Weekly deals: the best smartphone deals from Germany, the UK, the US and India

26 February 2023

This week in addition to the various deals on new smartphones, we also found quite a few refurbished devices – save the planet and save some cash, what’s not to like? Use the links below to jump to your country:

• USA
• Germany
• The UK
• India

Germany

Amazon has the iPhone 14 Pro and 14 Pro Max with pretty solid discounts compared to what Apple’s official online store is charging. For example, the Pro Max is €170 down from its MSRP of €1,450.

The iPhone 14 and 14 Pro also have nice discounts, a bit more than €100 off depending on the model.

We’re continuing with the Apple kit, you can grab a 45mm Apple Watch Series 8 (aluminum) with or without 4G connectivity (the difference is €100 between them).

You can also pick up some TWS buds as well. The AirPods Pro 2 are as good as it gets for iPhone buds. The cheaper AirPods 3 have the head tracking feature but miss out on ANC.

While you’re at it, some AirTags might help secure your backpack. Of if you have multiple pieces of luggage, check out the 4-pack.

Moving over to Android, the Nokia X30 is pretty pricey, but it does come with 3 years of warranty, will get 3 years of software support and is made out of recycled materials.

You can spend a lot less if all you want is a 5G phone. The ZTE Blade A72 5G is pretty basic with an HD+ 90Hz IPS LCD, Dimensity 700 chipset, 13+2+2MP cameras and a 4,000mAh battery.

We’ll wrap up with the Sony WH-1000XM5. These over-ear headphones strike a great balance between audio quality, comfort and (of course) active noise cancellation. They work equally well with both Android and iOS.

UK

We found a whole bunch of refurbished phones in the UK. Some like the Samsung Galaxy S22 are fairly recent and offer a flagship experience for under £600, well below the S23 series.

You can also go back to the Galaxy S21 and save even more cash. Note that the S21 is slated to get 4 OS updates (it started with Android 11, so it’s already had two) and 5 years of security patches (i.e. until early 2026). The S22 is on the same update schedule, but it started with Android 12.

Next we dive into Apple phones from a couple of years ago. There are the iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 – same size, same chipset even, though with more RAM on the Pro. The Pro model also has a telephoto lens, of course.

You can also pick out the iPhone 12 mini. The 13 mini is still available from Apple, but it starts at £650. This refurbished 12 mini is £300 cheaper.

You can go back even further in time, Apple’s hardware and software support is still ahead of any Android. A refurbished iPhone 11 will run you just under £250.

USA

Normal sales are now underway for Samsung’s Galaxy S23 series, so pre-order perks are a thing of the past – it’s all about discounts now. We found the Galaxy S23+ with a $140 discount, not bad, considering it has only been a couple of weeks since the launch.

For around the same amount of money you can pick up a Google Pixel 7 Pro, also with 256GB storage but with more RAM (12GB vs. 8GB). And this one does have a QHD+ LTPO panel, something that Samsung reserved for the S23 Ultra.

Next up, refurbished phones. The Samsung Galaxy S22 is from last year and you can pick a renewed unit for $410 – about half of what Samsung is charging for a new S23.

Then there is the S21 series. We found all three, the Galaxy S21 Ultra, S21+ and S21. They will receive 4 OS updates total (they started with Android 11, run 13 now, will get up to v15) and 5 years of security patches (until 2026). The S21 Ultra camera has been edged out from the camera charts by newer models but is still a highly capable shooter.

If you don’t have much cash to spend, the Galaxy S20 FE is an option. It’s not as good as the S21 and it won’t get the same software support, but it costs just $210.

For a few bucks more you can have a refurbished Google Pixel 6. You get more RAM and with this one and Google will update its OS three times total, i.e. up to Android 15. Note that the FHD+ display on this one runs at only 90Hz and there is no dedicated tele camera.

For $85 more you can grab the larger Pixel 6 Pro. This one has a 120Hz QHD+ display and it does have a telephoto camera.

We’ll finish up with a couple of small and cheap Apple phones. The iPhone 12 mini isn’t available from Apple anymore, but you can snag a refurbished 64GB unit for $320.

If you just want an iPhone that works, the old SE 2020 is available for under $150. It’s not glamorous, but it does get you access to all the Apple services and features, including iMessage.

India

The OnePlus 11 is now available and is going up against other Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phones. The iQOO 11, for example, is ₹60,000 for an 8/256GB model and we have featured it in previous posts. The 8/128GB OnePlus is ₹57,000, though you might want to pick up the 16/256GB model, which isn’t all that much more expensive at ₹62,000.

The Oppo F21s Pro 5G is powered by the Snapdragon 695. It has a 6.43” 90Hz AMOLED display (FHD+) and some fancy RGB lighting around the camera island. The camera is nothing special with a 64MP sensor and 1080p video recording (no ultra wide). The battery has 4,500mAh capacity and charges at 33W, so it needs just over an hour for a full charge.

For less than that you can have the iQOO Z6. It uses a larger 6.58” 120Hz display, an IPS LCD this time, and the same Snapdragon 695 chip. The camera is once again nothing special (50MP, 1080p video, no ultra wide). The battery is slightly larger at 5,000mAh, but slower too – it only supports 18W charging.

The Tecno Pova Neo 5G chooses the Dimensity 810 as its chipset and has an even larger 6.8” 120Hz IPS LCD (still FHD+). The new chipset enables the 50MP camera to record QHD video – not as good as 4K, still better than 1080p. The battery is larger as well, 6,000mAh with 18W charging.

We’ll warp up with a sub-₹10,000 phone and this week we picked the Tecno Pop 6 Pro. Note that this is an Android 12 Go Edition phone and only has 2GB of RAM (32GB storage, expandable via microSD). Also worth mentioning are the big 5,000mAh battery and the basic 6.56” HD+ IPS LCD.