2022 was a catastrophic year for phone sales and, if prices continue to rise at the same rate, everything indicates that (at least, in Spain) there will not be a notable rebound. Last year I wrote a piece entitled “I wanted to buy a 2022 mid-range, I ended up with a 2021 model that surpassed it in everything”.
It was April 2022, and the outlook was bleak. Cell phones quite tight in specifications, at an average price of 300 or 400 euros. If we wanted something really decent, the final ticket went up to almost 500 euros. A year has not passed, the mid-range 2023 has not yet been born, but I am clear that buying a mid-range of 2022 will be the best for the pocket. We will not see mobiles so cheap that they comply with everything.
2022 is behind. time to buy
Mid-range for less than 200 euros, medium-high range for around 300, they didn’t ask for that much either. Although, well, we also asked for new and good cars for less than 20,000 euros: the current increases make it impossible.
Fortunately (or not so lucky, if we usually sell the phone soon), Android phones suffer a sharp depreciation in the months after their launch. A great opportunity to buy mobiles with just a few months of life, with a saving of more than 100 euros in some cases. About how it is possible for a manufacturer, officially, to lower the price of a mid-range phone by 100 euros, is something that we could talk about later.
I have taken a walk through Amazon to check current prices of some of the best mid-range mobiles of 2022 and… surprise. They are at the price they should have had as PVP. Let’s see what I’m talking about.
Within the Xiaomi catalog, the Redmi Note 11 can be purchased for 190 euros in its 6 + 128 GB version (I cannot recommend the 4 GB RAM version under any circumstances). A mobile that cost 259 euros in this version.
Realme also sold its rival to the Redmi Note 11, the Realme 9, at a somewhat high price: 279 euros. As of today, for 219.99 euros, we have a phone with an AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 680 and 90 Hz. So, yes.
If we raise the budget to 350 euros, we have a rather curious case. You can buy a Google Pixel 6 at 100 euros cheaper compared to its starting price. Google decided to lower the price of this mid-range model and, since it touched 359 euros, it has not gone up again, except on its official page. Same figures for Samsung. His A52S went on the market for 449 euros. Today it costs 343 euros.
Being models with just one year of life, they still have an update cycle. And, being able to buy new, full warranty. 2023 will bring us, except for surprise, a similar trend to that of 2022. Expensive mid-range, with specifications that do not fully adjust to the final bill, and with difficult arguments compared to last year’s models that will trace a good part of the technical sheet , but with significant discounts.
