What’s better: a year-old flagship or a current mid-ranger? If they’re close enough in price, high-end hardware tends to be the better choice, as we’ll see with some phones this week.
UK
A few weeks ago the Realme GT2 retailed for £360, but its price has since dropped by £50. This makes it a great deal for a Snapdragon 888 chipset and a 6.62-inch 120Hz AMOLED display (FHD+) , complete with a 5,000mAh battery and 65W fast charging.
The Xiaomi 12 proves that sometimes an old flagship is better than a current mid-ranger. This sub-£400 phone is slightly smaller than a Pixel 7a with its 6.28-inch 120Hz curved AMOLED display (12-bit, FHD+). It is powered by a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and offers a 50MP main camera (with OIS) and a 13MP ultra-wide-angle (123°) camera, as well as a 32MP selfie camera.
The successor to the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 launches next month and Samsung usually offers solid early deals. However, the outgoing Z Flip4 can be had for £700 thanks to a £200 cashback deal on Amazon.
We’ve seen claims that the leaked price for Nothing Phone (2) is higher than what the actual price will be. We don’t know if that’s true or not, but we do know that the fully loaded 12/256GB version of the phone (1) costs less than £400.
While you’re at it, you can grab a Nothing Ear (stick) for a completely sheer look. A couple of weeks ago these elegant TWS buds were £10 more expensive.
If you want to work on an iPad, a physical keyboard is a must. Logitech has a few options available, starting with this slim 10th generation iPad folio case.
If you have an older iPad (2019-2021), then this case will fit. It’s more expensive than the one above because it’s sturdier—Logitech claims it passes MIL-STD-810g drop test standards.
Germany
This one’s for true believers with deep pockets: The Sony Xperia 1 V is a niche device aimed primarily at photography enthusiasts. Sony doesn’t make a habit of discounting its phones (it’s not like it’s competing for market share), but MediaMarkt is offering a €223 discount, which will be automatically applied in your cart.
OnePlus may have upped the ante, but unless you work for Nokia, you shouldn’t feel bad about picking up a OnePlus 10 Pro at a lower price point. At €760 it competes with the Galaxy S23/S23+. Of course, you still get full hardware and software support.
Next up, a trio of 2023 A-series models: the Galaxy A54, A34, and A14 5G. Prices are significantly below MSRP, we’re talking over €100 off here. The A54 and A14 5G are sold and shipped by Amazon, the A34 is sold by Intersa Global Store and shipped by Amazon.
The Poco F4 GT is one year old but its Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 keeps its performance fresh. It has a 6.67-inch 120Hz AMOLED display (FHD+, HDR10+) and a 4,700mAh battery with an incredible 120W fast charge (100% in 17 minutes).
Apple may be allergic to discounts, but Amazon is not, so it has reduced the price of a 128 GB iPhone 14 Pro by 210 euros.
Pixel owners can opt for this second-generation charging stand, which will maximize their phones’ wireless charging capability to 23W. It works with other brands too, of course, although they might find it a little slow. By the way, it also loads other gadgets like a pair of Pixel Buds, for example.
Italy
The elegant Realme 11 Pro+ is more appreciated than its brother because it packs a 200 MP main camera (against 100 MP) and an ultra wide-angle module (only 8 MP 112° but it has no rivals). The Pro+ model also has double the resolution on the selfie camera (32MP) and faster charging (100W vs 67W) for the 5,000mAh battery.
The price of Realme GT2 Pro keeps decreasing as the phone gets older. While its hardware may be 18 months old, the 6.7-inch 120Hz LTPO2 display and Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 are a great deal at $435. You also get 50+50MP cameras and a 5,000mAh battery with great endurance (117 hours) and 65W fast charging.
The Xiaomi 13 Lite is only a few months old and although its 6.55-inch OLED panel is 12-bit, it only has FHD+ resolution. It’s powered by the rare Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 chip and a 4,500mAh battery with 67W fast charging. The 50+8MP rear camera is nothing to write home about as it’s limited to 1080p video recording.
