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Mid-range phones in 2026 are better than ever, offering flagship features without the premium price tag. In this video, we review and compare the top contenders, including the Apple iPhone 17e, Samsung Galaxy A57, Google Pixel 10a, and the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, to help you find the perfect device for your budget.
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00:05Once upon a time, choosing a mid-range phone meant compromising on premium features,
00:08but in 2026 the best mid-range phones are closer than ever to their flagship counterparts.
00:12We've reviewed all of the latest mid-range phones and in this video I'll be rounding up
00:15our favourite models from the past year to help you decide which device to go for.
00:19With flagship now costing upwards of $1000, we've chosen phones that cost between $500
00:23and $700 and thrown in some region-exclusive mid-range devices for the UK and Australia too.
00:27So strap in for our pick of the best mid-range phones of 2026.
00:31Before we dive into the video, make sure to scan this QR code to learn more about becoming a TechRadar
00:35insider.
00:36Membership is completely free and gives you access to exclusive perks, rewards and more.
00:43If you're an Apple fan, the cheapest iPhone available from Apple directly is the iPhone 17e
00:47and it's definitely more of a mid-range phone than a budget handset.
00:50For starters, it looks a lot like the premium iPhone 17, so you're not made to feel like you're
00:54getting a knock-off model by choosing this cheaper option.
00:56The two phones are almost identical in size and weight, both have aluminium frames with
01:00Ceramic Shield 2 protection on their respective displays and both are rated IP68 for water and
01:05dust resistance. The iPhone 17e also gets the same customisable action button as the iPhone 17,
01:10which was once an exclusive feature of Apple's top-end iPhone 15 Pro.
01:14What you don't get with the 17e is a dynamic island cutout at the top of its 6.1-inch
01:18display,
01:18a 120Hz refresh rate or any form of telephoto or ultrawide camera.
01:22The high refresh rate is the biggest miss here, since all of the other phones on this list will
01:26feel faster to navigate than the iPhone 17e. But if you're already using a phone with a 60Hz refresh
01:30rate, you may not notice the difference. As for cameras, the 17e actually uses the same 48MP main
01:35sensor as all the other iPhones in the iPhone 17 lineup. But if you're a keen zoom photographer,
01:39you might want to consider the other models on this list that do feature a telephoto lens.
01:43When it comes to software and performance, the 17e is plenty powerful and will remain supported with
01:47iOS updates for at least the next five years. And while Apple has been dragging its heels on the
01:51AI front, the 17e is expected to get Siri AI when it lands later this year. So while you won't
01:56have
01:57Gemini-style assistance at your disposal immediately, you can expect the iPhone 17e to feel more powerful
02:01once iOS 27 arrives in September. On battery life, Apple's cheapest iPhone still delivers all-day
02:07endurance and you'll get wired and wireless charging speeds of 20 and 15 watts respectively.
02:11In essence then, if you're looking for a no-frills iPhone that will remain powerful and
02:15supported for years to come, or you just want a small mid-range handset, the iPhone 17e is a great
02:19value pick. The Samsung Galaxy A57 is your best mid-range option if you're a fan of Samsung's
02:27One UI software and value having a big, bright display above all else. This phone boasts a 6.7-inch,
02:33120Hz Super AMOLED Plus panel, which looks as good as anything you'll find at this price range.
02:37You'll also get what Samsung calls Vision Booster, a feature that turns brightness and vibrancy up to
02:4211 when the A57 recognises that you're watching content outdoors. In other words, this phone is
02:46perfect for scrolling through social media, watching YouTube and streaming movies, but it's not quite
02:50powerful enough to handle high-end mobile games. That's because Samsung's Exynos 1680 chipset is
02:56just… fine. You'll get better performance on the iPhone 17e and other phones on this list,
03:00but the A57 does carry out core smartphone functions with ease, so it's not too much of a concern.
03:05The phone's cameras are also good rather than great. You get a 50MP main lens,
03:09a 12MP ultrawide lens and a 5MP macro lens, and while we were able to capture some pretty decent
03:14shots, the A57 lacks a camera wow factor that some other mid-inch phones definitely have.
03:19Still, Samsung's photo editing features are among the best in the game and you'll have plenty of
03:23time to play around with them because the A57 lasts for around a day and a half on a single
03:27charge.
