Ranking: Best smartphones for under 500 dollars/euros

The Poco F8 Pro is a powerful mid-range smartphone with flagship ambitions at an attractive price. Its Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, mated to 12 GB of RAM and an Adreno 830 GPU, deliver top performance in benchmarks and gaming. The model's 6.59-inch AMOLED display with 120 Hz, peak brightness of up to 3,500 cd/m² and excellent color accuracy is one of the highlights.

Poco F8 Pro: Powerhouse for price-conscious users who value endurance and performance.

Its huge 6,210-mAh battery lasts for days thanks to HyperOS optimization, charging fully in under 40 minutes at up to 100 watts. Strengths include IP68 protection, high-quality Bose stereo sound, reliable ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and six years of software updates. The lack of wireless charging, the outdated USB 2.0 port, advertising in HyperOS and troubling thermals when under continuous load are to be criticized. The 50-MP primary camera with 2.5x zoom is solid for the price, but does not reach the premium level.

The Poco F7 has a 6.83-inch AMOLED display that gets very bright and features high-frequency PWM dimming. The phone is powered by a fast Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 with 12 GB of RAM. Its primary camera setup offers a 50-MP lens as well as an additional ultra-wide-angle sensor commanding 8 MP. As an important highlight, the model's 6,500-mAh battery is both strong and chargeable quickly at 90 watts. The Poco F7 is also IP68 certified.

Xiaomi's Poco F7 is a powerful, enduring device with few omissions or compromises, some of which may be a deal-breaker to certain customers.

Missing here are eSIM support and 6-GHz Wi-Fi, as well as a fast USB-C 3.0/3.1 port. Only the older 2.0 spec is available. Still, the F7 is a very solid smartphone overall, sold at a fair price.

The 15T is a convincing price-performance hit. Its large and very bright OLED display with 120 Hz, along with the latest Leica camera and solid runtimes, are all very impressive. The multi-year update guarantee is also praiseworthy. The plastic back as well as frame might not be up to everybody's liking, as they reveal this isn't a truly premium product.

Xiaomi's 15T is a strong mid-range all-rounder that's not free of compromises.

The Mediatek Dimensity 8400 SoC ensures decent mid-range performance, but falls short in comparisons with higher-end offerings. USB 2.0 (not 3.0+) and the lack of wireless charging mean extra features aren't plentiful, and the rear camera setup only delivers top performance in daylight, faring much worse in low light and when zooming in is required. HyperOS looks appealing enough, and four major Android updates are solid, even if Samsung and Google offer more.

The Poco X8 Pro presents itself as one of the most powerful smartphones in the affordable mid-range and impresses above all with its excellent price-performance ratio. The powerful MediaTek Dimensity 8500 Ultra in particular ensures that even demanding applications and gaming run smoothly. The smartphone remains comparatively cool and efficient even under constant load.

The Poco X8 Pro is a real price-performance hit that puts significantly more expensive smartphones under pressure in many areas.

The 6.6-inch AMOLED display with 120 Hz receives high praise. It offers a very high peak brightness of up to 3,500 nits, strong colors and a sharp display. The battery life is also one of the device's strengths. The large battery gets the Poco X8 Pro through long days of use without any problems and supports fast charging with up to 100 watts. The stereo speakers also deliver a surprisingly good sound for this price range.

In terms of the camera, the 50 MPix main camera is particularly impressive with natural colors and good details. However, there are weaknesses in the zoom and the ultra-wide-angle camera. Premium functions such as wireless charging or eSIM are also missing.

The GT 7 is as a strong contender with plenty of AI power at hand. We appreciate its high-quality casing with an aluminum frame, Gorilla Glass 7i and IP69 certification, even if certain gaps are a bit uneven. The phone's OLED display (6.78 inches, 120 Hz) offers vibrant colors and short response times, but does not achieve the promised peak brightness and has PWM flickering as well. The Dimensity 9400e SoC delivers high everyday and gaming performance, but gets warm under load.

The realme GT 7 impresses as a powerful mid-range smartphone with AI features, strong battery and a good price-performance ratio.

The 50-MP primary camera with OIS takes good photos in daylight, but is weaker in the dark. There are AI functions such as "AI Planner" complementing the Android 15-based realme UI 6.0, and the brand promises four years of OS updates as well as six years of security patches. The phone's 7,000-mAh battery with 120-W fast charging and the solid speaker performance are two more features worth highlighting.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro presents itself as an unusual mid-range smartphone with a strong focus on design, display and user experience. The high-quality aluminum housing with the new glyph matrix system on the back, which visually displays notifications and functions, is particularly striking. Despite the playful look, the smartphone has a much more mature and high-quality appearance than previous models.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro combines an independent design, powerful features and clean software.

