January is an interesting time in the smartphone world – the first next-gen flagships are just starting to hit the market, others are yet to come. And with their replacements months (or even weeks) away, older flagship and premium phones are about as cheap as they are going to get while still being somewhat current.
We have picked out deals from several regions, and included some tablet, smartwatch and headset offers too. Use the links below to jump to your region:
Germany
The Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max will probably never see a significant discount, at least not from Apple. When the 15 Pro Max arrives, this one will simply be discontinued. Other retailers are more flexible on pricing – Amazon offers the 128GB model with a slight discount, for example.
And while you’re at it, you can accessorize with an Apple Watch Series 8, which also got a small discount to €440. Note that this is for the 41mm GPS model, you can get the 45mm one for €475. An LTE version is available for both sizes and costs €100 more.
Moving on to the Samsung side of things, you can get a Galaxy S21 FE for half the price of a base S23 (at least based on rumored pricing). The FE’s Snapdragon 888 isn’t the best chipset around anymore, but can still hold its own against mid-rangers.
As for accessories, the Samsung Galaxy Watch4 is pretty cheap and the difference between the 40mm and the 44mm models is just €10. For comparison, a 40mm Galaxy Watch5 costs €90 more (that’s 70% more).
If you want a rotating bezel, however, the Galaxy Watch4 Classic is still the only option. On the plus side, it costs less than the Watch5.
€380 is a bit much to pay for a Snapdragon 695, but Sony Xperia 10 IV’s package includes things you might not find elsewhere – a microSD slot and a 3.5mm jack on the same phone, for example. And while the charger could have been faster, battery life is amazing.
If anything, the Sony Xperia 5 IV pricing is tougher to swallow. It may have launched in late September, but its hardware is more akin to an early 2022 phone. On the plus side, this offer comes with an extended warranty, 36 months total, so you get some peace of mind.
Sony fans can accessorize too. The Sony WF-1000XM4 are some of the best TWS headsets out there and in our long-term review we found them quite capable. Sony might get around to launching the XM5s at some point, but they will start at a higher price point, higher than €170, anyway.
The Sony LinkBuds are an interesting pick – the hole in the middle means they do not obstruct your hearing at all. And it sounds more natural than digital pass-through modes. This is perfect for the times you want to listen to music or a podcast, but you absolutely need to remain aware of your environment.
UK
Apple discontinues the old Pro models each year but keeps the vanilla pair around as a cheaper option. The iPhone 13 mini and 13 are available from Apple.com for £650 and £750, respectively, but Amazon offers a £50 discount for both.
The Honor 70 boasts a 54MP main camera and a 50MP ultra wide, plus a 32MP selfie camera. Even though they don’t have a camera maker’s name attached to them, they are still quite capable (the selfie camera especially). The screen is great, the battery is great (charging is fast to boot) and with a healthy discount applied, even the Snapdragon 778G+ is competitive (the Honor 70 has a fairly high MSRP).
For the same amount of cash you can get the Oppo Reno8 instead. It has a more powerful GPU, though the smaller 6.4” 90Hz display isn’t a match for the 6.67” 120Hz panel on the Honor. The ultra wide camera has only 8MP resolution too, but battery endurance is slightly better and charging is faster.
Also in this price class is the Samsung Galaxy M53. The Dimensity 900 won’t win any awards, but the 6.7” 120Hz Super AMOLED panel is competitive. And you get a 108MP main camera (only 8MP ultra wide, though). The 5,000mAh battery is a tad larger but charging is noticeably slower.
The Samsung Galaxy Watch4 Classic, the 46mm version is down to £220. The smaller 40mm Galaxy Watch5 costs that much too, the 44mm version is £240. You can pay a bit extra to get 4G connectivity, e.g. the 40mm Watch5 is £270. A Galaxy Watch5 Pro will run you £330, £430 if you want 4G.
USA
This week there weren’t many phone offers stateside. This one is worth a look, though, the Moto G Power 5G (2022) is down to $250. It has 256GB of built-in storage and comes with a free 256GB microSD.
With few interesting phone deals to look at, we turned our attention to tablets. The Samsung Galaxy Tab S8 and Tab S8+ are both discounted on Best Buy. The vanilla slate has an 11” LCD, the Tab S8+ has a 12.4” Super AMOLED panel instead (both 120Hz). Both are powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1.
If you’re on the lookout for something cheaper, the Galaxy Tab A8 10.5 (2021) is $150, but you still get a 10.5” display with 1,920 x 1,200px resolution and Android 13 with One UI 5. No DeX, though.
If you’re in need of some true wireless buds, the Galaxy Buds2 are down to $95. They are not as advanced as the Pros, but they have the same form factor and fit comfort.
The 9th generation Apple iPad 10.2 is not the fastest with its Apple A13 chip, but there aren’t many new iPads that cost $270 either. The 10th generation is faster, though it starts at $450, while the 9th is usually $330 on Apple.com.
India
The iQOO 11 became India’s first Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 phone when it launched a couple of weeks ago. There are no major discounts yet, the phone is just so new. That said, it is also unrivaled in terms of performance and renders games on a beautiful 6.78” 144Hz AMOLED display with QHD+ resolution.
Slightly easier to swallow is the iQOO 9T price tag. This one is powered by the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which should offer all the performance most people need. Still, it’s a last gen product and you only save ₹10,000 – may be worth it to some but not others.
The Xiaomi 13 series is yet to make its way to India, but the Xiaomi 12 Pro has fallen in price considerably since launch. It’s now between the iQOO 11 and the 9T, though its original 8 Gen 1 chipset is slower than both. The triple 50MP camera is better than what the iQOOs have to offer, however. And you get other perks like wireless charging.
The OnePlus 10R is in a more mid-range position with its Dimensity 8100-Max chipset. That’s a fast and efficient chipset paired with a fine 120Hz HDR10+ AMOLED display and a large, fast-charging battery (80W in this case).
Next up, several affordable 5G phones in the ₹20K segment. The Realme Narzo 50 Pro is medium-sized with a 6.4” 90Hz AMOLED display and runs on a Dimensity 920 and a 5,000mAh battery (with 33W fast charging).
The Tecno Camon 19 Pro is quite a bit larger with a 6.8” IPS LCD (120Hz, FHD+) but settles for a Dimensity 810. The battery is also 5,000mAh with 33W charging.
The Redmi Note 12 is cheaper than those two and in the middle in terms of size with a 6.67” 120Hz AMOLED display (FHD+, of course). It uses the new Snapdragon 4 Gen 1 chipset and has a, you guessed it, 5,000mAh battery with 33W charging.
The Oppo A74 5G is cheaper still with a 6.5” IPS LCD (90Hz, FHD+). It uses the more familiar Snapdragon 480 chipset and its 5,000mAh battery breaks the pattern with 18W charging.
Leaving 5G behind for cheaper phones, the Tecno Spark 9T is right on the ₹10K mark. There are plenty of HD+ screens in this price segment, but the 9T is equipped with a 6.6” FHD+ IPS LCD (60Hz). The Helio G35 is, let’s call it adequate, and the 5,000mAh battery supports 18W charging.
We round things off with one of the cheapest smartphones around, the Nokia C01 Plus. True, it’s only an Android 11 Go edition phone, but you will have an easier time getting apps for this than for something like KaiOS. To put the pricing in context, the Nokia 2660 Flip costs ₹4,650 and that one doesn’t even run KaiOS.
