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The best Verizon phone deals for May 2022

Lucas Coll
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If you’re already a Verizon customer looking to upgrade to an unlimited plan or you’re thinking about switching carriers and you’re also in the market for a new smartphone, then there are always Verizon phone deals on tap that offer a great way to score a new flagship device for as little as nothing. There are a lot of them to sort through, though, and some offers are naturally better than others, so to help you cut right to the chase, we’ve picked out the five best Verizon phone deals available right now on top-tier devices from brands including Apple and Samsung. And as an added bonus, none of these smartphone deals require you to buy two devices in order to save.

Today’s best Verizon phone deals

  • Apple iPhone 11 — Free with Unlimited Plan
  • Apple iPhone 13 — Free with Unlimited Plan & Trade-In
  • Apple iPhone SE 3rd Gen — Free with Unlimited Plan
  • Samsung Galaxy S22 — Free with Unlimited Plan & Trade-In
  • Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G — Free with Unlimited Plan

Apple iPhone 11 — Free with unlimited plan

Someone in a street holds an iPhone 11 up displaying its home screen.

Why Buy

  • Snappy performance
  • Great battery life
  • Excellent camera module
  • Ideal size

The Apple iPhone 11 series was rolled out in 2019 as the successor to the iPhone XS line. This iPhone generation included three models — the standard along with the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max — but for our money, the regular old iPhone 11 was the one to buy. It sports a 6.1-inch Liquid Retina LCD display, which, while not the best screen we’ve ever seen from Apple, is a great size for an all-around phone that’s not too big and not headache-inducingly small.

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Under the hood, the iPhone 11 runs on Apple’s A13 Bionic chip and 4GB of RAM. Those specs aren’t going to set the world on fire in 2022 but are perfectly suitable for everyday use, and the iOS software experience is as slick and intuitive as you’d expect. That performance is helped along by an excellent all-day battery life. Where the iPhone 11 really shines, though, is with its upgraded camera module that features and ultrawide lens and improved autofocus over previous generations. The iPhone series has seen some upgrades since, but the iPhone 11’s camera is still highly capable and a delight for active phone photographers.

One thing to note, however, is that the iPhone 11 doesn’t feature 5G connectivity, which could be a deal-breaker if you’re looking for a phone that can take advantage of the latest network speeds. The trade-off is that this is one of the better Verizon phone deals if you don’t have a device to trade in (and don’t want to buy two phones in order to get a discount).

Apple iPhone 13 — Free with unlimited plan and trade-in

The OLED display of the Apple iPhone 13.
Dan Baker/Digital Trends

Why Buy

  • A15 Bionic chip yields great performance
  • Excellent camera
  • All-day battery life
  • Premium look and feel with squared-off silhouette

The iPhone 13 is Apple’s latest flagship smartphone that dropped at the company’s annual fall showcase event in September 2021. It carried on the much-needed overall redesign that we saw with the iPhone 12, with the rounded edges giving way to a squared-off silhouette that was a throwback to earlier iPhone models. There were plenty of hardware improvements, too, such as the inclusion of Apple’s new A15 Bionic hexa-core CPU.

Also carried on from the iPhone 12 line, the iPhone 13 series brought four models with it. As with most iPhone generations, our review team named the iPhone 13 the best pick for most people thanks to its utilitarian size, great hardware performance, and reasonable price point (the only cheaper model is the iPhone 13 Mini, which, while identical in terms of internal hardware, is probably a bit too small for most people). It also sports 5G connectivity for those looking to harness the power of next-generation network speeds.

If you have a device to trade in, then this is one of the best Verizon phone deals going right now, and one that can score you a new iPhone 13 for as little as nothing.

Apple iPhone SE 3rd Gen — Free with unlimited plan

iPhone SE in the hands of a user.

Why Buy

  • Compact size
  • Highly attractive price
  • The cheapest new iPhone
  • Same internal CPU as the iPhone 13

It’s no secret that smartphones have trended bigger and bigger over the years as people use these handy mobile devices to consume more media rather than for just calling and texting. It’s also no secret that flagship phones, including those from Apple, have become more expensive, leading to demand for mobiles that are both friendlier to one’s pocket as well as to one’s wallet. Apple heeded the call with the second-gen iPhone SE in 2020, and this year, it released a third generation of the beloved SE that boasts some notable improvements over its predecessor.

