What's the Best Android Phone? (May 2020)

ocnbrze said:

i'm a huge fan of big phones. i will never go back to a smaller screen i love playing games and watching videos on a bigger screen.....so i agree with @greegom the note 10+ gets my vote. now when the note 20 gets released later this year that might change as to which i will wait probably till next year for me to upgrade.

but for now i love my note 10+. i can easily get well over 12hrs of battery life. and that is with both playing games and watching movies. of course this does vary depending how much i use it thru the course of a day. and i can't complain about the camera either. its pretty darn good for me. it beats my friends iphone that is for sure.

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I watched a Linus episode where he'd talked about galaxy 20, and while he had no gripes with the phone, he said there was way too little difference between 10 and 20 to justify the almost $1700 price tag.

Trom said:

I watched a Linus episode where he'd talked about galaxy 20, and while he had no gripes with the phone, he said there was way too little difference between 10 and 20 to justify the almost $1700 price tag.

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yeah i have not read up too much on the note 20 yet. and now this is why i'm looking forward to see what the note 21 has in store.

ygoe said:

Currently there is not a single Android phone on the market that I would call "good". They're all so huge that they won't fit in my pocket, so they'd have to stay at home all the time. Not necessarily what these things are intended for. And if there's one that isn't huge, then its massively outdated or extremely weak. Sony's Compact series was good but seems discontinued.

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What's your limit on size? There aren't many sensible-sized phones out there (as I define it), but they aren't all huge.

Off the top of my head, highish-end phones < 7cm wide include the Sony Xperia 5 (though that one's very tall), Samsung Galaxy s20, s10e, Google Pixel 4, Pixel 3, and these are phones there that are definitely not extremely weak. I generally use width as my measure since that's what makes the most difference to usability (even an old compact phone I find hard to hold securely one-handed and reach the top of the screen, so I worry less about height - I also keep folders in my dock and no app icons on my desktops, so I'm rarely reaching to the top of the screen to launch an app). My Pixel 2 fits all sorts of pockets fine, and that's in a flip case which adds to the bulk, so I don't believe any of these would not.

Rob said:

You realize there are phones that literally fold in half now, right?

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For me that might address the pocket question, but if they are too wide (e.g. the Galaxy Z Flip is 74mm) my main usability question remains.

Brian Masinick said:

Given it choice I would not be keeping any phone over three years old. Too much technology changes by that time and I have able to get affordable phones (even slightly used 1 - 1 1/2 year old units that have more current features and significantly better performance.

Some people prefer getting five years or more out of their products and I am happy that such things with quality are available.

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Actually if a phone is still usable why do I care that I could buy a faster one? If the speed of the current one isn't annoying me, and at 3 years old I've never found that to be a problem, it brings very little practical benefit. In fact I'd say that most years there are no significant feature improvements: for some years now the mobile market has been about trying to convince people that incremental improvements are bigger than they really are.

But the main reason I prefer to keep my phones longer is environmental: constantly churning complex devices containing relatively rare materials (plus the pollution produced in making them) is simply wasteful, and as a species we need to be doing a lot less of that. So I've never been a fan of short upgrade cycles for any product (thinking about it, after 26 years of mobile phone use I'm currently on my 8th handset, and as one of those was a warranty replacement and another was because of water damage on a long hike there are actually 5 elective upgrades in that history). Frankly the "sealed handset & non user-replaceable battery" model does what it was no doubt intended to do in pushing me to upgrade sooner than I probably would otherwise.

This one...
https://m.gsmarena.com/toshiba_g900-1905.php

Dannydet said:

This one...
https://m.gsmarena.com/toshiba_g900-1905.php

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They're just running the spec numbers up. No FM radio is a deal breaker for me.

Using an LG V20 for 3.5 years. Quick as I need and I can change the battery walking down the street.

