We’ve seen plenty of heavyweight releases from LG, Samsung and most recently HTC. But what about the devices in the mid-range that deserve some love?
It needs to be said, there’s no such thing as a bad smartphone anymore. A few years ago a cheap budget phone would be used primarily for calls and texting, with the defining feature being a VGA screen. Things have changed a lot since the defining first generation iPhone. We’re seeing devices now that won’t break the piggy bank as bad, with features we usually see on top-end flagship devices.
So ask yourself, do you really need a power house like the S7 or HTC 10? Make up your mind after taking a gander at the gems below.
We’re still scouring for information about the OnePlus 3. Once it does get announced and released, you can still expect the OnePlus X to be around. The OnePlus X may be the latest flagship device from the young Chinese manufacturer, but it sits firmly in the mid-range.
The OnePlus X has phenomenal specs for the starting price of £199, for a 16GB model. It has a comfortable 5-inch screen for those that like one-handing their smartphone with pace and precision. For under £200, you’re getting a device with a quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor, with 3GB of RAM. Quality for the price; the OnePlus X.
Google’s Nexus series was always about high specs and a low price points. That’s been the Nexus unique selling point for years but now Google has recently joined in the spec race with Apple and Samsung with the release of the Nexus 6P.
Thankfully they haven’t forgot what made the Nexus series so popular and released the 5X alongside the 6P. The 5X sports a powerful Snapdragon 808 and a convenient fingerprint sensor on the back. Something you don’t see often with mid-range devices. Oh and of course there’s stock Android. Beautiful, simple, quick, stock Android.
Huawei’s sub-brand Honor went down the Nexus route, but taking it even further with the pricing. The Honor 7 was one of the first devices to have a fingerprint sensor, at its price point. It also has Huawei’s previous flagship chipset the 2.2 GHz quad-core Kirin 935.
So it’s no slouch when it comes to performance. The Honor 7 also has an impressive 3100 mAh battery capacity, while high-end flagships such as the S7 got upgraded to 3000 mAh just recently. It has a massive 20-megapixel camera for excellent snaps on the fly.
The mid-range device that doesn’t know it’s a mid-range device. Look at that price point, just look at it. The A9 is pushing mid-range border, for over £400 you’re getting a device with a Snapdragon 616. The A9 is the first device in the UK to implement the Snapdragon 616, and you know what? It’s pretty awesome.
The A9 was heavily criticised for looking like the iPhone 6, but not many mentioned how it performed like one too. Sense is one of our favourite Android UI and it’s nothing but smooth on the A9. The A9 is the only device on this list with a 24-bit digital audio converter (DAC), for excellent music quality.
Rounding off the list is a surprise entry from Apple. It’s not really a mid-range phone but with that price point we feel it needed to be included. Apple are looking to keep small screens in chic with the SE, as we all know, whatever Apple does it immediately becomes cool.
Whatever the 6s can do the SE can do too. They both have the A9 chip with 2GB of RAM to give that optimised experience we’re all familiar with. Both sport a fingerprint sensor with NFC for Apple Pay. The major difference is of course the size; the SE has a diminutive 4-inch screen, perfect for one handed use.
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