Best midrange all-rounders 2020 - buyer’s guide

Choosing the Redmi Note 9S as the new Editor's Choice in this category was a no-brainer. In addition to the outstanding battery autonomy, it also delivers some excellent bang for the buck making it one of the cheapest gaming-oriented smartphones. It also offers enjoyable stills and videos, as well as a large and HDR10-capable screen.

Despite it is aimed at global markets, it omits NFC and that may be a bummer for many.

If we have about €200 to spend on a phone, we will go with the €150 Redmi Note 8T. It has pretty much everything you'd want out of a handset for this price - a large and sharp display (LCD, but still), a capable chipset (powerful and efficient), a big 4,000mAh battery with 18W charging support and a whole array of cameras.

But that's not even all. It's built with Gorilla Glass 5 on both sides, it has NFC support, and can even control your legacy appliances with its built-in IR emitter.

Perhaps the one thing we can come up with that could be an issue to some is the 200g weight - it's not unreasonable, it's just a bit hefty. And yes, an OLED seems like too much to ask in this price bracket.

Mind you, in regions where the Redmi Note 8T is not available, the Redmi Note 8 usually is. That's mostly the same phone, only minus NFC and 10g lighter - still an easy recommendation.

Our top pick for a battery life champ is also one of the best phones you can buy in this price bracket.

It's mid-2020 and we're already spotting a trend with new phone releases with extra-large battery capacities on the rise and the Realme 6i is a prime example. It surprised us pleasantly by pushing the ceiling of our all-time battery test chart higher than ever before.

The Realme 6i has a 5,000mAh battery, which is a sizeable battery by any standard. It aced all of our battery tests, delivering remarkable results across the board. It also supports 18W fast charging - a standout feature within the budget class.

The Realme 6i has a large screen with basic 720p resolution and coupled with the rather powerful Helio G80 chip, it delivers smooth gaming performance.

Finally, the quad-camera on the back offers good photo quality and thus the Realme 6i exceeds the initial expectations suggested by its budget segment. Realme is not popular as Redmi outside Asia, at least for now, but we suspect this is going to change soon.

The Redmi Note 8 Pro is now even cheaper priced at about €200, which makes it even more attractive than last year. First, it's one of our battery champs. We also enjoyed the output of its 64MP main camera, and selfies came out nice as well. Then the Redmi Note 8 Pro also proved a snappy performer thanks to its Helio G90T chipset.

It's got flaws too, naturally. While its LCD isn't half-bad but it's not the best either. The flipside to the large battery is that the Redmi 8 Pro is a bit chunky. The camera system isn't universally great either, with the less-than-stellar performance from the ultra-wide and macro modules and uninspiring 1080p video.

The Realme 6 is the best phone in this price bracket and having 90Hz display is not the only reason. It has one very capable chip for gaming, excellent battery backup, and its camera delivers in quality and versatility across the board.

The plastic build isn't our favorite, but we couldn't ask for more at about €220. It does offer Gorilla Glass 3 protection for the screen and P2i water-repellant coating for the internals. So, it seems we still got more than we bargained for.

If you have slightly more to spend, we'd recommend the Galaxy M31. It had a limited launch this June, but we expect it to hit more markets soon enough. The M31 has a 6,000mAh cell inside, paired with a nice 6.4-inch FullHD AMOLED, a speedy Exynos mid-tier chip and a promising camera setup - if that's not an all-rounder, we don't know what is.

The M31 has a rather plasticky build, and its glossy back is nigh impossible to keep clean - not strictly a dealbreaker, but a nuisance nonetheless.

The Xiaomi Mi 9T (also known as Redmi K20 in some markets) stays as our top €300 recommendation for yet another cycle. There's a lot to like about Xiaomi's entry in this class, starting with the triple camera - as in actual three focal lengths. It also makes very good use of them, producing excellent results across the board. That applies to the pop-up selfie cam too, which in turn makes the already great AMOLED display notch-less.

Add to that the excellent battery life and one of the best chipset outside the 800-series Snapdragons, and the Mi 9T doesn't have any weak points. If anything, its only downside is that certain markets may have the Mi 9T Pro or the Mi 9 proper priced dangerously close to the 9T and those do come with the top-tier Snapdragon 855 chip.

The Realme X2 may have lost to the Mi 9T for the top spot in the category, again, but it remains on our shortlist. Not quite bright as the competition outdoors, the X2's display is still AMOLED, and it can be very accurate in the right mode. The Realme has some of the fastest charging you can find for the money, and that's on top of exemplary battery life.

The Realme does outdo the Mi in a couple of areas too, so it may be worth considering how important your phone's haptic feedback is, for example - the one on the X2 is top-notch. Its 64MP main camera is also a step up from the 9T's one, though the ultra wide-angle one isn't as good on the X2 and its telephoto is non-existent.

The global Redmi Note 9 Pro model is shaping as one of the best deals in the months to come and it deserves some serious consideration. It has a great HDR10-capable screen, large at that, a gaming-oriented hardware, and outstanding battery autonomy. We also liked its camera output, too, even if it is not the best shooter at night.

The Redmi Note 9 Pro only issue is that Realme has a phone with a 90Hz display for similar or less cash. Then again, no app (outside the system ones) can really utilize it, so there is that, too.

The Motorola One Fusion+ delivers an excellent balance of performance across all key areas. One of the LCD's best features is that it's cutout-free, but it's also reasonably bright and contrasty. Battery life is off-the-charts great, while the Snapdragon 730 (730G in India) is a potent mid-range chip. The main camera takes excellent photos in good light and at night, portraits and selfies aren't half bad either.

True, while stills are great, video isn't quite as likeable out of the Fusion+. The ultrawide camera isn't on the same level as the main shooter either. The lack of NFC could put off some buyers too, the rest in this group have it. There's also the concern that the elevating selfie cam that eliminates the display notch could pose issues in the long run - but we haven't heard of pop-up mechanisms failing en mass plus the worst thing that can happen is no selfies, how bad could that be?

The Galaxy A51 is the typical Samsung mid-ranger with great AMOLED screen and capable enough chip, while its camera is up to par most of the time.

It is a plastic phone and as such - a huge fingerprint magnet. The A51 also disappoints with its low-light images and lacking video capturing modes, but it makes up for that with smooth One UI experience.

The Galaxy A51 sure isn't the best phone, but the A series are often subsidized by carriers and these Galaxies have a rather strong following out there. So, it deserves a spot in this guide and you should check with your local carrier for offers.