The best mid-range phone 2023

The Pixel 7a is a superb mid-range phone that frequently feels like a flagship.

An outstanding main camera combines with water-proofing, wireless charging, excellent Google software, and powerful performance to outclass almost every other mid-ranger around.

There are compromises. The wired charging is sluggish, and Google doesn’t include a charger in the box. Battery life isn’t bad, but it isn’t great either. Check out our roundup of the Best phone chargers.

You’ll also have to put up with a 90Hz refresh rate display, lagging behind the smoother 120Hz panels found elsewhere.

Those are small negatives in an otherwise excellent phone though, and overall the Pixel 7a offers the best bang for your buck out there right now.

An outstanding follow-up to 2021’s best mid-range phone, with 80W fast charging, 5G, OnePlus’s signature Oxygen OS user experience, and a near-flagship main camera. What’s not to love?

What the OnePlus Nord 2T really demonstrates is the company’s ability to prioritise the features that users are looking for right now and wrapping them up in an attractive package with a compelling price point.

The Nord 2T misses out on flagship niceties like wireless charging and waterproofing, but those are really the only compromises made here.

There’s also the OnePlus Nord CE 2 5G available, which delivers a stripped-back version for a slightly lower price.

Arguably the toughest competition for the Pixel 7a is the fact that you don’t have to spend that much more to get the Pixel 7, which is just cheap to enough to sneak into our mid-range chart, despite really being a flagship phone.

That extra expenditure gets you 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 second-generation Tensor chip.

You also get flagship build quality, with a toughened glass body and a sleek, slender design – this is thinner than the 7a, and only a fraction heavier despite packing a larger display.

The Poco X5 Pro 5G is at the cheaper end of what we consider a mid-ranger, but that 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 Phone (1) is the debut phone from London-based start-up Nothing – though the company has serious pedigree, as its founder Carl Pei previously headed up OnePlus.

Ahead of launch much was made to hype up the Phone (1) as a smartphone revolution, but really the boldest thing about it is the design: a semi-transparent rear intersected by LED light strips that can flash for notifications, illuminate while charging, and even serve as a fill light for the camera.

Set aside the lights, and the Nothing Phone (1) is really just a regular mid-range device, albeit one of the better ones around. Battery life is a bit disappointing, but the trade-off is you get a decent display, a pair of good rear cameras, and both wireless charging and an IP53 rating.

Samsung is back on track with the Galaxy A54 5G after a miscue with last year’s A53.

The A54 delivers top-notch styling, IP67 protection, one of the best screens on a mid-range phone, and a dependable set of cameras. Furthermore, battery life is solid and Samsung continues to impress with its software upgrade guarantee.

The key this year is that all of that is backed up by stable, solid performance from the powerful Exynos 1380 processor. This isn’t the most powerful mid-range phone around, but it’s good enough – and excels almost everywhere else.

The Motorola Edge 40 is an impressive phone for the price, especially when it comes to aesthetics. The vegan leather-backed version is one of the most attractive and best feeling phones we’ve ever used, all the more improved by its incredibly slim and lightweight build.

Clever software additions such as the gestures for opening the camera or the option to use the always-on display to preview or open notifications really add value to Android and are a good reason to pick this phone over other mid-rangers, while from a hardware side the super-fast 144Hz refresh rate display is unique for the price point.

It’s frustrating that the phone will only get two Android platform updates and only get security support until 2026. This isn’t long enough when the phone would otherwise be good enough to keep going for at least five years.

If this doesn’t bother you then it’s a solid choice in the mid-range market.

The Redmi Note 12 Pro+ is more than just a competitive mid-ranger – it’s a potential flagship killer.

Its headlining 200Mp camera is a bona fide premium feature, while performance and display are among the best you’ll find at this price point. Battery life is solid too, while the 120W fast charging is excellent.

As a result, the 12 Pro+ is easy to recommend, though if you can live with slower charging and a 50Mp camera then the cheaper Note 12 Pro is also great. The polarising MIUI software and poor supporting rear cameras might make you look elsewhere, but you certainly shouldn’t rule out this phone.

There’s one thing that immediately makes the Poco F5 Pro stand out: the sheer power it offers for the price.

The specs are in-line with 2022 flagship models, but at half the cost, making this an excellent option for gamers and power users alike. That you get long battery life, a good main camera, and wireless charging tops off a great deal.

There are, of course, some caveats. On the hardware side the main drawback is the limited performance from the secondary cameras, but it’s also a shame that Xiaomi only promises it two major OS updates, meaning it won’t last as long as some other options on this list.

The Pixel 6a has since been supplanted by the 7a, but Google has not only kept the older model on sale but also given it an official price drop to $349/£349.

That gives the already-great phone a new lease of life as a budget-friendly option. You get a camera that’s almost as good as the more recent 7a, plus the same great software, and it’s still water-resistant too.

Charging is still slow (and there’s no wireless option here), and the 60Hz screen on the 6a really feels behind the competition now. But this is a reliable option that still outperforms more recent rivals on photography, and is now better value than ever.