Best Mid-Range Phone 2022: Affordable Flagships & Budget Buys

The Poco X4 Pro 5G is only just expensive enough to count as a mid-ranger in our books, but that just means it offers pretty exceptional value.

The 6.67in, 120Hz AMOLED display is essentially flagship-level, and it’s matched by a slick, elegant design elsewhere. Even the camera impresses, with a surprisingly solid 108Mp sensor for the main shooter – though the accompanying ultrawide and macro cameras aren’t as impressive.

It’s all made of plastic, so doesn’t feel too premium, and we don’t love the MIUI software running on here (shared by all Xiaomi, Poco, and Redmi phones). But overall this is an excellent package for the price.

The Pixel 6 is an eye-catching phone for a few reasons. For one, the price impresses, with what’s essentially a flagship phone clearly undercutting what you’d expect to be the rivals from Apple and Samsung.

There’s the design too though. Dominated by a jutting camera bar, the Pixel 6 doesn’t look like anything else on the market – well, except its
Pixel 6 Pro big brother – and the aesthetic is nothing if not divisive. It’s pretty big and heavy too, so won’t suit anyone hoping for a small phone.

What you do get is one of the best cameras around at this price, with an exceptional main lens backed up by an equally strong ultrawide. Both benefit from a few clever AI tricks delivered by Google’s new in-house Tensor chip and can take a few shots that no other phone can.

The only real downsides are a screen that’s 90Hz rather than 120Hz, and relatively slow 30W charging – with no charger included in the box either.

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.

The Moto G200 is the most powerful Motorola phone around right now, which makes the affordable price tag all the more impressive.

The Snapdragon 888+ chipset is blisteringly fast, as is the 144Hz refresh rate display – though it’s admittedly only LCD, not OLED. That makes this a great phone for gamers and the performance-obsessed, but less so for Instagram and Netflix sessions.

A big 5000mAh battery and 33W wired charging are decent too, as is the 108Mp main camera – though the ultrawide leaves a little more to be desired.

Nubia’s Red Magic 7 manages the trick of delivering the top-tier specs demanded by a gaming phone without breaking out of the mid-range pricing bracket. 

The 165Hz refresh rate is the fastest around right now – besting even the priciest gaming phones around – and you also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset combined with up to 18GB of RAM and 256GB storage. You’ll also get 65W fast charging for the 4500mAh battery, though thanks to all the power here this runs out a little faster than we’d like.

Like most gaming phones the camera is a little lacklustre, and the design is…specific. But if that’s what you’re looking for, the Red Magic 7 is hard to beat on value right now.

The Realme GT Neo 3 is all about speed – what, the racing stripes didn’t give it away?

That’s none more true than in the headline spec: 150W wired charging. That’s fast enough to deliver a full charge in less than 15 minutes, and restore half the battery in just five. And if somehow that doesn’t appeal, there’s always the slower 80W model to consider – with a bigger battery to boot.

The Dimensity 8100 chipset delivers blistering performance for the price too, helped by a smooth 120Hz AMOLED display. And the 50Mp OIS main camera holds its own as well, though the basic ultrawide and macro lenses are probably the phone’s big weak spot.

The Realme 9 Pro+ is the top phone in Realme’s budget 9 series.

It boasts a 120Hz display and 50Mp main camera – though the other lenses alongside do slightly disappoint.

60W fast charging impresses, but we really love the fact that the battery can last a full two days.

This doesn’t feel as premium or polished as some other phones on this list, but the colour-changing body design is certainly unique – and you can’t knock this phone for value.

Like the Realme GT, the Asus ZenFone 8 is in many ways a proper flagship phone – it’s simply one that’s been priced aggressively enough to make the cut in our mid-range chart.

You get flagship features like a Snapdragon 888 chipset, fast RAM, and even an IP68 water-resistance rating – though there’s still no wireless charging, sadly.

It’s also lightweight and compact, with a 5.9in display and weighing just 169g, making it one of the smallest Android phones around – though sadly this does come with an inevitable compromise on battery life.

We much prefer the ZenFone 8 to the more expensive
ZenFone 8 Flip, though that phone does boast a neat flipping camera module.

The Galaxy A53 5G is Samsung’s main mid-ranger right now, and it’s clearly pitched to rival Apple’s iPhone SE.

Like that phone it’s impressively affordable despite offering flagship features like an IP67 rating, OIS main camera, and brilliant long-term software support – Samsung is promising to keep the phone updated for at least four years.

There’s a downside though: while Apple packed the SE with a high-end chipset and compromised on the design, Samsung opted for a supremely slick design & display but cut corners on the chipset. The result is that the Galaxy A53 is pretty slow to use – it won’t be a problem if your needs are basic, but gamers and power users had better look elsewhere.

