GSMArena smartphone shopping guide: June 2014

€200-€300

For those who need more than "good enough" there's an intermediate steps, the €200-€300 segment. Here you'll find some two year old flagships and the first phablets.

Note that all recommended phones in this category have LTE so it no longer counts as a selling point and you won't see it in the Pros section.

In the lower price segments a large screen is usually considered a plus, but as we approach premium levels a compact device becomes hard to find. Enter the minis - the LG G2 mini is not quite the tiniest phone, but is still very compact for its 4.7" screen. It's an IPS LCD with qHD resolution (for an average 234ppi pixel density) with Gorilla Glass 2.

Note that the G2 mini has a whopping four versions though you're likely to encounter just three as the third one is for Brazil only. Anyway, we've selected the LTE model but the non-LTE version has a dual-SIM option (the two are otherwise the same).

It's powered by a quad-core Cortex-A7 processor and runs Android 4.4.2 KitKat. The camera is an 8MP / 1080p shooter and you get NFC and IR blaster in the connectivity section.

Of course, big screens aren't necessarily bad. The Nokia Lumia 1320 has a 6" IPS screen with 720p resolution - not the sharpest, but again ClearBlack is here to improve legibility in bright light. It's one of the two original Windows Phone tablets and is powered by a dual-core Krait processor.

The camera department features relatively low-res stills (5MP), but offers 1080p video recording. You get LTE, a long-lasting 3,400mAh battery and Nokia's free offline navigation with Drive.

It's two generations removed from current but the LG Optimus G is a cheap way to get decent specs - a 4.7" IPS LCD with WXGA resolution (768 x 1,280 pixels), quad-core Krait processor, 13MP / 1080p camera and LTE. It launched on Android 4.1 Jelly Bean but LG is working on an update to 4.4 KitKat - that one has started seeding in Korea, while other markets should follow soon.

The Nokia Lumia 925 is in a way an alternative to the Optimus G. It has a 4.5" WXGA screen but it's an AMOLED with ClearBlack for excellent image quality. The 8MP / 1080p camera features Optical Image Stabilization, this is the lowest price at which you can get OIS. The camera also boasts Carl Zeiss optics.

It runs Windows Phone upgradeable to 8.1 though the chipset is a relatively old Snapdragon with dual-core Krait and Adreno 225. Nokia's free SatNav app is a given. Windows Phone works well enough on the older chipset, so at the same price the exposed aluminum frame of the Lumia 925 might prove more alluring than the Optimus G.

The Acer Liquid S2 holds the title of first device with 2160p video capture and while others quickly joined in on the 2160p fun, it's still a solid phablet. Priced between the Lumia 1320 and 1520, it has a 6" IPS screen with 1080p resolution.

The still camera is a 13MP shooter with a unique LED ring flash. The Liquid S2 is powered by a beefy Snapdragon 800 chipset, one of the cheapest devices with it, but the Android version is lagging behind. It also has stereo speakers on board like the Liquid E2.

Oppo has a new exciting flagship, but the old Find 5 is still a solid choice. It has a quad-core Krait processor, though an older generation than the Acer above, but on the upside it's more compact with a 5" 1080p screen. Its 13MP camera shoots 1080p videos, which is all the same if you don' have a UHD display.