Best midrange all-rounders 2025 - buyer’s guide

The Poco X7 is not a major step up from the Poco X6, but still a very good offer. It is also a reworked version of the recent Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G and since it is cheaper than its Redmi counterpart, it easily made it to the top spot in this category.

Compared to the X6, the X7 comes with a refreshed design, a newer chipset and a better camera, but the complete water resistance and the enhanced shock absorption are probably the most notable improvements.

Still, if you are not coming from a Poco X6 or Redmi Note 14 Pro, the Poco X7 will impress you with design, screen and even performance. We found its battery life and charging good enough, and its rich connectivity options are a big plus.

The Poco X7 main camera does not live up to our expectations as it didn't offer a lossless 2x zoom, which was available on the Poco X6 (with a solid 4x option even, too).

While the Poco X7 Pro comes with HyperOS 2 and Android 15, the X7 comes with HyperOS 1 and Android 14, which means one less major upgrade for this phone. This is a trick we wholeheartedly do not approve of.

At the end of the day, it all comes down to this - is the Poco X7 a good device? Yes, it is. The phone has a well-rounded specs sheet and delivers on most of its promises.

The Redmi Note 14 Pro 4G brings a few upgrades over last year's model, notably the IP64 ingress protection rating, overall better build quality, and the larger 5,500 mAh battery. Besides that, not much has changed about the device's hardware. The new Helio G100 chipset is basically identical to last year's Helio G99 Ultra, especially in performance. The camera setup this year isn't much different, either.

The phone has good build quality and protection, both in the form of IP64 ingress protection and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 on the front. Despite lacking HDR support, the display is quite nice and offers plenty of brightness. We liked that the battery capacity has grown, even if charging has been notably downgraded. The stereo speaker system is solid and does not disappoint. The same is mostly true of the camera setup. We like how the 200MP main snapper performs after dark. However, the ultrawide is a bit disappointing.

The Redmi Note 14 Pro 4G is one good offer and it will do well as your daily driver, there is just one issue to consider – the cheaper Poco X7 model, which makes much more sense.

We enjoyed the 120Hz AMOLED display on the Redmi Note 14 5G and together with the loud stereo speaker it promises some proper video streaming experience. The battery life is alright and the charting speed is adequate.

The Redmi Note 14 5G isn’t particularly fast, maybe even a bit slow. And its camera department, while offering plenty of imagers, fails to deliver on quality.

If we still had to express some wishes, a better chipset would probably be up there. The same goes for the omission of HyperOS 2 and the latest Android 15, both of which Xiaomi has promised to deliver as soon as possible, whatever that means.

Overall, the Redmi Note 14 5G is a solid all-round offer in this basic segment and we do recommend exploring it.

The Galaxy A26 brings a few upgrades to last year's model - you get a 6.7-inch display (up from 6.5"), proper IP67 ingress protection, Gorilla Glass Victus+ glass on the back, and last but not least, the more powerful chipset from last year's Galaxy A35. It also gets to keep its microSD slot too, while it got axed in the new A36 and A56.

We aren't very happy with the display (not bright enough, no automatic refresh rate control); charging is painfully slow; battery life is underwhelming; the stereo speakers from the Galaxy A25 got axed.

The Galaxy A26 5G currently retails for about €200-€220, which makes it a good offer, all things considered.

The €180 Moto G55 is quite an attractive offer priced below €200. It has a beautiful and lightweight design. The LCD screen is of high resolution, high refresh rate and there is only a small perforation.

Furthermore, the G55 offer a lot of connectivity options including 5G, FM radio, NFC, and more. Plus, its primary camera promises great photo and video quality. The large battery is much appreciated, of course.

The €300 Poco X7 Pro turned out to be an excellent bang for the buck offer as it offers unmatched flagship performance for its price class. It also has a cool and stylish design, a great AMOLED screen and an attractive design with a solid build. The battery life and the charging are quite alright, and so are the speakers.

We were also impressed by the smoothness of the HyperOS 2 and its AI options. And let's not forget the promised three major Android updates and 4 years of security patches.

Admittedly, the camera is mostly mediocre, except for the 2x zoom quality and the video stabilization. The rear cameras get the job done, but there is nothing impressive about the quality. The selfie shooter is one of the worst we've experienced lately, though.

If not for the so-so cameras, we would have given an excellent mark for this Poco X7 Pro. But even with these imperfections, the Poco X7 Pro is the most powerful smartphone around the €400 mark with a premium display, cooling, and top-notch battery and charging technologies. Given the all-round premium experience on a low-tier midrange price, the Poco X7 Pro easily becomes our top pick for this category.

The Motorola Edge 60 Fusion launches with a very competitive price tag of €320 and shapes up to be an excellent all-rounder. The phone will become even more competitive with time as the price goes down.

Despite having an average chipset for the asking price and a camera app that can be laggy at times, the Edge 60 Fusion is easy to recommend. It has a few standout features like a higher-end display, exceptional build and unorthodox design, unrivaled speakers (loudness and quality-wise), fast charging, and pretty solid camera performance with all three cameras. The Edge 60 Fusion also adds a microSD card slot this year, and the default storage configuration offers 256GB. The extra connectivity features and the desktop-like environment via Smart Connect are great bonuses too. And we didn't even mention the great software experience - an area where the company is constantly making strides forward as well.

Ultimately, we would say that if the Moto Edge 60 Fusion speaks to you, particularly with its looks, screen, and cameras - you should go for one. You will not regret it, on the contrary, we can see you recommending it to a friend or two.

