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

14 May 2023

Google launched the new Pixel 7a in multiple countries around the world and in some places it is a better pick than the Pixel 7. Not everywhere, though, the older model has fallen to a similar price in a few places.

In the US, there’s a gift for Mother’s Day, plus cheap older flagships from Samsung and OnePlus. In India, the iQOO 11 price is starting to fall, but the gaming phone got unexpected competition as the PS5 also got cheaper.

Use the links below to jump to your region:

• USA
• Germany
• The UK
• India

USA

For Mother’s Day, Samsung is offering a free memory upgrade on the Galaxy S23, so that your mom won’t have to tell people you got her the 128GB model. Also, you can trade in an old phone for up to $750 credit.

The new Pixel 7a is $500 on the Google Store with some freebies – a free pair of Pixel Buds A-Series or Buds Pro for $100, plus a free case. You could also check out this deal from Best Buy, which combines a $50 discount (so the 7a is $450) and a $50 gift card. You could also have a look at Pixel 7 prices – we’ve seen it as low as $450, but the price is higher right now.

Google also announced a new Pixel tablet this week. This 11” slate has an IPS LCD (2,560 x 1,600px) and enough juice in the battery to stream video for 12 hours. It’s powered by the same Tensor G2 chip as the Pixel phones. The tablet comes bundled with the Charging Speaker Dock, which does what it says on the tin (it has one 43.5mm speaker inside). This turns the tablet into a smart display when not in use.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra is one of the most capable handsets on the market, but that doesn’t mean the S22 Ultra is obsolete. You can grab a 128GB unit for $750 or the 256GB one for $900 and get a similar experience to the 2023 model while saving a few hundred bucks.

Whether the OnePlus 11 is better than the 10 Pro is a matter of some debate. But considering that the older model is down to $450 for an 8/128GB unit (and $550 for 12/256GB), the $700 price tag of the OnePlus 11 (128GB) starts to look pretty steep. Check out our review for our thoughts on the 11 vs. 10 Pro debate.

The new Motorola Edge+ (2023) is looking pretty hot, but not everyone needs an $800 flagship. The Moto Edge (2022) from last year is no flagship, but it’s a 5G phone for $350 with a 144Hz 6.6” AMOLED display, a Dimensity 1050 chipset with 256GB storage and a 5,000mAh battery with 30W wired and 15W wireless charging charging.

The Moto G Power 5G launched last month, so it’s newer and it is $70 cheaper. We’re not sure it’s worth the downgrade, however. For example, you get a 120Hz IPS LCD, the 50MP main cam has a smaller sensor (0.64µm pixels vs. 1.0µm) and no OIS, there’s no ultra wide module and the 5,000mAh battery only supports 15W wired charging. You still get 256GB storage and this one has a microSD slot too.

Finally, a pair of headphones. Which do you prefer – over-ear or in-ear TWS buds? If you answered the former, check out the Bose QuietComfort 45. If you picked the latter, here are the Bose QuietComfort Earbuds II. Typical for the series, these focus on an ergonomic fit and Active Noise Cancellation.

Germany

The Google Pixel 7a is already available and it might have made Pixel 7 obsolete, though the 7 is still the better phone with a few advantages here and there – check out our hands-on review with the Pixel 7a for more details. All that being said, the Pixel 7 price is quite close to that of the 7a, just €40 higher, so it may still make more sense to pick up the older model.

If you do decide to go with the Pixel 7a, you might want to pick up a protective case for it, here is the official Google design.

Google also announced a new Pixel tablet this week. This 11” slate has an IPS LCD (2,560 x 1,600px) and enough juice in the battery to stream video for 12 hours. It’s powered by the same Tensor G2 chip as the Pixel phones. The tablet comes bundled with the Charging Speaker Dock, which does what it says on the tin (it has one 43.5mm speaker inside). This turns the tablet into a smart display when not in use.

Motorola recently launched the Edge 40, but it’s fairly pricey (€600 for 8/256GB). You can pick up the older Motorola Edge 30 Fusion (8/128GB) for a lot less than that and you’ll get a better chipset (Snapdragon 888+ vs. Dimensity 8020), the same screen and cameras, almost the same battery (the Fusion lacks wireless charging). It’s not as pretty and Motorola will cut off its software updates sooner, but the Fusion offers more bang for the buck.

Alternatively, you can pick up the Realme GT2 Pro, which goes up to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. It has a larger 6.7” 120Hz AMOLED display with QHD+ resolution and a 50+50MP camera (the ultra wide camera has an impressive 150° FoV), plus a larger 5,000mAh battery with 65W wired-only charging.

The vanilla Realme GT2 is also around and it costs €80 less. It drops down to the Snapdragon 888, also the 6.62” 120Hz AMOLED display has FHD+ resolution. You lose the awesome ultra wide, instead you get an 8MP unit with a 119° lens. The battery is the same.

Going down to the €200 segment, the Motorola Moto G23 features a 6.5” 90Hz IPS LCD with only HD+ resolution. The phone is powered by the Helio G85 and a 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging. It has a 50MP main camera and 5MP ultra wide, plus a 16MP selfie cam.

The Realme C55 is €20 cheaper, but it brings a better screen – 6.72” 90Hz IPS LCD with FHD+ resolution – a similar Helio G88 chipset, a 64MP camera (no ultra wide, also only 8MP selfie), the 5,000mAh/33W battery is the same.

If you prefer Motorola and have resigned to having an HD+ display, you may as well look at the Moto G13. It’s €47 cheaper and the differences to note are less RAM (4GB vs. 8GB), 8MP selfie camera (vs. 16MP) and slower charging for the 5,000mAh battery.

