Best mid-range smartphones: 6 excellent options that won’t break the bank

All in all, the Realme GT 2 Pro is the best mid-range phone you can buy right now. It includes everything we want from a phone at this price, while only ditching aspects we feel are luxurious extras many will be happy to do without.

Importantly, it’s a fast phone that’s reliable to use and Realme has promised three years of major Android updates – so you won’t be forced into upgrading again anytime soon. Frankly such software support is a rarity on Android, with many mid-range and affordable phones coming with no such guarantees.

We compared the Realme GT 2 Pro against far pricier Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus and Oppo Find X5 Pro and found that in our suite of benchmark tests, the cheaper GT 2 Pro actually performed just as well. It was a similar story in real world tests too – when you open up a demanding game like Genshin Impact on both you’ll find that there’s very little difference.

What’s more, this is just one of many areas the GT 2 Pro impressed. The papery finish on the back is unique, and offers a nice change of pace from a glass and metal slab, especially in this minty green hue we reviewed. There’s 5G connectivity too – something you’ll find on all these phones – and snappy charging available using the included plug. We managed to go from a completely depleted phone to fully charged in around 33 minutes – that’s far quicker than the Pixel 6 and Galaxy S21 FE.

Not only does it have the fastest charging of any of the phones on this list, but it also has the best screen too. The OLED panel is flat, packs a 1440p resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. Increasing the refresh rate makes for a smoother experience, whether you’re just scrolling through Instagram or playing games.

As with any phone of this price, there are some sacrifices to be found here. You won’t find wireless charging support here and it doesn’t carry an official IP rating for water and dust resistance. Look at the Pixel 6 if those are two key features you care about. A zoom camera is missing too, though that’s often a weak spot for phones in this segment; most affordable zoom sensors deliver results that are merely usable at best.

Reviewer: Tom Morgan
Full review: Realme GT 2 Pro Review

If you’re searching for the best of what Google has to offer, then you’ll be feeling lucky when you hit upon the excellent Pixel 7 .

With a modest $599/£599 price tag, this handset nevertheless offers a premium-looking design that’s plenty robust (thanks to IP68 water resistance and Gorilla Glass Victus), along with truly wonderful camera performance that gives top-line flagship phones a run for their money.

The 6.3-inch screen is also plenty good enough for watching films or playing games, and the battery life offered us enough juice for a heavy day’s usage on just one charge. Some gripes included the relatively slow charging speeds, but for its price you’ll be hard pushed to find better than this, especially as it hands you all of Google’s latest software smarts as well.

At £599, the Pixel 7 is also cheaper than the GT 2 Pro and the S21 FE. However, there is an option that’s cheaper still in the form of the Pixel 6a . This doesn’t offer quite such a strong spec sheet, missing out on features like the 50MP camera and 90Hz display, but it remains a good pick if you’re after the simple software and sleek design of a Pixel phone.

Reviewer: Peter Phelps
Full review: Pixel 7 Review

Pushing up to the upper end of mid-range market, the Asus Zenfone 9 is our top choice if you’re looking for a great all-round performer that is also easy to fit into your hand or slide into a petite pocket.

With a 5.9-inch screen, the Zenfone 9 is not for you if you subscribe to the “bigger is better” mantra, but that’s what makes it ideal if you would struggle to get to grips with some of the other massive mid-rangers on this list.

On top of its appealing size, this handset offers great photographic results thanks to a twin of sensor on its rear (50-megapixel wide and 12-megapixel ultrawide), and it’s got a snappy chipset too that should comfortably see you through any difficult processing tasks, including mobile games.

However, charging speed is on the slow side and the matte finish may not stand up to much hard-wearing use.

Reviewer: Andrew Williams

Full review: Asus Zenfone 9 review

If the phones above are still a little on the expensive side for your liking, then the slightly cheaper Motorola Edge 30 Fusion is a strong choice. It’s not the top-end of the Edge 30 Series – that’d be the £749 Edge 30 Ultra – but the Edge 30 Fusion provides a nice blend of tech at a much more attractive £549.

