4 Older Android Phones Still Worth Buying In 2026

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When it comes to buying a new smartphone, there are quite a few options available out there. Not only are new flagship devices coming out each year, but some of the best flagship phones of the past years are also still available. In fact, there may be times when buying an older or used Android phone makes more sense than buying one new. Not only do many of the previous generation Android phones still offer great performance, but many also still have years of support left for new operating system upgrades and security updates.

That's why investing in older technology doesn't offer nearly as many downsides as it might have used to, back when phones were still taking major strides in hardware changes every year. Now, though, many of the newest features we're seeing come to smartphones are powered by AI, and often they are released to the older generations of devices, too. Though, that isn't always the case. Still, being able to pick up an older Android flagship for half the price of the latest flagship, and still get years of use out of it, is hard to ignore.

If you are looking to pick up a new phone soon, then there are several older Android phones you can still purchase in 2026 that remain worth every penny.

When the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra released in 2024, it did so to rave reviews. Despite being expensive, at around $1300 for the smallest storage option, the phone had everything you could need at the time — a massive 6.8-inch AMOLED display, 12GB of RAM, and plenty of camera power thanks to the 200MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto lenses. This was also when Samsung really started going hard on its Galaxy AI features, which helped push the S24 Ultra to the top of the pack with its great performance and solid design.

Samsung has long been regarded as one of the best Android phone manufacturers, and the Galaxy S24 Ultra is a solid reminder of that. The phone sports Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which means it is more than powerful enough to keep up with your day-to-day usage, even two years after release. The 120Hz display also has a peak brightness of 2600 nits, which makes it easy to see in bright sunlight — a must-have for anyone that finds themselves outdoors a lot. The included 5,000mAh battery should also be more than enough to get folks through the day, and support for 45W wired charging means you can top it off easily if you need a few extra hours of usage somewhere in the day.

What makes buying the Galaxy S24 Ultra especially worthwhile in 2026, however, is Samsung's support for the device. Samsung offers seven years of support for its smart devices, offering both Android operating system upgrades and security updates on the S24 Ultra until 2031, giving you at least another four years of updates if you buy it this year.

When the Google Pixel 8 Pro released in 2023, Google's push to bring more AI to your phone was front and center. Because the company's overall goals haven't changed much with the last two iterations of its phone lineup, the Pixel 8 Pro remains a solid option thanks to its fantastic camera, solid battery life, and excellent software support. Moreover, it is set to receive support for new Android updates and security updates until October of 2030, giving you at least four more years of support at the time of this article's writing.

Furthermore, the device, which retailed at $999 when it first released, can often be found for as cheap as $569.99 at Best Buy — and perhaps even cheaper at other retailers or used. That's a pretty solid chunk of savings for a phone that will still get new updates for a few more years. And, because Google's Pixel lineup is always the first to get new Android features, you can take advantage of any new AI functionality that Google introduces within that timespan.

The Google Pixel 8 Pro offers a 120Hz LTPO OLED display with a 1344 x 2992 resolution with a peak brightness of 2400 nits. It utilizes the Google Tensor G3 chipset plus 12GB of RAM and a 5,050mAh battery. While it isn't quite as fast as the chipset in the Galaxy S24 Ultra, it should be more than powerful enough to act as more users' daily driver. It comes with a 50MP wide camera, a 48MP ultrawide, and a 48MP telephoto camera.

The next option on our list is one for the foldable fans out there. While the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the latest and greatest that Samsung has to offer, you can still get a lot out of a Galaxy Z Fold 6, especially if you buy it in 2026. It features the same great performance you'd expect from a Samsung flagship, thanks to its Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 12GB of RAM. It also comes with 50MP wide, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP telephoto cameras, and sports a 4,400mAh battery.

When the Galaxy Z Fold 6 first released in 2024, it retailed for $1,899.99, making it one of the most expensive flagships you could buy at the time. However, you can often find this device available on Best Buy for closer to $1,200 now, or even cheaper depending on which storage model you pick up. Part of what makes a foldable like the Galaxy Z Fold 6 so enticing is the massive 7.6-inch interior display, which you can fold out to make viewing media and playing games much easier. The exterior 6.3-inch display makes using it like a typical slab phone easy, too, and you can switch between the two options depending on what fits your needs at the time.

Like all of Samsung's devices, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 will get support for several more years, with Android OS and security updates set to end in July of 2031. That means picking this device up this year would still give you more than five years of support to enjoy.

When it comes to affordable phones packed with features, the Google Pixel A series is a hard one to beat. And while you can often get the Pixel 10a for the same retail price as the older Pixel 9a, if you start looking at deals and used devices, then the Pixel 9a becomes a much better deal. That's because you can often find the Pixel 9a on sale for up to $70 off (sometimes more) on Amazon and at other retailers. And, because the Pixel 9a has a lot of the same features as the newer 10a, buying the older device can be a great way to take advantage of similar hardware without spending more money.

The Pixel 9a originally released in 2025, and while it isn't the oldest device on the list, it is one of the weaker. But, as a midrange device, it isn't wholly expected to keep up with flagships that often cost twice as much. Instead, the Pixel 9a carves out a very useful spot on this list for itself thanks to its overall affordability and feature options. Not only is it packed with all of Google's AI features — if that's your jam — but it also has several years of support left for Android updates and security upgrades, with the device set to stop receiving those updates in 2032.

That means you can expect several more years of support for the Pixel 9a and its Google Tensor G4 chip. If you're looking for a solid mid-ranger, and can find the Pixel 9a on a really good deal, then it's a great older phone to pick up.

When we set out to highlight several older phones still worth buying, we wanted to focus on a few primary factors. The most important factor was how long each device would still be supported. After-release support for Android phones has improved across the board overall, but these devices still have several years of new Android OS updates and security upgrades to offer. That means even though you're investing in an older device, you can still expect to get new features and functionality, while also being protected from bad actors and exploits. For this particular factor, we made sure each device had at least two years or more left of official support from the manufacturers.

From there, we started looking at pricing and how much these devices tend to run for used or even new. Most of them can often be purchased for a large discount compared to their release price, and almost all the options on our list are still on-par with the newer versions of their lineups even years after their official release. Finally, we wanted to focus on devices that offer a lot of support for users globally. That makes Google and Samsung devices some of the best options. While other brands such as OnePlus do offer a lot, and have solid devices, the recent rumors that OnePlus might be pulling out of the global market did cause us to exclude it from our listing, as future support on those devices is a bit murky at the moment.