A lot can change in the smartphone industry from year to year. Looking back to as recent as 2017, Apple released the iPhone X and while it was a fantastic device, it also raised the bar for smartphone prices, starting at above the R15,000 mark. After seeing flagship sales stagnate over the past year and a half, and with the introduction of more mid-tier phones that come jam-packed with flagship-like features, 2019 is the year that smartphone buyers reap the benefits of pricing and technology.
As a result, smartphone prices in 2019 have balanced out – while there are still top-level devices which retail for more than R20,000 each, there are more mid-range phones than ever before, delivering great experiences not far off from their upper-tier counterparts. With this increased quantity of accessible yet powerful devices, the popular purchasing spot in the pricing bracket for phones has slipped into the mid-to-high range smartphones, with phones between R4,000 and R10,000 being some of the most popular.
Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
| The A-series of Samsung’s phones have done a really good job of offering mid-tier phones in terms of price, but often punching a little above their weight as far as specs are concerned. This model would be best for those who need a little more oomph from their phone than entry level models, but who don’t need access to absolutely every gimmick and feature. |
Specs: • 6-inch display 1080 x 2220 Full HD+ Super AMOLED Display • TRIPLE 24 & 5MP & 8MP main camera array • 24 MP selfie camera • 2.2 / 1.6 GHz octa-core processor and 4 GB RAM • Side-mounted fingerprint reader |
| Reviews: Trusted Reviews: 4/5 | TechRadar: 4/5 |
Available from: Connected Devices, Takealot Price: from R4,799 |
Huawei P30 Lite
| Huawei’s P30 is one of the best phones on the market at the moment, but it’s Lite edition delivers a very-close experience (minus the high-end camera features) for a far lower price. That said, the P30 Lite has a vivid IPS touchscreen, finger-print scanner, and 6GB of RAM, giving you all the tools you’d need for streamlined day-to-day operations. |
Specs: • 6.15-inch IPS LCD Capacitive Touchscreen • 48MP Camera • 128GB with 6GB RAM • Android 9.0 Pie • Hisilicon Kirin 710 Chipset • Finger print sensor rear mounted • Weight – 159g |
| Reviews: Expert Reviews: 4/5 | TechRadar: 4/5 | Available from: Bid or Buy, Sarang Telecoms, Phone Tradr Price: from R4,999 |
iPhone XR – refurbished
| The iPhone XR delivers fast performance, great cameras and longer battery life than other flagship phones, all in a colourful and affordable package.It may be the cheaper of all the current iPhone models, but Apple tends to be on the more expensive scale, so with the XR, you’re still getting an extremely good device. |
Specs: • Weight: 194g. • Dimensions: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm. • OS: iOS 12. • Screen size: 6.1-inch. • Resolution: 1792 x 828. • CPU: A12 Bionic. • Storage: 64/128/256. • Rear camera: 12MP. |
| Reviews: Tom’s Guide: 4.5/5 | Mashable: 5/5 | Available from: Power Bite, PC Link Computers, Phone Tradr Price: from R10,000 |