T3 - UK (2020-10)

OCTOBER 2020 T3 47

Mid-range phones

n relative terms,

smartphones haven’t

been around for very

long at all really, if you

count the arrival of the first iPhone

in 2007 as a rough starting point. In

nearly a decade and a half, screen

sizes have almost doubled, handsets

have become as powerful as some

laptops, and battery life... well,

battery life is still mostly average.

As the smartphone approaches its

teenage years, there’s one trend

that’s unmistakeable: the rise of the

mid-range phone. More and more of

us are opting for a phone that’s good

enough rather than the best there is,

and as a result we’re seeing more and

more devices jostle for space in this

particular value-for-money part of

the market.

It’s not difficult to see the

reasoning behind the shift. Phone

components have become cheaper as

well as more powerful, which means

buying at the budget end of the

market no longer means poor

screens, sluggish performance and

bad battery life. The top-end iPhones

and Samsung Galaxy phones still

have an extra quality and premium

edge to them – but is it worth paying

twice as much for?

That’s the key question, and the

majority of phone makers are now

focusing on the mid-range market.

Take a look at Google as one

example: last year its affordable Pixel

3a was much more successful than

the flagship Pixel 4, and this year the

rumour is that the Pixel 5 won’t cost

all that much more than the newly

unveiled Pixel 4a. The Pixel 3a

proved beyond a shadow of a doubt

that a good camera and a good

software experience goes a long way,

and Pixel phones are coming down

in price as a result.

THE FALL OF FLAGSHIPS

Flagship phones are still around, but

there’s fewer of them than ever

before – and we may have to redefine

the term before too long. It’s now

really only Apple, Samsung and

Huawei that are making truly

high-end handsets that will cost you

four-figure sums, and with the

world’s economy regrettably the

way it is, it’s getting increasingly

difficult to justify that expense on

a gadget (even if it’s one you use all

day every day).

These top-tier flagship phones

are still objectively better than mid-

rangers, there’s certainly no

argument about that. They feature

gorgeous, expensive, high-

resolution screens, are packed with

the latest, cutting edge

components, and come with

advanced, multi-lens cameras,

which take fantastic photos in low

light and offer optical zooms to get

you closer to the action without any

annoying loss in quality.

The likes of the Samsung Galaxy

Note 20 Ultra (starting price £1,179)

and the iPhone 11 Pro Max (starting

price £1,149) are undoubtedly

fantastic phones then, but do you

really need a phone that’s faster than

your laptop? Is it really worth a

couple of extra camera lenses for

photos you’re only sending to

Snapchat? And are premium

materials actually worth the

investment for a device that’s

probably going to spend most of its

time in one of your pockets? For a

I

Words: David Nield Photography: Phil Barker

It’s getting harder to justify spending premium prices on

premium smartphones – maybe your next buy should be

something from the mid-range. So here’s what to look for

MID-RANGE

PHONES

THE COMPLETE GUIDE TO...