Yep, we totally saved the best for last with this one. As one of today’s leading Android-powered devices, as well as the latest model in Google’s long-running Nexus series of handsets, the Nexus 4 certainly belongs in any list of best Android smartphones. It managed to land on the top spot of this list in particular because apart from having many of today’s best smartphone hardware features (with a few exceptions), it also has a shockingly low price tag.

Google broke hearts when it announced that the Nexus 4 was going to sell for as low as $299 without a contract. It’s definitely a bargain, even with only 8GB of fixed storage space (the 16GB model costs $350), considering it has other top-notch hardware features to go along with it. And of course, as a Nexus phone, it’s not just all about the hardware. Software plays a very important role for it, too.

Nexus 4 users can expect to upgrade straight to many later versions of Android as soon as Google releases them. Indeed, that’s the beauty of having a Nexus 4 — you pay once, and you get to see your phone undergo a transformation (or maybe even a rebirth) again and again. Affordable Android handsets.