Apparently Gen Z is getting burned out on social media and is buying up flip phones as a way to disconnect. You too can get the keypad dialing experience with the Nokia 2660 Flip remake.

UK

The Google Pixel 7a launched this week at a price of £450. The Google store will give you a £100 discount on Pixel Buds, meaning that the A-Series are free, while the Pixel Buds Pro are down to £80.

Amazon mostly matches this deal with a free pair of Pixel Buds A-Series (you can’t pick the Buds Pro, however). Either way, the old Pixel 7 is £530 right now, which is quite a premium considering that the 7a is almost as good.

You might want to pick up a case for the Pixel 7a too, here is the official Google design.

Google also announced a new Pixel tablet this week. This 11” slate has an IPS LCD (2,560 x 1,600px) and enough juice in the battery to stream video for 12 hours. It’s powered by the same Tensor G2 chip as the Pixel phones. The tablet comes bundled with the Charging Speaker Dock, which does what it says on the tin (it has one 43.5mm speaker inside). This turns the tablet into a smart display when not in use.

The Realme GT2 Pro offers Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 performance at £550. It also has a QHD+ display (120Hz AMOLED) and an awesome 50MP 150° ultra wide camera, plus a fast-charging 5,000mAh battery (65W wired only).

It is pricey, though. The vanilla Realme GT2 is £190 less, but you lose the QHD+ display (FHD+ instead), ultra wide camera, chipset – you do get the Snapdragon 888 instead.

The Galaxy A34 is easily better than the Galaxy M33, but it costs £350. And the differences may not be worth £100, depending on whether you prefer AMOLED (A34) or LCD (M33). The A34 also has a slight edge in the camera department with OIS for the main module and an 8MP (instead of 5MP) ultra wide camera. Both are 5G phones with microSD slots and the M33 has a 3.5mm jack too.

Alternatively, you can get the Poco X5 for £30 more than the M33. This one does have a 120Hz AMOLED display and an 8MP ultra wide (still no OIS on the main cam, though) and the 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging is slightly faster to charge. The microSD slot and 3.5mm jack are still on board.

If you don’t think you would benefit from the extra bandwidth and lower latency of 5G, the Redmi Note 4G is a cheaper way to get a 6.67” 120Hz AMOLED, 50+8MP camera (still no OIS), a 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging, plus a microSD slot and 3.5mm jack to boot.

And if you want something even cheaper, the Redmi 12C packs a large 6.7” display, though if you have good eyesight, the HD+ resolution might not be ideal. Still, you get a 50MP camera (no ultra wide) and a 5,000mAh battery (10W charging) relatively cheaply.

One last thing – if you put a Samsung Galaxy SmartTag your keys or backpack, you will have a much better chance of finding them if you leave them somewhere without noticing.

India

The iQOO 11 was the first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phone in India and it arrived with an ₹60,000 price tag for an 8/256GB unit. The price has fallen to ₹55,000 now. This phone packs a huge 6.78” LTPO4 AMOLED display with up to 144Hz refresh rate and it has QHD+ resolution to boot. It has a 5,000mAh battery that can last long gaming sessions and with 120W charging it only needs a 25 minute break before it’s ready to continue. The camera setup isn’t great, but it’s not bad either – 50MP 1/1.57” main module with OIS, 13MP 2x portrait cam and an 8MP ultra wide.

There’s also the iQOO 9T, which is ₹10,000 cheaper, but it’s not nearly as impressive. The display is the same size, but it’s a 120Hz FHD+ panel. Also, the chipset drops down to Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 and you only get 128GB storage instead of 256GB. The camera and battery are pretty similar.

The OnePlus 10 Pro also has an LTPO QHD+ display, a 6.7” 120Hz AMOLED. While it’s powered by the older Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, it brings cameras with Hasselblad pedigree – 48MP 1/1.43” main (with OIS), 50MP 150° ultra wide and 8MP 3.3x telephoto module. The 5,000mAh battery is slower to charge over a wire (at 80W it needs 32 minutes to get to 100%, so it’s not all that slow) and it also supports 50W wireless charging. It does cost more than the iQOOs, however.

The Tecno Spark 10 5G is as the name suggests a 5G phone, thanks to the Dimensity 6020 chipset running Android 13. It’s pretty affordable and you get a few nice features like a 50MP main camera (no ultra wide) and 256GB of storage (plus a microSD slot), the 5,000mAh battery with 18W charging isn’t bad either. It’s not a perfect phone mind you, our least favorite feature is the 6.6” 90Hz IPS LCD, which only has HD+ resolution.

In the sub-₹10,000 department there is the Tecno Spark 8 Pro. It has a massive 6.8” IPS LCD and it has FHD+ resolution to boot. The Helio G85 chipset is decently powerful in this price range, though the Android 11 OS is quite old. On the plus side, there is a 5,000mAh battery with support for 33W fast charging.

The iQOO phones are great picks for Android gaming, but you could get a console for that kind of money as the PlayStation 5 (disc version) is down to ₹50,000. If you’re not sure what games you might like, try the PlayStaion Plus service – it gives you access to a wide selection of titles (with new ones added each month). The Essential plan is ₹3,000 for a year, Extra is ₹5,000 a year and the Deluxe subscription is ₹5,750 a year.

The PS5 natively supports online gaming, of course, but you could grab a second DualSense controller and play local multiplayer too.

Also, there is the Sony INZONE H7 headset. It’s wireless, but it comes with a USB dongle that enables a low-latency connection. The headset also supports Bluetooth, so you can have it paired with both the PS5 and your phone simultaneously. The microphone is there for voice chat when needed and can be titled up, which automatically mutes it.

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