03:27It actually uses the same 5000mAh battery as the flagship Galaxy S26 Ultra, though of course you're
03:33limited to a slower 45W charging speed here. Overall then, the Galaxy A57 is a display champion with
03:39strong battery life and capable software, but it's not a particularly powerful phone nor an
03:42overly impressive shooter. As a quick side note, the Galaxy S25 FE is also a good option from
03:47Samsung if you can find it for a lower price than the A57. It boasts a telephoto camera,
03:52wireless charging and a slightly more powerful chipset, but otherwise it's a similarly specced device.
03:59Google's A-Series Pixel phones combine premium software with smart camera features at an affordable
04:03price, and the Pixel 10a is the best example of that formula yet. There's still no telephoto camera to
04:08speak of here, but the Pixel 10a's 48MP main lens and 13MP ultrawide lens are best in class,
04:13with Google's balanced colour science helping to deliver photos that are impressively true to life.
04:17The 10a also ships with a lot of the same software features as the 10 and 10 Pro,
04:21including Camera Coach, which is basically an AI-assisted tool for improving your photography
04:25skills, and Call Screen for automatically screening unknown callers. These are genuinely
04:28experienced-improving tools that don't feel gimmicky, and they mark the Pixel 10a out as having the
04:33cleanest and most reliable software of all the mid-range phones. Unsurprisingly though,
04:36the 10a falls a little short in the performance department. Oddly, it uses the same chipset as
04:40the Pixel 9a, which is weird because A-Series Pixel phones typically get Google's latest
04:44processor, offering flagship performance for a much lower price. Instead, the 10a runs on last
04:48year's Tensor G4 chipset, which is perfectly fine for everyday tasks like streaming and scrolling,
04:53but it struggles in more power-intensive situations like gaming, image editing and exporting video.
04:57Still, this shouldn't be a deal-breaker if you're not planning on using your phone like you would
05:00a flagship, and the same caveat applies to pretty much all phones on this list.
05:04The 10a's 6.3-inch display, meanwhile, is absolutely flagship quality, offering smooth
05:08120Hz scrolling and excellent pixel density. As for battery life, we managed to get just over 15
05:13hours of life from the phone's 5,100mAh cell, which is on par with the all-day battery life
05:17claims offered by other phones on this list. For charging, the 10a offers 30W wide and 10W
05:22wireless speeds, though there's no magnetic pixel snap compatibility here like you'll find on the
05:26Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro. So, the Pixel 10 is a software powerhouse with excellent cameras for its
05:31relatively modest price tag, though you will have to be cautious about what you ask of its so-so chipset.
05:38As value for money goes, the Nothing Phone 4a Pro is among the best phones around.
05:43This is the only mid-range device so far to come with a telephoto camera,
05:46it's the largest phone on our list at 6.83 inches, and it's also probably the most
05:49interesting in terms of its design and software. And where else to start except for the 4a Pro's looks?
05:54Put simply, this phone is unlike anything else on the market, with Nothing ditching the transparent
05:58rear panel of its other phones for an industrial, aluminium backplate on the 4a Pro.
06:02Your eyes are immediately drawn to the huge camera module on the back,
06:05which features the Glyph Matrix introduced on the Nothing Phone 3 last year.
06:09Comprising 137 mini LEDs, this interactive screen is capable of displaying several different types
06:14of content, from person-specific notifications to Glyph toys like Spin the Bottle and Rock Paper Scissors.
06:19Glyph Matrix can even double as a pixelated viewfinder for selfies,
06:22which is a nice retro touch for those who miss the Game Boy Camera.
06:25And sure, it's a bit of a gimmick, but if you're looking for a mid-range phone that grabs
06:28attention, there are few more suitable candidates than the Nothing 4a Pro.
06:31Under the hood, the phone is powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 chipset,
06:35and while this isn't the most powerful CPU on the market,
06:37it still gives the 4a Pro an edge over most mid-range rivals.
06:40Notably, that chipset is paired with an impressive 12GB of RAM,
06:43so you won't experience any slowdown when jumping between apps,
06:45and the gaming experience is actually pretty solid too.
06:48As for where the 4a Pro asks you to compromise? Well, its cameras can be a little inconsistent.
06:52Don't get me wrong, it's definitely great to have a 50MP telephoto lens with 3.5x zoom at this price
06:57range, but the 4a Pro does have a tendency to overexpose some shots,
07:00and underexpose others in the same lighting conditions.
