1. Apple iPhone SE: Premium Build
The iPhone SE is the first 4.0-inch iPhone in years and with specs to rival the iPhone 6S it was worth the wait.
Technically the iPhone SE isn’t a high-end phone, but at launch it was very close to one, with the same Apple A9 processor and 2GB of RAM as the iPhone 6S. That gives it fast performance. It's a couple of steps behind the iPhone 8, but then most phones are. It also has a sharp, high quality screen, at a resolution of 640 x 1136 for a pixel density of 326 pixels per inch.
Then there’s its design, which is almost identical to the iPhone 5S, complete with an aluminium shell in a two-tone colour scheme. It’s one of the most premium and stylish compact smartphones on the market.
The iPhone SE has a great camera too. There’s a 12MP snapper on the back, with a dual-LED True Tone flash and support for Live Photos and 4K video.
2. Samsung Galaxy A3 2017: Powerful and water-resistant
Samsung’s followed up the strong Galaxy A3 2016 with the even better Samsung Galaxy A3 2017, which is just as compact at 4.7 inches but has had a specs upgrade.
Like its predecessor, it has a 720 x 1280 Super AMOLED screen for a pixel density of 312 pixels per inch and plenty of colour, but now there’s a lot more power, with a zippy 1.6GHz octa-core Exynos 7870 processor and 2GB of RAM under the hood, putting this firmly in lower mid-range territory.
It has a beautiful design, with a metal frame and a gently curved glass back, much like Samsung’s flagships, and it’s IP68 certified water and dust resistant too, to a depth of 1.5 metres for up to 30 minutes. That’s a major selling point, as even some high-end phones don’t have that level of resistance.
The Galaxy A3 2017 also has a fingerprint scanner, a decent 13MP snapper, plus an 8MP one around the front and a long-lasting 2,350mAh battery.
3. iPhone 7: Still great value
When it comes to compact phones the iPhone is king, and while the iPhone 8 has this beat, there’s surprisingly little to choose between them, and the iPhone 7 is the cheaper of the two.
It has a premium metal build, Apple’s Touch ID fingerprint scanner, lots of power and an almost class-leading 12MP camera.
You also get a compact 4.7-inch 750 x 1334 display complete with 3D Touch – so it can sense different levels of pressure.
And there’s loads of storage, with up to 256GB built in, plus, despite not being the latest iPhone it runs the latest version of iOS, namely version 12 at time of writing.
4. iPhone 8: Perfectly proportioned
The iPhone 8 isn’t Apple’s best phone – that honour goes to the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max, but they’re also big, while the iPhone 8 is a compact flagship and it’s the best truly small phone you can buy.
There are a lot of reasons for that, from its stylish metal and glass build (that’s also water resistant) to its super-powered A11 Bionic processor, great quality 12MP camera and masses of storage.
The iPhone 8 also has a high-quality screen. It’s just 4.7 inches, but it’s sharp at 750 x 1334 and sports all sorts of high-end tech, like 3D Touch, which lets it detect different levels of pressure, and True Tone, which automatically adjusts the white balance to best suit the environment.
There’s also wireless charging for the first time on an iPhone, and of course the iPhone 8 has Apple’s fast and reliable Touch ID fingerprint scanner and access to arguably the best app store there is.
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