The Samsung Galaxy A34 is dubiously cheap, at €257 it’s well below the €470 price tag on Samsung.com. However, this unit ships from Amazon, so you can always return it.
The Samsung Galaxy A14 5G has a more modest discount, but it’s enough to make it a 5G phone under €200. It has a 6.6-inch FHD+ LCD (90Hz) and a 5,000mAh (15W) battery, though it lacks an ultra-wide-angle camera. There is a microSD slot and a 3.5mm jack on board.
The Redmi Note 12 4G is cheaper than the A14 and comes with a better screen (6.67″ 120Hz AMOLED), it also has an 8MP ultra wide angle camera to boot. However, it loses next-generation connectivity as the Snapdragon 685 is an older silicon with a couple of coats of paint on top, however, the 5,000mAh battery does a 33W charge.
United States of America
The Samsung Galaxy A54 is down to $400, $100 cheaper than a Pixel 7a (well, not quite, keep that in mind). Samsung offers the best software support (one extra OS update over Google’s deal). This too has a microSD slot, but it’s larger (6.4-inch vs 6.1-inch display).
Speaking of the Pixels, the flagship Pixel 7 is down to $517, just a little higher than the 7a’s MSRP.
However, the Pixel 7a price is gradually decreasing and it has already dropped to $470. It was $488 when we checked it last week. You can wait a few weeks for it to drop further, but there are no guarantees with price fluctuations.
The OnePlus Nord N30 is still pretty fresh, so its price hasn’t budged from $300. However, Amazon is rolling out a free pair of Nord Buds 2, which alone are worth $60.
The Moto G Power 5G is a bit cheaper than the N30. It runs on a Dimension 930 rather than a Snapdragon 695, but neither can record 4K video. The Moto has a lower resolution main camera (50MP versus 108MP). Also, the Motorola has a smaller screen (6.5″ vs 6.72″), both are 120Hz FHD+ LCDs. Last thing to note is that Motorola has opted for 15W slow charging, while OnePlus offers 50W (both phones have 5,000mAh batteries).
The Amazfit T-Rex Pro is a 2021 model, but since this isn’t one of the Wear OS watches – it uses a proprietary operating system instead – it’s in the slow-moving software category. Either way, the reason to get the T-Rex Pro is its 10ATM water resistance and MIL-STD-810G certification, as well as up to 18 days of battery life (40 hours with continuous tracking). It’s basically a smartwatch for the outdoors.
India
We’ve been eyeing the Phantom X2 pair for some time now and their prices had been sitting at ₹50,000 for the Pro and ₹40,000 for the vanilla model since February. Finally, we have movement.
As an upgrade, both phones have massive 6.8″ 120Hz AMOLED displays, Dimensity 9000 chipset, and 5,160mAh batteries with 45W charging. The Phantom X2 Pro is notable for its unique 50MP zoom camera ( 2.5x) with a unique retractable lens. The 50MP main camera is also better with a large 1/1.3″ sensor (1.2µm pixel). For comparison, the vanilla X2 has a 64MP main camera (with OIS) and a 13MP ultra-wide one (same UW module as the Pro).
vivo quietly launched the Y36 in India, but not quietly enough for us to lose the outdated notch. The global Y36 has a hole instead. Apart from that, the two models are almost identical, apart from the lack of NFC and the different memory configuration.
Also new this week is the Honor Pad X8. New to the country, however, this list is actually from September of last year. It has a 10.1-inch LCD with 1,920 x 1,200 px resolution and a Helio G80 chipset. The battery is quite small at 5,100mAh, but at least the tablet is thin and light (7.6mm and 460g).
The OnePlus Bullets Wireless Z2 are budget neckband headphones. In our review, we found the audio quality to be lacking – they’re too bass-heavy. But if that’s your thing then go for it, the Z2 offers solid build quality and comfort, as well as excellent battery life.
Start a new Thread