2025’s best phones, like the vibrant orange iPhone 17 Pro, the Android all-rounder Google Pixel 10 Pro and the consistently high-perfoming Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra share many things. They all offer amazing performance and come with incredible camera setups. Then there’s the massive, vibrant displays and the host of funky new AI skills, all of which makes these flagship phones the peak of what mobile tech can offer. It’s also no surprise that these fan-favorite phones have something else in common, too: whopping price tags.
Not everyone needs such top tech, however, or may simply be unwilling to spend the $1,000 or more typically required to get it. Luckily, the midrange sector of the phone world has been one of the fiercest battlegrounds for companies to compete in, resulting in some amazing phones that won’t break the bank. Features like wireless charging and cameras with multiple lenses that were once the domain of flagships are now commonplace on midrange phones.
Even budget phones will still offer decent camera quality and enough power for you to enjoy all of your everyday web browsing, WhatsApp-ing and Instagramming.
Screen size
All phones have gotten steadily bigger over the last few years, with the iPhone 17 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra measuring a whopping 6.9 inches. Small phones aren’t that common anymore, with almost no phones measuring under six inches in size.
Software support period
A phone remains safe to use only as long as it receives security updates from the manufacturer to protect it from hackers. In the past, this was a bigger concern since most phones were supported for just two or three years, leaving them with a short shelf life. Today, however, extended support has become a competitive feature, with Google now offering an impressive seven years of software and security updates on its latest phones.
It means the most recent Pixel 10 Pro will still be safe to use in 2032, while Samsung has promised a similar support period for its Galaxy S25 range. Samsung’s Galaxy S20, released in 2020, received its final security update in 2024, however, so it’s important to confirm how long your phone of choice will be safe to use, especially if you’re buying an older phone on the used market. A longer support period not only gives you better value for money over the lifetime of the device, it’s also better for the planet, as it keeps older, but still usable phones out of landfill and reduces the number of new devices being made and shipped.
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