GOOGLE PIXEL 6 ● Best of the rest
Price £599 / stuff.tv/pixel6
Just like its Pro big brother, the Pixel 6 is something of a return to form for Google after the underwhelming Pixel 5. With a bold, colourful design, Google’s Tensor chipset running the show (with lots of AI tricks) and significant camera upgrades to talk about as well, it feels as though the Pixel 6 is a real mid-range star – and quite possibly better value for money than the top-end Pro version on p42.
As well as that Tensor processor – built to excel at AI tasks such as Google Assistant responses – you get 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage with the Pixel 6. In other words, enough power to deal comfortably with any kind of task you want to give it, from streaming to gaming.
Cameras: brainy
Photo and video capture quality has always been where Pixel phones have stood out, and this one is no different. The dual-lens 50+12MP rear camera is capable of taking some seriously impressive snaps, even in the pitch black thanks to the Ai-assisted Night Sight tech.
There’s also an 8MP selfie-cam, plus support for both wired and wireless charging. The 4614mah battery will get you through a day of use, and that can be bumped up to two days with the Extreme Battery Saver mode – which deploys, you’ve guessed it, AI to better manage the phone’s power draw.
Design: bumpy
We’re well used to phones being simple slabs of glass and metal (or plastic), but the Pixel 6 pushes the design envelope with a bolder camera bump than normal. It stretches across the width of the phone, which allows more space for the cameras and means this Pixel doesn’t rock from side to side when you lay it on a flat surface.
Your colour options are Kinda Coral, Sorta Seafoam and a more conservative Stormy Black, and it’s nice to see Google dabbling with colour combinations. This feels like a premium device when you pick it up, despite the modest price, and is perhaps the most visually appealing Pixel yet.
The 6.4in 2400x1080 OLED display, running at a maximum of 90Hz, certainly helps here too.
It’s bright and sharp, with pleasingly thin bezels and a small punch-hole at the top for the selfie-cam. The signs are good for Google finally understanding how to combine hardware and software into one cohesive smartphone whole.
TECH SPECS
● 6.4in 2400x1080 90Hz AMOLED ● Google Tensor ● 8GB RAM ● 128GB
● Android 12 ● 50+12MP rear, 8MP front ● 4614mah ● 159x75x8.9mm, 207g
STUFF SAYS
The best Pixel phone yet in terms of power per pound ★★★★★
ASUS ZENFONE 8 from £540 / stuff.tv/zenfone8
With solid build quality and oodles of power under the hood, it isn’t difficult to figure out why the Zenfone 8 is one of the most appealing mid-range phones out there at the moment. Offering a screen size of 5.9 inches, it’s also one of the more compact handsets on the market, which adds to its appeal for buyers with smaller hands (or pockets).
As for the internals, you get a nippy Snapdragon 888 CPU running everything, together with as much as 16GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. Those are some very decent specs, and the dual-lens 64+12MP rear camera impresses too. Meanwhile a 4000mah battery brings you plenty of time between charges.
Key specs
● 5.9in 2400x1080 AMOLED
● Snapdragon 888 ● 8/16GB, 128/256GB ● 64+12MP ● 4000mah ● 148x69x8.9mm, 169g
STUFF SAYS ★★★★✩
A compact mid-ranger that doesn’t compromise on specs
ONEPLUS NORD 2 from £399 / stuff.tv/nord2
Oneplus is really hitting its stride when it comes to more affordable phones, as the Nord 2 clearly shows. This is a richly appealing balance of performance and price, and in every area it offers more than you might expect considering how little you have to cough up in order to grab it.
You get a capable Mediatek Dimensity 1200 processor doing the lifting, 5G connectivity, and one of the better Android skins that we’ve come across in the form of Oxygenos. Perhaps just as important, though, are the looks of the device: this could pass for a much more expensive phone, and you can pick it up in blue, grey or green as well as a special Pac-man design.
