PHGamerzOnly
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The world of Android offers up plenty of options for those looking to splash out on a flagship, but there’s also a budding range of quality mid-range smartphones for those who are more restrained in their spending habits. Of course, the other option is to plump down the cash for a slightly older flagship model. Technology has moved on rather quickly these past few years, so now is a particularly interesting time to look at the hardware on offer in the mid-range segment compared with what was considered the best of the best in the past.
For this comparison we’re going to look at some of today’s best mid-range smartphones in the sub $250 price bracket and compare them to the most modern flagships that we can find for the same price. Importantly, this means that we’re often looking at flagship handsets from at least a couple of generations ago if not older.
For the mid-rangers, I’ve picked out the OnePlus X, the Honor 5X, the 5.5-inch Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3, and the ultra-cheap Lenovo K3 Note. The older flagships I’ve found that fit into the same price bracket right now are original HTC One as the cheapest option, the second generation Moto X, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, and the probably the star find of the bunch is the LG G3. You will almost certainly be able to find other similar handsets too as deals vary, and you can find slightly newer certified refurbished models around, such as the Galaxy Note 3 and the HTC One M8, for around the $250 mark. That said, we know that not everyone likes dealing with previously used hardware.
When it comes to processing hardware, it’s actually possible to find older Snapdragon 800 series flagships that have been reduced to sub-$250, providing you’re willing to scour through eBay and Amazon. However, it’s rather difficult to directly compare the older flagship quad-core Snapdragon 800 series handsets to the new octa-core Cortex-A53 chips that power most of today’s mid-range phones. Only the $250 mid-range OnePlus X shares the older generation hardware and will offer similar performance. So let’s take a look at some benchmarks.
While CPU performance across all of these models will certainly be fine for your day to day tasks and all offer up decent multi-tasking capabilities, the Snapdragon 800 and 801 handsets provide the strongest single core performance. The GPU performance of the Adreno 330 also still packs a punch above and beyond that offered by today’s mid-range Adreno 405 or the Mali-T760MP2 that gamers will find difficult to ignore. Although opting for the QHD display with the LG G3 will see performance take a bit of a hit.
Unfortunately, the Snapdragon 600 powering the HTC One, or other older handsets like the Galaxy S4 or LG G2, is really beginning to show its age and doesn’t quite keep up, so handsets from this generation are not quite such a good deal. The MediaTek MT6752 that powers the $130 Lenovo K3 Note easily fits right in to the pack and performs exceptionally well in the multi-tasking benchmarks, possibly due to MediaTek’s CorePilot technology making the most of all eight low power cores.
You will also find comparable RAM and internal memory options available across all of these smartphones. 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory is the norm in today’s mid-range smartphones, but you can find 3GB RAM options around if you’re prepared to splash a little more cash. 32GB memory is also more readily available in the older flagship models, but you will find that some of the smartphones lack a microSD card slot, so there are pros and cons to consider.
Display technology shows the same similarities across all of our handsets. A 1080p resolution remains the norm and is perfectly suitable for handsets around the 5-inch mark. Amazingly, the Lenovo K3 Note offers up a 1080p display at a fraction of the price of all these other models. Gone are the days of sub-par 720p mid-rangers, although the Xperia Z1 Compact has the lowest resolution of the bunch, but it is a much smaller handset than the others. If you’re looking for something that’s a little more competitive with today’s high-end smartphones, the LG G3 packs a QHD (2560×1440) display at the upper end of our budget.
For this comparison we’re going to look at some of today’s best mid-range smartphones in the sub $250 price bracket and compare them to the most modern flagships that we can find for the same price. Importantly, this means that we’re often looking at flagship handsets from at least a couple of generations ago if not older.
For the mid-rangers, I’ve picked out the OnePlus X, the Honor 5X, the 5.5-inch Alcatel Onetouch Idol 3, and the ultra-cheap Lenovo K3 Note. The older flagships I’ve found that fit into the same price bracket right now are original HTC One as the cheapest option, the second generation Moto X, the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact, and the probably the star find of the bunch is the LG G3. You will almost certainly be able to find other similar handsets too as deals vary, and you can find slightly newer certified refurbished models around, such as the Galaxy Note 3 and the HTC One M8, for around the $250 mark. That said, we know that not everyone likes dealing with previously used hardware.
When it comes to processing hardware, it’s actually possible to find older Snapdragon 800 series flagships that have been reduced to sub-$250, providing you’re willing to scour through eBay and Amazon. However, it’s rather difficult to directly compare the older flagship quad-core Snapdragon 800 series handsets to the new octa-core Cortex-A53 chips that power most of today’s mid-range phones. Only the $250 mid-range OnePlus X shares the older generation hardware and will offer similar performance. So let’s take a look at some benchmarks.
While CPU performance across all of these models will certainly be fine for your day to day tasks and all offer up decent multi-tasking capabilities, the Snapdragon 800 and 801 handsets provide the strongest single core performance. The GPU performance of the Adreno 330 also still packs a punch above and beyond that offered by today’s mid-range Adreno 405 or the Mali-T760MP2 that gamers will find difficult to ignore. Although opting for the QHD display with the LG G3 will see performance take a bit of a hit.
Unfortunately, the Snapdragon 600 powering the HTC One, or other older handsets like the Galaxy S4 or LG G2, is really beginning to show its age and doesn’t quite keep up, so handsets from this generation are not quite such a good deal. The MediaTek MT6752 that powers the $130 Lenovo K3 Note easily fits right in to the pack and performs exceptionally well in the multi-tasking benchmarks, possibly due to MediaTek’s CorePilot technology making the most of all eight low power cores.
You will also find comparable RAM and internal memory options available across all of these smartphones. 2GB RAM and 16GB internal memory is the norm in today’s mid-range smartphones, but you can find 3GB RAM options around if you’re prepared to splash a little more cash. 32GB memory is also more readily available in the older flagship models, but you will find that some of the smartphones lack a microSD card slot, so there are pros and cons to consider.
Display technology shows the same similarities across all of our handsets. A 1080p resolution remains the norm and is perfectly suitable for handsets around the 5-inch mark. Amazingly, the Lenovo K3 Note offers up a 1080p display at a fraction of the price of all these other models. Gone are the days of sub-par 720p mid-rangers, although the Xperia Z1 Compact has the lowest resolution of the bunch, but it is a much smaller handset than the others. If you’re looking for something that’s a little more competitive with today’s high-end smartphones, the LG G3 packs a QHD (2560×1440) display at the upper end of our budget.