An affordable smartphone is much better these days than it was a few years ago. What do you get for a maximum of 400 euros? We test 3 smartphones in this price range: Samsung Galaxy A35,, Nothing Phone (2a) and Poco X6 Pro.
Rens Blom and Rob Coenraads
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In this test we have used the recommended retail prices as |
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Samsung Galaxy A35
Samsung Galaxy A35
Samsung is the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer and has been enjoying great success for years with its competitively priced Galaxy A series. We’ve taken a look at the new Galaxy A35.
It leaves a good impression, starting with the luxurious and sturdy design that is waterproof with an IP67 certification. The 6.6 inch OLED screen is also very good, thanks to the full HD resolution, high brightness and 120Hz refresh rate. The smartphone is also nice and fast, has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage capacity as standard. The latter is not particularly large, but sufficient and can be expanded via a micro SD card.
The device has nice cameras, although the selfie camera is a bit disappointing. The battery will last you a long day. Charging is relatively slow at 25 watts and you have to arrange a charging adapter yourself. Too bad, just like Samsung’s software shell that is getting busier and more and more extra apps are included. On the other hand, the brand guarantees updates for five years.
Suggested retail price: € 379,-
+ waterproof
+ no less than five years of updates
– very busy Samsung software
– no charger included
Nothing Phone (2a)
The still unknown Nothing tries to stand out with its designs and software. The Phone (2a) therefore has a luxurious looking plastic casing with multiple LED strips on the back. These can light up for notifications, calls and other events. Nice, but also switch off if you don’t need them.
The phone is equipped with a high-quality 6.67-inch full-hd oled screen with 120Hz resolution and lasts a long day on a single charge. Charging is fast, but you have to arrange a charging adapter yourself. The device is fast enough with its MediaTek processor and has 8GB or 12GB of RAM and 128GB or 256GB of storage. The better version is fifty euros more expensive, nice that you can choose.
The cameras of the Phone (2a) are of average quality. We are more positive about the software. Nothing hardly modifies Android and the implemented adjustments, such as a ChatGPT integration, are useful. You get three Android upgrades and four years of security updates.
Suggested retail price: € 379,-
+ gets four years of updates
+ excellent battery life
– no charger included
– cameras not special
Poco X6 Pro
Poco, a sub-brand of Xiaomi, benefits from the scale at which Xiaomi operates and can therefore offer affordable smartphones with good specifications. The Poco X6 Pro is an example of this.
This device may have a cheap-feeling casing, but it offers an excellent 6.67-inch full-hd oled screen with 120Hz display and high brightness. With its premium MediaTek processor, the Poco X6 Pro is significantly faster than competitors. What helps with this is no less than 12GB of RAM. The storage memory is even as large as in many laptops at 512 GB.
We also like the long battery life and included 67-watt charger, which takes just under an hour to fully charge the battery.
The cameras perform well in sufficient (day)light, but are not above average in other conditions.
Too bad the busy Xiaomi software skin over Android. The update policy is also unclear, but looking at previous Poco phones, three years seems realistic to us.
Suggested retail price: € 399,-
+ lightning fast
+ many features
– feels cheap
– busy software