Best Phone Deals in February 2025

Phone deals are a dime a dozen. Truly. All carriers want new customers, and one of the easy ways they can get some is by offering a new phone for less, or in some cases, even for free!  But looking up phone deals can feel like walking into a mall on Black Friday – total and utter chaos. Flashy signs and exclamation marks everywhere.  Which is why we put together a handy list of the best cell phone deals you can find right now, scouring all over the internet to do the work for you. We'll update this list regularly, so you can be sure to always be in-the-know for the latest and hottest deals around.  

Summary of the Best Phone Deals

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Best phone deal overall

Best free phone deal for new customer

Best unlocked phone deals

Best carrier phone deals

Best affordable phone deals

Methodology: How we select the best phone deals 

We know that the best phone service deserves the best phone. While price is a key factor in phone purchases, there are other modern features that are integral to your everyday phone experience. 

We also account for camera quality, storage, and 5G capabilities. While the camera quality needs will vary person to person, it's important that a certain minimum standard (16MP) be met. We know how important those photos are! 

Storage is equally as important, as low storage can affect phone performance overall (slower apps and errors on certain apps), so if 128GB isn't standard, we look for phones that can support expendable storage to avoid poor performance. 

And lastly, as 5G is becoming the standard, we want to ensure that you're getting your money's worth with the higher end models by being able to support the fastest network for 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 to make. Here is a rundown of everything you need to know.

Difference between locked and unlocked phones

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

An unlocked phone should actually be expanded to say carrier-unlocked. Because that's what it means – a phone that isn't locked to any one carrier. Usually bought from a retailer (not a carrier) like BestBuy, Amazon, or even directly from the manufacturer, like Apple or Samsung.

A locked phone, on the other hand, is locked to a specific carrier. So, say you buy a Verizon-locked phone, that phone has software on it (from Verizon) that prevents it from being activated 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/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.
   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. Instalment 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 ever paying for the actual price tag of the phone, and not a penny more.

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 until one to find a deal, as that is when you'll find the most options with the deepest discounts!

Pros & Cons of getting a phone deal

Pros:

• Savings: The obvious pro is that you get a new phone for less, giving you some money back in your budget.

• New tech: Upgrading to a new phone means that you get to upgrade your phone capabilities as well! From sharper pictures with a better camera to faster loading of pages and feeds with a better processor/RAM, your online experience can be greatly improved by a good phone deal.

Cons:

• Environmental concerns: Upgrading your phone frequently isn't exactly the most environmentally friendly move. The manufacturing of new phones is an extremely taxing process (mainly due to lithium mining), and most discarded phones actually end up in a landfill.

• Contracts: As mentioned before, a lot of deals are dependent on signing up for a contract to secure the discount. These usually entail signing up for a monthly service plan that starts at $50-$65/month. Over the course of the contract, you'll probably end up spending more than you would have without the discount but a cheaper phone plan.

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 chatbox 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. 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!

If you have any questions or comments, send us a note at [email protected]!

Frequently Asked Questions about buying a new phone: