Best Cricket phones in 2024

Cricket Wireless is a prepaid carrier owned by AT&T and running on the AT&T LTE and 5G networks. Cricket offers fixed data plans and unlimited options with multiline and multi-month discounts on some plans. Since Cricket runs on the AT&T network, you can use most of the best Android phones without issues. If you’re buying a new phone, Cricket’s online store sticks mostly to budget phones, so you’ll probably want to bring an unlocked phone with you when you sign up.

Get the best Android phone for Cricket

The Google Pixel 8 Pro is an easy choice with its up-to-date Android build, solid performance, and excellent camera system. The phone is powered by Google’s Tensor G3 SoC, which doesn’t beat Snapdragon’s best chips, but still has plenty of power for smoothly navigating Android 14, games, and running a handful of AI features. It has 12GB of RAM to help with multitasking and a gorgeous high-resolution 6.7-inch OLED display.

Perhaps Pixel’s best-known strength, the camera system, is better than ever with this phone. It has a main 50MP sensor, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP telephoto camera with generally strong results. The phone has a large 5050mAh battery that supports up to 30W charging, so you should easily make it to the end of the day before needing to plug in.

As you might expect, LTE and 5G support is strong for Cricket’s most important bands, including 5G speeds. The phone is ready for AT&T’s nationwide 5G and 5G+ network, so you should get the best speed available with your plan. Google has promised seven years of Android OS updates, so this device has longevity.

There’s no doubt that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is one of the most impressive phones ever made, offering top hardware specs, a refined design, and a built-in stylus. It’s one of the most powerful phones available, with a fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC paired with 12GB of RAM. It also has an excellent 6.8-inch AMOLED panel with 120HZ support and 2600 nits of peak brightness.

The camera system is technically very impressive. There’s a 200MP main camera, 10MP 3x telephoto camera, 50MP 5x telephoto camera, and a 12MP ultrawide camera. That means that you’ll always have the right lens for the job. You can also take a lot of pictures before needing a charge. The S24 Ultra has a 5000mAh battery and 45W charging.

This phone supports all of AT&T’s bands, so you’ll have no trouble getting LTE and 5G signals where available. Samsung also promises seven years of OS updates, which is among the best of any phone series. So, it’s made to last.

Google’s latest phone, the Pixel 8a, continues where the Pixel 7a left off, with several key improvements that keep it feeling fresh. The phone has a 6.1-inch OLED panel that supports up to 120Hz refresh rate with up to 2000 nits of peak brightness. It’s powered by the same Tensor G3 SoC with 8GB of RAM as the Pixel 8, meaning performance should be strong overall.

While it shares a lot of hardware with the Pixel 8 series, the Pixel 8a also has a lot in common with the outgoing Pixel 7a, starting with the cameras. You get a 64MP main camera alongside a 13MP ultrawide camera which both produce excellent images, especially considering the price. The battery, at least, gets a small upgrade to 4429mAh, though charging is still limited to 18W.

Like the Pixel 8, this phone gets seven years of OS update support from Google, so you can keep using it for years. It’s also got strong network support for Cricket as well as most other prepaid carriers, so you can bring it with you if you find a better deal down the road.

Phones keep getting bigger and, unfortunately, many of the best models only come with massive displays that are nearly impossible to use with one hand. The Pixel 8 is one of the best compact phones you can get with a 6.2-inch display that’s small by flagship standards but still looks great with an OLED panel, 120Hz support, and 2000 nits of peak brightness. It has the same Tensor G3 as the Pro under the hood but has a slightly smaller 8GB of RAM.

The camera system consists of a primary 50MP camera and a 12MP ultrawide camera. While they’re not as technically impressive as the Pixel 8 Pro’s cameras, they still produce excellent photos thanks to Google’s software. The battery is also decently large at 4575mAh with up to 27W wired charging supported.

When it comes to Cricket’s network, the Pixel 8 supports all of AT&T’s most important bands, including low-band and mid-band 5G. And some versions do come with mmWave support. For most, mmWave won’t provide a meaningful update in day-to-day usage, so it’s not a big deal. Luckily, like the big phone, the Pixel 8 is set to get seven years of OS updates, so you’ll be up-to-date for the foreseeable future.

The OnePlus Open is one of our favorite folding phones thanks to a design that sets the bar for what a folding phone should be. It has a reasonably large 6.31-inch external display and a massive 7.82-inch internal folding display. Both displays also support 120Hz refresh rates and 2800 nits of peak brightness. The phone is powered by the aging (yet still very powerful) Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC, with a massive 16GB of RAM for smooth multitasking.

