A couple of weeks ago, the Samsung Galaxy S24+ was down to £800 for a 12/256GB model, now that same unit will cost you £50 less. You can also pick up a 512GB phone, but that is a £100 upgrade. The S24+ has a 6.7″ QHD+ LTPO display, an Exynos 2400 chipset and a 4,900mAh battery with 45W/15W charging, plus a 50+10+12MP camera.
The Google Pixel 9 is around the same price, £794 for a 12/256GB unit. The Tensor G4 is well behind the Exynos in terms of performance and the vanilla Pixel doesn’t have an LTPO display, let alone a QHD+ one. The cameras feature a better 48MP ultra wide (vs. 12MP), but no telephoto, leaving only the 50MP main (1/1.31” sensor vs. 1/1.56”) to do the zooming in, while the Galaxy has a 3x 10MP camera. The 4,700mAh battery is impressive, given the phone’s smaller stature, the 27W/15W charging is not.
Amazon has the new Samsung Galaxy A16 5G at its MSRP, £200. There is a bundle with a “free” Galaxy SmartTag 2 – this bumps the price up, but also unlocks a £40 discount at checkout. With that, the final price is £182, £18 less than just the phone and you get a free tag out of it. The A16 5G is a solid entry-level device with a 5G modem, a 6.7” FHD+ 90Hz OLED display, a 50+5MP camera and 5,000mAh battery with 25W charging. Note that Samsung is offering 6 years of software support for this model, which is better than some flagships.
The CMF Phone 1 will only get 2 OS updates and lacks an ultra wide camera (not even a 5MP module like on the A16), but you do get a 6.67” FHD+ 120Hz OLED display that has more than double the peak brightness (and a punch hole camera instead of a notch). The Dimensity 7300 handily beats the Exynos 1330. The replaceable back is a fun option if you like to customize the look of your phone. Not bad for a phone that costs as much as the A16 5G.
Xiaomi unveiled the 15-series phones, but no Ultra yet. The Xiaomi 14 Ultra is currently under £1,000, which doesn’t happen often. Sure, it’s a year old, but can still give the Xiaomi 14 Pro a run for its money. It has a larger 50MP sensor in the main (1” vs. 1/1.31”), a 50MP 75mm telephoto in addition to the 50MP 120mm periscope (the 15 Pro has just the periscope) and the same 50MP ultra wide.
The Motorola Razr 50 is a relatively affordable entry into the flip foldable market, especially now that it is 25% off. You get a roomy 3.6” display and a 6.9” LTPO 120Hz inner display. The phone is rated IPX8 for water resistance and comes with a decently-sized 4,200mAh battery with both 30W wired and 15W wireless charging. The cameras aren’t great with a 50MP main (1/1.95”) and 13MP ultra wide, but they rarely are on a flip foldable.
For £150 more, you can have the Razr 50 Ultra instead, with more RAM and storage to boot (12/512GB vs. 8/256GB). This buys you a better chipset, Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 vs. Dimensity 7300X, a 50MP 2x portrait camera instead of a 13MP ultra wide and a larger 4” cover display. The battery is a bit smaller at 4,000mAh, but has faster 45W wired charging.
We will wrap things up with the Microsoft Surface Pro – this is the 11th edition and is powered by the Snapdragon X Elite chipset. It promises up to 14 hours of video playback on a single charge and you will get to watch your movies on the 13” 120Hz OLED display (2,880 x 1,920px, 3:2). There are 2W stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos too. You get two USB-C v4.0 ports with support for 65W charging and DisplayPort 1.4a. There are optional keyboard covers too, if you plan on editing text with this tablet.
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