Forget the iPhone 16e! These 3 mid-range phones are the ones you want to buy

(Image credit: Future)

I love iPhones as much as the next Apple follower, but if I'm being honest, the non-Apple midrange and budget phone market is full of just as great devices.

That's great news if you're open to other phones but bad news for Apple, which released its iPhone 16e, a "budget" phone that unfortunately debuts at a less-than-ideal $600.

Don't get me wrong — the iPhone 16e is no slouch. It has Apple's latest A18 chip, is Apple Intelligence ready, and tries to offer a better camera experience with a new integrated telephoto lens system.

But at that price point, if you're okay with switching from iOS to Android, several other phones blow the iPhone 16e out of the water in terms of camera, display, and design. I've reviewed and tested a couple of those phones myself, and if you're looking for a real deal with flagship-like specs, these are the three phones I would consider instead of the iPhone 16e.

Phones to consider if the iPhone 16e isn't doing it for you

Most people are looking for the same things in a phone, regardless of their budget. For me, it's about having a nice screen, a good feel, a proper camera, and a chip that ensures smooth and uninterrupted doom-scrolling.

There are many phones that offer that, but with one big caveat: you have to be comfortable using Android. Yes, that means you won't get the coveted blue bubble when you text someone with an iPhone, but nowadays, switching from iOS to Android is a lot less painful than it used to be.

RCS, for one, has given Android phone users a lot of the same benefits as iPhone to iPhone texting — read receipts and high-quality photos, to name a couple. Android is also, at least in my experience, just as easy to use as iOS and shares a lot of the same tap and swipe language as iOS.

So, if you're okay with those caveats, these are the phones I would recommend if you're looking for a midrange deal with lots of features.

I recently got my hands on the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, and while there are some downsides — the huge camera bump isn't really my style — there are lots of perks that outweigh its somewhat clunky design.

For one, though the camera makes the phone feel a little unwieldy, it does deliver a good picture and has incredible zoom. It also uses a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip instead of the previous Phone 2a's MediaTek chip, which ensures smooth performance.

The design and camera steal the show, and it delivers a lot on a budget — a custom OS skin, a tri-camera system, and the company's Glyph Interface for some extra flair.

When I tested the Pixel 8 Pro, I was impressed by many things, but primarily, the incredible 120Hz OLED screen and the rich camera experience impressed me.

The Pixel 8a packs a lot of the good things about the Pixel 8 Pro into a cheaper package. It has the same gorgeous OLED screen and a still-formidable dual-sensor front camera array: a 64MP sensor and a 13MP ultrawide.

Sure, you might want to wait for the 9a, which appears to be on its way, but if you need a phone right now, this is an option that will likely check all of your boxes. Plus, this thing is usually seeing some heavy discounts like the one above.

If you want a midrange phone that really feels premium, then the OnePlus Nord 4 may be your perfect pick.

As touted by OnePlus, the Nord 4 is the only metal unibody 5G phone and brings a lot to the table for about the same price as the iPhone 16e — and that's not counting OnePlus' famous trade-in offers.

There's a lot to like about this phone, but I'm particularly fond of its beefy 5,500mAh battery and fast 100W charging. If you're more in the Nothing camp of smartphone design, you might call the Nord 4's look boring, but I find it simple and sleek.

Again, this isn't much cheaper than the iPhone 16e, but the company does offer $100 off for trading in your existing phone, so as long as you're okay with jumping through a couple hoops, the Nord 4 is actually $450.

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James is Senior News Editor for Laptop Mag. He previously covered technology at Inverse and Input. He's written about everything from AI, to phones, and electric mobility and likes to make unlistenable rock music with GarageBand in his downtime. Outside of work, you can find him roving New York City on a never-ending quest to find the cheapest dive bar.