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

We’re back with another round of offers from around the world. This week we picked out deals from the US, the UK and Germany, use the links below to jump to a specific country:

• USA
• Germany
• The UK

USA

The Motorola Edge 30 Pro is one controller away from being a fast but fairly affordable gaming phone. The version with 512GB storage sells for $500, giving your room for plenty of games. Games that will run on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset and a 6.7” OLED display with 144Hz refresh rate (and HDR10+ support). The 4,800mAh battery is decently large and the phone supports 68W wired charging (0-100% in 35 minutes) and 15W wireless.

Another 144Hz phone from Motorola is the Edge (2021). This one has a 6.8” LCD instead (FHD+ resolution again, with HDR10) and is powered by the Snapdragon 778G, which has a flagship-class Adreno 642L GPU. The 256GB phone is down to $300.

The Nokia G400 is a cheap 5G phone powered by the Snapdragon 480+ chipset. At $200 it’s not that far from the Motorola, however. Still, $100 is $100. Do note that besides the slower chipset, this one also has only 64GB of storage (it is expandable via microSD, however).

Next up, a few cheap Amazon tablets. The 2022 Fire HD 8 is down to just $60 – cheap enough that you can make it a dedicated streaming device or something to use for Zoom calls. Note that there is a Plus version, which adds an extra gig of RAM (this one has only 2GB), includes a faster charger (9W vs. 5W) and supports wireless charging.

The larger, higher resolution display of the 2021 Fire HD 10 may be more suitable for your Netflix, Prime Video or Disney streaming. This larger slate always comes with a 9W charger, but the Plus model has more RAM (4GB vs. 3GB) and wireless charging.

If you just want a tablet for a young child, the Kids Editions are a better pick. For one, they come with a very thick case that can withstand a few whacks. Also, these come with a Parent Dashboard and curated content (aimed at ages 3-7). It’s also worth mentioning that the tablets above come with ads on the lockscreen that cost $15 to remove. The Kids tablets don’t have ads.

Finally, some extra storage in the form of microSD cards. Most phones don’t have a memory card slot anymore, but some do, including the Nokia G400. The Kindle tablets have expandable storage as well.

The Samsung EVO Select 256GB is just under $20, the 512GB is $48. These cards offer speeds up to 130MB/s and are rated UHS-I and A2, so you can move some apps on them. If you need a card for a dash cam or an action cam, the Samsung Pro Endurance handles the wear and tear of prolonged writing better.

Germany

The pricing of the upcoming Galaxy S23 series is the subject of much speculation, but you can avoid high prices by getting the Galaxy S21 FE instead. It has the Snapdragon 888 chip, unlike the other European S21 models. It is a year old at this point, but it costs a good deal less than the S22/S22+ (even more so than the S23/S23+).

A cheaper if less capable option is the Samsung Galaxy A53 5G. It has a comparable 120Hz 6.5” FHD+ Super AMOLED display, but loses out in terms of chipset performance (Exynos 1280) and cameras (64+12+5+5MP). Still, as a new A-series Samsung, it will get excellent software support.

Samsung’s next-gen foldables are half a year away, so here’s an interesting offer – a Galaxy Z Flip4 Bespoke Edition for the price of the regular Z Flip4. Now, Amazon doesn’t let you customize the look so you will have to pick from a few pre-made color combos. However, the 8/256GB version costs the same as the 8/128GB regular edition, which is a fine deal in our eyes.

The recent Bose QuietComfort SE, which has specs quite similar to the QC 45, launched at €350, but is already down to €220. It is comfortable and has 24-hour battery life, plus excellent active noise cancellation, perfect for long flights.

UK

There are quite a few offers for the Google Pixel 7 Pro, including one at £720, well below the £850 price of the official store. However, we picked a unit that is sold and dispatched by Amazon for £788.

The OnePlus Nord 2 5G is down to £350 on the official store for a 12/256GB unit thanks to a promo, however, the 8/128GB is £400. If you want it cheap, Amazon has the 8/128GB model for £240.

The Samsung Smart Monitor M5 is a 32” display with 1080p resolution (60Hz, 250 nits, HDR10). You can wire it up to your PC easily, but it also supports wireless mirroring – Apple’s AirPlay as well as wireless DeX. This is a fully-featured Tizen smart TV too, so you can run video and game streaming apps on it as well as control your SmartThings devices.