I like it when a few lower volume manufacturers or fairly recent start ups outside the traditional top 5 or 6 OEM's can put out awesomely specced devices at much fairer prices. How do they do it? If I had spare cash I would support them just for being able to put them out. Some have included neat design features in cooling etc.

Then I wouldn't mind if it wasn't the best at 2 or 3 of the aspects mentioned. Of course long term support and updates are currently unclear or not mentioned, but if I had money to spend to sample some, it would be more exciting than the latest Samsung or other.

The Realme X50 Pro i{out of Oppo) s available in the UK now. The Asus ROG Phone 2 to name two. Maybe Motorola Edge or Nokia 8.3 would tempt me, but honestly I agree with Hadron the best place to be is in the midrange with new chipsets, or the lower priced midrange / upper budget range. One Plus were great but 8"s are pricey now and don't cover it all for me (but I wouldn't kick one out of bed)

You don't need a flagship device anymore. For most, day to day use is well covered by many modern low to mid tier devices. Of course built in obsolescence is a thing, but I guess apps, cameras, screens, OS demand higher performance inside.

From 2012 to 2017, budget devices were very poor and relatively expensive (though less was demanded of them).

I'm very happy with my Nokia 7 Plus, it has some awesome abilities, but I'm looking to get a dual sjm 720p Nokia 5.3 just out @£149 best value right now, a 2.3 @£99 or a 1.3 on Go @£64, or a Motorola E6 to use for part time outdoor work, and maybe as a sole phone.



https://www.realme.com/uk/realme-x50-pro



https://www.asus.com/Phone/ROG-Phone-II/

Toshiba! ppssh! This was my favourite, followed by a Note 3! :


https://m.gsmarena.com/sony_ericsson_p910-846.php

Performance is not the #1 criteria for me, but a combination of reasonable price, decent features and tolerable performance all matter.

By two years old a low end phone is usually almost done because performance often becomes a factor. Battery life can be affected.

With a used mid to high end unit that is in good condition there is usually performance and usability remaining.

The Pixel 3 is around two years since it was introduced but my phone is performing as well as when I bought it refurbished. I'm thinking of getting refurbished units in the future.

Madasa said:

I like it when a few lower volume manufacturers or fairly recent start ups outside the traditional top 5 or 6 OEM's can put out awesomely specced devices at much fairer prices. How do they do it? If I had spare cash I would support them just for being able to put them out. Some have included neat design features in cooling etc.

Then I wouldn't mind if it wasn't the best at 2 or 3 of the aspects mentioned. Of course long term support and updates are currently unclear or not mentioned, but if I had money to spend to sample some, it would be more exciting than the latest Samsung or other.

The Realme X50 Pro i{out of Oppo) s available in the UK now.

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Now is that actually in the UK, or is it ordered online from China and shipped from China? Because I heard that Oppo closed their UK concession in 2017, due to poor sales. And they closed their international Oppo forum as well, that I used to be a member off. And now they mainly concentrate on the Asian, East European and Russian market.

Also from experience, Oppo were not too good for long term updates and support for their phone, like only 6 months. Which is the main reason that put me off Oppo phones.

Updated On Edit :

@mikedt
Yeh it looks like Realme don't have a base here yet, saying they only launched in the European markets recently. So they may very well require you to return faulty items a long way, idk. Amazon sell direct but I haven't looked at the shipping times. No claims for length of updates.
I like then though. The details of the X50 Pro's multiple antennae and other features look very interesting. The Realme 6 @ £219+ and Realme 6 Pro @ 299+ would tempt me more atm.
I can't remember other brands that prompted be to badly write that post, but Xiaomi wouldn't do it for me and Huawei / Honor models did appeal but in the last year.

I'm gonna say the Sony Xperia 1II. At the same time this also coming from a long time Sony user since Sony Ericsson days haha.

The best camera for me will be between the Samsung Galaxy Ultra and Huawei P40 Pro.

