Competition in the mid-range smartphone market is starting to heat up, and we’re seeing not only all-new competitors enter the fray, but discounted pricing on previous “flagship” models that are incredibly enticing. Samsung introduced its latest offering to the mid-range market in the United States with the
Galaxy A51 back in early May, with a price tag of $399.
Late last month, Amazon offered the smartphone for a remarkable $293, which was a massive discount off its MSRP. Today, Amazon has dropped the price even further to $269 with free Prime shipping. At that price, the Galaxy A51 should be on anyone’s shortlist for a respectable smartphone that won’t drain your wallet.
Don’t expect the Exynos 9611-powered Galaxy A51 to be a speed demon like its flagship Galaxy S20 counterparts with their Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 SoCs, but the phone hits most of the high notes for consumers. It has a large 6.5-inch Full HD+ display, 128GB of internal storage, microSDHC/SDXC expansion, four cameras on the rear, and a large 4,000 mAh battery.
But the Galaxy A51 isn’t the only popular smartphone vying in this space; there’s also the newly second-generation
Apple iPhone SE with its blazing fast A13 Bionic SoC, which can lay waste to just about any comparable Android phone on the market. It’s $399 price is definitely appealing, but you’re also getting an old iPhone 8 body, which means a small and dated 4.7-inch LCD, thick bezels, small battery, a single rear camera, and just 64GB of internal storage.
Another viable option in this price range is the
LG G8 ThinQ, which is now making the rounds as an Amazon-sponsored phone. That means that the device is unlocked, but comes preloaded with a boatload of Amazon apps, which may or may not be an annoyance to users. With that being said, you do get some nice specs like a 6.1-inch QHD+ display,
Snapdragon 855 SoC, 6GB RAM, 128GB internal storage, microSD expansion, a 3500 mAh battery, and dual rear cameras.
If you don't mind a smartphone that is a few generations old, there's also the
OnePlus 6T, which is available for $349.99 unlocked. It has a
Snapdragon 845 SoC, 8GB RAM, 128GB internal storage, a larger 6.41-inch Full HD+ display, and dual rear cameras.
The segment is about to heat up even more in the coming weeks, as OnePlus is set to debut its OnePlus Z mid-range smartphone next month in India. The device will allegedly be priced at around $330 in India (perhaps $399 in the United States) and will be powered by Qualcomm's Snapdragon 765G 5G SoC.
**Updated 6/10/2020**
The Galaxy A51 has fallen in price again from $289 to $269, making it $130 cheaper than its MSRP. The article has been update to reflect this change.