The display is a key area of differentiation between the Edge 30 Fusion and many rivals at both mid-range and premium levels, boasting a gaming-focused 6.55-inch 144Hz pOLED display compared to the 120Hz used by most key rivals. This faster display should appeal specifically to gamers who want the fastest display possible without going all-in on a gaming phone, but it also adds extra smoothness to scrolling and swiping that will be appreciated by all users.

Performance isn’t quite the fastest around, packing the Snapdragon 888+ chipset that initially launched in mid-2021. That means it won’t benchmark quite as well as the 8 Gen 1-equipped Realme GT 2 Pro, but it’s far from a slow smartphone. That was the flagship chipset just 18 months ago, after all, and day-to-day use (including gaming) showed no sign of stutter or lag.

It also boasts rapid 68W fast charging tech that will take you over the 75% mark in 30 minutes, boasts an impressive rear camera setup including a main OIS-enabled 50MP snapper and one of the cleanest implementations of Android 13 that you’ll find outside of Google’s own smartphone line.

Another nifty trick is the Ready For feature, which is a way of outputting your phone onto a larger display. This makes it easy to cast content onto desktop monitors and TVs to see your work, gaming and video calls on a bigger screen, which we found useful while working from home. It also plays nicely with Windows, allowing you to receive phone notifications, reply to messages, open apps and even use the phone as a webcam. Not bad for £549, right?

Reviewer: Sean Cameron
Full review: Motorola Edge 30 Fusion

We were big fans of the Galaxy S20 FE and the updated Samsung Galaxy S21 FE remains a sure-fire hit for fans of Samsung phones. It has a rich feature set and is a great choice if you’re happy with the Samsung ecosystem but aren’t fussed about some of the pricier devices, like the Galaxy S22 Plus .

What the S21 FE does well is to include just about every feature going, even if they’re not always the best around. It’s one of the only phones included in this list to feature wireless charging , an IP68 rating water resistance rating and a telephoto camera for zoomed shots. The 6.4-inch OLED screen isn’t the very best one you’ll find on this list, but we still found it to be wonderfully bright and perfectly usable in sunnier conditions during our time reviewing the phone.

Out of the three rear cameras, it’s the main 12MP sensor that impressed us the most and since it’s pretty much the same unit that features in the regular Galaxy S21 , photos are reliable in all manner of conditions based on our testing.

However, if camera quality is key, then we’d confidently say the Pixel 6 is a better choice. Comparing snaps from the two phones, Google’s Pixel 6 is more reliable in darker situations and its daylight shots are more pleasing as well.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full review: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

If you’re an Apple fan, and dead-set on getting an iPhone, then there are a couple of options on the market at the moment. At £779, the regular iPhone 13 is too expensive for what we consider a mid-range phone, so that’s crossed off the list. But the cheaper iPhone 13 Mini is within budget and a great choice if you want a smaller device.

You’ve got to be really comfortable with this smaller form factor to enjoy the iPhone 13 Mini, and it probably isn’t for those who watch a lot of media or play lots of games on the go. We found the screen is too small for that.

But, if you use your phone more for messaging, social media and taking pictures then the smaller size might be of benefit. It’s also the most comfortable phone to use one-handed on this list, especially if you’ve got smaller hands.

Feature-wise, the iPhone 13 Mini is the same as the pricier iPhone 13. Performance is the best out of any mid-range phone both in stringent lab tests and real-world use, while the duo of cameras on the back are the only ones listed that can compete with the Pixel 6. You’ll also get multiple years of support through iOS updates.

Wireless charging is here, as is an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. It’s also just a very nice looking phone, with multiple tasteful colour options available.

If you want a cheaper iPhone, the iPhone SE 2022 packs the same high-end performance but in a slightly dated body with a smaller screen.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full review: iPhone 13 Mini Review