Best Smartphones of April 2023

Which smartphones are the best to buy right now? Which ones have the best price-quality ratio, are the best deal and do we therefore recommend them? You can read it every month in an update of our Best Android Smartphones Buying Guide.

Which smartphone should I buy?

At the moment there are dozens of smartphones for sale from different manufacturers in different price ranges. The jungle of smartphones is and remains wonderfully overgrown, but it can therefore be difficult to know which phone you can buy best. In this buying guide update – which we post once a month – we therefore tell you which smartphones are the best to buy at the moment, which are the best deal, which devices are new in the list and why they are included in the list.

In these articles, we always highlight a few phones for you. We briefly describe each smartphone in one sentence. If you want to learn more about the phone, you can go to the link on that phone’s page. There you will find, among other things, the extensive specification list and possibly our review.

How did this overview come about?

Our entire buying guide can be found under the heading Best smartphones on our website. Here you will also find links to pages where you can buy the relevant devices. The buying guide is kept up-to-date throughout the year and we have owned all smartphones in the list ourselves. Our experiences, the specifications and prices play a role in the decision whether or not the devices are included in the buying guide. The prices mentioned are the prices at the time of the publication of the article. So these may change. The list below is in order of price.

Best Smartphones of April 2023

Best budget smartphones (up to 350 euros)

Best mid-range smartphones (350 to 500 euros)

• Google Pixel 6a (349 euros): the smartphone that we can really recommend to everyone
• Nothing Phone (1) (429 euros): perhaps the nicest and most beautiful smartphone there is
• Xiaomi 12 (500 euros): luxury lightning fast high-end smartphone from last year now on sale for midrange price
• OPPO Find X5 (500): Cameras excel in this class
  
• Samsung Galaxy S21 FE (500 euros): extensive camera island and the best overall picture for under 500 euros

Best high end smartphones

• Google Pixel 7 (589 euros): sclean Android experience and really good main camera
• Samsung Galaxy S22 (610 euros): luxurious, extensive camera set-up and wonderful design
• Google Pixel 6 Pro (610 euros): cheapest smartphone with periscope lens
• Google Pixel 7 Pro (800 euros): everything you want from a smartphone, but well below Ultra prices
• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (929 euros): Samsung’s flagship from last year, has everything your smartphone heart desires for less than 1000 euros

Some telephones highlighted

What is striking is that mainly the high-end smartphones from different manufacturers from last year are currently a very good deal. Think of the OPPO Find X5 and the Xiaomi 12. These devices were a few steps below the ‘real’ flagships of both manufacturers, but do have a large number of high-end specifications. However, the phones are already on sale for around 500 euros.

OPPO Find X5

For example, the OPPO Find X5 has a very good and extensive camera island. The phone has a 50 MP main camera, a 13 MP telephoto camera with 2x optical zoom and a 50 MP wide-angle lens with auto focus. The latter means that you can take (good) macro photos with the Find X5. OPPO uses the same sensors for the main camera and wide-angle lens, which means that the wide-angle lens used is one of the better on the market.

Unlike the Xiaomi 12, this device does run on the Snapdragon 888 chip. This is the fastest Qualcomm chip from 2021. So it is already an oldie and therefore also a bit less powerful than the 8 Gen 1 chipset. For many, however, the Find X5 will be fast enough. The device is luxuriously finished with glass and aluminum and can be charged with 80W.

Buy OPPO Find X5

The OPPO Find X5 is very similar to the Find X3 Pro in terms of specifications. However, one device scores better than the other on a number of small points. If you want a newer smartphone that runs on Android 12 out of the box, can charge even faster and will also be supported for longer, go for this OPPO Find X5. With its Qualcomm 888 chipset, this smartphone is just as fast as the Find X3 Pro.

€699

Shop at:

Xiaomi 12

The Xiaomi 12 stands out mainly for its fast performance. The phone has the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset. Qualcomm’s fastest processor from last year and still one of the faster processors you’ll find in an Android smartphone.

The phone is also luxuriously finished with a glass front and back and an aluminum frame. The 50 MP also takes excellent pictures and with a wide-angle lens and telemacro camera, the camera set-up is also sufficiently expanded.

Buy Xiaomi 12

The Xiaomi 12 has a 6.28-inch AMOLED screen, compared to the Full HD 6.81-inch panel of the Xiaomi Mi 11. The new screen has a 120Hz refresh rate and supports HDR10+ content. Furthermore, the brightness is lower at 1100 nits, compared to 1500 nits with the Xiaomi Mi 11. The screen does support 12-bit colors for a smoother transition between the different color tones.

From €499

Shop at:

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

Finally, we briefly explain the Galaxy S22 Ultra for you. Samsung’s flagship from last year is now for sale for a price well below 1000 euros. For this you get a very extensive phone with all the trimmings. Think of a large, beautiful and super bright 6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED panel with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, a fast processor, a luxurious design and an extensive camera island with a 108 MP main camera, 12 MP wide-angle lens and two 10 MP telephoto cameras with 3x and 10x optical zoom.

Related articles

The smartphone enthusiasts among us will of course know that the successor to the S22 Ultra – the Galaxy S23 Ultra – has been on the market for several weeks. However, this device has really been upgraded on few points compared to its predecessor. For example, the camera performance is almost the same, the design – except for the flatter sides – has not changed and the screen, battery and charging speed have also remained the same in many respects.

However, there are two arguments to spend 200 euros more for the S23 Ultra. Firstly, you get 256 GB of storage as standard instead of 128 GB and in addition, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip used is a lot faster and, above all, more economical than the Exynos 2200 chip of the S22 Ultra. With both phones, however, you get one of the most extensive Android smartphones in your home.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is for those who want the best performance and cameras in a phone that has the looks of the Galaxy Note series. The S22 Ultra is in fact an amalgamation of the best of both series. Including the best cameras and performance of the S series, and the S Pen and all its capabilities of the Note series.

From 1249 euros

Shop at:

Buy Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the top model in the Galaxy S23 series. This phone has five very extensive cameras, a 6.8 inch QHD + AMOLED screen, the fast Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, a 5,000 mAh battery and much more.

From 1399 euros

Shop at: