This year, there’s a new category when looking for a smartphone — premium mid-range. Unlike your typical mid-range phones, premium mid-range offers more value for the price. This could come in better performance, more cameras, bigger batteries, or an exclusive feature that’s new to the market. For its first year, it has been one of the most crowded and competitive smartphone markets already. Now that flagship phones are nearly out of reach (in terms of price), more consumers are settling for value alternatives. And with tons of options to choose from, we had to exclude some phones that are exclusive to specific regions only. That said, here are the best premium mid-range phones of 2019.
READ: Best Entry-Level Phones in 2019
Pixel 3a and 3a XL launched in 3 different colors
Google isn’t available in the Philippines but it’s not an exclusive phone like most Chinese counterparts. Including the US and India, the company made it available for 13 countries in the world. Here’s hoping that we’ll be included once the Pixel 4a launches, as the Pixel 3a sent a message to other brands that getting flagship-level photos doesn’t require you to spend a lot.
108MP Penta-camera for P25,990. Need we say more? If there’s breakout phone of the year, it’s gotta be the Mi Note 10 and Mi Note 10 Pro. The main camera can shoot photos with incredible detail quality. Provided with good lighting, it’s hard not to be impressed by the huge MP count of Samsung’s lens. And for the rest, you get an ultrawide, portrait, telephoto that can go up to 50x digital zoom, and macro for, well, macro photography. But even with the great cameras, people often overlook that the Mi Note 10 series is powered by a massive 5170mAh battery with 30W fast charging. Performance-wise, the Snapdragon 730G is more than enough even for all kinds of gaming.
READ: Best Budget Phones in 2019
Huawei Nova 6 was just recently launched in China but the offering of Kirin 990, 40W SuperCharge, and triple-cameras for only CNY 3199 or ~P23,000 was hard to pass up. And if you want to add 5G connectivity, it will only cost you at least CNY 3799 or ~P27,300. But since it’s not available yet in the country and it will most likely be a 2020 contender, the Nova 5T will be taking its place.
For 18,990, it has taken the flagship killer moniker. You get a dual-NPU-powered Kirin 980 and four main cameras already.
Of course, we can’t let the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro (aka Redmi K20 Pro) be left off of 2019’s best premium mid-range phones. Seemingly taking the cape of the Poco F1, the Mi 9T Pro is still the cheapest Snapdragon 855 phone you can get. Starting at P18,990, you get a Super AMOLED screen with no notch or pinhole, 48MP triple camera, 20MP pop-up camera, and 4000mAh battery with 27W. All that in a metal + glass design.
The best premium mid-range phone in 2019 is the OnePlus 7T. We would’ve chosen the OnePlus 7 as it costs below P30K but the outdated cameras and display made us choose its successor. For P32,990, you’re getting 90Hz refresh rate already. This means animations are faster and smoother. The same goes for games that support a high refresh rate. You also get a better triple camera setup than the OnePlus 7 Pro as well as faster Snapdragon 855+ chipset. Although the battery is rated 3800mAh, you get the benefit of Warp Charge 30T — the fastest version so far. In other words, it’s just a cheaper version of the OnePlus 7T Pro with a notch.
READ: Full OnePlus 8 Lineup and Price Leaked – 90/120Hz, IP53 water resistance, 4500mAh (50W)
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