Weekly Deals: The best smartphone deals from the US, UK, Germany and India

This week has been pretty quiet, except for the Galaxy Unpacked event on Wednesday — there have been a few other launches, but most companies have given Samsung a wide berth. So, of course, this week’s deals post features the new Galaxy S23 series (and we’ve got a special deal for US buyers), but we’ve found solid discounts on plenty of 2022 phones, too.

Use the links below to go to your region:

United States of America

Samsung launched the Galaxy S23 series this week and started taking pre-orders, with shipping set to take place two weeks from now (although some may get their units earlier).

You can check out our hands-on review for a closer look at the new flagship. We’re still testing the phones and sharing some of our findings, like the Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. the S22 Ultra, for example.

Also, for the US, we have special deals from Samsung.com, which will help you get $50 more Samsung credit than you normally would. Just follow the links below. Note that during the pre-order period, you will get a free memory upgrade, for example from 256GB to 512GB for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This is especially valuable for the vanilla S23, which is the only one still at 128GB of base storage.

Samsung also unveiled the new Galaxy Book3 series, including the first Ultra member of the family. We have a special deal for laptops too, you can get 10% off the price if you have Samsung Credit (which you will get, if you get one of the S23 phones).

If Galaxys are pricey, the powerful Motorola Edge 30 Pro is an option — in the US you’ll usually find it under the “Edge+” name. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 (non-plus) starts from early 2022, but it’s still plenty fast. And a 6.7-inch 144Hz 10-bit (FHD+) display makes this phone a gaming sleeper.

Is there anyone out there who wants a Sony Xperia 1 IV and hasn’t bought it yet? Well, if there is, it’s for them – an 8/512GB unit is $1,200. It comes with Sony’s unique variable focal length camera and professional photo and video applications. And it’s still the only 4K 120Hz AMOLED screen on the market (outside of its predecessor, of course).

If you wince at all the prices above, even the Moto Phone, here’s a 5G phone under $200. This humble phone has a 6.6-inch FHD+ (90Hz) screen, a microSD slot and a 3.5mm jack, plus 5G and Wi-Fi 5 for very fast connectivity. And a big 5000mAh battery.

United kingdom

Samsung launched the Galaxy S23 series this week and started taking pre-orders, with shipping set to take place two weeks from now (although some may get their units earlier).

You can check out our hands-on review for a closer look at the new flagship. We’re still testing the phones and sharing some of our findings, like the Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. the S22 Ultra, for example.

Note that during the pre-order period, you will get a free memory upgrade, for example from 256GB to 512GB for the Galaxy S23 Ultra. This is especially valuable for the vanilla S23, which is the only one still at 128GB of base storage. You can get that from Samsung.com, but Amazon has the same deal, too. And if you’re trading in an older phone, Amazon will add an extra credit – £150 if you get the S23 Ultra, and £100 for the other two. There are additional perks like 6 free months of Disney+ and 10% off Samsung wearables.

At the lower end of Samsung’s offering is the Galaxy M33. It features 5G connectivity on a budget (thanks to the Exynos 1280 chipset) and has a 6.6-inch 120Hz FHD+ display for browsing and light gaming (it’s an LCD, though no Super AMOLED here). The 5,000mAh battery will last a long time on a single charge, too.

Next, two Honor phones. The Honor 70 costs twice as much as the X8, but has 5G (Snapdragon 778G+), a 6.67-inch OLED display that runs at 120Hz and you get a pair of high-quality cameras (54 + 50MP), plus a 4,800mAh battery with fast charging 66 wat.

The Honor X8 has a similarly sized display (IPS LCD) with a 90Hz refresh rate. This device is 4G only with the Snapdragon 480 and the camera setup is nothing to write home about. The 4,000mAh battery is also slower, at 22.5Wh, but again, that costs half as much as the Honor 70.

Germany

Amazon has lowered prices for both Pixel 7 models. We’ve linked the 128GB versions below, but you can get a 256GB unit instead — however, the discount on it is a little lower. However, the final price is lower than what you’ll get from the Google Store.

While it doesn’t have the great cameras of its premium siblings, the Honor Magic4 Lite is one of the cheaper 5G phones, and you’ll get a 6.81-inch FHD+ 120Hz IPS LCD, as well as a 4800mAh battery with 66W fast charging.

Not everyone liked Moto’s new midrange cars in last week’s poll. Some older models offer better deals, for example the Moto G42 has dropped to €150. It doesn’t have 5G, but what it does have is a 6.4-inch FHD+ AMOLED display and a lower price than the Moto G13 (which also doesn’t have 5G).

Although if you really want to go cheap, the Moto E22 runs full Android 12 and costs €100 — that makes it €20 cheaper than the Moto E13 with Android 13 Go Edition. At this price, you’re going down to an HD+ display, but even the new G53 doesn’t have an FHD+ resolution.

Next, the Poco M5 and M5s. The ‘s’ model is £45, but has a 6.43in AMOLED display, an 8MP ultra-wide camera and 33W fast charging for the 5,000mAh battery. The vanilla M5 has a 6.58-inch 90Hz IPS LCD instead, but no Ultra Wide camera and only 18W charging.

Both phones have FHD+ displays, they’re both 4G-only (Helio G95 for the M5s, G99 for the M5, but the M5s has an extra 2GB of RAM), and they both have microSD slots and a 3.5mm headphone jack.

For a little less than the Poco M5, you can get the Realme 9i instead. It uses the Snapdragon 680 chipset and has faster 33W charging, but is very similar (including a microSD slot and 3.5mm jack).

Finally, a few hours. Amazon sells the Apple Watch Series 8 (aluminum version) for slightly less than Apple itself. The version linked below is the 41mm GPS model, but you can get the 41mm GPS + Cellular for €535. If you want the larger 45mm model, the GPS version is €475 and the GPS + Cellular is €575.

Much cheaper and with a longer battery life (up to two weeks) is the Huawei Watch GT 3 SE, although the smart features are limited. However, the watch does track heart rate 24/7 in addition to tracking sleep and exercise.

India

The awesome Phantom X2 Pro from Tecno is available at a healthy discount. As a reminder, this camera has a 50MP 1/1.3″ main camera, a unique 50MP 65mm (2.5x) pop-up camera, and a 13MP wide camera. The pop-up camera is one of the best portrait cameras we’ve ever tested.

Phantom X2 is also available. This one has a more traditional camera setup (64MP main, 13MP ultra-wide, no tele) and has 8GB of RAM instead of 12GB. Otherwise, it’s identical to the Pro, including a 6.8-inch 120Hz (FHD+) AMOLED display, Dimensity 9000 chipset, and 5,160mAh battery with 45W wired charging.

We featured the Realme Narzo 50 Pro last week, but its price has dropped by Rs 2,000 since then, which seemed reason enough to mention it again. Long story short, 6.4″ 90Hz FHD+ AMOLED display, Dimensions 920, 48 + 8 + 2MP cameras, 5000mAh battery with 33W charging.

Amazon has promotions on Oppo A74 5G, A77, and A77s. And to make things even more confusing, the A77 costs the same as the A74 5G. A quick comparison should tell you why we picked the old Oppo A74 5G from 2021. It has 5G (duh), an FHD+ display, a better chipset, and an ultra-wide camera. It’s not perfect, but given the prices, we know which of the three we like best.

Finally, Xiaomi Redmi 10 Power brings a Snapdragon 680 chipset (4G) and a 6000mAh battery. For a little more cash, you can probably get a better phone (see above), but if you’re on a tight leash, it’s not a bad choice. Just note that it has an HD+ display and runs older Android 11.