Best Mid-Range Camera Phones (Early 2026) | Top 13 Tested & Reviewed

Reviewing the best mid-range camera phones for 2026, including my favourite affordable pocket-fillers for photography and vlogging. If you're after fantastic looking photos and 4k video, here's my pick of the top mid range smartphones at a great price. Google's Pixel 9a is still one of the best affordable picks in 2026, even if it's not as hot for gaming as it is for camera smarts. You can dependably point and shoot, even in low light, and the 9a will pump out sharp, detailed pics. And apparently the Pixel 10a will sport very similar camera tech when it launches. Full review incoming! Of course, at this price you can also get the Nothing Phone 3a Pro, which is a frankly brilliant mid range rival with fresh AI tools and a premium triple lens setup. Even the regular Nothing Phone 3a has a surprisingly good camera, for less cash. Meanwhile Xiaomi offers the 15T, one of my favourite cameraphones thanks to that Leica fine-tuning and some slick hardware. You may not get the same optics as the Pro model, but the Xiaomi 15T produces natural looking photos and is solid for video capture too. OnePlus can also satisfy a range of budgets with its mid range offerings, from the pricey but excellent 15r to the wallet-friendly Nord CE5. Again, for their respective price points, these smartphones offer a solid bit of camera tech. And if you can find it, the Vivo V60 is another cracker! Let us know your own favourite camera phones for a mid-range price below. Best Mid-Range Camera Phones 2026 Chapters: 0:00 - Quality cameras, less cash 0:37 - Pixel 9a 4:09 - Nothing Phone 3a & Pro 8:14 - Samsung Galaxy A56 5G 12:31 - Samsung Galaxy A36 5G 16:05 - OnePlus 15r 16:54 - OnePlus Nord 5 & CE5 20:48 - OPPO Reno 13 Pro 25:02 - Motorola Edge 70 29:06 - Xiaomi 15T 32:56 - Vivo V60 36:15 - Honor 400 Lite 40:36 - Close but not quite: Magic 8 Lite 40:55 - Byyyyeeeeee