07:03Colours also aren't quite as accurate as those you'll find on shots captured with the Pixel 10a
07:07or iPhone 17e, but overall, this phone is still capable of taking great pictures.
07:11As for battery life, the 4a Pro can run for a day and a half at a push before needing
07:14a top-up,
07:15but it's best to think of it as having all day battery life like most other mid-range phones.
07:19Its 50W charging speed, however, is the fastest of any phone mentioned so far,
07:22and it'll get you to 50% charge in around 35 minutes, which is pretty good going.
07:26So, the nothing 4a Pro is a plus-size mid-range phone that will certainly turn heads,
07:30and if you can stomach some camera inconsistencies, it's a great all-rounder at a great price.
07:37The OnePlus 15R is the most expensive phone on our list by quite a distance,
07:40but it still falls below that $700, £700 ceiling, so it's worth discussing as a premium option.
07:45And for that higher price, you do get several flagship-level features,
07:48including a 7,400mAh battery, which is even bigger than the battery in the standard OnePlus 15.
07:53As a result, you'll get at least two days of battery life from the 15R,
07:56which blows everything else in the mid-range category out of the water.
07:59The phone's 80W charging speed is also much faster than anything else you'll find at this price range,
08:04so the 15R really is the mid-range battery champion.
08:06Other premium features include a 6.8-inch display that can reach 165Hz,
08:10if you're playing a game that can run at that rate,
08:12and the phone's Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chipset sits just below the flagship 8 Elite Gen 5 in terms of
08:17power.
08:17For cameras, you get a 15MP main lens and an 8MP ultrawide,
08:21both of which take natural-looking photos with plenty of detail.
08:24What you don't get here is any form of telephoto lens,
08:27which is a bit weird since the OnePlus 13R did come with a 15MP zoom camera.
08:31As we've discussed, telephoto lenses aren't a regular feature of mid-range phones,
08:34but at this higher price, we can be more critical of OnePlus for not including such a lens on the
08:3815R.
08:39OnePlus's OxygenOS software is clean and easy to get the hang of,
08:42but you do only get four years of Android updates with the 15R,
08:45which is a few years fewer than you'll get with the Samsung and Google phones we've already mentioned.
08:48Overall then, the OnePlus 15R is a flagship-adjacent phone with incredible battery life,
08:52top-end power and strong cameras, but it isn't the runaway winner by every metric.
08:59All of the phones we've mentioned so far are available to buy in the US,
09:02but if you're watching this video from the UK,
09:04there are a few more mid-range phones worth considering.
09:06The Motorola Edge 70 Fusion boasts a huge 7,000mAh battery,
09:09a gorgeous 6.78-inch screen and a more interesting design than most other phones in this price range.
09:14Motorola's software isn't as polished as other Android skins,
09:17and the phone's Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 chipset isn't anything special,
09:20but the Edge 70 Fusion still offers an impressive all-in experience for not a lot of money.
09:24Next up is the Xiaomi 17T, which is all about cameras and performance.
09:28This phone's MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra chipset and 12GB of RAM make it a better gaming phone than
09:33most mid-range handsets, and Xiaomi throws in a 5X telephoto zoom lens for good measure.
09:38It doesn't look particularly interesting nor boast any special software features,
09:41but the Xiaomi 17T is a great value option for those who can buy it.
09:45The Poco X8 Pro Max offers a bigger battery than even the OnePlus 50 NAR,
09:48and it yields over 2 days of battery life regardless of how you use it.
09:52Again, you're getting 12GB of RAM with this phone,
09:54so it can handle multiple apps and high-end gaming with ease,
09:56though Poco's take on Android isn't anywhere near as clean as rivals.
09:59Still, as bang for your buck goes, it's hard to beat the Poco.
10:02Lastly, the Honor 600 is another great value all-rounder.
10:05It offers a bright display, long battery life and smooth performance,
10:08and in our testing, the 600 was only let down by inconsistent camera performance
10:12and some less-than-useful AI features.
10:14Its design also takes some not-so-subtle hints from Apple,
10:17but if you're after an iPhone-like phone that runs Android,
10:19the Honor 600 is an excellent option.
10:21And there you have it, our round-up of the best mid-range phones of 2026.
10:25Let us know your favourite device in the comments below,
10:26and head to TechRadio.com for our full reviews of each model.
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