We choose the best smartphones that you can buy for 500 €

In today’s selection of top products, we will look at the best smartphones up to € 500. You will be surprised by last year’s flagships, whose price fell by half its value. You will also see other interesting pieces and we may surprise you with models that you did not even expect.

The choice of these smartphones is specific, especially because there are last year’s flagships. This price category includes people who are not willing to pay € 1,000 for a flagship. At the same time, they want first-class quality for their money and they will get it by buying the flagship of the last generation. These phones offer practically the same as mobile phones in higher price categories, they are just their age (about the same year).

If you are interested in our series of selections of the best products, you will find it in the new section Shopping Advisor. Be sure not to miss the interesting selection of the best photo cars of 2021.

Realme GT

A specific Chinese manufacturer that tries to be in direct competition with Xiaomi and succeeds. The novelty offers a powerful 5 nm chipset Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 with a 5G modem. LPDDR5 memory is 8 or 12 GB. Internal 128 or 256 GB. Unfortunately, it cannot be expanded with microSD cards.

The Super AMOLED display of the Realme GT has a size of 6.43 inches and a resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels. Players will definitely enjoy a refresh rate of 120 Hz and a touch response of 360 Hz. The display also includes a fingerprint sensor and a 16-megapixel selfie camera. The rear camera has three sensors – 64-megapixel with f / 1.8 brightness, 8-megapixel ultra-wide and 2-megapixel macro sensor.

Connectivity is provided by 5G, LTE, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2, NFC chip, USB-C and even there is a 3.5 m headphone jack. The pride of the Realme GT is the 4500 mAh battery, which is charged by fast charging with a power of 65 W to 100% in 35 minutes. Unfortunately, wireless charging is missing.

Pros:

• powerful hardware
• great display
• fast charging
• 3,5 mm jack

Cons:

• MicroSD slot is missing
• It is not waterproof
• No wireless charging

Huawei P30 Pro

The Huawei P30 Pro is a former flagship that offers a number of interesting features. The front features a 6.47 ″ OLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 px and curved edges or a miniature cutout at the top. But the quadruple rear camera attracts much more attention.

It consists of a 40MP main camera with f / 1.6 aperture, a 20MP ultra-wide camera, a ToF camera for capturing depth of field and working with augmented reality, and the main attraction is an 8MP periscope tele-photo lens with 5x optical zoom, 10x hybrid zoom and up to 50x digital zoom.

Inside we find the Kirin 980 chip, 6/8 GB RAM and 128/256/512 GB internal memory. The battery with a capacity of 4200 mAh charges super-fast thanks to the included 40W charger.

Pros:

• Quality camera
• Excellent endurance and extremely fast battery charging
• A smaller cutout interferes less
• Price in version 6/128 GB
• Positive changes in the system (notification icons on the Always-On display)

Cons:

• NM cards are expensive and lack accessories
• Only small improvements over the Mate 20 Pro

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is a version for Samsung fans, which offers all the features and tweaks of more expensive models while boasting a much more affordable price tag. It can capture a beautiful display along with a huge 4500 mAh battery and support for 25 W fast charging.

Most features have been retained, but some key features have changed. The RAM value has been reduced from 8 to 6 GB, which in our opinion is not a problem. As part of the investigation, the glass structure was replaced by polycarbonate, fortunately matt, so the problem with fingerprints should absolutely disappear. He is pleased that the manufacturer has maintained the water resistance of IP68.

The display offers a maximum resolution of FHD + and the 120 Hz refresh rate has been maintained. Galaxy S20 FE is ideal for those who do not smell curved display. She has it straight. The diagonal of the display is 6.5 inches.

As for the photo equipment, the main sensor together with the ultra-wide angle have not changed compared to the Galaxy S20. Also, all the software tweaks offered by the more expensive sibling are still available. The telephoto lens has changed. It has a new resolution of 8 megapixels (Galaxy S20 has 64 MP). However, it offers 3x optical zoom.

Pros:

• Possibility to choose a processor
• Matte design
• Stereo speakers
• Wireless charging
• 120 Hz flat display
• Quality camera
• Price

Cons:

• Unreliable fingerprint sensor
• Plastic back
• 3.5 mm jack missing
• Disadvantages associated with the Exynos processor
• Due to battery capacity, lower endurance

OnePlus 8T

On the front of the OnePlus 8T we find a 6.55-inch AMOLED display with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a 16 MP selfie camera in its upper left corner. There are four cameras on the back, namely a 48 MP main, 16 MP ultra-wide, 5 MP macro and a 2 MP depth sensor

The device is powered by a Snapdragon 865 processor, 8 GB or 12 GB of RAM and a 4500 mAh battery that supports insanely fast 65 W charging. When you buy, you have a choice of two sizes of internal storage – 128 GB or 256 GB and it is not possible to expand it with a microSD card.

The OnePlus 8T also features high-quality stereo speakers and NFC support. In addition to the microSD card slot, however, it lacks one almost forgotten thing – a 3.5 mm jack.

Pros

• performance
• Battery Life
• quality stereo speakers
• beautiful AMOLED display with 120 Hz
• 65 W charging

Cons

• there is a lack of wireless charging and water resistance
• no 3.5 mm jack and microSD card slot
• worse cameras

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro 5G is the flagship of Xiaomi, which brings a massive system of cameras that will always find their use whether you are a beginner or a user who expects too much from their smartphone. The 5000 mAh battery with support for 33 W fast charging will take care of all-day endurance.

Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, a novelty from a well-known Chinese manufacturer, immediately attracted attention with several of its parameters. Whether it’s a 108-megapixel camera, 8K video at 30 frames per second, a great 6.67-inch 144 Hz 20: 9 display or a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor and 5G support. All of these elements form a great foundation for success. In addition, the powerful chip is seconded by 8 GB of RAM and 128/256 GB of storage is ready for your data.

It seems that Xiaomi simply knows very well which areas need to be addressed in order for the right combination to create an excellent smartphone. This is also underlined by the presence of a 5000 mAh battery, a high-quality body or an ultra-wide camera with a resolution of 13 MP and 5 MP macro. We did not forget about quality selfie photos. The 20 MP front camera will take care of these.

Pros

• 144 Hz display
• Great performance
• Good cameras
• Successful processing
• 5G connectivity
• Packaging and reduction in packaging

Cons

• The screen is LCD, not OLED
• Chopping Google on the home screen
• Worse stereo speakers

Motorola Moto G100

One of the most powerful models from a popular manufacturer, which boasts a very decent price. Performance is provided by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 processor, which adds 8 GB of RAM. The storage has a capacity of 128 GB and is expandable with microSD memory cards. The display received a diagonal of 6.7 ″, a resolution of 2520 x 1080 pixels, an aspect ratio of 21: 9 and a refresh rate of 90 Hz. It will please a strong battery with a capacity of 5000 mAh, which offers 20 W charging.

Pros

• Nice design
• Pure Android
• Moto features
• Great cameras
• Desktop mode
• Performance – Snapdragon 870
• Price – under 500 €

Cons

• The display is IPS, not OLED
• The battery could last longer
• Below-average photos in the dark
• Bad microphone

What are the best smartphones up to € 500 in your opinion?

We are interested in what our readers would choose if they just went to buy a smartphone in this price category.