Best midrange all-rounders 2026 - buyer’s guide

The Samsung Galaxy A37 is a very easy phone to like - it checks most of the important boxes for a modern midranger - a bright and smooth AMOLED display, solid build with proper ingress protection, dependable battery life, and a mature, feature-rich software experience with class-leading long-term support.

Ultimately, the Galaxy A37 is a safe, predictable choice. If you value stability, long-term updates, and a familiar One UI experience, it will serve you well.

The Redmi Note 17 5G is an excellent choice if you are after the best battery life and all-round Android experience below the €300 threshold.

The Note 17 has mediocre performance and comes with one basic 50MP rear camera, but it gets the job done and few would complain about a €250 phone not handling gaming very well. You should consider it.

The Poco X8 Pro is the epitome of a flagship killer with high-end specs at a bargain price. It has a likable and durable body, an excellent OLED screen with all sorts of perks and high brightness, capable cameras, amazing battery life, and, of course, impressive raw and sustained performance.

We expected the selfie camera to be a disappointment, but it turned out rather okay, so we are gladly admitting when we're wrong. We'd still prefer a 50MP AF shooter here, of course, but that's reserved for Xiaomi's more expensive phones.

The Poco X8 Pro is probably our easiest recommendation for 2026 so far. There is just no better phone at the same price, let alone at the early bird price.

The Motorola Edge 70 Fusion is for those looking for a durable and lightweight phone. Yet, the Fusion barely lacks anything – in addition to the fully waterproofed body, you get a premium OLED with 144Hz refresh rate, decent performance and battery life, and solid camera quality.

The Edge 70 Fusion has a 7,000mAh battery in most of the world, nut the EU markets get a smaller cell with 5,200mAh capacity.

Overall, the Edge 70 Fusion is a strong device at a sensible price and it’s worth considering.

The Galaxy A57 looks and feels like an S-series phone, no two words about that. It has an improved design and build, slimmer screen bezels, and lighter body. It's become more refined, and it feels more premium.

The new Exynos chip with LPDDR5X RAM is alright - it provides balanced everyday performance, but the competition has upped its game a lot this year, and the A57 is trailing behind.

The camera department turned out to be surprisingly good, with excellent main and selfie cameras. The ultrawide shooter did okay, but the macro lens is there just for earning the "triple-camera" title for the A57.

Finally, the battery life is now improved despite the identical battery capacity as last year.

The One UI on the A57 is a typical Samsung affair minus DeX and a few AI tricks.

The Galaxy A57 is a very balanced phone with hardly any shortcomings so it's well worth a recommendation.

The Poco X8 Pro Max is exactly the kind of phone that helped build Poco's reputation in the first place. It offers a well-rounded package with very few compromises and a handful of standout features, all while keeping the price firmly in the "flagship killer" territory.

Perhaps the most impressive aspect of the X8 Pro Max is its battery. The massive 8,500mAh unit delivers outstanding endurance in our tests, easily ranking among the longest-lasting phones we've ever reviewed. Combine that with 100W charging, and you end up with a device that is not only hard to drain but also quick to refill when you eventually do.

Performance is another strong point. The Dimensity 9500s might not be the absolute top-tier silicon in MediaTek's lineup, but it delivers excellent real-world performance and plenty of headroom for demanding games and heavy multitasking. HyperOS 3 runs smoothly on top of it.

The display is also easy to like. It's large, sharp, very bright and supports both Dolby Vision and HDR10+. The symmetrical stereo speakers complement it nicely, making the phone well-suited for media consumption.

The camera system is headlined by a very capable 50MP main camera that produces lively photos with plenty of detail both during the day and at night. The ultrawide is less exciting, and the lack of a dedicated telephoto might disappoint some users, but the overall camera experience remains solid for the price class.

Ultimately, the Poco X8 Pro Max manages to deliver a lot of flagship-grade features without straying too far from Poco's value-focused roots. Between the excellent battery life, strong performance, capable cameras and bright AMOLED display, it's a very easy phone to recommend for anyone looking for maximum bang for their buck.

The Honor 600 is a near-perfect all-rounder for its sub-€350 price with a great display, long and dependable battery life, it's quick to charge, and the main camera produces excellent stills day and night. .

Our only complaint is the lack of a dedicated telephoto camera, which appears to be a standard feature in this price segment. The chipset could have been better, though considering its price – we are fine with it.

The Honor 600 is worth considering for its many premium features and bargain price.

The Motorola Edge 70 arguably boasts the best design among today's ultra-slim smartphones. Its premium build delivers everything - upscale design, increased water and drop resistance, and one of the most comfortable grips in a long time. And on top of that, it's impressively thin.

We appreciate the large OLED display with its high resolution and fast refresh rate, and the phone's battery life turned out to be excellent, matched by equally impressive charging speeds. We also have to give credit to Motorola for its clean and thoughtful approach to Android.

And then there are the cameras, which deliver excellent results both day and night - ultimately becoming the phone’s most unexpected highlight.

The chipset performance is alright.

If your budget is around €400, this is the phone you should consider.