Key specs
● 6.43in 2400x1080 AMOLED
● Dimensity 1200 ● 6-12GB, 128/256GB ● 50+8+2MP ● 4500mah ● 159x73x8.3mm, 189g
STUFF SAYS ★★★★✩
A lot of smartphone in return for not much money
MOTO G200 £400 / stuff.tv/g200
You can certainly rely on the Moto brand for great value mid-range phones, and the G200 has a lot going for it – not least 5G support and a nice big 6.8in display – with a refresh rate of 144Hz, no less. There’s a triple-lens rear camera here too, led by an impressive 108MP main sensor, so you’re well covered in just about every key area.
In terms of internal specs, there’s the Snapdragon 888+ chipset from Qualcomm – the flagship CPU for Android handsets last year, and still a very powerful choice. As you would expect at this price, you miss out on extras like waterproofing and wireless charging, but it’s still an extremely capable blower.
Key specs
● 6.8in 2460x1080 LCD
● Snapdragon 888+ ● 8GB, 128GB ● 108+13+2MP ● 5000mah
● 168x76x8.9mm, 202g
STUFF SAYS ★★★★✩
Some of the best specs at this price, and a lot of power
With Oneplus now duking it out with Samsung at the upper end of the price spectrum, you might think it had forgotten its roots as a value champ. Not true – that spirit now lives on in the Nord CE 2.
CE stands for Core Edition, which roughly translates to ‘all the hardware you need, with none of what you don’t, at a price your wallet can appreciate’. It’s the line-up’s new entry point, but carries over much of what makes the Nord 2 such a compelling mid-ranger – notably a display that’s excellent compared to many rivals, a 6.43in AMOLED with fairly smooth 90Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. It has a Full HD resolution, which is what you’d expect at this price point.
Design: sturdy
The camera ‘blob’ that curves seamlessly around the lenses and into the rear of the phone might look a little familiar. The Nord CE 2 has certainly taken a little design inspiration from sister company Oppo’s Find X3 Pro. Unlike that mega-pricey handset, though, the Oneplus is plastic all the way. Thankfully it doesn’t lack sturdiness as a result.
The Dimensity 900 might not be the flashiest silicon that Mediatek makes, but it’s near the top of the pile, so comfortably runs Android 11 underneath Oxygenos without any slowdown; 8GB of RAM gives it a leg up on the multitasking front, while storage is slightly slower than the Nord 2’s, not that you’d notice: performance isn’t obviously ‘budget’ and everything zips along well. OK, so frames are dropped in some games, but that’s what you’d expect for such a cheap phone.
The audio, however, is not good – what comes out of the internal speaker is harsh. But there’s obviously Bluetooth support in addition to the 3.5mm headphone port that, it seems, remains a necessity at this price point.
It may not have the biggest battery of all the budget phones doing the rounds right now, but the Nord CE 2 is easily the fastest when it comes to charging. The meaty 65W power brick included in the box (not always a given these days, regardless of price) promises a full top-up in around half an hour, so you’ll be done in half the time of its closest rivals. That’s impressive by any standards.
Cameras: samey
The triple-cam setup doesn’t move the game on from last year’s Nord CE – in fact it’s literally the same camera module, with a 64MP main snapper, 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro also-ran. We’re yet to find any budget phone with a macro lens worth bothering with and, sure enough, it’s a familiar story here.
The selfie-camera is poor: portraits are just too soft, while the default beautification mode makes them look worse, not better. Normal shots are fine in decent light, but the quality plunges in gloomy conditions, with lots of noise around.
Summary: summery?
With Oneplus now more under Oppo’s watchful eye than ever, there was a danger the Nord CE 2 would lose some of its identity… and you could make that argument, as this is more of an Oppo phone than ever. Like the original CE, it doesn’t have the alert slider on the side of the phone to switch between silent, vibrate and ringer modes – and that was once a Oneplus hallmark.
The ever-increasing problem at this price point is that the market is now very crowded and it’s hard to stand out. It could be argued that only the Oneplus name truly sets this phone apart from its rivals.
TECH SPECS
● 6.3in 2400x1080 90Hz AMOLED ● Dimensity 900 ● 8GB RAM
● 128GB ● Android 11 + Oxygenos 11 ● 64+8+2MP rear, 16MP front
● 4500mah ● 161x73x7.8mm, 173g STUFF SAYS It doesn’t stand out from the crowd, but there’s still so much on offer here HHHH✩