{"id":316906,"date":"2025-11-27T15:21:05","date_gmt":"2025-11-27T15:21:05","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/316906\/"},"modified":"2025-11-27T15:21:05","modified_gmt":"2025-11-27T15:21:05","slug":"5-android-phones-you-absolutely-should-not-buy-on-black-friday","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/316906\/","title":{"rendered":"5 Android phones you absolutely should not buy on Black Friday"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Photo<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Ah, yes. It\u2019s everyone\u2019s favorite (or least favorite) time of year: Black Friday<\/a>. What used to be a single day of sales has prolonged itself into a week of endless discounts, and 2025 has proven no different.<\/p>\n

Among all the deals available, many include savings on Android phones. I recently highlighted a few of the best Android phone deals for Black Friday<\/a>, and as you can see from that list, there are some pretty impressive discounts to be had.<\/p>\n

But not every deal is created equal, as is evident by the phones below. Here are five Android phones you\u2019re likely to come across during your Black Friday shopping that you absolutely should not buy.<\/p>\n

What do you think is the worst Android phone to buy on Black Friday?<\/p>\n

106 votes<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy A36 5G<\/p>\n

20%<\/p>\n

Motorola Moto G (2025)<\/p>\n

18%<\/p>\n

Motorola Moto G Play (2024)<\/p>\n

18%<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE<\/p>\n

12%<\/p>\n

Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/p>\n

28%<\/p>\n

Other (let us know in the comments)<\/p>\n

4%<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy A36 5G<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Rushil Agrawal \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

The first of those is the Samsung Galaxy A36 5G<\/a>. Samsung\u2019s Galaxy A lineup is consistently among the most popular, and the A36 5G is one of the latest models released in the US. Unfortunately, even with a $100 Black Friday discount, the Galaxy A36 5G is still a difficult phone to recommend.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s not that the A36 is a complete failure of a phone. It has a good AMOLED display and a lightweight design, while Samsung\u2019s seven-year update promise is excellent for a phone this cheap. Unfortunately, sluggish performance holds the A36 back from being a phone you\u2019d want to use for seven years \u2014 let alone a few months. As my colleague Rushil mentioned in his Galaxy A36 5G review, the phone struggles with even basic tasks, such as launching the camera app and scrolling through home screens.<\/p>\n

You might be inclined to forgive the A36\u2019s performance woes when it\u2019s on sale for $300 instead of $400, but I\u2019d advise against that. If you\u2019re looking for a phone in that $300 price range, I\u2019d much sooner recommend the Moto G Stylus (2025), which is currently discounted to just $285<\/a> and is much more performant.<\/p>\n

Motorola Moto G (2025)<\/p>\n

\"Motorola<\/p>\n

Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

While the Moto G Stylus (2025) is an excellent Black Friday pickup, the same can\u2019t be said about its Moto G (2025)<\/a> sibling. This version of the Moto G looks almost identical to its Stylus counterpart, but it\u2019s an inferior phone in virtually every way.<\/p>\n

Like the Galaxy A36 5G, the Moto G (2025) is hampered by poor performance. While the phone benchmarks fairly well, it\u2019s an absolute slog in the real world, with even the simplest of tasks slowing it down to a complete halt. And unlike the A36, the Moto G (2025) doesn\u2019t benefit from long-term software updates; Motorola promises just two Android OS upgrades, which will only get the phone up to Android 17.<\/p>\n

Combine that with frustrating secondary cameras and limited water resistance, and the Moto G (2025) is a bad purchase \u2014 even with a $50 Black Friday deal that brings it down from $200 to $150. If you\u2019re looking for an ultra-cheap Android phone, you\u2019re much better off with the Samsung Galaxy A16 5G. It\u2019s not on sale for Black Friday, but its $200 retail price<\/a> is a great value, and it\u2019s money that\u2019ll be much better spent.<\/p>\n

Motorola Moto G Play (2024)<\/p>\n

\"Motorola<\/p>\n

Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

The Moto G (2025) isn\u2019t the only Motorola phone you should avoid during Black Friday. If you\u2019re shopping for an Android handset online this week, there\u2019s a very good chance you\u2019ll come across the Moto G Play (2024)<\/a>. It\u2019s currently the number two best-selling phone on Amazon<\/a>, and it has a Black Friday deal that knocks its price down to just $95 from $150.<\/p>\n

While I\u2019ll be the first to admit that a $95 Android phone is really tempting, the fact of the matter is that the Moto G Play (2024) is not a good smartphone \u2014 even with its Black Friday sale. Why? For so many reasons. The Moto G Play has bloatware-ridden software, no 5G connectivity, no NFC chip for Google Pay, a low-quality display, slow charging, and a terrible update policy. The phone launched with Android 13, was updated to Android 14, and that\u2019s the one and only Android update it\u2019ll ever see.<\/p>\n

Even if you aren\u2019t going into the Moto G Play (2024) with high expectations, this is a phone that makes far too many compromises to be worth any price. Unless you absolutely can\u2019t spend more than $100 on a new phone, it\u2019s 100% worth spending a little bit more for a Moto G Stylus (2025) or Galaxy A16 5G.<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE<\/p>\n

\"Samsung<\/p>\n

Hadlee Simons \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

Another Android phone you should stay away from is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE<\/a>. This is Samsung\u2019s first budget-focused flip phone, and its Black Friday sale addresses one of our biggest complaints about it: the price. The Z Flip 7 FE is currently available for $706 instead of $900, and while that is a generous discount, it\u2019s not enough to make the phone worth your money.<\/p>\n

Besides its high retail price, there are other things the Flip 7 FE doesn\u2019t get right. Its cover screen hardware is outdated, while its software is clunky and frustrating to use. Its battery life isn\u2019t impressive, its charge speeds are slow, and its cameras aren\u2019t particularly good, either.<\/p>\n

You could argue that those are acceptable compromises for a flip phone you can buy for a little over $700, but I\u2019d argue you\u2019re much better off with the Motorola Razr Plus (2025) instead. Motorola\u2019s flip phone has a significantly better cover screen, good battery life, very fast charging, and reliable cameras. Not to mention, it\u2019s even cheaper than the Flip 7 FE for Black Friday, discounted to just $650<\/a>, down from $1,000.<\/p>\n

Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/p>\n

\"The<\/p>\n

Joe Maring \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n

My last pick is the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold<\/a>. Google\u2019s latest foldable is a frustrating product. I love its software, durable design, and built-in magnets, but so much of it feels outdated when put next to the competition \u2014 namely, its bulky form factor, lacking cameras, and its Tensor G5 performance limitations.<\/p>\n

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the Pixel 10 Pro Fold\u2019s main competitor in the US, and without any discounts, you could argue that the Pixel\u2019s shortcomings are easier to contend with given its $1,800 price tag compared to the Z Fold 7\u2019s $2,000 asking price. However, that argument is a lot weaker during Black Friday.<\/p>\n

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold is discounted to $1,500 for Black Friday, but the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is also on sale for $1,600<\/a>. With just $100 currently separating the two phones, I really struggle to see why anyone should buy Google\u2019s folding phone over Samsung\u2019s. The Z Fold 7 is significantly lighter and thinner, has a much faster chipset, more versatile cameras, and more robust foldable software. If you\u2019re already planning to spend this amount of money on a phone during Black Friday, do yourself a favor and spend the extra $100 for the Fold 7.<\/p>\n

Don\u2019t want to miss the best from Android Authority?<\/p>\n

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Thank you for being part of our community. Read our\u00a0Comment Policy<\/a> before posting.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Joe Maring \/ Android Authority Ah, yes. It\u2019s everyone\u2019s favorite (or least favorite) time of year: Black Friday.…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":316907,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[41],"tags":[142681,49850,165,51899,170,16155,74],"class_list":{"0":"post-316906","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-black-friday","9":"tag-google-pixel-10-pro-fold","10":"tag-mobile","11":"tag-motorola-moto-g","12":"tag-samsung","13":"tag-samsung-galaxy-z-flip-7","14":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316906","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=316906"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/316906\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/316907"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=316906"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=316906"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=316906"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}