Every year we create the “top” of the best smartphones - don’t look for affordable models here, because innovative technologies are not cheap these days. For those who want to choose a smartphone from a modern assortment, we advise you to read our new article “Top 10 best smartphones of 2022.” If you are looking for budget solutions, there is other useful material about phones with a good camera and a large battery. Here we remember the most relevant models for 2022, which have become real hits.
Disclaimer
It's mid-October, most of the big releases have already happened. Until MWC 2022 and the release of the new “galaxy” from Samsung, relative calm awaits us.
In addition, the biggest sale of the year is coming - Singles' Day or 11.11. There is a chance to grab yourself a device at the best price. And there has not yet been a massive increase in prices due to the 20% VAT.
In general, the stars aligned. It's time to choose.
PS We will move depending on the date of announcement of the devices: from the beginning of the year to the current moment.
Logitech Rugged Combo
In the wild you can find rugged, industrial laptops like the Dell Latitude 7212 - also, by the way, one of the winners. You can throw such computers, drown them, drop a hammer or a chisel on them, and they won’t be bothered.
There is only one minus - this miracle, as a rule, costs exorbitant money.
But Logitech solved the problem of the poor and released the Rugged Combo. This is a special, very thick and angular iPad case with a built-in keyboard.
Place it in such a tablet and you can throw the tablet anywhere. There’s really no need to worry about the fate of the device, because the accessory is reinforced from the inside with a special polymer skeleton that absorbs all impacts.
Samsung Galaxy S9+
We immediately write off the regular S9. This is a stillborn smartphone with reduced functionality, but for some reason with a minimal difference in price. Compared to its older brother, of course.
But the Galaxy S9 Plus is truly a top-end device. It has an incredibly cool screen, a bunch of mind-blowing features like contactless payment that works everywhere, an advanced Always On Display, and so on. I look at these chips and understand why the owners of Korean flagships sometimes look down on everyone else. Partly really justified.
But the most important thing is the cameras. Incredible detail, exceptional autofocus and HDR, excellent 4K video recording. Yes, I understand that “galaxy” is not in first place in the DxOMark rating. But believe me, when taking photographs with the S9+, you definitely don’t feel like you’re behind the scenes.
The only thing that confuses me is the behavior of any Samsung device after a couple of months, when the smartphone turns into something slow. Personally, I haven’t checked, but advanced Samsung fans advise choosing Hong Kong versions with a Qualcomm processor, not Exynos. Perhaps they are right.
- Samsung Galaxy S9+ review
Which smartphone is better? Which model is best to buy?
The answer to these two questions depends entirely on your taste and preferences. In terms of technical characteristics, all models of the rating presented for your consideration are very similar to each other, and their prices are also almost identical. The only exceptions were the last two smartphones in the review, which in terms of their parameters are only slightly inferior to the leaders, but they cost several times less. Therefore, if you are interested in purchasing high-quality equipment for daily use, but the issue of prestige does not bother you, then we advise you to opt for them. In turn, our editors believe that the best smartphone from this rating is the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S
If you were considering buying a flagship at the beginning of the year, then there wasn’t much choice. Of the worthy devices on the market, there were only Google Pixel 2 XL, Samsung Galaxy S9+ and iPhone X. All smartphones are cool, but very expensive.
It's the same with Mi MIX 2S! The Chinese once again managed to cram excellent hardware into a beautiful body without an ugly island under the front camera. Of course, the bottom edge suffered, which turned out to be noticeably wider than the rest of the frames, but you could still live with it. Especially considering the first truly decent camera in smartphones from Xiaomi.
However, now, after many months, buying a Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S looks strange. On the horizon, somewhere nearby, the completely frameless Xiaomi Mi MIX 3 looms. And apart from the unannounced device, it’s better to take the Mi8 with a really cool AMOLED.