I would say pixel is the best android phone. They have really nice camera and super fast processors. I would have said One plus also but there are many reasons that I did not. Pixel uses only one camera to take portrait photo, what they do is that they uses software to blur the background and it is flawless. Other phones are using tele photo lenses and all and here Pixel is doing it y software. How cool is that?.

I was perfectly satisfied with my blackberry but had to give it up because of the lack of support and updates. I replaced it with a Samsung A51 (because my cell phone provider supplied it for free with a 2 year tab of $10/month). As posted in another thread, I cannot get Microsoft Outlook to handle my email and calendar the way my blackberry did.

I would get a Bittium if I could get the European configuration (without google apps preloaded).

The best phone isn't anything we recommend. It's what works best for YOU. Make a list of the features you NEED in a phone; then things that you want; then things you really don't care about. Start with that list and look only at the phones suiting your needs... which may be entirely different than mine. Look at the devices that match your list, go to a few stores to look at them, hold them, see which one fits best for YOU.

For example: my fingers don't like to tap exactly where I tell them to; the Galaxy Note's S Pen is indispensable for me, because it allows me to tap, type and swipe with surgical precision. The new S Pens even allow me to control aspects of the phone remotely, right on the stylus. You may not need that: you may need something with the best camera. Or the camera is the last thing on your list.

Then try to get an unlocked version of the phone and not one branded to a specific carrier. You will have less bloatware and get faster updates.

My ideal phone would be one that allows me to sync my email, calendar and contacts without have to go through either the i-cloud or the g-cloud. Blackberries running on QNX were perfect.

anotherfrustrateduser said:

My ideal phone would be one that allows me to sync my email, calendar and contacts without have to go through either the i-cloud or the g-cloud. Blackberries running on QNX were perfect.

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Well you can do that, with a suitable app. Which app that is will depend on which service you wish to sync with. For example if you use Outlook or Exchange you can sync calendars, email and contacts by installing Outlook (if you prefer to use an MS app) or Nine (if you prefer third party), and doubtless many others. I have Nine installed and it allows me to sync all of those things from such accounts, and I can view any contacts and calendars from those accounts in other calendar apps or my stock contacts app as well.

There are plenty of third-party email apps which don't require the Google cloud unless you are syncing with GMail. Read the small print, since there are a lot that will route your mail through their own servers instead (often offering "value-added services" as the incentive to give them access to your mail), but there are also plenty that just act as clients and sync directly with your email provider without involving any intermediary.

Just because the GMail app came pre-installed doesn't mean it's the only or even the best way to do these things. One good thing about Android is that there is almost always an alternative.

anotherfrustrateduser said:

My ideal phone would be one that allows me to sync my email, calendar and contacts without have to go through either the i-cloud or the g-cloud. Blackberries running on QNX were perfect.

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From what I've seen Blackberries are completely useless, unless you subscribe and have access to Blackberry service.

And here's a video I made about a friend's frustrations with a Blackberry phone. And in the end that thing was thrown from the roof of a five story building.

What "email, calendar and contacts" service are you actually trying to use?

SDMF74 said:

Prize goes to the A50 for the WORST phone!

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I don't know I think I can out do you
Back when I was a kid my grandpa gave me two tin can's connect by ten feet of string, grandpa said it was cutting edge high tech communication equipment
The call quality absolutely suck
And technical support, there was none
So for the absolute worst phone ever I vote for two tins can's connect by string

in price / quality ratio - Realme 6 Pro
best gaming smartphone - Asus ROG Phone 2
smartphone with the best camera - Huawei Pro 40 Pro
the best flagship with a good battery - Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro
leader in all respects - Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
imho...

Right now the Pixel 4a has a good claim.

A Apple Newton 120 with an 33.6k baud modem for phone calls!

F7 Pixel said:

A Apple Newton 120 with an 33.6k baud modem for phone calls!

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You'll need to build an Android ROM for that if you want to propose it as the best Android phone