It's really hard to find any glaring faults with the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G, as should frankly be the case with a phone that has all the makings to become insanely popular sales-wise. Xiaomi just knows how to deliver value at this competitive mid-range price point.

The Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G might not sport the most premium of materials, but it is extremely well made and also, new for this year, extremely well protected against the elements. An SD card slot would have been great, and we are sure some will mourn the demise of the trusty old 3.5mm audio jack, but other than that, we can't say anything is missing or out of place in this design. The controls are where they should be. The stereo speakers are symmetrical, well-balanced and quite nice-sounding. The display bezels are very reasonably seized, with practically every sensor hidden away somewhere and not in the way. This makes for an overall very clean and, dare we say, even classic design language.

The MediaTek Dimensity 7300 Ultra is far from a chart-topper in the grand scheme of things, but it is still a modern and efficient chip with all the connectivity features you may expect at this price point. There's ample battery to get most users through a full day, which is pretty adequate in our book. The same goes for the charging rate.

The Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G has a perfectly adequate and versatile camera setup. There are no glaring faults in either the photos or videos it captures. These are not quite flagship-grade by any means, but again, we can't realistically ask for much more for the class.

The fact that the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G ships with Android 14 and HyperOS 1 while some of its siblings, like the Poco X7 Pro, come with Android 15 and XyperOS 2 out of the box is far from ideal. Let's call this a pretty obvious and not-so-clever trick to offer users fewer major OS updates in total, which we don't approve of.

We definitely wish that Xiaomi had made things a bit easier when it comes to differentiating between all the different models and regional versions of the Redmi Note 14 line. Things still get more confusing when we branch out into the Poco X7 family. If you like the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G, then you might benefit from looking at the Poco X7 for essentially the same experience and potentially a better price tag.

All things considered, the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G is an excellent overall package, and you can hardly go wrong when choosing the Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G or its Poco X7 counterpart.

The Galaxy A36 is the most balanced Samsung midranger from the new series with an improved design, more powerful graphics, and faster charging over the Galaxy A35. It has been promised 6 major Android updates, which is a lot.

The Galaxy A36 delivered excellent screen brightness, and it is indeed slightly faster to charge. We are happy with its speakers' loudness and quality, and its overall performance is adequate. The battery life is adequate too, though not chart-topping for sure.

The disappointment came from the lack of improvement in the camera department and the photo and video quality. The model has been sort of stuck since the Galaxy A34. And speaking about the Galaxy A34, we can also say the raw performance hasn't improved since, despite featuring new chip models.

If you are shopping for a midranger at about €300 right now, the Galaxy A36 is a good alternative to Xiaomi’s offerings and it deserves a spot on your shortlists.

The €400 Poco F7 is an easy recommendation. It is the same phone as our top pick from the previous price category – the Poco X7 Pro, but with an even faster chip – the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. The phone lives up to the F-series legacy with yet another well-balanced, performance-first offering that's hard to ignore. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset delivers excellent overall performance, whether gaming or just navigating the UI.

Build quality is also surprisingly premium, with a metal frame and IP68 ingress protection rounding out a robust package. HyperOS 2 with Android 15 brings the latest software enhancements and AI features, and the phone is promised four major OS updates and six years of security support, which are solid commitments at this price point.

The weakest link remains the camera setup. While the main shooter is capable in good light, and 4K video quality is respectable, the ultrawide and selfie cameras are basic at best. If imaging is your top priority, better-rounded options exist.

Still, for most users looking for sheer speed, solid multimedia, long battery life, and a sharp display-all at a competitive price - the Poco F7 is a fantastic package.

The price of the Redmi Note 14 Pro+ has quickly dropped down since its premiere and we cannot but recommend it. There are quite a few things to like in the Redmi Note 14 Pro+, like the extra durable build and smooth design, the very nice screen, the new battery chemistry, the solid performance with awesome thermal stability, the great video recording and the very fast charging. Convinced, yet?

We hoped for better battery life, better photo quality and a bigger performance bump but these things have not changed in the new model a full year later. And there are phones in this price range that can offer you an even better chipset and longer battery life.

The Redmi Note 14 Pro+ does not have any glaring issues and at its current price, it is one of the best options in this price segment, if not the best considering its all-round feature set.

The Motorola Edge 60 is a decent all-rounder for the asking price, with some caveats in mind. The display is excellent, one of the brightest in the class, even, the camera experience is pretty good, despite the underwhelming 2x zoom photos and inconsistent performance from shot to shot.

The Edge 60 also supports speedy charging, offers a nice and lightweight all-leather design with high IP68/69 ingress protection. And we are huge fans of the desktop-like environment feature offered by the Hello UI under the collective Smart Connect feature.

Nevertheless, the flat-sounding loudspeakers and the relatively slow chipset for the price bracket keep us from making this phone our top pick. We are also disappointed to see the wireless charging is no longer available and the software support shortened to just 3 major OS upgrades instead of 5 like on the Edge 50. But the Edge 60 is still a formidable contender in the €400 price category and it should be considered.

The Galaxy A56 tries to ride on the success of its predecessors and though it brings modes updates, it is still one incredibly solid offer. We liked the sturdy design, the excellent raw and sustained performance, and we are generally happy with the speakers, battery life and software package. Display quality is competitive, although it's not hard to find bright 120Hz OLEDs nowadays.

We are not fans of the virtual proximity sensor and the mediocre camera quloty. While none of these is a real deal-breaker, they should be considered when shopping for a phone.

The Galaxy A56 looks like a good all-rounder on paper, it has a decent price and that is why should earn a consideration.