Height-cease flagship smartphones may offer dazzling features, such equally blistering functioning, unrivalled cameras, and even foldable screens, merely these kind of features can come at a crippling toll. There’southward still plenty of value to exist had in the mid-range sector of the marketplace, and in this article we’ve compiled a listing of the very best ones you should consider.
The mid-range market has besides grown massively in contempo years, bringing with information technology a big diversity of handsets for many different customers. Major smartphone brands including Apple, Samsung, and Google take joined the game, offering eminently affordable alternatives for those who desire a flagship feature or two without that off-putting price — and we expect even more to exist unveiled shortly, at MWC 2022 and beyond.
More often than not speaking, mid-range phones commonly fall within the £400 to £750 (or $400 to $800) range, making them very a rather tempting option to those customers otherwise horrified at the handful of £m+ phones we’ve seen launch over the last few years – although you lot’ve got to conduct in mind that at that place are usually a couple of compromises that take been made in to justify the smaller price tag.
In this list, you’ll find all of the all-time mid-range phones we’ve tried out this year along with links to our total, in-depth reviews then that you lot can read in greater detail the rigourous tests we’ve put them through.
If price isn’t such a concern and you lot’d actually adopt to compare the best flagship phones, you lot’ll want to bank check out our all-time phones guide. If your budget doesn’t stretch as far as the devices listed below, you tin can head over to our best cheap phones page to find the most affordable handsets we’d recommend right now.
How nosotros exam
Learn more almost how we exam mobile phones
Every phone we review goes through a series of uniform checks designed to guess central things including build quality, screen accuracy, battery life, operation and photographic camera prowess.
These include formal constructed benchmarks and scripted tests, plus a serial of real world checks, such as how much battery it loses per hour streaming video.
We also brand sure to use every phone we review every bit our primary handset for at least 4 days to ensure our review is as accurate as possible. You lot can see a more than detailed breakdown of our testing methodology in our how nosotros test phones guide.
Pixel 6
A cheaper culling to the Pixel 6 Pro
Pros
- So many slap-up software features
- Overnice array of colours
- Strong camera hardware for the price
Cons
- Some jank in the software
- The display lacks the 120Hz refresh rate of many similarly priced rivals
- A couple of odd blueprint choices
The Pixel 6 is the Google’due south newest mid-range phone and a more than affordable culling to the Google Pixel half-dozen Pro.
The phone is the beginning from the company powered by its ain Tensor chipset, offering major improvements in AI and machine learning over previous Pixels to enable new features similar auto-translations built into the phone.
The phone features a new three-tone pattern sure to stand up out in a crowd, a 6.4-inch brandish and is the first device to run Android 12 out of the box so you know its got the latest software on board.
On the back on the telephone, there’s a dual photographic camera made up of a fifty-megapixel (f/1.85) wide bending lens and a 12-megapixel (f/2.ii) ultra-wide angle lens backed upward by Google’s advanced photo-processing algorithms, forth with new photography features like the Magic Eraser, Existent Tone and Face Unblur.
Nonetheless, unlike the flagship Pixel 6 Pro, the Pixel six does not include a 120Hz display or a third telephoto lens for zooming in close to your subject.
Reviewer:
Max Parker
Full review:
Google Pixel six Review
OnePlus ix
A flagship phone for less
Pros
- Well calibrated screen that’s perfect for gamers and movie fans
- Solid photographic camera with an advanced pro mode for tinkerers
- Outstanding, hereafter proof functioning
Cons
- Lack of variable refresh rate means the screen eats up battery in its highest setting
- Camera’s image processing can exist a trivial heavy handed
If you’re a ability user that desperately wants a flagship phone, but can’t beget to spend over $1000 so the OnePlus 9 is the best choice at the moment.
Information technology features all the key trappings yous’d expect from a flagship. Highlights include 5G connectivity, tiptop of the line internal components plus a few exclusive extras that put information technology a cut above its arch-rival, the Galaxy S21, during our tests.
