Phone for mum - mid-range?

[Sudden]

Mum has a very aging OnePlus 7T which needs replacing now. She doesn't want to spend too much and doesn't want a huge screen. I was thinking either the S23 base, but that's potentially a screen size too much a step down (at 6.1 compared to the current 6.55), but she will go to a store to check it out. Still a bit on the pricey side, but I think will be worth it.

The S23 FE is cheaper, but reviews seem on the negative side? I don't know anything about the A55 or A35 - they seem comparable in price to the S23/S23 FE though, which seems odd? Not a huge price difference between them.

Other alternative is OnePlus 12R, but that might be on the big side size wise, or the OnePlus Nords, but don't know much about that series and reviews don't seem positive either.

Would love any thoughts on these to help, or any other suggestions I might be missing?

 

[kona786]

Budget?

 

[Orcvader]

I'm going to throw the Pixel 7 in the mix. But yes, depends on what your ideal budget is, and what she mainly uses the phone for.

 

[Brackish]

The Honor 200 is out soon. A few of the 6.7 phones are very close to the size of the 7T and OP9.
The S23 is an odd choice reading up on it, it doesn't seem to fit.

 

[kona786]

I'm going to throw the Pixel 7 in the mix. But yes, depends on what your ideal budget is, and what she mainly uses the phone for.

This. I got my mum the pixel 7 up from a pixel 2!

It's excellent. I tried the POCO X6 Pro and the Software/OS skinning (butchering) and lame cameras were just a no go.

 

[booyaka]

Pixel8a - check out the trade in value for the OP7 (looks like £211).... Seems a no brainer if budget allows.

128gb Pixel 8a for around £280 with trade in.

 

[Grimley]

One plus nord CE3 lite is still available direct from oneplus for £180.

 

[david25]

£450 for the S24 (student access)

Samsung Galaxy S24 5G 256GB at £502.65 or 128GB at £451.65 with Trade-In at Samsung | hotukdeals

www.hotukdeals.com

 

[Mr Jack]

How about the A54 (which I have)? For normal use I think it has everything needed, and decent battery life. Not sure what the price is like in the UK compared to your other options.

 

[LadFromWales]

Mad that the S23/24 is considered mid range these days!

I spent a month using a Redmi Note 13 Pro (bought it for my daughter to have as first phone) while I was dealing with Samsung and my rattly S24 Ultra camera. It well exceeded my expectations, even without taking into account the fact it cost me £220 delivered straight from Xiaomi.

It's Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 is similar in performance to a Galaxy A54, and never felt slow in use. The camera is more than good enough. Software as actually pretty nice, does come with some bloat, but so does everything at the cheaper end of the scale. Almost all of which can be easily disabled or uninstalled.