- Review of Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S
iPhone X 256GB
One of the most long-awaited new products of the end of 2022 and the beginning of 2018 is the iPhone X. Apple has released its first frameless smartphone. And if the back cover looks, one might say, traditionally (the only thing that attracts attention is the vertically located “eye” of the cameras), then the front part of the case is almost completely occupied by the display. The only thing that confuses us is the small window at the top, located in the center - it contains sensors and a camera.
iPhone X received the latest Apple A11 Bionic processor, which works in conjunction with 3 GB of RAM. Few? Don’t worry, this amount of RAM is more than enough for a smartphone, as proven by both ordinary users and “synthetic” tests - in terms of operating speed, the iPhone X will give a head start to most other devices.
Among the unusual things, we note the Face ID unlocking technology (face identification), as well as the dual rear camera, which takes pictures even better than the iPhone 8 Plus.
- Screen diagonal: 5.8 inches
- Resolution: 2436×1125
- Weight: 174 g
- Number of SIM cards: 1
- Processor: Apple A11 Bionic
- Memory capacity: 256 GB
- RAM capacity: 3 GB
- Battery capacity: 2716 mAh
- Main camera: dual 12/12 MP
- Memory card support: no
- Support for 4G networks: yes
Huawei P20 and P20 Pro
Huawei P20 is, of course, a very good device. However, it is inferior to the Pro version in terms of battery capacity, screen and the absence of a third camera module, which is what makes the P20 Pro one of the most interesting camera phones of this year.
Huawei P20
There are devices on the market that take better pictures than the Huawei P20 Pro. However, this applies to the “point, shoot, never go into settings” behavior model. The Chinese flagship has several killer features in store, for which it is definitely worth considering for the role of your device.
The first is 3x optical and 5x hybrid zooms. An incredibly convenient and essentially unique feature among mobile devices. Situations when it is impossible to get closer to the subject are not that rare, so the P20 Pro very often saves the day. In addition, the option also works when recording 4K video. And this is actually space!
Huawei P20 Pro
The second is the fierce detail. Still, you can’t argue against the native resolution of 40 megapixels. Photos in this mode look very sharp. You can see anything on them.
Third, exceptional night photography. You can also shoot on automatic, but the “Night” mode is worthy of special mention. I put my smartphone on a tripod and admired the natural masterpiece in any lighting.
In everything else, including gaming performance and shell, the smartphone is, of course, controversial. You can't buy it blindly.
- Huawei P20 Pro review
- Huawei P20 review
HTC U11: the result of corrective work
HTC has been criticized a lot lately, so the company is trying hard to improve and once again charm potential buyers. And HTC U11 is a very successful work on bug fixes. A lot of things were packed into the smartphone: a cool Snapdragon 835 processor, a not very typical (compared to other models that we presented) design, protection from water and dust, and even unusual squeezable edge technology.
What is the originality of the design? The color of the back cover depends on the lighting and the angle at which you look at the smartphone. But this is not the most unusual thing: HTC, on principle, wants to disown other companies and make a flagship with a screen that does not try to fill the entire smartphone - the U11 has very decent padding at the bottom and top.
An extremely interesting feature is Edge Sense - it recognizes clicks on the side edges. Pressing different in strength and quantity opens different applications. The main thing is not to accidentally crush the phone in an ardent desire to open the camera. By the way, about the camera: when recording video, you can use such a cool feature as acoustic focus (when you zoom, the sound volume also increases). And the smartphone also has four microphones, so the U11 won’t miss even a rustle. We think HTC did their best, so we can forgive them for past mistakes.
Advantages
sensors on the edges good camera excellent sound in headphones three virtual assistants
Honor 10
Following the spring flagships, Huawei, namely its “daughter”, rolled out the tenth Honor to the market. A smartphone with excellent hardware, a nice design and cameras that are in no way inferior to, at least, the Huawei P20. The gadget is just for those who don’t want to go into details, adjust the camera each time for specific shooting conditions, and so on - point, shoot, done!
The main feature of this unit is its very low price tag by flagship standards. It could always be snatched up to 30, or even up to 25 thousand rubles.
- Honor 10 review
ShutterGrip
Analogue battery grip for large and adult DSLR cameras. Only our gadgets are designed for smartphones. The gadget is attached to the bottom of the phone and, thus, creates additional convenience for mobile photo and video shooting. At least in theory.
