BUYING GUIDE
Flagship phones, with all their cool features and the most powerful hardware, are great. But do you really need something that advanced (and expensive)?
For many people, the answer is no. A mid-range phone is not only much more affordable, they tend to still have a lot in common with flagship phones. While there are some missing features, these are usually in areas where you're less likely to notice, such as an extra camera lens or slightly more performance.
So, for the vast majority of people, it's mid-range that is the sweet spot when buying a phone. You get the best of all worlds there – features, great performance, decent specs and a price that won't make your eyes water.
We define a mid-range phone as one that costs between £250 (the higher limit of our even cheaper budget phones round-up) and £650 on a SIMfree basis. So, perfect to pair with a SIM-only plan.
WHAT'S A MID-RANGE PHONE?
There's no technical definition, but as mentioned above, we define mid-range phones based on price: anything that costs more than £250 but less than £600 if you buy it SIM-free. Anything cheaper than that is really a budget phone, and anything more expensive is a flagship.
Some mid-range phones will take the all-round good-value approach, with capable specs
