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There was a time when budget phones were awful. Downright hard to use. Those days are gone and the “budget” options are better than ever before. The newest from Samsung is the Galaxy A53 5G, I took it for a test.

The A53 is a budget phone that feels high-end. The front is gorilla glass with a 6.4″ AMOLED screen. The screen is bright and smooth thanks to a 120hz refresh rate. The back of the phone is plastic, unlike the glass backing on many high-end phones but it didn’t both me. It feels solid and I actually like the “rubbery” feel of it. Under the screen there is a fingerprint sensor that works as you’d expect to unlock your phone quickly.

Samsung obviously realizes that cameras are king no matter what the price tag and they didn’t hold back on the A53’s camera power. A total of 5 cameras including a 64MP main camera, a 12MP wide-angle camera, a 5MP macro camera and a 5MP depth sensing camera. On the front there is a 32MP selfie camera. That is some serious camera power for a so-called budget phone. In my testing the pictures and video are excellent. Easily on par with many top of the line Samsung and Apple phones.

What’s the catch?

That’s a great question – what am I missing here? There are a few obvious omissions. First of all, you’re not getting the latest and greatest Snapdragon processor in the A53. Samsung uses a Cortex processor instead. Will you notice? Probably not. Sure, it’s not the snappy super fast processor you get in a more expensive flagship phone but most people simply don’t need that kind of power.

Speaking of power, you always won’t get wireless charging in the A53. For me, this is my biggest gripe since I’m a daily user of wireless charging. With that said, I get it, they have to save money somewhere to keep the price tag down. If you don’t mind plugging your phone in at night, then this won’t be a deal-breaker for you.

The “catch” of a budget phone simply isn’t what it used to be. Yes, there are some features and specs that you won’t get but today’s budget phone was yesterday’s flagship. With yesterday’s flagships still being pretty darn good, that means today’s budget phones are even more appealing that ever. The Samsung Galaxy A53 is among the best phone you’ll find for under $500.

You can buy the Samsung Galaxy A53 directly from Samsung for $450. I found it online on Amazon for an even more amazing price tag of $314. At that price, you can’t go wrong.