The biggest are its improved Hasselblad camera setup. Built in partnership with the iconic camera brand the OnePlus nine’s rear camera beats the Milky way S21 when it comes to colour reproduction and features a more useful secondary ultrawide sensor, which is swell if y’all regularly shoot landscape shots.
It’southward besides one of the fastest charging phones nosotros’ve reviewed. During our tests its Warp Accuse tech permit the telephone go from zero to 100 percent charge in less than 30 minutes, which is seriously impressive.
The only slight downside is that, unlike the Milky way S21, the phone’s 120Hz AMOLED screen doesn’t feature a variable refresh rate. This means information technology offers slightly shorter bombardment life than we’d like if you set the screen to its highest settings.
Read our full
OnePlus 9 review
Buy now at Appliances Direct, £629
Buy now at John Lewis & Partners, £629
Asus Zenfone 8
The best modest Android phone effectually
Pros
- Great size for those who find Android phones large
- Impressive speed
- Lovely screen
- Impressive value
Cons
- Tin can get hot when gaming
- No telephoto camera
- No wireless charging
The Asus Zenfone 8 sets itself apart from other phones on this list by being both a small device and one that packs plenty of power.
The size is far more comparable to the iPhone 12 with the five.9-inch display and thanks to some software tweaks yous can use the phone well with just one paw.
Where the Zenfone 8 stands above other smaller devices, like the Pixel five, is in the internals. Here you’ve got a flagship Snapdragon 888 chipset (with 5G), up to 16GB RAM and 30w charging. The screen can also ramp up to 120Hz – the Pixel 5 is stuck at 90Hz.
Information technology might be small, just Asus has withal managed to fit in a pair of stereo front-firing speakers and a 3.5mm port for your wired headphones.
Not all is perfect, though. There’s no wireless charging and the lack of a zoom photographic camera means versatility in photography is limited when compared to another phones on this list. It can get a footling when gaming, too.
Read our total Asus Zenfone 8 review
Samsung Galaxy S20 Fe
The best mid-range Samsung Galaxy telephone
Pros
- Snapdragon 865 in the UK
- Lovely 120Hz panel
- Bachelor in a nice array of colours
Cons
- Secondary cameras aren’t great
£699 might be pushing the definition of mid-range, but with flagship devices costing twice this these days, it can sometimes put more affordable phones into context. A good case of this is the Galaxy S20 FE, which Samsung crammed many of its 2022 flagship features into without making as well many sacrifices.
The highlights here include an bonny 120Hz OLED flat console offer punchy colours and deep blacks, 6GB of fast RAM and 128GB storage. Y’all’ll also discover a triple camera array on the rear of the device, which is headlined by an fantabulous 12-megapixel camera capable of capturing bright, detailed and intensely colourful photos. Through testing, nosotros found information technology more good enough for taking photos for utilize on social media and video-calling over Zoom. Still, we’d still say the Pixel serial offers the very best camera experience in this price subclass.
Samsung has also included enough of features that are often ditched at this price, including Qi charging, an IP68 water-resistance rating and expandable storage.
The real star of the show here is the Snapdragon 865 chipset (there’s likewise a 4G Exynos 990 version available for £100 less), which not but gives the FE meliorate performance than other European versions of last twelvemonth’s S20, simply superior battery life, too. At that place’s 5G back up to boot – although, as we found during testing, unless you live in an surface area with 5G coverage, the latter isn’t a huge selling point.
Finally, there’south the Atomic number 26’s design, which is fairly similar to Samsung’s current Galaxy S21. It’southward built of tough plastic rather than drinking glass. But using it as my everyday phone, I constitute the matte cease attractive – and, unlike most plastic-backed phones, information technology wasn’t a magnet for fingerprints. The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is also available in a range of middle-catching colours, including a deep blue and hitting scarlet.
