Help needed for mid tier

[u/MejiroArtiche]

Current phone: Galaxy A14

Country: Itay, Eu

Prefered Range: 300-400 euros (may consider higher)

Use: daily use (also socials and games), sometimes coding and app testing (easy level)

Desired features: 8-12Gb Ram, 256+SD (or 512 without SD) and possibly a nice battery.

Secondary: good camera.

I'm considering buying a new smartphone for my daily life and I tend to use it a lot for my tests and to pass time in my day. I wanted to remain in the range, but for a big discount I could consider to pay more (if I got to see any top tier under 600 euros I would consider buying it even if it would be more than my starting budget). I already have a huge SD so I would prefer to use it than to pay for a bigger memory.

I found a "REDMI Note 17 Pro 5G 12+256GB" in discount in my range and thought about buying it since it was better than my current phone in any means (ram, memory and battery) but changed idea when I saw it was without SD. I tend to have a lot of apps and use a lot of memory so I found 256gb without wxpansion not enough.

I was considering "Samsung Galaxy S26 FE 8+256" (right now at 640 euros) and "Samsung Galaxy A57 8+256" (right now at 450 euros) since I also use a Galaxy for work and I find quite good with the line, but I'm not sure about the prices or there could be better options at the same prices (also haven't controlled if those are SD compatible).

Any advice for those or other models?

[u/gmark247]

Well you can forget ANY and pretty much all new phones nowadays that has SD card slot. Apart from the Sony's still alive one phone, but that's way out of your budget. Some other absolute budget ones still offers but you'd sacrifice a lot. Really you have options, Xiaomi Redmi series, Poco X8, Google pixel A series, or the Samsung A 3x or 5x series. If you don't want brand new, there are used or even refurbished flagships. Keep in mind that midrange or flagship phones don't offer SD compatibility anymore. I'd stay away from the Galaxy FE, they're almost as expensive as the flagship S series but with some corner cutting. If you don't want flagship level experience or cameras, the Galaxy a57 is an absolute solid choice. It has the battery, 8gb ram and you can pick a 512gb storage as well. More importantly, Samsung promises 6 or 7 years of software updates. Unfortunately due to memory crisis, 400 eur phones are starting to disappear, however it's almost Black Friday, Christmas and January flash sales season, maybe try to find a decent deal in the coming months.