The year 2021 was the year of premium mid-range smartphones in the context of the Nepali phone market. This is the best category for those who need (almost) premium features on their smartphones at an affordable price. Smartphones in this category are expected to have a flawless performance regardless of their price. Companies like Xiaomi and Samsung have multiple options in this category and also lead the sales.
There are lots of powerful smartphones in this category. Gamers benefit a lot from this category as they get a good processor, great battery backup, cooling system and a big quick responsive display. Today, we have prepared a list of the best premium mid-range smartphone currently available in Nepal that will also dominate the market in early 2022.
Here is the list of best premium mid-range smartphones in Nepal.
| SN | Phone | Price |
| 6 | Tecno Phantom X | Rs 64,999 (8/256GB) |
| 5 | Samsung Galaxy A52 5G | Rs 53,999 (6/128GB) Rs 55,999 (8/128GB) |
| 4 | Poco F3 GT | Rs 51,999 (8/256GB) |
| 3 | OnePlus Nord 2 5G | Rs 59,999 (8/128GB) Rs 69,999 (12/256GB) |
| 2 | Poco F3 | Rs 46,999 (6/128GB) Rs 51,999 (8/256GB) |
| 1 | Realme GT Neo 2 | Rs 54,999 (8/128GB) Rs 60,999 (12/256GB) |
6. Tecno Phantom X
Tecno Phantom X is probably the best-looking smartphone in this category. It has a premium design, built of the glass front, glass back and a metal frame. There is a Gorilla Glass protection on both sides of the phone. The phone also has a curved display that gives the user a premium feel. It features an under-display fingerprint sensor.
There is a 6.7-inch Super AMOLED display and has a massive 91.3% screen-to-body ratio. The display also has a 90Hz refresh rate. The phone weighs 201 grams and is 8.7mm thick. It features a 50MP triple camera setup on the back with a dual 48MP on the front. It is the only phone to have a dual camera on the front on the list. The rear camera can record videos in 4K resolution @ 60 fps.
There is a 4700 mAh non-removable Li-Po battery on the phone that supports 33W fast charging. The phone runs on Android 11 with HIOS 7.6 on top and is powered by Mediatek Helio G95 (12nm) chipset.
The price of Tecno Phantom X is Rs 64,999 for a 8/256GB variant.
Phantom X is a premium-looking phone and is probably the phone with the best design in this category. But, when it comes to performance, every other smartphone on this list gets better. It gets a mediocre processor for this price range and an inferior camera as well.
5. Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G
Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G is one of the best mid-range smartphones from Samsung although the brand has lots of other smartphones in this category. It is one of the latest releases of Samsung with a 5G network connectivity option. The phone has a 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,080*2,400 pixels and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The display is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. It only weighs 189 grams and is 8.4mm thick. It also has an under-display optical fingerprint sensor and an IP67 dust/water resistant certification.
Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G features a quad-camera setup. The 64MP camera on the back is housed together with a 12MP ultrawide, 5MP macro and 5MP depth sensor. On the front, there is a 32MP camera. Both cameras can record videos in 4K at 30fps.
The phone runs on Android 11 with One UI 3.1 on top. It is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 778 5G (6nm) chipset while the graphics are handled by Adreno 642L. For battery backup, there is a 4500 mAh Li-Po battery on the phone that supports 25W fast charging.
The price of the Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G is Rs 53,999 for 6/128GB and Rs 55,999 for 8/128GB variants.
Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G provides a good processor, probably the best camera in this category and a higher refresh rate display with IP certification. This can be a great option for Samsung lovers in this category. It is an all-rounder, good for photography, good for gaming and overall good-performance phone. However, the battery life on the phone could have been better. If you want a great battery backup, you can go for Galaxy M62.
4. Poco F3 GT
Poco F3 GT has especially been designed for gaming purposes. It is the only phone to have a physical trigger button on the phone itself, which can be opened with sliders that are on the side. Other than this, it has a 6.7-inch AMOLED HDR10+ display with a 120Hz refresh rate that reaches a peak brightness of up to 1300 nits. With a metal frame, the phone has a glass front and back, and both of them are protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 5. This phone is also IP53 certified for dust and splash protection.
Poco F3 GT has a triple camera setup on its rare. The 64MP camera is housed together with an 8MP ultrawide and 2MP macro lens. On the front, there is a 16MP camera. The main camera can record videos in 4K at 30fps.
The phone runs on Android 11 with MIUI 12.5 for POCO on top and is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G (6nm) chipset. It has a 5065 mAh non-removable battery and supports 67W fast charging. With this power, the phone gets fully charged in just 42 minutes. The audio quality is also good on the phone as it boasts stereo speakers.
The price of the Poco F3 GT in Nepal is Rs 51,999 for an 8/256GB variant.
This is a great deal considering the features Poco F3 GT provides. The UFS 3.1 internal storage on the phone also means faster loading speed and transfer of data. Along with a 120Hz refresh rate display, it also has a whopping 480Hz touch sampling rate, which can be great for gaming.
Though the phone is focused on gaming purposes, it does not have a 3.5mm headphone jack and though it has a 6nm chipset, it could have been better as there are smartphones with Snapdragon chipset which outperforms the flagship Dimensity chipset. Also, cameras are definitely not the strongest point of this phone. But again, considering the price, this is a great deal.