There is a separate physical button on the body for focusing and releasing the shutter. The accessory connects to the smartphone via Bluetooth. And all this happiness costs $39.95. I'm sure you can get a replica on Ali for 10 times cheaper.
Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium
In the spring, the Japanese presented their top-end flagship with a 4K screen and two cameras. A very powerful, really attractive, overall decent smartphone for not very adequate money. It’s one thing when you spend 60 thousand rubles or more for a status item like an iPhone X or a flagship from Samsung. It's another matter when you part with the same amount for the sake of an experiment called Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium.
Perhaps the smartphone is good, I personally have not tried it. However, the fact that not a single journalist or blogger who was given one uses the device speaks volumes.
ShiftCam 2.0
A case with interchangeable lenses for a true mobile DRUG photographer. The accessory is suitable for Apple iPhone X. However, the manufacturer has released options compatible with other models.
The set includes 6 interchangeable lenses: wide, macro, telephoto and so on. All this beauty costs $39.99 - the price of a branded Apple case, only with useless lenses.
Would you buy one for yourself?
Xiaomi Black Shark
The strangest smartphone possible, released for a very narrow audience of mobile gaming. Mediocre cameras, strange design, but very powerful hardware and liquid cooling, which was introduced into mobile devices for the first time.
At first, the device was quite expensive, so that schoolchildren immediately ran to buy these devices. Then the price dropped a lot, but people had already switched to other devices. Including alternative Xiaomi smartphones.
Doro 8040
We descend from heaven to earth and try to see at least something interesting in... ummm... "up to eighty forty." In fact, this is a representative of a separate category of mobile devices - for older people. Large screen, large physical buttons, redesigned interface and even a horizontal docking station included. Perhaps it is really convenient for older people to use such a device.
Here are the brief characteristics of the Doro 8040:
- 5 inch HD screen
- 2 + 16 GB memory expandable
- cameras: 8 and 1.9 MP
- battery 2,920 mAh
- OS Android 7
- LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth 4.0, GPS
For all its very modest capabilities, the device costs a lot - about 21 thousand rubles. What to do? Sweden is like that.
Meizu 15 Plus
April was rich in releases. Apparently, obeying the herd instinct, Meizu decided to throw something completely half-finished onto the market for a lot, a lot of money (in Russia). The dampness of the device was also confirmed by last year’s processor, which was included with the 15 Plus.
A large-scale advertising campaign by bloggers went viral on YouTube, but no one bought 15 Plus. The company drew conclusions and later presented a truly top-end device. More on that later, let’s follow the chronology of events.
Meizu 15 Plus review
GVIDO
Absolutely brilliant device! This is an electronic score with two huge touch screens based on electronic ink.
You open the halves, place them on the music stand and play directly from the staff in front of your eyes. The kit includes a special pen with which you can make notes on the screens of the e-book. Amazingly convenient thing!
Just watch the video below and you will understand everything yourself:
About GVIDO in brief:
- two large touch screens
- touch buttons for scrolling
- 4 GB internal memory
- Wi-Fi or USB connection
- 3 days of continuous battery life
- stylus included
The only negative is the hellish price tag. In the USA, you will have to pay $1600 for the device. But considering the performance, it's probably worth it.
Nubia Red Magic
The ZTE division is in complete decline this year and Red Magic is the best proof of this. Yes, cool design and advanced heat dissipation system are good. But installing an outdated processor (QS 835) and only one rear camera is no good.
It’s good at least that the smartphone was inexpensive - at the start of sales, the price started at $400 for the minimum configuration. True, this did not save the device from oblivion. I don’t know anyone who has held this device in their hands or even mentioned it in any way.
"Red magic" on the face.
Budget flagship
LG G5
Price: $229 WoWMooN Metascore: 82 User Reviews: 6.8
The LG G5 didn't impress as a flagship contender. The modular system doesn't add anything to the package, and although it's a removable battery, battery life wasn't great. The “metal” body is simple, like on the Galaxy S7 and Huawei P9.
