Going over some of our favorite recent devices and comparing it to our lists of best phones, we found that we were missing a number of them as they just didn't quite fit into our existing categories. Fortunately, there was a simple enough solution, we've created a new list to capture these devices, the best budget flagships. These are devices that have specs to compete with the top tier flagships, but they don't come with that top tier pricing.
At the moment this list is comprised entirely of devices that use either a Snapdragon 855 or equivalent CPU (Kirin 980 for example) and are available for less than $600, making them substantially cheaper than flagship smartphones selling for $900+.
OnePlus 7 (Pro)
Now my primary recommendation here is for the OnePlus 7, not the OnePlus 7 Pro, as it still packs the Snapdragon 855 and a lot of the same hardware for under $450. With that said, you can now actually find the 6GB RAM version of the OnePlus 7 Pro for $600 which means it qualifies for this list as well. The main advantages you get with the Pro model are the 90Hz screen, the notchless pop-up camera design, a triple camera versus the dual-camera, Warp Charging and a slightly larger battery. Depending on your preferences those features could certainly be worth the extra $150, but either way you are getting a fantastic phone with a reliable record on software updates.
Buy OnePlus 7 on Amazon
ASUS Zenfone 6
The ASUS Zenfone 6 is no stranger to our best smartphones lists, it already appears in our best camera and best battery life categories. It should come as no surprise then to find it on this list given that it also packs a Snapdragon 855 processor and sub-$600 price point. You can read our full review to get all the details, but the value proposition of this phone is fantastic.
Buy ASUS Zenfone 6 on Amazon
Honor 20
The Honor 20 along with the OnePlus 7 might have been reason enough to create this list by themselves, we were so thoroughly impressed with both of these devices at their price point. Unfortunately for the Honor 20 it was caught up in all of the Huawei related trade drama and was a bit buried as a result. Check out our full review of its sibling the Honor 20 Pro for our take on this line of devices from Honor. If you want to spend up a bit the Honor 20 Pro is a fantastic device as well, but from the quad-camera array, Kirin 980 chipset, 6.3-inch FHD+ display, fast charging, and overall build quality the Honor 20 also impressed us on every level. You can find it now for just over $400 and that is an astounding value.
Buy Honor 20 on Amazon
ZTE Axon 10 Pro
Our full review of the ZTE Axon 10 Pro is still coming, but we are ready to say it belongs on this list. The Axon 10 Pro won't necessarily blow you away on any specific spec or its design, but as Nick said in his first impressions it definitely checks all the boxes. There's the Snapdragon 855, 8GB of RAM, 256GB of storage, triple-camera array, a microSD slot, and a 4,000 mAh battery. It has a teardrop notch and an embedded fingerprint sensor in the 6.5-inch FHD+ display. All of this and thankfully ZTE has gone minimal on its skinning of Android these days, so it's a fairly stock experience that should see updates at a reasonable pace. Available for around $550, this is another solid contender in the budget flagship range.
Buy ZTE Axon 10 Pro on B&H
Xiaomi Mi 9
We were at the launch event for the Xiaomi Mi 9 earlier this year and came away impressed with the overall quality of the device and in particular the camera performance for the price. Even at launch, the value was impressive for the specs including of course a Snapdragon 855, 6GB of RAM, a triple-camera array, and a 6.4-inch AMOLED FHD+ display. Now you can find the Xiaomi Mi 9 for just over $400, keeping it out of our true budget smartphones list, but making it one of the best values of all the budget flagship offerings.
Buy Xiaomi Mi 9 on Amazon
Nubia Red Magic 3
While I wouldn't consider the Nubia Red Magic 3 to be quite as well rounded as the other devices on this list, the gaming PC inspired design (including the RGB light) is unique and the phone is a performance beast. It shares the same 90Hz refresh rate screen with the OnePlus 7 Pro with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of internal storage for around $575. The comparably specced OnePlus 7 Pro runs about another $75-$100, pushing it outside of consideration for this list, but unless you are particularly sold on the look of the Nubia Red Magic 3, you will probably be better served by the rest of the features and software support from OnePlus.
Buy Nubia Red Magic 3 on Amazon
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