The spree of impressive smart phones that have been lasting a little over half a year is only going to continue with the Samsung Note 8, the Pixel 2 and the LG V30. Additionally, it’s back to school season, so if you’re looking to pick a smartphone up, here are some good options. (Mind you that the list is in no particular order, and will be covering high-end, mid-tier, and low-end smartphones)
Samsung S8 and S8 plus
After the train-wreck caused by the Note 7, it was important for Samsung to bury that mistake, not only for themselves – as one of the biggest smartphone companies, but also to restore trust in consumers. The Samsung S8 and S8 plus brought all the latest and greatest specifications (specs) you’d expect from a flagship but what really stood out was the screen and design.
The Korean giant has really mastered their use of glass and design – particularly the curved screens initialized by Note 4 Edge. The new aspect ratio (18.5:9) along with non-existent bezels on both sides and an AMOLED panel makes it arguably the best screen on the market. Not only is it a phone with a great screen but also has the best camera. The S8 also has some other features as well like expandable storage, the Iris scanner, waterproofing (IP 68) to name a few.
LG G6
The LG G6 really shows how much the difference a year in technology can do. The G5 was a failed experiment but with the G6, LG made a huge change in the market and hopefully started a new concept which other companies have started to follow. It was the first phone of 2017 to feature an 18:9 aspect ratio, resulting in a longer screen upwards, compared to the standard 16:9. Samsung is one of the companies who took design cues from LG in this design because it was necessary for their dual curved design.
LG has done a great job at taking advantage of this taller screen with their software, which also saw a lot of improvements making it a cleaner and smoother Android experience. It doesn’t have the best specs on the market, but the performance has held up nicely, and it offers excellent battery life. Depending on your region, you will either get a quad DAC or wireless charging. The quad DAC variant is available in regions other than the USA. The LG G6 has dual cameras on the back, which may give off an alien face look, but so is the case with most dual cameras. Anyway, these sensors take phenomenal photos. One of the lenses is a wide angle and the other is a telephoto lens.
BlackBerry Key one
You must be wondering ‘isn’t Blackberry dead’! No, Blackberry is very much alive, though it has back-stepped from hardware and now they only make Android software, instead of its very own flagship. With the BB’s Key one, it is trying to restore the brand name as a legitimate mobile brand with the help of TCL’s hardware. With the Key one, the Canadian company went back to what essentially makes Blackberry a Blackberry.
It has a full QWERTY keyboard and keeps its promise of security. The physical keyboard has a lot of functions; it can be used as a trackpad to scroll through documents or web pages, and you can also assign each different key two different shortcuts, like opening a certain application. It may not be a fast phone, but the Snapdragon 635 paired with a big battery, this allows for a long-lasting endurance time. The camera isn’t great, with noisy and poor-quality low-light shots, but it’s fine for normal document scanning etc. The key one is a great phone for blackberry fans and has a potential to bring in new ones.
Moto Z2 Play
If you’re looking for a phone intended for a wider audience, the Moto Z2 Play is a good choice. The phone may have increased its price compared to the original yet still is a great mid-tier gadget.
While Motorola It continues to have the much welcome traits of the original Moto Z play, it has great build quality, a slimmer design, a long-lasting battery and a near-stock Android experience. The Moto mods are still one of the sleekest and elegant ways of making your phone more fun, and functional. We have already posted an article covering this particular phone, you can check that out here.
OnePlus 5
Although the One Plus 5 has improved over time, it’s still the best bang-for-the-buck phone available. The release of the One Plus 5 wasn’t without its controversy of fake benchmarking, which was well-deserved. However, it doesn’t mean that the One Plus 5 isn’t a great phone overall with 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage in the $500 phone, it’s the most powerful phone on the market which still stands true to its name – ‘Flagship killer’ – it has most of the features a flagship would provide but at a much lower price. You would appreciate its great metal design, dual cameras and clean stock-like Android software with their Oxygen OS skin. Last but not the least, it charges insanely fast with One Plus’ Dash Charge technology.
With 8 GB RAM and 128 GB internal storage in the $500 phone, it’s the most powerful phone on the market which still stands true to its name – ‘Flagship killer’ – it has most of the features a flagship would provide but at a much lower price. You would appreciate its great metal design, dual cameras and clean stock-like Android software with their Oxygen OS skin. Last but not the least, it charges insanely fast with One Plus’ Dash Charge technology.
Honorable mentions
The Xiomi Mi Mix is a great cheap phone, with an excellent no-bezel design and a high screen-to-body ratio. It can play almost any games and perform any heavy task at a much lower price than flagships.
The ZTE Axon 7 mini is the squeal of the ZTE Axon 7, it still has the strong metal design and the quad DAC, and wonderful front facing speakers, but at a lower price range.