The OnePlus Open also has some of the best folding phone cameras, which are often cut down compared to flagships in folding phones by other brands. Here, OnePlus includes a 48MP main camera, 64MP 3x telephoto camera, and a 48MP ultrawide camera. The battery is also impressive at 4805mAh with 67W fast charging.

This phone launched with Android 13, but an update to Android 14 is ready to install right away with three OS updates promised and years of security updates. This phone also supports a wide range of sub-6 5G bands, so it’s a good fit for Cricket’s 5G network.

While folding display tech is used to make some phones bigger, in the case of the Razr+, its folding display is about saving space. The internal display unfolds to 6.9 inches with an AMOLED panel running at up to 165Hz. The outer screen is also good for more than notifications; the 3.6-inch panel allows you to control some phone functions without unfolding. The phone is powered by an older Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 SoC, but it still has plenty of performance for just about anything you’ll find on the Play Store.

The camera system is nothing special, and maybe a little disappointing. The 12MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide camera fail to impress. Still, photos can be decent with good lighting. It has a 3800mAh battery, which isn’t huge, but at least it charges up quickly with 30W wired charging support.

When it comes to networks, the phone has strong LTE and 5G support for low-band and mid-band spectrum. It’s worth keeping in mind that while an update to Android 14 is planned, this is still an Android 13 phone for now.

The Galaxy A15 5G is impressive considering its cost. It offers a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display running at up to 90Hz. Unfortunately, the phone’s 4GB of RAM in the North American models leaves a lot to be desired and results in some multitasking hiccups. Luckily, it still has some nice features like a 3.5mm headphone jack and a microSD card slot for storage expansion.

The camera quality from the main 50MP sensor is good with bright lighting but struggles with low-light photos. The 5MP ultrawide and 2MP macro cameras do nothing to improve the mood but are available for tighter and closer shots. Luckily, the 5000mAh battery has plenty of power to get the best shot possible. While the specs state support for 25W charging, we found the real-world charging speeds underwhelming.

Sub-6 5G support is solid with low-band and mid-band support, so it works well on Cricket. This phone is even available directly from Cricket. The phone launched with Android 14 and Samsung promises four OS updates and five years of security updates.

The OnePlus 12 is one of the most powerful phones available, with a high-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM, depending on the storage option. Its 6.82-inch AMOLED display supports 120Hz refresh rates and up to 4500 nits of peak brightness. The storage is also UFS 4.0, so it’s really fast, helping to make the phone feel even snappier.

The camera system consists of a main 50MP sensor, a 64MP 3x telephoto camera, and a 48MP ultrawide camera, which all look good. In fact, the photos the phone takes look great next to the best from Samsung and Google. And the 5400mAh battery provides plenty of time to get the best image and, with 80W wired charging, you can top it up in no time with the included charger.

While it lacks mmWave 5G support, it still has the bands for most of Cricket’s coverage with low-band and mid-band 5G support. The phone launched with Android 14 and offers a competitive four OS updates and five years of security updates.

Choose the right phone for Cricket Wireless

If you’re looking for the best phone to use on Cricket Wireless, luckily, there are quite a few options. Since Cricket is owned by AT&T, support for bands n5 and n77 is required to get the majority of its coverage with some mmWave coverage using band n260. For most, mmWave isn’t all that important, but it’s a good idea to start on the right foot with low-band and mid-band 5G support if you’re coming to Cricket.

If you’re looking for the most premium hardware running Android, look no further than the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. This phone has one of the fastest SoCs you can get with plenty of RAM for multitasking, but also some of the best camera hardware with its massive 200MP sensor on the back. You’ll also get the S Pen smart stylus, which offers more precision control and is perfect for taking quick notes on the large 6.8-inch display. Plus, years of software updates are included, so the phone will be secure and running modern software as long as you want to keep it.

For a more budget-friendly option, the Google Pixel 8a offers strong performance with the Tensor G3 SoC with a 120Hz OLED display. It runs Android 14 and, like the other Pixel phones, it’s set to receive seven years of Android updates. While its camera system hasn’t seen much improvement over the previous Pixel A-series phone, it’s still one of the best available thanks to Google’s camera software.

Overall, the Google Pixel 8 Pro is our favorite phone to use with Cricket, thanks to its robust software, strong 5G support, and capable Tensor G3 SoC. The camera system is also one of the best you’ll find on any phone because of Google’s powerful image processing. Finally, support for seven years of OS updates makes this a great phone for years.