3. OnePlus Nord 2 5G
OnePlus has to be on the list as this is the first smartphone brand to actually come out with the idea of a flagship killer. This was the very reason the Nord 2 5G phone got popular in no time. The phone comes with a 6.43-inch Fluid AMOLED HDR10+ display with a maximum resolution of 1,080*2,400 pixels. The phone has a glass front, glass back and a plastic frame. The front and back of the phone are protected by Gorilla Glass 5. The phone weighs 189 grams and is 8.3mm thick.
OnePlus Nord 2 5G gets a triple camera setup on the back. The main 50MP camera is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide and another 2MP camera. The camera can record 4K videos at 30fps while it can record 1080p videos up to 240fps. On the front, there is a 32MP single camera.
The phone runs on Android 11 with OxygenOS 11.3 on top and is powered by MediaTek Dimensity 1200 5G chipset. Giving life to the phone is a 4500mAh non-removable Li-Po battery. The charging of the battery is extremely fast as it supports a 65W fast charger that can fully charge the phone in just 30 minutes.
The price of OnePlus Nord 2 5G is Rs 59,999 for 8/128GB and Rs 69,999 for 12/256GB variants.
Well, OnePlus always has been one of our favourites. The Nord 2 5G is also a good phone and could have been great. The phone has an excellent build quality, one of the best in the segment. The camera performance, as well as the phone’s overall performance, is good as well.
However, OnePlus should have provided a better chipset, not that the one it has is a bad one but with the price range, it should have done better. Also, the phone has no IP certification. The battery charging time is fast, but it should also be noticed that the phone has a 4,500 mAh battery while others on the list have 5,000 mAh or over. The price may be a great disadvantage to the phone as the users have multiple options on the market.
2. Poco F3
Yet another Poco phone on the list, Poco F3 is the best value for money phone on the list. The phone comes with a 6.67-inch HDR10+ AMOLED display with a resolution of 1,080*2,400 pixels. This phone has a refresh rate of 120Hz and it can reach a peak brightness of up to 1300 nits. The phone has a glass front, glass back and a plastic frame. Similarly, the glass on the front and back is protected by Gorilla Glass 5. It is the slimmest phone in this category with only 7.8mm thickness.
It has a triple camera setup. The main 48MP camera on the back is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro lens. The camera can record videos in 4K at 30fps whereas it can record 1080p resolution videos up to 960 fps. On the front, there is a 20MP camera that can record 1080p videos.
Poco F3 runs on Android 11 with MIUI 12.5.6 for POCO on top and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G (7nm) chipset. There is a 4,520mAh Li-Po battery on the phone that supports 33W fast charging and gets fully charged in just 52 minutes.
The price of Poco F3 is Rs 46,999 for 6/128GB and 51,999 for 8/256GB variants.
Poco F3 offers a lot for its price range. It has a solid build, a good design and a good processor. Gaming can be extremely fun on this mobile as it has probably the best chipset in this price range. Also, 120Hz refresh rate and 360Hz touch sampling rate can make the gaming look really smooth. It has a liquid cool technology as well and has hi-res Dolby Atmos speakers.
Though Samsung phones may provide better photo quality, the cameras on this phone are not bad either. Though limited to 1080p, the 960fps should be really handy.
1. Realme GT Neo 2
Our pick for the best premium mid-range smartphone is Realme GT Neo 2. This is the best smartphone from Realme in Nepal. Realme has been really innovative this year and has certainly got a lot of attention in the market, thanks to GT Neo 2.
The phone features a 6.62-inch HDR10+ AMOLED display. It has a refresh rate of 120Hz and a touch sampling rate of 600Hz which is the highest in the market. The phone weighs around 199.8 grams and is 9mm thick. The display of the phone has Gorilla Glass 5 protection.
There is a triple camera setup on the phone. The 64MP main camera on the back is accompanied by an 8MP ultrawide and a 2MP macro lens. The camera can record videos in 4K and at 60fps. On the front, there is a 16MP camera that can record 1080p videos at 30fps.
Realme GT Neo 2 runs on Android 11 with Realme UI 2.0 on top and is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 870 5G (7nm). There is a 5,000 mAh non-removable Li-Po battery and supports 65W fast charging. This gets the phone full charged in just 36 minutes.
The price of Realme GT Neo 2 is Rs 54,999 for 8/128GB and Rs 60,999 for 12/256GB variants.
Realme GT Neo 2 has a good design, good cameras and a good processor. It offers an incredible gaming performance as well. To prevent heating, this phone also has a stainless steel vapour cooling plus system. The 600Hz touch sampling rate on the phone is probably the first on the market in this category. The phone also captures good photos and is good for night photography as well. The battery backup on the phone is also good and can charge pretty fast.
However, the camera performance could have been better on the phone. Though the photos look good, they are inconsistent and the low-light photos are only fine as long as you do not zoom them. The night mode on the phone also gives different outcomes when another subject is added to the frame. However, the selfie camera is good. The phone even provides a bright light on the screen or a night mode when there is low light and the photos are good. Other than this, it is a great phone.
