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(Pocket-lint) - The satellite of Android smartphones is precise antithetic to what's offered by Apple.
While Apple aims to springiness you a akin acquisition crossed its devices, Android embraces assortment and offers phones from antithetic manufacturers. The effect is plentifulness of chiseled personalities and features to prime between.
That means idiosyncratic marque penchant plays a large part, speech from the halfway Android experience. Pricing is hugely competitive, too, which presents you with a batch of choices.
We're continuously reviewing each the apical options, truthful here's our rundown of the precise champion Android phones you tin bargain close present - and the reasons wherefore they merit your attention.
For those who request a spot much proposal erstwhile narrowing down their choice, besides cheque retired the FAQs conception beneath our picks.
What is the champion Android telephone close now? Currently, our apical proposal is the Google Pixel 6 Pro. However, we besides counsel checking retired the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, OnePlus 9, Oppo Find X3 Pro and Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G.
Our Top Pick: Best Android Phone
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Google Pixel 6 Pro
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For
- Top notch camera performance
- Proper Android 12 experience
- Stylish design
Against
- No headphone socket
- Charging could beryllium faster
The Pixel 6 Pro is Google's astir precocious performing smartphone to date. It's got a apical tier camera strategy paired with fantastic software, and is plentifulness speedy acknowledgment to the caller Tensor spot astatine its core.
As with each Google smartphones, you get a axenic Android acquisition and a reliable timeline for aboriginal updates.
Possibly the astir awesome happening is the pricing. While it tin spell head-to-head with the apical dogs connected performance, it does truthful astatine a importantly little price.
Android phones we besides recommend
While the Google Pixel 6 Pro is astatine the apical of our list, we cognize it won't beryllium the close telephone for everyone. We each look for antithetic things successful a smartphone. Maybe you request apical gaming performance, oregon possibly your apical precedence is camera quality. With that successful mind, we've besides selected the pursuing devices for you to consider.
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Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
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For
- Excellent decorativeness and wide design
- Powerful hardware
- Supports S Pen stylus
Against
- No Micro SD paper support
- On the pricier side
Samsung delivered the goods with the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is simply a existent flagship for 2021. It's powerful, with an outstanding display, but backed up by a camera that really delivers the goods - and truthful overmuch much than the Galaxy S20 Ultra it replaces.
There's loads of customisation successful the software, portion a determination person to Google volition delight some the Samsung instrumentality and the Google fan. It's a large phone, with precise fewer weaknesses.
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OnePlus 9
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For
- Superb accelerated charging
- Impressive performance
- Finally added wireless charging
Against
- Plastic frame
- Wireless charging is lone 15W
The OnePlus 9 is our prime due to the fact that it offers a large acquisition astatine a much affordable terms - without immoderate of the shortcomings suffered by the OnePlus 9 Pro.
It offers large performance, that light-touch OxygenOS bundle treatment, truly accelerated charging and a large 120Hz show - with a fewer corners chopped connected the physique prime to deed a much affordable terms point.
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Oppo Find X3 Pro
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For
- Beautiful design
- Superb artillery life
- One of the champion displays you tin get
Against
- The camera strategy tin beryllium inconsistent
- It's beauteous expensive
Oppo has been getting much and much awesome and from the unsocial and high-quality plan done to the abundant power, the Find X3 Pro is 1 of the champion Android phones we've ever used.
There are large cameras, progressively refined software, and each the boxes ticked for a apical Android experience. It offers truly accelerated charging, a fantastic display, and large artillery life.
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Xiaomi Mi 11 Lite 5G
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For
- Great artillery beingness and performance
- Slim design
- It's a looker
Against
- The main camera lacks representation stabilisation
- There's a batch of contention for little wealth if you don't request 5G
Xiaomi's Mi 11 Lite mightiness person everything you want, but halt to respect the plan first, due to the fact that this is simply a slim telephone that looks great.
It's mid-range hardware that delivers large performance, there's a show that hits each the close notes and decent artillery beingness - each with 5G thrown in.
That makes for a large bundle and a telephone that feels similar it's moved guardant implicit 2020.
Other products we considered
When trying to fig retired what we judge to beryllium the champion Android phones presently available, we spent hours investigating real-world performance, artillery beingness and gaming; arsenic good arsenic getting retired successful the streets and snapping pictures. Then, we spell implicit the results with a fine-tooth comb. We see a scope of factors erstwhile it comes to recommending devices - and besides erstwhile a caller instrumentality enters our apical 5 selections. This isn't conscionable our ain testing, either, with user reviews, marque prime and worth each taken into account, arsenic well.
In each of our roundups, determination are besides galore products we trial that don't marque the last cut. Since they whitethorn beryllium the close acceptable for immoderate people, however, we've listed them below.
How to take the close Android phone
There's a batch much to choosing an Android telephone than determination is to choosing an iPhone: Apple's divisions are mostly astir size, with each models offering a akin acquisition and fewer unsocial features.
Android phones are wholly different: determination are galore manufacturers, immoderate good known and immoderate much niche, determination is simply a wide scope of prices, designs, features - including phones with immoderate specificity, similar gaming phones, for example.
Stock Android vs. 'skinned' devices
One of the considerations is however adjacent to banal Android you privation your telephone to be. While each Android voices person the aforesaid underlying experience, the alterations that the shaper makes tin bring character, it tin besides bring duplication and bloat.
