OPINION : The mid - range of mountains smartphone market has n’t always been successful . Much like budget phones , mid - range smartphones were neglected in the former 2010s , with most brands focusing instead on all - singing , all - dance flagship – but thing have changed in the retiring few days .
As the geezerhood go by , smartphone technology that was once flagship - exclusive becomes more affordable , finally progress to more low-priced phones . It ’s called the dribble - down issue .
But in late years , that trickle has turned into a downpour , to the percentage point where thebest mid - range smartphonesare just as tempting , if not more so , than thebest flagship phone . There ’s an copiousness of choice that be less than £ 600/$600 with tech that would ’ve been flagship - storey just a couple of years ago .
That ’s altogether at betting odds with the flagship smartphone securities industry , which has laze in the past few years while costs continue to billow . You only need to see at the four - bod price ticket for theSamsung Galaxy S25 UltraandiPhone 16 Pro Maxto see what I stand for .
The big three
Let ’s start with the big three names in the smartphone humans : Apple , Samsung , and Google . All three have now released their respective mid - fire warden , theiPhone 16e , Samsung Galaxy A56 5 G , andGoogle Pixel 9a .
These are tempting smartphones from pop brands that mass know and sleep with .
The £ 499 Samsung Galaxy A56 5 yard has a premium methamphetamine and metal build not too dissimilar to the Galaxy S25 , along with a treble tv camera frame-up and AI smartness , while the £ 499 Pixel 9a shares many characteristics , include screen , C.P.U. , and an industry - leading 7 twelvemonth of OS upgrade , with the flagship Pixel 9 .
The £ 599 iPhone 16e might not reach the same grand heights in the hardware department with a individual camera and a 60Hz screen , but it does pop the question flagship - grade performance as well as fullApple Intelligencesupport via the A18 chipset – the same as that within theiPhone 16 .
These are all great smartphones with flock of forte , but I ’d argue that they ’re not quite as beneficial as they could be – simply because the makers do n’t want the more affordable mid - forest fire fighter to compete with their more expensive flagship smartphones .
That ’s not exactly ideal for consumer , but my interior - capitalistic understands .
The truly 2025 exciting mid-rangers
gratefully , other manufacturers focus entirely on more low-cost smartphones . Without worrying about cannibalising more expensive alternatives , we ’re see unfeigned innovation and bash for our buck here .
Take Nothing , for example . The London - based startup has never set in motion a smartphone that costs more than £ 579/$599 , and even then , the company has yet to release a follow - up to 2023 ’s top - endNothing earpiece 2 .
alternatively , the company launched the even more affordableNothing Phone 2acollection in 2024 . While many expected Nothing to follow up with a more capableNothing Phone 3 in early 2025 , we were treat instead to a follow - up to the budget phone collection in the form of theNothing Phone 3aandNothing Phone 3a Pro .
Nothing called the Phone 2a its most popular phone ever , and it ’s clearly expecting to cash in on the same degree of hype with the Phone 3a collection . As such , all of its efforts have go into craft two smartphones that offer incredible value for money without the worry of cannibalising a eminent - end alternative .
The Nothing Phone 3a may cost just £ 329 , but offers a triple camera apparatus including an OIS - enabled 50MP principal camera , 50MP 2x telephoto camera and an 8MP ultrawide , with a similarly in high spirits - Ra 32MP camera on the front .
It also packs a 6.8 - inch AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and a peak light of 3000 nit that can easily compete with that of the iPhone 16 and Google Pixel 9 . And , with a 5000mAh barrage and 50W fast charging , it ’ll go from monotonous to full quicker than likewise price alternatives .
It ’s a like story with the Nothing Phone 3a Pro . Despite the mid - range cost tag , it offers a similarly mellow - spec apparatus , though with a more advanced periscope camera in office of the veritable modeling ’s 2x telephoto lens . It ’s rarified to see a telephotograph lens at this price stage , and the number of mid - ranger with full periscope lense is vanishingly small .
Nothing is but a exclusive example of manufacturing business exclusively focus on the mid - range market with exceptionally well - specced smartphones that can easily contend with smartphones that are double the cost .
We ’ve also envision telling offer from Chinese maker like Poco in recent months , peculiarly thePoco X7 Pro . Again , despite costing a fraction of the price of a flagship at £ 349 , it offers the incredibly brawny MediaTek Dimensity 8400 - Ultra , a bigger 6000mAh battery than the Galaxy S25 Ultra , and faster 90W electrify charging to boot .
There ’s also full IP68 rubble and water opposition – again , the same as you ’ll discover on flagship – and a 6.7 - column inch 1.5 K 120Hz AMOLED screen . Yep , all of that , for just £ 349 .
I ca n’t ideate Google , Samsung , or Apple establish something like that at this price point without completely cannibalise flagship sales , can you ?
Regardless of which manufacturer it ’s coming from , the truth ca n’t be abnegate : the 2025 mid - range smartphone market is more free-enterprise and more tempting than ever , and could signal a shift in focusing from smartphone manufacturers croak forward .
