufacturer, like Apple or Samsung. As we mentioned, getting an unlocked phone deal and then pairing it with an inexpensive phone plan can save you money.

A locked phone, on the other hand, is locked to a specific carrier. For example, if you buy a Verizon-locked phone, it has software on it from Verizon that prevents it from activating on or connecting to any other network. So you won't be able to easily take it to another carrier if you decide to switch plans.

Don't forget! Locked phones can be unlocked, but that process differs across carriers. You can check out TextNow's guide on how to unlock your phone from your carrier for more information.

Types of phone deals

You're going to find very different phone deals, and it's important to know which one works for you.

1. Carrier Discounts and Promotions
   Carriers like to bring in new customers with phone sales and promotions. Those can include a "new customer" sales price when you sign up for a (usually premium) monthly plan, a contract-based discount where you can get a phone discounted when signing up for a 24- or even 36-month plan contract, or just a plain switch promotion – switch from your old carrier and get a free (or discounted) phone.
   Our take: Be sure that you're willing to commit to a certain monthly plan before going through with one of these deals.
2. Trade-in Offers
   This kind of deal can be found through carriers, but also through manufacturers and other retailers directly. It involves trading in an old phone to get a discount on a new one. (If you want to trade in a phone, you'll need to know your phone model and other details to discover trade-in value.)
   Our take: These are great if you already have a phone and are looking for an upgrade, as they give you a lot more options, and won't lock you in to any commitment.
3. Installment Plans
   You will find a lot of online websites promoting a low weekly or monthly price tag next to a phone, as part of their financing option. The phone is then usually advertised with the more appealing monthly price (say, $30/month) to seem like a good deal.
   Our take: A true deal will be when you can find a finance plan that has 0% APR (interest). That way, you're only paying for the actual price of the phone, and not a penny more on interest. You can also build credit with your phone purchase if it's through a retailer or manufacturer that reports finance plan payments to the credit bureaus.

4. Seasonal Sales
   And lastly, the most common one is the tried and true seasonal sale. Most common for phones around Black Friday, Cyber Monday, the holidays, and Back to School.

   Our take: It's definitely worthwhile to wait for a seasonal sale if you can. That's when you'll find the most options and the deepest discounts.

Pros & cons of getting a phone deal

How to select the best phone deal

What's better, buying a phone online or in-store?

That will all purely depend on what's important to you. The prices won't vary between online or store for the most price, but other factors you'd need to consider would be:

1. Shipping Time
   If you're purchasing a phone online, you'd have to account for shipping times (usually within 1-3 business days, but delays are always possible). On top of that, you may also need to account for availability to receive the package to ensure it's not stolen.
2. Hands-on Experience
   If you're buying a new phone that you've never used before, you may want to test it out in your hand first to determine if it's a phone you actually like. You can feel out the size, the screen, the controls, even the camera in-store to make sure it's a 100% loved purchase.
3. Customer Service
   While you can certainly find a chatbot or a FAQ page to answer any questions you may have about the phone, or more importantly, to help you with the activation of the phone, that kind of help is more easily found in-store.
4. Phone Selection and Price Comparisons
   It's decidedly much easier to find a wide range of phones and compare their prices online than it is in-store. Online shopping is generally recommended for finding the best deal.

Tips for getting a good phone deal

1. Verify it's a sale. Before falling for the shiny price tag, make sure the "sales" price you're seeing online is actually a sale. You'd be surprised by how many retailers (ahem, Amazon) actually hike up the prices a few weeks leading up to a sale, only to drop them down to a normal price and call it a sale.
   Websites like CamelCamelCamel (specifically for Amazon), or PriceSpider (for most other online retailers) will look up the historical price of the item you found so you can make a more informed buying decision.
2. Look for coupons. Even if you did find a verified sale, there's no harm in looking around for even deeper discounts. There are plenty of online coupon websites like RetailMeNot or SlickDeals to find decent promo codes.
3. Use a browser extension. Free shopping extensions like Honey or Capital One automatically search for discount codes or coupons specific to the retail website you're on, then apply the best one.
4. Compare, compare, compare! If you're after a specific phone, and find a deal, make sure you look up that phone model on Google, click on the "Shopping" tab and compare all the prices from all the retailers to find the best one. Never assume the first price you see is the best one!

Frequently asked questions about buying a new phone