The 6.83-inch AMOLED display impresses with its high brightness, 144 Hz refresh rate and vibrant colors. The performance of the Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 is also sufficient for everyday use, multitasking and gaming. The good heat development and the long battery life of the 5,080 mAh battery are also positive features. Fast charging is supported, but wireless charging is missing. One highlight is the triple camera with a 50-megapixel main sensor and 3.5x telephoto zoom, which is rare in this price range. The image quality is good overall, but does not quite reach the level of real flagships.

The Edge 60 Pro is a slim, lightweight curved smartphone with a high-quality build and pleasant feel. It weighs just 186 g and has an elegant visual design with a leather/textile look and IP68/IP69 certification. Its 6.67-inch POLED display impresses with high resolution, 120-Hz frame rate and extreme brightness of over 4,000 nits. In charge of performance matters is MediaTek's Dimensity 8350, paired with 12 GB of RAM and 512-GB UFS 4.0 storage.

Motorola's Edge 60 Pro is a mid-range smartphone with impressive features and talents, such as a bright curved display, powerful camera, outstanding battery life and fair price.

Its triple rear camera setup includes a 50-MP main sensor, a 50-MP ultra-wide-angle one and also a 10-MP telephoto lens with 3x optical zoom. Particularly impressive is daylight image quality.

In terms of features, the device does not skimp on modern standards: Wi-Fi 6E, eSIM and numerous Bluetooth codecs are all there, albeit micro-SD cards are not supported. A battery with 6,000 mAh guarantees outstanding runtimes. Charging is quick with 90 W, although no charger is included in the box. Updates are guaranteed until 2029, meaning 3 Android version updates and 4 years of security patches.

In our testing, the Pixel 9a proved to be a successful mid-range smartphone with excellent battery life and a compact body. It has a 6.3-inch pOLED display with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and good brightness, if somewhat unevenly lit. The device is IP68-certified and therefore protected against water and dust.

The Pixel has a lot to offer with only a few (bearable) weaknesses, especially considering the comparatively low price.

The Tensor G4 processor powers the whole deal, with 8 GB of RAM and 128 or 256 GB of UFS 3.1 storage at its disposal. Day-to-day performance is very good, but there is noticeable throttling under prolonged high loads. Thanks to pixel binning, the main camera with 48 megapixels delivers sharp and color-balanced images, even in difficult lighting conditions.

Other features include dual SIM with eSIM support, Wi-Fi 6E and a fresh enough Bluetooth version, NFC and a reliable fingerprint sensor in the display. The phone's stereo speakers are loud, but sound fairly bad at higher volumes.

The Nord 5 comes with a solid set of features for the price and conveys a high-quality feel despite its plastic casing. Its visual design has become simpler. The model offers IP65 protection against dust and splashes, and is relatively heavy at 211 grams. its 6.83-inch AMOLED display impresses with 144 Hz and high brightness, but there is the issue of flickering at low brightness.

The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 SoC provides a sizeable power bump, complemented by up to 12 GB of RAM and 512 GB of storage, although storage performance is slower here than the previous-gen model. Wi-Fi 6 is onboard, but 6-GHz frequency support is missing.

The Nord 5 is a solid choice, all things considered.

The model ships with Android 15-based OxygenOS, and OnePlus promises four major updates as well as security patches until 2031. The software is easy to use and unwanted apps can be removed. The 50-megapixel main camera with OIS delivers good results in daylight, but is weaker in low light; the front camera also takes solid photos with 50 MP. One drawback worth mentioning is that the 1+ smartphone is not eSIM-enabled.

Honor's 400 shaped up to be a sophisticated mid-range smartphone with an impressive price-performance ratio in our testing. The phone has a 6.55-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 2,736 x 1,264 pixels, 120-Hz refresh rate and up to 5,000 nits of peak brightness. The display also supports eye protection features such as high-frequency PWM dimming, low blue light mode and a special anti-motion-sickness mode.

The 400 left us impressed. This is a modern mid-range product with premium aspirations that deserves praise for its first-class display, powerful camera with AI features, large battery capacity, fast charging and long-term software support.

The casing has a high-quality finish, including a matte back that hardly attracts any fingerprints, and a flat frame. This Honor phone also has IP65 certification for moderate protection against dust and splashes of liquids. An infrared blaster is onboard, too.

Other key features include a 200-MP main camera with OIS, and a 12-MP ultra-wide-angle camera with macro capability. The front camera has a resolution of 50 MP. Overall, image quality is good here, with AI tricks such as converting photos into short videos, AI zoom, and object removal as some extra icing on the cake.

The battery has a capacity of 5,300 mAh and needs less than an hour to go from zero to hero. Please note we are referring to the European version here with the optional 66-W charger.