Not everyone can afford a flagship phone like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra or the iPhone 13 Pro, but the good news is that plenty of cheaper devices offer a similarly excellent experience.
Mid-range phones offer the best balance of price and performance, packing high-end features you won't find on the cheapest phones on the market while still sometimes being half the price of top flagships or less.
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We define a mid-range phone as one that costs between $350/£250 (the upper end of our even cheapest budget phone chart) and $850/£600 on a SIM-free basis – suitable for pairing with a SIM-only plan.
You'll find something pricier than that in our general best smartphones ranking, which focuses on flagship fare, including our pick of the best Android phones.
1.Google Pixel 6a – Best overall
The Pixel 6a is a great mid-range phone with a flagship-level processor, a truly outstanding main camera, 5G connectivity, the latest version of Android, five years of security support, and a pocket-friendly design.
The big downsides are the slow charging speed of a phone that charges hot, the easily scratched plastic back, and the 60Hz display lags behind similarly priced phones.
Still, it's a Pixel, which means it has a great Android experience and camera with a software polish and premium hardware you won't find on other brands in this price range.
2.OnePlus Nord 2T
An outstanding follow-up to the best mid-range phones of 2021 with 80W fast charging, 5G, OnePlus' signature Oxygen OS user experience and a near-flagship main camera. What not to love?
What the OnePlus Nord 2T really showcases is its ability to prioritize the features users are looking for right now and wrap them in an attractive package with an attractive price point.
The Nord 2T misses out on flagship niceties like wireless charging and waterproofing, but that's really the only compromise here. Also available is the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G, which offers a stripped-back version at a slightly lower price.
3. Poco X4 Pro 5G
- 120Hz AMOLED display
- 108Mp main camera
- Attractive design
- Middling MIUI software
- Plastic body
The Poco X4 Pro 5G is expensive enough to count as a mid-ranger in our books, but that means it offers pretty exceptional value.
The 6.67in, 120Hz AMOLED display is essentially flagship-level, and it's matched elsewhere by a slick, elegant design. Even for the main shooter the camera impresses, with a surprisingly solid 108Mp sensor – although the accompanying ultrawide and macro cameras aren't as impressive.
It's all plastic, so doesn't feel too premium, and we don't like the MIUI software running here (shared by all Xiaomi, Poco, and Redmi phones). But overall it's a great package for the price.
4.Google Pixel 6
- Excellent software
- Great cameras
- IP68 rating
- Only 90Hz display
- Divisive design
- Slow charging
Arguably the toughest competition for the Pixel 6a is that you don't have to spend that much to get the Pixel 6, which is cheap enough to sneak onto our mid-range chart despite being a truly flagship phone.
This extra cost gives you one of the best cameras at this price, backed up by an equally powerful ultrawide with an exceptional prime lens. Both benefit from some clever AI tricks provided by Google's in-house Tensor chip and can take some shots that no other phone can.
You also get a display jump to 90Hz, though that's still behind the 120Hz common on other phones at this price, as is the relatively slow 30W charging – no charger included in the box either. The Pixel 6 is quite large and heavy, so it's not worth anyone's expectations for a small phone.
5.Realme GT 2
- 65W charging
- 120Hz AMOLED display
- Good main camera
- Basic secondary cameras
- Plastic build
The Realme GT 2 is a gentle follow-up to last year’s GT, and doesn’t tweak the specs too much – but to be honest, that’s no bad thing.
Last year’s Snapdragon 888 makes a return as the chipset, but it’s still plenty powerful. A 120Hz AMOLED display, big battery, and excellent 65W fast charging round out the strong spec sheet.
It’s built out of plastic, which some don’t mind but others might find holds it back from feeling like a flagship, but the biggest downside is that the strong main camera isn’t well supported by the secondary lenses.
