
Best mid-range phone of 2023 — flagship cameras at $499

Vivo
The video and zoom monster
Google Pixel 7a
Google Pixel 7a
Google Pixel 7a
64MP main (new) + 13MP ultrawide camera duo with Tensor G2 processing — best cameras at this price point in 2023. Pixel AI features (Magic Eraser, Photo Unblur, Real Tone) trickle down at $499.
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Vivo X300 Ultra
Vivo X300 Ultra
Vivo X300 Ultra
The reason the X300 Ultra exists: a near-1-inch 200MP 35mm main (Sony Lytia 901), a 200MP 85mm periscope, and the best ultrawide sensor on the market, tuned with Zeiss. Reviewers near-universally rate it the best-equipped camera phone of 2026 — with two important caveats: the 35mm default is divisive, and on raw image quality it's only marginally ahead of the cheaper X300 Pro.
Google Pixel 7a
4,385mAh battery + Tensor G2 inefficiency = mediocre all-day life. 18W wired charging is slow. FIRST A-series Pixel to support wireless charging (7.5W Qi).
Vivo X300 Ultra
Vivo grew the silicon-carbon cell 10% to 6,600mAh while keeping the body the same size. Real-world endurance is strong — ~16h active-use score, ~7h heavy screen-on, 13–14 hour days with charge to spare — and 100W wired refills it in under an hour, with 40W wireless.
Google Pixel 7a
$499 launch (now $250-400 used) — best mid-range Android of 2023, often called a better buy than the $599 Pixel 7. Apple Intelligence-style AI features at half the iPhone price.
Vivo X300 Ultra
This is a deliberately niche, camera-first flagship: roughly €1,175 in China for 512GB, around £1,399 globally for the phone, and close to €2,600 for the full kit. For the people it's aimed at it draws some of the strongest praise of any 2026 phone; for everyone else, a cheaper X300 Pro or the Oppo Find X9 Ultra may make more sense.