For starters, the 2022 iPhone SE packs the same A15 Bionic chip as the considerably more expensive iPhone 13, just as the second-gen iPhone SE sported the same A13 Bionic CPU as the iPhone 11. That gives you a lot of horsepower inside a device that looks pretty much identical to the iPhone 8 — although that’s one of the main drawbacks of the iPhone SE, as you’ll have to deal with those chunky top and bottom bezels that were eliminated way back with the iPhone X.

On the other hand, the 2022 iPhone SE does address some issues we had with the second-gen model; namely, it features a surprisingly good (if not somewhat basic) camera module along with much-improved battery life. The iPhone SE is the cheapest way into the iOS ecosystem even at its full price, and Verizon phone deals let you score one for free right now. It doesn’t get much cheaper than that.

Samsung Galaxy S22 — Free with unlimited plan and trade-in

Home screen of Samsung Galaxy S22.

Why Buy

  • Compact yet feels sturdy in the hand
  • Superb OLED display
  • Solid camera module
  • Great hardware performance

Apple may be the single most popular smartphone brand in the U.S., but if you’re more of an Android person, then one name stands tall above all others: Samsung. This Korean tech giant dominates the Android smartphone space with its excellent lineup of Galaxy devices that get better and better each year. The Galaxy S22 is Samsung’s latest offering that just launched in February 2022, and to nobody’s great surprise, it does not disappoint.

At first glance, you’ll notice that the 6.1-inch OLED display is absolutely gorgeous. It features a 1080 × 2340 resolution along with a buttery smooth 120Hz refresh rate and sits at the perfect size. The Galaxy S22 utilizes a few different chips, but they all deliver similar performance, which is nothing short of excellent. The phone can get a little warm when running under load, but speed and responsiveness are no problem for this at all. Pair that hardware with one of the best software experiences and OS upgrade policies we’ve seen, and you’ve got the new Android king in the Samsung Galaxy S22.

The Galaxy S22 features an excellent three-lens camera module as well (which includes a coveted telephoto lens that we like to see on flagships in 2022), so photo-happy users will find a lot to like here and little to complain about. If you have a device to trade in and you’re hankering for the latest and greatest Android flagship to hit the market, you can do a lot worse than this.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G — Free with unlimited plan

The diplay of the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE.
Andy Boxall/Digital Trends

Why Buy

  • Great flagship-like design with slim bezels
  • Excellent 120Hz OLED display
  • Solid three-lens camera module
  • Now available with 5G connectivity

As flagship smartphone prices have creeped ever upward, a few phone makers have responded by releasing more budget-friendly alternatives to their mainline releases. Apple did it with the new iPhone SE models, and in 2020, Samsung followed suit with its Galaxy S20 FE. The first Galaxy S20 FE dropped just as 5G was becoming a thing and sadly lacked this higher-speed network connectivity. Thankfully, Samsung addressed this problem with a refresh in March 2021 that added 5G capabilities to this affordable “flagship lite.”

At a glance, there’s not much to distinguish the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE from a mainline flagship. It sports thin bezels, a great three-lens camera module that rivals that of its more expensive counterparts, and a lovely 120Hz OLED display. One trade-off is that the back is plastic, but it has a matte finish (read: it’s not an obnoxious fingerprint magnet) and this shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for budget-minded smartphone shoppers. The battery life is just average as well, but this also shouldn’t stick in your craw too much. The new 5G network connectivity and much lower price tag more than make up for these relatively minor drawbacks.

Even today, the Galaxy S20 FE might be a better buy than the Galaxy S21 if you’re looking to save some money by opting for a last-gen smartphone. It combines flagship looks with solid hardware and a nice camera module at a great price, but Verizon phone deals let you score one for free if you sign up for an unlimited plan with a new line — no trade-in required.

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Lucas Coll
Lucas Coll
Deals and News Writer
Lucas Coll has been a freelance writer for almost a decade and has penned articles on tech, video games, travel, cars, and…
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