Some impressive flagships have landed on retail shelves in the past year, from Apple’s best-in-class iPhone 14 Pro models to the new Google Pixel 7 powered by Google’s Tensor G2 chip. But if you want some real action, turn your eyes to phones that cost hundreds of dollars less, as mid-range devices have left their mark in 2022.
Well, maybe “excitement” isn’t exactly the right word. After all, like mid-range phones like the Pixel 6a, Galaxy A53, and iPhone SE, they don’t offer new features. Instead, they’re moving away from their flagship siblings, taking some of the premium features found in those higher priced phones and offering them for much less.
And that’s what he is Interesting about the mid-range phone segment. The current crop of phones that cost $500 or less bundle with more value than ever before. At this point, you could easily pay more for a flagship device that has the latest bells and whistles, but why do it when you can spend less than $500 and get a phone that offers pretty much the same experience?
As always, you can make some compromises by choosing a cheaper phone. But for phones like the Pixel 6a, Galaxy A53, and iPhone SE, the sacrifices are tiny compared to what you get in return.
What mid-range phones got in 2022
The competition has been so fierce among the best cheap phones this year because phone makers are clearly putting a lot of effort into fine-tuning the one phone feature everyone appreciates – a good camera. Yes, you’ll miss the telephoto lens if you choose a less expensive phone, but for everyday photos, the best mid-range models can stand up to more expensive phones.
Take the Pixel 6a, which ranks among the best camera phones – not just the best camera phones under a certain price, but the best overall. I recently pitched Google’s $449 phone for the company’s newest flagship for the Pixel 7 camera versus the Pixel 6a camera. The Pixel 7 took the best photos overall, but only marginally.
I preferred the warmer tone in my daughter’s Pixel 7 portrait shot, but I still liked the Pixel 6a’s blurry background. I’d be happy to share any of the shot, as there is no $150 difference between what the dueling cameras produce.
We’re focusing on the Pixel 6a because it’s the best camera phone of any device under $500, but the Galaxy A53 and especially the iPhone SE take high-quality photos, too. (I wish Apple would add night mode support to the iPhone SE, though.) The iPhone SE takes advantage of Apple’s flair for computational photography, with image processing enhancing the quality of the shots you’ve taken, despite Apple’s budget device coming with just one lens.
While the cameras are impressive, it’s not the only area where budget phones shine. The displays on these discount phones are better than they’ve ever been, which is quite a change from the approach a few years ago when phone makers opted for cheaper looking panels as a way to cut costs.
You wouldn’t say the screens on this year’s mid-range phones look cheap, not even the iPhone SE’s LCD panel. Yes, the bezels are too prominent for a 2022 phone and most people will be reluctant to take on the small screen size, but the iPhone delivers accurate and vibrant colors. The Pixel 6a handles colors well too, and it has one of the brightest displays you’ll find in a mid-range phone.
But the display feature that really stands out is the refresh rate on the Galaxy A53’s 6.5-inch OLED panel. The Galaxy A53 screen can provide a refresh rate of 120Hz when this feature is turned on. Yes, this is a manual setup rather than an automatic one, but it’s nice to have the option to jump into quick update mode on a mid-range phone.
Fast refresh rates are treated by many phone makers as a feature that belongs only to premium models — Apple doesn’t even include it on its $799 and $899 iPhones. So I like that Samsung and OnePlus, with their low-cost Nord devices, are expanding the type of phones that are able to offer fast refresh rates.
Optimizing performance for mid-range phones
Switching to a less expensive phone has traditionally meant settling on a less powerful chipset, and while that’s still the case with the Galaxy A53 — running on the Exynos 1280 — you don’t have to make that sacrifice with either the iPhone SE and the Pixel 6a. Both phones run on the best silicon available at the time of their release – in the case of the iPhone SE, this is the A15 Bionic chipset that powers the iPhone 13 while the Pixel 6a uses the same Tensor chip found in the Pixel 6.
The iPhone SE’s A15 Bionic chipset is important because it means you get the power of the iPhone 13 in a device that costs nearly half Apple’s starting price of $799 for the flagship phone. And while Apple has since switched to the A16 Bionic for its iPhone 14 Pro models, the A15 inside the iPhone SE still outperforms a lot of the leading Android apps that cost a lot.
As for the Pixel 6a’s silicon Tensor, it enables unique experiences that take advantage of the chipset’s powerful Tensor processing unit. As a result, tasks that rely on machine learning happen quickly and on the machine itself whether it is translation, transcription, or a combination of the two.
It’s the Tensor chipset that also powers features like Magic Eraser on the Pixel 6a, letting you easily remove unwanted objects and people from photos. Google even boosted the Magic Eraser for the Pixel 6a version, adding the ability to change the color of objects in the foreground of shots to make them less noticeable.
In other words, it is no longer taken for granted that a less expensive phone means a device with less performance appeal. The Pixel 6a and iPhone SE 2022 are proof of that.
Where mid-range phones are still lagging behind
When we say that mid-range phones offer a similar experience to more expensive phones, we shouldn’t overlook the areas where they are lacking. Buy a mid-range phone, for example, and you’ll get a device made of cheaper materials. The Pixel 6a may look a lot like Google’s flagship phones, but when I hold it in one hand with the Pixel 6 or Pixel 7 in the other, I can tell the difference. Again, this isn’t enough to deter some people from saving money with a mid-range device, but it is a reality.
There is one area where this year’s mid-range phones have fallen short, and one in which I’d like to see future models improve – battery life. Despite the quality of the Pixel 6a, Galaxy A53, and iPhone SE, none of them performed well in our battery test, as we have phones constantly surfing the web via cell until they run out of power, timing the results. The Galaxy A53 performed the best, achieving an average smartphone score of 9 hours and 49 minutes with its screen set to a 120Hz refresh rate. The iPhone SE (9:05) and Pixel 6a (6:29) both turned out below average results — well below average in the case of the Pixel 6a.
Just taking a look at our list of the best phone battery life suggests that you don’t need to spend a lot of money to get a phone that will last. There are plenty of devices on that list that don’t cost an arm or a leg. Perhaps future mid-range phones from Apple, Google, and Samsung could do a better job here.
What does the future hold?
And that’s something to remember about mid-range phones – there will likely be successors waiting in the wings. Samsung and Google are almost certain to release a follow-up to the Galaxy A53 and Pixel 6a sometime in 2023. Apple could join them even if rumors about the iPhone SE 4 changing the outdated design of the current model are believed.
Aside from the possibility that the Pixel 7a will get the same upgraded Tensor chip as the Pixel 7 models, we don’t yet know how these upcoming mid-range models will compare to the more expensive flagships. But if the trends of the last few years are to be followed, you can expect some very compelling alternatives to spending big on your next phone.
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