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G
A not bad all-rounder with 5G
Pros
- Not bad screen
- 5G
- Long battery life
- Years of software updates
- OIS makes the camera improve
Cons
- Basic pattern
- Poor secondary cameras
At £399 (no electric current US price available), the Samsung Galaxy A52 5G is one of the cheaper options on this listing and is a great option if you want to save a scrap more money without sacrificing too many features.
The star of the evidence hither is the six.5-inch OLED display which, similar some of the pricier phones around, has a quick 120Hz refresh rate for polish scrolling and responsive gaming. Y’all’ll find that quick screen constantly, as it just makes the phone experience a lot smoother than yous’d expect.
It’s a quality panel in other means also. The OLED tech gives y’all inky blacks and bright colours, while the 1080p resolution is more than sharp enough. At that place’s no proper HDR support, merely the brilliant screen still looks cracking for watching Netflix on.
Inside the phone you’ll observe a Snapdragon 750G chipset paired with vi or 8GB RAM. This is a slower chipset than many phones on this list in terms of benchmarks and overall performance, however we institute it more capable of treatment mean solar day-to-day tasks and gaming. Y’all’ve got 128GB storage besides, and a slot for expansion – something you won’t find on the Galaxy S21.
Some other impressive feature is battery life, which we found hands lasted through the mean solar day and then some. It’s a 4500mAh cell and charges upwards via an included 15w charger.
On the back of the phone yous’ll detect a proficient chief 64MP photographic camera with OIS (optical image stabilisation) forth with a couple of less impressive secondary cameras and an adequate 32MP selfie camera.
There aren’t too many sacrifices here. You lot get an IP rated torso, diverse colour options and Samsung promises 3 years of security updates. The design is a fleck basic though, and it’s very much fabricated out of plastic.
Read our full
Samsung Galaxy A52 5G review
Buy now at BuyMobiles, £21 p/m, £29.99 upfront
Buy at present at Appliances Straight, £379
Google Pixel 4a
A mix of the 4a and 5
Pros
- Great camera that’s the aforementioned as the Pixel 5
- Bigger display than the Pixel five
- Decent operation and 5G
Cons
- Design a bit banal
- The Pixel v packs in more features for not much more money
Sitting bang in the centre of Google’southward 2022 range of Pixel phones is the 4a 5G. It’due south very much a mixture of the 4a and 5 models, combining the design of the one-time with the camera and 5G support of the latter.
It’s the biggest of the Pixels, too, coming with a 6.ii-inch display. This OLED console looks nifty, even if we do wish it had a 90Hz refresh rate. Information technology’s missing wireless charging too, and an IP rating which are two features ofttimes missed at this price. Other specs include a 765G Snapdragon chipset, 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It runs Android 11.
Bombardment life during testing was skilful, but it’s the dual camera that really shines. It’southward the same unit of measurement as included in Pixel 5, which means in tests information technology proved capable of taking super-detailed shots in all mode of conditions, including low light. If camera is your primary focus then this should be very loftier on your list, especially if you don’t want to spend more on the Pixel 5.
Read our full
Google Pixel 4a 5G review
Buy now at Appliances Direct, £449.97
Buy at present at Amazon, £478.99
iPhone SE 2
A fast and cheaper iPhone
Pros
- Excellent performance
- Good cameras for most people
- Great software that won’t confuse non-techies
The iPhone SE 2 is a simple device. It looks very much like the iPhone 7 or 8, simply it has the internals of the newer iPhones. It’s fast, packs a good camera and okay battery life.
What really sets this phone apart from other handsets on this listing is its size. This is a small phone, whose screen we found was atypically piece of cake to use i-handed during testing.
The SE 2 comes with a physical Impact ID home button, too. Other features worth noting include an IP67 rating, wireless charging and it’s bachelor in an centre-catching red colour, too.
If you lot’re on the hunt for an iPhone and your upkeep is less than £500, this really is your but choice if you’re looking new. Of course, there’s also the iPhone 12 Mini available for £699 – however the smaller size might put some off.
