That could take already affordable mid-range handsets and make them downright irresistible. You might have to give up on luxuries like waterproofing or wireless charging (though some of these phones have those!) but you can get top processors, amazing battery life, fast charging, and slick multi-lens cameras at some surprisingly affordable prices.
What are the best mid-range phones?
Check out our list of the best mid-range phones to find out which handsets we love right now. And if your budget is a little different, then look at our separate guides to the best flagship phone deals and best budget phone deals.
Mid-range phone buying advice
Mid-rangers are typically a mix of competitively-priced fully-fledged flagships, more affordable members of the same product family as a company’s top device with reduced performance, or a dedicated device, designed to deliver a certain premium feature (or features), without breaking the bank. Was: $699.99 Now: $399.99 ($300 off) Was: $464.90 Now: $419.99 ($44.91 off) Was: £399 Now: £299 (£100 off) Was: £449 Now: £259 (£190 off) Buy the Honor mid-ranger from the official store right now and you’ll save £190 on the asking price. Was: £599 Now: £325 (£275 off) Was: £409 Now: £300 (£109 off) Samsung’s star mid-ranger for 2021 – the upgraded Galaxy A52s – features a 120Hz AMOLED display, 5G, a 25W fast-charging 4500mAh battery, IP67 water and dust resistance, and a quad rear camera. Was: £399 Now: £239 (£160 off) With £160 off, the excellent Find X3 Lite is about the cheapest it’s ever been – and we gave it 4 stars in our review. Was: £369 Now: £259.99 (£109 off) Deciding which one best suits your needs falls to a number of factors. If you want raw performance, a former flagship will stand you in better stead but will more likely suffer more from waning software support sooner than less powerful but newer dedicated mid-ranger compatriots. Flagship-adjacent phones will try and offer the closest experience to a product line’s true top-tier offering but will likely skimp on the processor and/or RAM available. While dedicated mid-rangers don’t aim to excel based on their price point, save for one or two key areas, chosen by the manufacturer. As ever, buying from phone makers you trust is always the way you go, even if it means paying a little more for a similarly-specced phone. Bigger companies’ products are usually held to higher quality standards and should anything go wrong, they’ll likely offer more robust customer support.
Where do you find the best deals on mid-range phones?
The simple answer is that the best places to buy phones tend to be the same places you’d buy most of your tech: electronics shops and department stores. You can also check with carriers and networks, not to mention going direct to manufacturers’ websites. Here are some ideas to get you started:
US stores
UK stores
How to find deals
If you want to know more about the current mid-range phone market, check out our best mid-range phones roundup or if all the entries here still seem a little too pricey, have a look at our best budget phones roundup instead, where every entry costs under £250/$350. We also have a general roundup of the best tech deals right now, worth checking in on too. Tech Advisor’s Deputy Editor, Dom covers everything that runs on electricity, from phones and laptops to wearables, audio, gaming, smart home, and streaming - plus he’s a regular fixture on the Tech Advisor YouTube channel.
