
Nothing
The $499 phone to beat

Samsung
Best big Android phone of 2023, still kicking in 2026
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
The headline value play: a 50MP Sony LYT-710 main with OIS, a true 50MP 3.5x periscope telephoto (80mm) with OIS, and an 8MP ultrawide — flagship-tier hardware Samsung and Apple don't put in phones at this price. Output is characterful and the telephoto is a genuine win, but reviewers consistently flag inconsistency, average low-light and a gimmicky 140x digital zoom.
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Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The headline upgrade — a new 200MP ISOCELL HP2 main camera with a doubled-range OIS module, alongside the unique 10x periscope + 3x telephoto + ultrawide combo. Real-world results are generally excellent but mixed against the iPhone 14 Pro on DXOMARK scoring.
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
The Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 with UFS 3.1 storage is a clear, tangible step up from the Phone (3a) generation — Nothing claims +27% CPU, +30% GPU and +65% AI. It's a perfectly capable everyday chip that feels noticeably quicker, but it's explicitly not a gaming powerhouse and warms up under sustained heavy load.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
The bespoke Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy (3.36GHz, higher-binned) was the fastest mobile chip of its day, with a much-improved vapor chamber. Three years on it still feels snappy for everyday use, only outclassed by the latest 8 Gen 3/4 silicon.
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
The ~5,080mAh cell reliably gets through a day and endurance improved across all of GSMArena's tests versus the 3a Pro — but it's only an 80mAh bump over last year and looks small next to 6,000–7,000mAh budget rivals. 50W wired charging is the trade-off win; there is no wireless charging at all.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
5,000mAh paired with the efficient 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy delivered the era's best Android battery life — 6-7 hours of screen-on time, still close to 5 hours of mixed heavy use after 2 years. The catch is charging speed: 45W wired (and a special cable is needed to hit it) when rivals offer 80W+.
Nothing Phone (4a) Pro
At $499 it directly undercuts the experience-per-dollar of the same-priced Pixel 10a and iPhone 17e, and several reviewers would take it over the 10a without hesitation. The closest internal threat is its own cheaper sibling, the standard Phone (4a), which shares the same cameras for $150 less.
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Launched at $1,199 in early 2023, the S23 Ultra is now $500-650 used / ~$800 new — one of the best smartphone bargains in 2026, especially with the S25 Ultra delivering only modest gains. The Pixel 8 Pro and OnePlus 11 were its strongest contemporaries.