ONEPLUS NORD
AFFORDABLE PHONE OF THE YEAR
After flirting with the flagship crowd and watching countless challenger brands muscle in on its mid-range turf, Oneplus set about regaining the middle ground in 2020. To be brutally honest, the competition appeared so fierce we weren’t so sure they had it in them; but the cool and colourful Nord, with its 5G-savvy top-end CPU, silky OLED screen, rock-solid camera and reliable performance, made it a classier pocket-protruder than a Moto and more enjoyable than a Realme. We suspect Oneplus knew it was onto a winner long before we broke the news, because the Nord line-up has since spawned two even cheaper models. So if £379 is still more than you want to pay, see the £329 N10 or the budget £179 N100 instead. from £379 / oneplus.com
NOMINEES
Realme X2 Pro Oppo A72 Google Pixel 4a Moto G8