Deals: A look at Android mid-rangers, including CMF Phone 1, Moto G84, Honor 90 and more

The CMF Phone 1 is very popular at the moment, but it’s not the only phone at this price point and may not be the best option for you. First, let’s take a look at the phone itself.

It currently sells for £180 for the 8/128GB unit (there’s a microSD slot, so adding more storage isn’t a problem). It has a 6.67” FHD+ 120Hz OLED display, Dimensity 7300 chipset and a 50MP camera. The back is replaceable, but the 5,000mAh battery isn’t (it does 33W wired-only charging). Nothing promises 2 major OS updates and 3 years of security patches.

The Moto G84 costs the same but has a 10-bit 6.5” OLED display (FHD+ 120Hz). The Snapdragon 695 is pretty much outdated and slow. The good thing is that the 50MP main camera has OIS (and the CMF camera doesn’t) and there’s an 8MP ultra-wide. The downside is that the 695 can’t record 4K videos.

Apart from the microSD slot, it also has a 3.5mm headphone jack. The 5,000mAh battery with 30W charging is useless. Motorola is bad with software updates and the G84 is likely to end its journey on Android 14.

By the way, the Moto G54 is slightly cheaper and is similar to the G84, except it uses a 6.5” IPS LCD (FHD+ 120Hz) and the Dimensity 7020. This chip is slightly faster than the SD 695 in the G84, but still no match for the CMF. This phone loses the ultra wide camera, but keeps OIS on the main module. Also, the 5,000mAh battery drops to 15W charging.

The Honor 90 Lite also has an IPS LCD, a larger 6.7″ 90Hz panel (FHD+). It’s powered by the weaker Dimensity 6020 chipset, but has a 100MP main camera, which can handle in-sensor zoom. There’s also an ultra wide lens, but it’s only a 5MP camera. The battery is smaller at 4,500mAh and charges at 35W.

The Honor 90 is relatively expensive at £300, but it fixes many of the Lite’s problems. It uses the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 Accelerated Edition chip and switches to a 6.7” 120Hz OLED display with 1,200 x 2,664px resolution. The main camera has grown to a 200MP 1/1.4” sensor and the ultra-wide to 12MP. The selfie camera is also notable, with a 50MP sensor. Also, the 5,000mAh battery does 66W fast charging.

For £50 less, the Honor Magic6 Lite is available. This has a 6.78” 120Hz OLED display with a comparable resolution, but has a Snapdragon 6 Gen 1 chipset, 108MP main and 5MP ultra wide cameras. Battery capacity is 5,300mAh and it charges at 35W.

There hasn’t been any small phones from Asus yet this year, so it’s worth taking a look at the Asus Zenfone 10. It’s pretty good with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset and all sorts of software tweaks. However, one of the two promised OS updates has already arrived. The 4,300mAh battery is larger than the S24 battery and supports both 30W wired and 15W wireless. There’s no tele lens and the 50MP main camera (OIS) and 13MP ultra-wide camera don’t impress.

Finally, a very cheap option – the Redmi A3. It’s only £70, but it runs full Android 14. How well it works with only 3GB of RAM is another question. Still, these days you need a smartphone to get around the city (whether by bus or cab), to pay for things, to stay in touch with others, etc. It’s more an alternative to those KaiOS Nokias than a proper Android phone (and it’s a lot more capable than a KaiOS phone).