Times have never been better for smartphone buyers. An abundance of smartphones to suit (almost) any budget. From entry level phones of up to $100 to the lower mid-tier of around $200 to the higher mid-tier (around $300) to the top tier of above $400. All manufacturers have various models to span all budget ranges. Some examples of the ranges and type of phones for a better understanding:

Entry-level	up to $100	Motorola Moto E, Nokia X, Lumia 520, Samsung Galaxy Pocket, LG L40
Mid-tier (lower)	$150 – $200	Motorola Moto G, Lumia 630, LG Optimus L9, Xperia M
Mid-tier (higher)	$200 – $350	LG G2 Mini, Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini, HTC One Mini
Top-Tier	$450 and above	iPhone 5S, Galaxy S5, LG G3, Xperia Z2, HTC One M8

One question though any buyer of a phone should ask themselves is if you should buy this years’ top offering in the respective tier or rather last years model who’s price has reduced to move into a lower tier bracket.

I want to illustrate this based on the current higher mid-tier range which consists primarily of the mini versions of the various flag-ships:

• LG G2 Mini
• HTC One Mini 2
• Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

These phones cost around $300 to $350. Phones in this category have ambitions of being stylish and reflecting at least some of the design and functional elements of their top-tier relatives.

For the same amount of money you could also buy the flag-ships of 2013, such as:

• LG Optimus G
• Sony Xperia ZL
• Huawei Ascend P6

Reasons why you should consider last year’s flag-ships are:

• 720p HD screens (even 1080p for the Xperia ZL and 768p for the Optimus G)
• Quad Core processors that will easily cope with Android 4.4
• 2GB Ram
• 4.7″ screens
• Upgraded to 4.4 Kitkat (or confirmed to get upgraded)
• Real premium elements in each of the phones
  • Sony: 5″ full-HD display
  • LG: fully Gorilla Glass covered
  • Huawei: slimmest smartphone on the market

In comparison there isn’t really anything that speaks in favor of the mid-tier phones other than that you are buying a phone which is earlier in it’s product lifecycle.

So what are your thoughts and recommendations?