Top 5 mid-range smartphones for January 2021

Yesterday, we published an article on the top 5 flagship smartphones for January 2021. If you take a look at the list, it has only smartphones with 5nm chips. As of last year, 7nm processors were the top-notch devices in the market. However, for 2021, 7nm phones are now mid-range, second fiddle, or pseudo-flagships at best. Pseudo-flagship smartphones are devices that are not really flagships but are too big to be in the mid-range category. Presently, 5nm chips are the top-notch flagships. However, we still have 6nm and 7nm chips that are second fiddle flagships. Today, we will take a look at the top 5 mid-range smartphones for January 2021.

Vivo S7t

Earlier today, Vivo released what we can consider as a powerful mid-range phone, Vivo S7t. This smartphone takes its inspiration from the Vivo S7 but it comes with a different processor. The Vivo S7t comes with the Dimensity 820 chip from Mediatek, one of the most powerful chips for mid-range smartphones. This smartphone further uses a 6.44-inch AMOLED screen with a small notch that hosts two front cameras. In addition to the Dimensity 820 SoC, this device comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB of internal storage. This is quite impressive for a mid-range device.

In the camera department, this phone uses a triple rear camera setup. It has a 64MP main camera as well as an 8MP ultrawide cam and a 2MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a dual-camera setup as we mentioned earlier. The front hosts 44MP regular and 8MP ultrawide units. Of course, Vivo has since established its prowess in the selfie field.

Under the hood, this smartphone ships with a 4000 mAh battery to keep its lights on. This battery also supports 33W fast-charging. For a mid-range device, there is nothing wrong with this configuration. On the software end, the Vivo S7t comes with OriginOS on top of  Android 11.

Well, this is a mid-range smartphone and we don’t expect it to be too expensive. According to the company, the Vivo S7t will hit the shelves for 2,598 yuan, which is about $400/€335. Interestingly, despite the more powerful chip, the Vivo S7t is selling for the same price as the regular Vivo S7.

• Launch Date: February 4th,2021
• Price: 2,598 yuan ($400/€335)

Google Pixel 4a 5G

The Google Pixel 4aa is Google’s most recent mid-range smartphone. No doubt, it is one of the top mid-range smartphones in the market presently. This device comes with a 6.2-inch OLED FHD+ punch-hole panel that supports a 60Hz refresh rate. This display comes with a resolution of 2340 x 1080 pixels. In the camera department, this device uses a 12.2 MP main sensor as well as a 16MP 107° Ultra-wide camera on the rear. Upfront, it has an 8MP shooter for selfies. Google has a reputation for having one of the best cameras in the smartphone market. Thus, its dual rear camera does not matter, the output is massively good. On the software end, this device comes with pure Android 11, another feature that many people will like.

Under the hood, this device comes with a Snapdragon 765G 7nm EUV Mobile Platform with Adreno 620 GPU. Supporting this chip is 6GB LPDDR4X RAM and 128GB (UFS 2.1) storage. To keep its lights on is a 3800mAh battery that supports 18W fast charging. Other features include Dual SIM (nano + eSIM), a rear fingerprint sensor, 5G SA/NSA, Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, etc.

• Launch Date: October 1st, 2020
• Starting Price: $499

OnePlus Nord N10

This smartphone features a 6.49-inch IPS LCD panel with 1080 x 2400 pixel resolution and Corning Gorilla Glass 3. The display of this phone supports a 90Hz refresh rate which is quite impressive for mid-range smartphones. The OnePlus Nord N10 5G is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 690 SoC and Adreno 619L GPU. The smartphone packs a quad-camera setup with a 64MP primary camera, 8MP ultrawide camera, 2MP depth camera, and 2MP macro camera. There is a 16MP front camera for selfies and Video Chats.

OnePlus Nord N10 5G has a 4300 mAh battery with 30W fast charging. Moreover, the phone runs on Android 10 (Oxygen OS 10.5) out of the box and the company has confirmed that it will get the Android 11 update. In terms of memory, the OnePlus Nord N10 5G comes in 6GB RAM and a 128GB storage variant is priced at $299.99. Other features include Dual SIM (nano + nano), Bluetooth 5.1, NFC, etc.

• Launch Date: October 26th, 2020
• Starting Price: $299

Redmi 10X

The Redmi 10X is the first product of the Redmi X series. It was released on May 26, 2020, and the starting price is 1599 yuan ($247). This smartphone is the first to use the MediaTek Dimensity 820 chip. Redmi product director, Wang Teng, introduced the MediaTek Dimensity 820 as a new generation of high-performance 5G processor. This chip is one of the strongest mid-range chips.

 

The Redmi 10X with Dimensity 820 has an AnTuTu score of 415,672 points. This is comparable to the 4G flagship processor, Snapdragon 855. The SD855 AnTuTu score is 445,343. Redmi 10X also uses a 6.57-inch AMOLED waterdrop screen with a FHD+ resolution. In the camera department, it uses a front 16MP shooter. On the rear, there is a 48MP main camera + 8MP ultra wide-angle + 2MP depth of field sensors.

Under the hood, this smartphone comes with a 4,520 mAh battery that supports 22.5W fast charging. For many Chinese mid-range smartphones, the fast charging capacity is up to 33W. However, the Redmi 10X Pro 5G uses the same chip, battery but with a 33W fast charge.

• Launch Date: May 26, 2020
• Price: 1599 yuan ($247)

Huawei nova 7

In Q3 2020, the Huawei nova 7 was the best selling smartphone in China. You can see how popular this phone is and why it is on this list. The Huawei Nova 7 comes with the Kirin 985 SoC. This smartphone also uses a 6.53-inch OLED flat screen with a built-in fingerprint scanner and a single 32MP front camera. This device also comes with a slightly simplified main quadruple-camera with 3x optical zoom.

On the rear, this device comes with a 64MP camera with an f/1.8 aperture main camera. It also uses an 8MP ultra-wide camera (f/2.4 aperture), an 8MP periscope telephoto camera, and a 2MP macro sensor with an f/2.4 aperture. Supporting the Kirin 985 5G SoC is 8GB of RAM and 128GB / 256GB of internal storage. To keep its lights on is a 4000 mAh battery that supports 40W SuperCharge fast charging. This is quite impressive for a mid-range smartphone. On the software end, this smartphone comes with EMUI 10.1 on top of Android 10.

• Launch Date: April 23, 2020
• Price: 2999 yuan ($464)