The Best Smartphones for Less Than 300 Euros
Between the frequently mentioned flagship smartphones and the inexpensive entry-level class, there are many mainstream smartphones. This ranking includes devices up to 300 USD/Euros that were reviewed by Notebookcheck over the past few months based on their ratings in our reviews. The following Top 10 rankings might be interesting as well:
The Best Mid-Range Smartphones
Pos. | Datum | Bew. | Bild | Modell | Dicke | Gewicht | SBR | Größe | Auflösung | Bildwiederholrate | OS | Preis ab |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | 06/2020 | 83 % | ![]() | Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G Qualcomm Adreno 618 6 GB Memory, 64 GB UFS 2.0 | 8.8 mm | 209 g | 84.5 % | 6.67" | 2400x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 10 | |
2 | 08/2020 | 83 % | ![]() | Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite Qualcomm Snapdragon 730G Qualcomm Adreno 618 6 GB Memory, 64 GB UFS 2.0 | 9.67 mm | 204 g | 87.8 % | 6.47" | 2340x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 10 | |
3 | 10/2020 | 82 % | ![]() | Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC Qualcomm Snapdragon 732G Qualcomm Adreno 618 6 GB Memory, 64 GB UFS 2.0 | 9.4 mm | 215 g | 85 % | 6.67" | 2400x1080 | 120 Hz | Android 10 | |
4 | 11/2020 Neu | 81 % | ![]() | realme 7 Pro Qualcomm Snapdragon 720G Qualcomm Adreno 618 8 GB Memory, 128 GB UFS 2.1 | 8.7 mm | 182 g | 90.8 % | 6.40" | 2400x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 10 | |
5 | 01/2020 | 80 % | ![]() | TCL Plex Qualcomm Snapdragon 675 Qualcomm Adreno 612 6 GB Memory, 128 GB UFS 2.0 | 7.99 mm | 192 g | 84 % | 6.53" | 2340x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 9.0 Pie | |
6 | 01/2021 Neu | 80 % | ![]() | Oppo A73 5G MediaTek Dimensity 720 ARM Mali-G57 MP3 8 GB Memory, 128 GB UFS 2.1 | 7.9 mm | 177 g | 84 % | 6.50" | 2400x1080 | 90 Hz | Android 10 | |
7 | 08/2020 Neu | 80 % | ![]() | ZTE Axon 11 Mediatek Helio P70 ARM Mali-G72 MP3 6 GB Memory, 128 GB eMMC | 7.9 mm | 165 g | 88 % | 6.47" | 2340x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 10 | |
8 | 01/2021 Neu | 80 % | ![]() | Vivo Y70 Qualcomm Snapdragon 665 Qualcomm Adreno 610 8 GB Memory, 128 GB UFS 2.0 | 7.83 mm | 171 g | 84 % | 6.44" | 2400x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 11 | |
9 | 05/2020 | 79 % | ![]() | Oppo A91 Mediatek Helio P70 ARM Mali-G72 MP3 8 GB Memory, 128 GB UFS 2.0 | 7.9 mm | 172 g | 85 % | 6.40" | 2400x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 9.0 Pie | |
10 | 06/2020 Neu | 79 % | ![]() | Samsung Galaxy A41 Mediatek Helio P65 ARM Mali-G52 MP2 4 GB Memory, 64 GB eMMC | 7.9 mm | 152 g | 85 % | 6.10" | 2400x1080 | 60 Hz | Android 10 |
The table above contains an overview over the best smartphones for less than 300 Euros reviewed by Notebookcheck over the course of the past 12 months as well as still relevant and available older products. In cases of identical score the more recent device is listed first. All prices in above table and price comparisons are updated daily and can thus differ.
Editors' Comments
Quite a kerfuffle this month cause by the five new-entries!
1st – Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro
The Redmi Note 9 Pro is yet another Xiaomi smartphone with an almost exceptional price-performance ratio. It offers a bright 6.67-inch IPS display, 6 GB of RAM, 64 or 128 GB of internal storage, a Snapdragon 720G, and last but not least a quad-camera with 64 MP. The 5,020 mAh battery ensures decent battery life, and a 33 W charger makes sure it refills fast enough as well.
Our main gripe was with its camera, including the ultra-wide angle and macro lens as well as the depth of field sensor, all of which were not perfect. Considering its price we might be asking too much of Xiaomi, though.
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2nd – Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite
The Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite features a 6.47-inch large AMOLED display running at a native resolution of 2340 x 1080 with support for HDR. It is powered by a Snapdragon 730G, 6 GB of RAM, and 64 GB of UFS storage. Furthermore, it features an IR blaster, an audio jack, and last but not least a 5,260 mAh large battery.
Its quad camera offers an additional wide-angle lens, a depth of field sensor, and a macro lens. The 64 MP main camera performed adequately in our test and offers a decent daylight performance. Generally speaking, the Mi Note 10 Lite seemed like a well-thought-out device. The only thing we would have wished for is expandable storage.
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3rd – Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC
The Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC offers a lot for its money, most importantly a 120 Hz display and a brand-new SoC. Its camera is also exceptional for its price class even though it did show a few weaknesses during our test. On paper, the X3 NFC’s quad-camera array may look great but in reality, its two extra 2 MP lenses weren’t particularly useful.
With 6 GB of RAM and either 64 or 128 GB of storage the device should suffice most users. Storage can be further expanded via microSD card. Its dual speakers performed very well and so did its analog headphone jack. The latter is also required for the device’s built-in FM radio receiver. And last but not least the device also features an IR blaster.
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4th – realme 7 Pro
The realme 7 Pro features a 6.4-inch AMOLED display running in FHD+ resolution at a refresh rate of 60 Hz. It is powered by a Snapdragon 720G with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of microSD-expandable storage. Its quad-camera includes a 64 MP sensor, an ultra-wide angle lens, a macro lens, and a depth-of-field sensor. Its 4,500 mAh battery ensures decent battery life.
Downsides include realme’s slow pace of releasing security updates as well as the lack of the 90 Hz display that was included on the device’s predecessor.
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5th – TCL Plex
The TCL Plex is a fairly well-made first smartphone for Chinese manufacturer TCL. It features a 6.53-inch large FHD+ IPS display, a powerful mid-range SoC, 6 GB of RAM, and 128 GB of expandable UFS storage. Its triple-camera has room for improvement given that its competitors manage to get more out of this particular sensor.
One of the highlights is the phone’s Super Bluetooth feature that allows you to stream music simultaneously to up to four Bluetooth audio devices. We also liked the configurable smart key. On the flip side its SoC performed slower than expected, which was fortunately not noticeable in everyday use except when gaming. In addition, TCL failed to obtain a DRM certification for its smartphone.
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6th – Oppo A73 5G
You can already get decent 5G smartphones for less than 300 Euros, such as for example the Oppo A73 5G. With its 6,5-inch IPS display, its modern MediaTek SoC, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage it is up-to-date and supports a wide range of frequencies. Its triple-lens camera may not be the best shooter around but does offer an additional ultra-wide angle lens, and the 4,040 mAh battery makes for very good battery life.
We found no real downsides in our review. The only thing we would have wished for is a microSD slot.
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7th – ZTE Axon 11 4G
The ZTE Axon 11 4G's 6,47-inch display runs in FHD+ resolution at a refresh rate of 60 Hz. Its Helio P70 SoC may not be the latest chip around but it is still more than adequately fast, and it has access to 6 GB of RAM and 128 GB of microSD-expandable storage. The smartphone also offers a quad-camera and a 4,000 mAh battery.
In our review we noted its light and slim design. In return, its internal storage is quite slow, and battery life could have been better.
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8th – Vivo Y70
The Vivo Y70 is a slim smartphone with a 6,44-inch large AMOLED display powered by a Qualcomm SoC with access to 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal expandable storage. Its triple-camera is solid, however we failed to see the benefits of its additional lenses. Its 4,100 mAh battery ensures long battery life.
One of the Y70’s unique features is certainly its long-term software and update support. Apart from that we also liked its overall well-balanced package. The only real gripe was its slow microSD slot without support for exFAT.
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9th – Oppo A91
The Oppo A91 offers a 6.4-inch AMOLED display that not only offers exceptional picture quality but also high brightness. It is powered by a Helio P70 and 8 GB of RAM and has access to 128 GB of microSD-expandable storage.
The cameras were average at best, and the battery did not perform as well as we expected. Nevertheless, the A91 is a mid-range force to be reckoned with.
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10th – Samsung Galaxy A41
The Samsung Galaxy A41 comes in a colorful and surprisingly lightweight plastic case, which houses a 6.1-inch SuperAMOLED display running in FHD+ resolution. It is powered by a mid-range SoC made by MediaTek with access to 4 GB of RAM and 64 GB of internal storage. It is also capable of taking two Nano SIM cards in addition to a microSD card.
In our review, we noted its triple-camera’s solid performance as well as its decent battery life, and found no real downsides worth mentioning.
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Best Mainstream Smartphones in Comparison
Test Results
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro Adreno 618, SD 720G, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite Adreno 618, SD 730G, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC Adreno 618, SD 732G, 64 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | realme 7 Pro Adreno 618, SD 720G, 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | TCL Plex Adreno 612, SD 675, 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | Oppo A73 5G Mali-G57 MP3, Dimensity 720, 128 GB UFS 2.1 Flash | ZTE Axon 11 Mali-G72 MP3, Helio P70, 128 GB eMMC Flash | Vivo Y70 Adreno 610, SD 665, 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | Oppo A91 Mali-G72 MP3, Helio P70, 128 GB UFS 2.0 Flash | Samsung Galaxy A41 Mali-G52 MP2, Helio P65, 64 GB eMMC Flash | |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Response Times | ||||||||||
Response Time Grey 50% / Grey 80% * | 44.8 (20.4, 24.4) | 10 (5, 5) | 44.4 (21.6, 22.8) | 8 (3, 5) | 56 (29.2, 26.8) | 33.6 (18, 15.6) | 4 (2, 2) | 4.8 (2.8, 2) | 3.2 (2, 1.2) | 5.6 (2.8, 2.8) |
Response Time Black / White * | 25.6 (10.8, 14.8) | 8 (3, 5) | 26.4 (11.6, 14.8) | 6 (3, 3) | 29.2 (12.8, 16.4) | 18.4 (8.4, 10) | 3.6 (2, 1.6) | 4 (2, 2) | 3.2 (2, 1.2) | 3.2 (2, 1.2) |
PWM Frequency | 2404 (43) | 176.1 | 2358 (40) | 123 | 2358 (49) | 250 (99) | 245.1 (99) | 250 (99) | 245.1 (99) | |
Screen | ||||||||||
Brightness middle | 610 | 605 | 623 | 507 | 432 | 527 | 610 | 573 | 594 | 554 |
Brightness | 579 | 608 | 600 | 508 | 418 | 499 | 614 | 572 | 613 | 559 |
Brightness Distribution | 92 | 95 | 93 | 97 | 93 | 87 | 98 | 97 | 89 | 92 |
Black Level * | 0.37 | 0.54 | 0.43 | 0.38 | ||||||
Contrast | 1649 | 1154 | 1005 | 1387 | ||||||
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 * | 1.8 | 0.84 | 1.8 | 1.88 | 3.4 | 3.5 | 4.8 | 2.7 | 6.1 | 2 |
Colorchecker DeltaE2000 max. * | 3 | 1.8 | 4.7 | 3.63 | 6 | 7.3 | 7.7 | 4.9 | 10.6 | 7.7 |
Greyscale DeltaE2000 * | 2.5 | 1.3 | 3.3 | 2 | 3.8 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 2.9 | 7 | 1.6 |
Gamma | 2.31 95% | 2.211 100% | 2.26 97% | 2.338 94% | 2.14 103% | 2.29 96% | 2.21 100% | 2.19 100% | 2.28 96% | 2.11 104% |
CCT | 6864 95% | 6310 103% | 6712 97% | 6665 98% | 6151 106% | 6502 100% | 7122 91% | 6665 98% | 7370 88% | 6589 99% |
Heat | ||||||||||
Maximum Upper Side * | 38.4 | 40.1 | 39 | 42.5 | 40.9 | 30.5 | 34.4 | 30.5 | 35.2 | 36.6 |
Maximum Bottom * | 38.5 | 36.9 | 37.3 | 41.7 | 39.5 | 29.6 | 36.4 | 30.3 | 34.3 | 37.7 |
Idle Upper Side * | 30 | 33.6 | 31.8 | 26.6 | 35.7 | 29.4 | 25.1 | 23.7 | 32.7 | 26.2 |
Idle Bottom * | 26 | 31.1 | 27.3 | 26.9 | 29 | 26.4 | 25.4 | 24.2 | 32.9 | 26.1 |
Battery Runtime | ||||||||||
Reader / Idle | 2336 | 2249 | 2427 | 1843 | ||||||
WiFi v1.3 | 1175 | 1095 | 1116 | 931 | 616 | 1426 | 606 | 819 | 605 | 650 |
Load | 303 | 337 | 280 | 268 | ||||||
Power Consumption | ||||||||||
Idle Minimum * | 0.75 | 0.8 | 0.93 | 0.73 | 0.58 | 0.8 | 0.83 | 0.82 | 0.96 | |
Idle Average * | 2.19 | 1.1 | 2.47 | 2.17 | 1.86 | 1.71 | 1.4 | 1.73 | 1.57 | |
Idle Maximum * | 2.24 | 1.8 | 2.51 | 2.23 | 1.88 | 1.75 | 1.68 | 1.75 | 1.61 | |
Load Average * | 3.88 | 3.7 | 5.62 | 4.56 | 3.1 | 2.29 | 2.61 | 2.33 | 2.93 | |
Load Maximum * | 5.97 | 6.1 | 6.93 | 5.22 | 5.01 | 4.99 | 5.12 | 5.97 | 4.97 |
* ... smaller is better
Benchmarks
3DMark | |
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Physics (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 | |
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) Graphics (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 | |
2560x1440 Sling Shot Extreme (ES 3.1) (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 |
GFXBench | |
Aztec Ruins High Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 | |
2560x1440 Aztec Ruins High Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 | |
Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Onscreen (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 | |
1920x1080 Aztec Ruins Normal Tier Offscreen (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 |
PCMark for Android - Work 2.0 performance score (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 |
AnTuTu v8 - Total Score (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 |
WebXPRT 3 - --- (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 |
Networking | |
iperf3 Client (receive) TCP 1 m 4M x10 (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 | |
iperf3 Client (transmit) TCP 1 m 4M x10 (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
realme 7 Pro | |
TCL Plex | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
ZTE Axon 11 | |
Vivo Y70 | |
Oppo A91 | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 |
PUBG Mobile - HD (sort by value) | |
Xiaomi Redmi Note 9 Pro | |
Xiaomi Mi Note 10 Lite | |
Xiaomi Poco X3 NFC | |
Oppo A73 5G | |
Samsung Galaxy A41 |