Buyer's Guide: The best midrange phones to get (Summer 2021)

It’s the middle of the year, and the dust between high-profile phone launches has just settled. Seems like a prime time to get a look at what the midrange has to offer if you are in the market for a new phone and you don't necessarily want to wait until the usual barrage of releases in the fall.
Here's ALL YOU NEED TO KNOW about the best midrange phones of summer 2021 - tried and tested by GSMArena's staff.

Timestamps|Chapters:
0:00 Intro
0:27 Redmi 9
1:15 Realme 8
2:01 Poco X3 NFC
3:04 Poco X3 Pro
3:59 Redmi Note 10 Pro
4:48 Oneplus Nord CE 5G
5:24 Samsung Galaxy A42 5G
6:15 Poco F3
7:19 Conclusion

▶ You can read our full smartphone buyer's guide here

[patricknl]

Watching this on my Poco f3. Great phone for a smaller price. And yes the camera's are just fine but not the best and it doesn't have a audio jack or room for expandable storage but as long you get the 256gb version you'll have enough space for your photo's, apps and music. It's really a great phone for it's price. No need in buying expensive phones anymore.

[mynechan]

Just bought the F3, very satisfied with it. Very good battery life, easy giving 6+ hours at 60Hz and around 5 hours at 120Hz. I mostly scroll web, phone, message, and Youtube. I rarely game. Under sunlight, the screen is a little dim but easily useable. It keep itself cool even while gaming at 60Hz but heats up at 120Hz only while gaming.

[nkstunes]

using pocox3 pro since 15 days..what a beast.

[its_mrraza]

I Just Love this Buyer's Guide Series by GSMArena.

[EraserNinja]

Rocking the f3. The camera is somewhat saved by the likes of gcam. Other than cameras it is a proper beast

[EK-]

Already bought Poco X3 Pro 8/256~
It was too over powered for this price range!!
Loved it!!

[EruksTeejay]

Watching this one my Redmi Note 10 Pro. Cameras are super cool, and battery life are very much okay. Performance is good enough.

[mafcarvalho]

Great guide without any doubt. Nice work!
I chose the POCO F3 after having tested both the POCO X3 NFC and the Pro variations.
Camera performance is more than enough for me. I love the looks and the specs. In this price range the F3 is unbeatable.

[slayerace]

Should put the regular Redmi Note 10 in this list too, its such an amazing compact phone.

[QuickQuips]

Nice. I think the Redmi Note 10 Pro is the right one. I need two sims and a dedicated microsd. Bummer about the lack of 5g.

[amras]

Poco X3 Pro for games
Redmi Note 10 Pro for multimedia

I have both and I love it.

[koobiez]

i have redmi 9 and it does great job for the price. playing pubg on smooth ultra is very stable. battery life is great too

[dookieday]

I got my poco x3 pro 8/256 gb, it is better than I expected super fast and the camera is good.

[darkkforest]

No joke that Poco X3 NFC was a breeze for me coming from an LG V20, bought it in Decembee 2020, and until this day I'm feeling very happy for that purchase. Very good main camera, the UW can capture nice photos too, but only with good amount of light. 4K videos on both cameras, main and UW, look very good on bright conditions. Battery life is terrific, as an heavy user, I do have 7-8 screen on time hrs easily. My only complaint was the speaker who was causing vibration when you hold the phone, but that has been fixed, and also when you are on a call, due to the second top speaker, anyone can hear your conversation, but you can handle that by lowering your volume.

It's a big phone, and it delivers very very well.

And as of now I'm on lastest October security updates, Android 11 on top of MIUI 12.5

[jovanmalic]

You forget to mention that all Xiaomi and Poco phones come with an IR blaster. It's very cool feature and needed for some users.

[SonGoli]

You can also just get a depreciated Flagship like Oneplus 7 Pro

[wizzgamer]

My Poco F3 is a monster 👾 especially for the price.

[prakharverma]

Just bought a realme 8 mainly because of it's weight and form factor.

[arnoldespinosa]

I own a POCO F3, it really deserves a recommendation.
Unlike the first time it was reviewed in here.
Thanks, more power and GODBLESS us

[niloyhirok]

Which is the best - Poco F3 vs Remi note 10 pro vs Mi11 x vs Realme gt vs oneplus 9R??