Google offers its ain phones - the Pixel phones - portion lone a fewer connection a "pure" experience. Those phones moving Android One are arsenic adjacent to banal arsenic you'll get - included those from Nokia and a mates from different manufacturers, though they are rare.
Motorola besides offers a near-stock acquisition connected its devices, though Lenovo offers a wholly antithetic acquisition (Lenovo owns Motorola).
Brands person mostly been drifting towards Google successful the past fewer years: there's wider usage of Google's banal apps alternatively of duplicated alternatives, arsenic good arsenic the usage of features similar Google Discover connected the location surface to heighten the experience.
The tegument and the shaper volition specify the experience, with OnePlus often regarded arsenic airy interaction and good optimised, done to Samsung's highly evolved reworking that's packed with features. Brands similar Oppo, Vivo and Xiaomi (and formerly Huawei) are often seen arsenic somewhat little precocious with bundle - but often connection amended worth for money.
Hardware considerations
Android phones screen each aspects of hardware, but determination are truly 2 areas that get the astir discussion: flagship and not a flagship.
This spread has narrowed recently, with mid-range devices offering an acquisition person to a flagship, meaning the galore day-to-day experiences are conscionable arsenic bully connected an affordable instrumentality arsenic they are connected a flagship phone.
Qualcomm dominates these devices, with Snapdragon 800 bid astatine the apical level and 700 bid successful a tier conscionable beneath this. We're present seeing caller versions of 800-series hardware reappearing for newer devices arsenic a sub-flagship - portion immoderate devices volition usage somewhat older hardware to marque them amended worth for money.
Samsung is the large outsider here, often utilizing its ain Exynos hardware, but often person a substance of Qualcomm and Exynos too. Huawei besides utilized its ain Kirin hardware, though generally, arsenic it can't usage Google, it's not considered arsenic an Android telephone successful the aforesaid sense.
There are galore fund Android phones, immoderate with little people Qualcomm hardware, immoderate utilizing MediaTek to bring the terms down further.
RAM runs to the ridiculous - up to 18GB connected immoderate gaming devices, portion retention matches the pricing, with microSD enlargement included connected immoderate devices - but not all.
Display dictates the size
One of the large decisions is choosing the size of the device. Smaller devices volition acceptable your manus better, larger devices springiness a much immersive media and gaming acquisition - but tin gully much power.
High-quality displays that were erstwhile the sphere of flagship devices are present communal successful the much affordable devices, wherever you tin get an AMOLED show without paying apical prices. Samsung Display is often considered the marketplace leader, with galore brands declaring a Samsung show to person you to buy.
Refresh complaint is the latest battleground, from the emblematic 60 frames a 2nd to 144fps connected immoderate gaming phones. Many phones are settling astir 90 oregon 120Hz, with little refresh rates present being reserved for lower-positioned devices.
Curves are common, though they are dilatory becoming the sphere of flagship phones, with immoderate offering a level show successful a "normal" instrumentality and curved successful a "pro" device. Although curved looks nice, immoderate mightiness find the interaction effect crossed the sheet amended from a level device.
Cameras
The camera is the astir often talked astir facet of a modern smartphone and there's nary extremity of examination betwixt antithetic devices, each claiming to beryllium the best.
The astir important happening is having the main camera that volition instrumentality a bully photograph successful each conditions - that's the 1 you'll usage the most, truthful that's the 1 that needs to work. There's a batch of overselling: precocious resolutions, supporting sensors, fancy functions. The astir important happening is constituent and sprout show - which is wherefore the Pixel phones often bash truthful well.
Camera show is simply a large differentiator too, with flagship phones having better-performing cameras and mid-range devices often having secondary oregon tertiary sensors that aren't bully prime oregon not truly needed.
Pick the telephone that's close for you
The champion happening astir Android is that Google underpins the aforesaid thing, truthful you tin determination from 1 marque to the adjacent and astir instantly you cognize wherever things are, you tin person seamless entree to your emails and contacts but inactive person plentifulness to take from.
Picking a telephone that fits your fund is important, but besides see that you mightiness not request each those flagship features. If you conscionable usage your telephone for messaging and browsing societal media, bash you request 4 cameras connected the backmost and each the powerfulness successful the world?
If you walk your full clip gaming, is simply a gaming telephone amended for you?
The champion telephone is going to beryllium the telephone that fits your requirements the champion - and portion we trial and measure each the Android phones we recommend, you person to marque the determination and the telephone that's close for you.
More astir this story
Every merchandise successful this database has been tested successful real-life situations, conscionable arsenic you would usage it successful your day-to-day life.
A telephone is thing you usage each day, each day, truthful we've utilized each the options connected this database extensively to spot however they clasp up successful the existent world. We've tested artillery life, gaming performance, connectivity, camera show and everything other you could perchance request to know. Then we've fixed you each the information you request to assistance with your buying decisions.
As with immoderate roundup, it's not imaginable to present a database that works for each benignant of user, but we thin connected the experiences and opinions of the wider Pocket-lint squad - arsenic good arsenic thoroughly assessing the areas supra - successful bid to bash our champion successful this regard.
What we ever thin to debar erstwhile compiling these picks are needless spec comparisons and selling lines; we conscionable privation to supply an casual to recognize summary that gives you an thought of what each gaming laptop is similar to use. Our verdicts are concise, but this is purely successful the involvement of brevity. Rest assured each the things connected this database person been afloat tested.
Writing by Chris Hall. Editing by Conor Allison. Originally published connected 16 October 2013.
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