The Poco X4 Pro 5G is only just expensive enough to count as a mid-ranger in our books, but that just means it offers pretty exceptional value.

The 6.67in, 120Hz AMOLED display is essentially flagship-level, and it’s matched by a slick, elegant design elsewhere. Even the camera impresses, with a surprisingly solid 108Mp sensor for the main shooter – though the accompanying ultrawide and macro cameras aren’t as impressive.

It’s all made of plastic, so doesn’t feel too premium, and we don’t love the MIUI software running on here (shared by all Xiaomi, Poco, and Redmi phones). But overall this is an excellent package for the price.

The Pixel 6 is an eye-catching phone for a few reasons. For one, the price impresses, with what’s essentially a flagship phone clearly undercutting what you’d expect to be the rivals from Apple and Samsung.

There’s the design too though. Dominated by a jutting camera bar, the Pixel 6 doesn’t look like anything else on the market – well, except its
Pixel 6 Pro big brother – and the aesthetic is nothing if not divisive. It’s pretty big and heavy too, so won’t suit anyone hoping for a small phone.

What you do get is one of the best cameras around at this price, with an exceptional main lens backed up by an equally strong ultrawide. Both benefit from a few clever AI tricks delivered by Google’s new in-house Tensor chip and can take a few shots that no other phone can.

The only real downsides are a screen that’s 90Hz rather than 120Hz, and relatively slow 30W charging – with no charger included in the box either.

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.

The Moto G200 is the most powerful Motorola phone around right now, which makes the affordable price tag all the more impressive.

The Snapdragon 888+ chipset is blisteringly fast, as is the 144Hz refresh rate display – though it’s admittedly only LCD, not OLED. That makes this a great phone for gamers and the performance-obsessed, but less so for Instagram and Netflix sessions.

A big 5000mAh battery and 33W wired charging are decent too, as is the 108Mp main camera – though the ultrawide leaves a little more to be desired.

Nubia’s Red Magic 7 manages the trick of delivering the top-tier specs demanded by a gaming phone without breaking out of the mid-range pricing bracket. 

The 165Hz refresh rate is the fastest around right now – besting even the priciest gaming phones around – and you also get a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset combined with up to 18GB of RAM and 256GB storage. You’ll also get 65W fast charging for the 4500mAh battery, though thanks to all the power here this runs out a little faster than we’d like.

Like most gaming phones the camera is a little lacklustre, and the design is…specific. But if that’s what you’re looking for, the Red Magic 7 is hard to beat on value right now.

The Realme GT Neo 3 is all about speed – what, the racing stripes didn’t give it away?

That’s none more true than in the headline spec: 150W wired charging. That’s fast enough to deliver a full charge in less than 15 minutes, and restore half the battery in just five. And if somehow that doesn’t appeal, there’s always the slower 80W model to consider – with a bigger battery to boot.

The Dimensity 8100 chipset delivers blistering performance for the price too, helped by a smooth 120Hz AMOLED display. And the 50Mp OIS main camera holds its own as well, though the basic ultrawide and macro lenses are probably the phone’s big weak spot.

The Realme 9 Pro+ is the top phone in Realme’s budget 9 series.

It boasts a 120Hz display and 50Mp main camera – though the other lenses alongside do slightly disappoint.

60W fast charging impresses, but we really love the fact that the battery can last a full two days.

This doesn’t feel as premium or polished as some other phones on this list, but the colour-changing body design is certainly unique – and you can’t knock this phone for value.

Like the Realme GT, the Asus ZenFone 8 is in many ways a proper flagship phone – it’s simply one that’s been priced aggressively enough to make the cut in our mid-range chart.

You get flagship features like a Snapdragon 888 chipset, fast RAM, and even an IP68 water-resistance rating – though there’s still no wireless charging, sadly.

It’s also lightweight and compact, with a 5.9in display and weighing just 169g, making it one of the smallest Android phones around – though sadly this does come with an inevitable compromise on battery life.

We much prefer the ZenFone 8 to the more expensive
ZenFone 8 Flip, though that phone does boast a neat flipping camera module.

The Galaxy A53 5G is Samsung’s main mid-ranger right now, and it’s clearly pitched to rival Apple’s iPhone SE.

Like that phone it’s impressively affordable despite offering flagship features like an IP67 rating, OIS main camera, and brilliant long-term software support – Samsung is promising to keep the phone updated for at least four years.

There’s a downside though: while Apple packed the SE with a high-end chipset and compromised on the design, Samsung opted for a supremely slick design & display but cut corners on the chipset. The result is that the Galaxy A53 is pretty slow to use – it won’t be a problem if your needs are basic, but gamers and power users had better look elsewhere.