Read our full
iPhone SE 2 review
Purchase now at Mobile Phones Direct, £21 pm, £29.99 upfront
Purchase now at BuyMobiles, £23 pm, £39 upfront
Motorola Edge 20 Pro
A 5x periscope zoom camera for under £700
Pros
- 5x zoom photographic camera is rare at this level
- Solid outdoor display brightness
- Expert general and gaming functioning
Cons
- Mono speaker
- Main camera lags behind the best a petty
- More powerful phones at bachelor at the price
In our review, reviewer Andrew Williams calls the Motorola Edge 20 Pro the “nigh expensive Motorola telephone most of you should consider ownership” and at that place’south a reason for that.
The phone features a slim design, a bright brandish and is powered past the Snapdragon 870 5G processor, a tweaked version of last yr’s Snapdragon 865 that offers fast performance and can handle gaming.
The highlight here is the triple camera array, which consists of a 108-megapixel wide angle lens, a xvi-megapixel ultra-wide angle lens and an eight-megapixel periscope zoom lens. The latter lens is particularly impressive, offer 5x optical zoom at an affordable toll, simply the primary camera falls behind some rivals.
The bombardment is smaller than boilerplate, but yet offers a decent amount of battery life despite its size.
Reviewer:
Andrew Williams
Full review:
Motorola Edge 20 Pro Review
ZTE Axon 30 Ultra
Packed with high-cease features
Pros
- Great screen
- Capable, versatile cameras
- Fast charging
Cons
- No long-term software support
- Software lacks some shine
- Camera processing isn’t up there with the best
The ZTE Axon 30 Ultra is the Chinese manufacturer’southward attempt at creating a mid-range “ultra” phone and it offers a competitive range of features.
These include a 6.67-inch AMOLED display with a speedy 144Hz refresh rate and Qualcomm’s loftier-terminate Snapdragon 888 5G chip commonly institute inside more flagship Android phones.
Triple camera array consisting of two 64-megapixel sensors – a main sensor and an ultra-wide sensor – and an 8-megapixel periscope zoom lens. There’due south a broad array of shooting modes and colour reproduction is strong, but some photos can come out overly sharpened
The battery life is decent and the inclusion of 65W fast charging and a fast charger in the box means yous tin can charge the phone to 70% in as little as 30 minutes.
The main disadvantage here is the software, which lacks some polish and doesn’t appear to be supported with long-term updates, meaning the phone may not agree its resale value.
Reviewer:
Sean Cameron
Full review:
ZTE Axon 30 Ultra Review
FAQs
How much does a mid-range phone cost?
The team at Trusted Reviews defines mid-range smartphones as any handset costing between $400-$800 (£400-£750). We raised our definition last year, post-obit a gradual rise in prices in the meridian end of the market.
Are mid-range phones good?
Over the last few years the mid-range phone marketplace has blossomed, with key companies including Google, Xiaomi, OnePlus, Oppo and Samsung creating mid-range handsets with features traditionally reserved for flagship devices. Contempo highlights take included 5G connectivity, high refresh rate screens and improved rear camera sensors. The team of experts at Trusted Reviews recommend near users consider a mid-range smartphone earlier investing in a flagship as a outcome.
Are there 5G mid-range phones?
5G is an increasingly mutual site in the mid-range market with Samsung, Oppo, Motorola, OnePlus and Google having mid-range phones supporting the connectivity.
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Comparison Specifications
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UK RRP
United states RRP
EU RRP
CA RRP
AUD RRP
Manufacturer
Screen Size
Storage Chapters
Rear Camera
Front Camera
Video Recording
Battery
Wirless charging
Fast Charging
Size (Dimensions)
Weight
ASIN
Release Date
First Reviewed Date
Model Number
Resolution
HDR
Refresh Rate
Ports
Chipset
RAM
Colours
Bin capacity
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Source: https://www.trustedreviews.com/best/best-mid-range-smartphones-3607758
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