But let's be objective: for $230, the hardware you get in this phone is hard to imagine. The Snapdragon 820 is fully compatible with modern flagships, but at no more than half the price. The LG G5's compact 1440p display is bright, clear and clear.
Perhaps one of the most compelling aspects of the G5 aside from the $250 price tag is the camera solution it offers. One standard camera, one wide-angle camera and both provide fantastic image quality.
LG G7 ThinQ
Another outsider that flew over consumers like plywood over Paris.
Everything seems to be fine with the smartphone: an excellent screen, a top-end processor, plenty of memory, but for some reason it still wasn’t selling. I wonder if this is because the price tag has been inflated to 850 bucks? Perhaps so.
The manufacturer supported sales as best he could. When purchasing a device, they gave a TV as a gift. Then the promotion ended and the price tag dropped. And then the V40 ThinQ came out, which ousted the “old man” (only six months old) from the shelves, and at the same time acquired a hefty price tag.
What's the race, LG? What about an adequate pricing policy? Your smartphones are cool. Not the best, but worthy of its buyer.
Fujitsu Arrows NX F-01K
From a distance it may seem like this is just another smartphone from Sony. In fact, this is something with an unpronounceable name - Arrows NX F-01K. The funny thing is that the jury did not note the exterior of the device as a whole, but only the special button on the right side.
Firstly, it is pressed and can launch, for example, the camera. Secondly, it is touch-sensitive and allows you to change the screen size for one-handed operation. Thirdly, it can be used to scroll content on the screen. It's as if pointing a finger at a screen has become such a labor-intensive task that someone needed to reinvent the wheel.
Asus ROG Phone
This device definitely wins the game of the year category. In a positive sense, if that.
This uber-device boasts unreal gaming performance, very cool (and expensive) accessories, powerful design, a bunch of gaming gadgets in the body and software, as well as its mythical status.
In general, Asus ROG Phone was supposed to be released in early autumn. Now it’s already in the middle, but it seems that everyone has forgotten about the smartphone, including the manufacturer itself. Peace be upon him, in that case.
Apple Watch 3
Certainly a beautiful and one of the most functional smartwatches in the world. Obviously, the third generation took the award for the abundance of the most diverse straps, case colors, including a steel model, and a red crown button.
I am sure that in 2022 the fourth generation AW will receive the award. They deserve it even more than the fourth generation.
OnePlus 6
We can talk about this device endlessly, because it deserves it like no other. However, for now I will limit myself to only a link to my review and a short summary of it.
This is a top-end smartphone for little money. You need to buy OnePlus 6 if for some reason you can’t stomach MIUI from Xiaomi.
But here it is important to remember one more nuance. Very soon (October 17) the OnePlus 6T will be released, which will be superior to its summer brother in everything. True, taking into account the inflated prices at the start, the unknown situation with the release date, perhaps it’s worth taking a closer look at the regular six. Fortunately, now you can order it from China for very inexpensively - less than 30 thousand rubles.
The release of OnePlus 6 marked the beginning of summer 2022 (remember where you were at that moment?), which means it's time to take a break. In addition, the first part turned out to be too long, but even more awaits us ahead. Stay tuned, as they say...
Continued (Part II) at the link.
Honor Honor 10 HTC HTC U12+ LG G7 ThinQ Meizu Meizu 15 Plus Nubia Nubia Red Magic Samsung Samsung Galaxy S9 Sony Sony Xperia XZ2 Premium Xiaomi Xiaomi Black Shark Xiaomi Mi MIX 2S Xiaomi Mi8 ZTE
Vodafone Smart X9
A concept smartphone designed to complement the portfolio of a design studio. We know exactly as much about the device as a special jury needs to know about it: 5.7-inch screen, excellent body materials, elegant appearance. Ummm... ok.
In fact, this is a completely ordinary smartphone from some second-tier Chinese manufacturer like Lenovo or ZTE.
- Snapdragon 450 processor
- 5.7-inch Full HD display
- memory 3 and 32 GB
- battery 3,100 mAh
- cameras: 16 + 5 (rear) and 8 MP (front)
In London, the device can be purchased for relatively little money - 14,000 rubles.
