I was listening to this ep/podcast on Hackaday about a 12GB $50 Motorola phone

https://hackaday.com/2026/05/26/linux-on-android-provides-in...

But yeah they're usually carrier locked, I personally use Verizon prepaid and my 8GB Motorola phone is above $80 but not $600 either, it's $200

https://www.verizon.com/smartphones/motorola-moto-g-power-20...

Anyway it's certainly not the same phone as a flagship folding phone but for daily everyday needs more than adequate, I even was able to run multiple gig apps eg. DoorDash/Uber Eats on the 8GB model.

I will say what people consider "worth the money" varies since I bought a $1,000.00 radar detector and it's like who buys that...

Might be ram boost that's bumping from 8 to 12GB