Notebookcheck's Top 10 Smartphones

The Huawei P30 Pro has a 6.47-inch (16.43 cm, 102.8 cm²) OLED panel with 2340 x 1080 pixels, which is very good in our review. Both the maximum luminance as well as the color accuracy are on a very high level. The Huawei smartphone is powered by its own high-end SoC in combination with 8 GB RAM and 128 or 512 GB internal storage, which can even be expanded via Nano memory card. The remaining specs of the P30 do not leave anything to be desired, either.

The highlight of the smartphone is its Leica quad camera. The main lens captures a lot of light, you get an ultra wide-angle, a 5x optical zoom as well as a TOF camera. The hybrid zoom is expanded to a 10x enlargement and the digital zoom even supports a zoom factor of 50x. The camera performs very well in our test, but there is still room for improvements in terms of video recording. Huawei has already announced a corresponding feature update.

The Apple iPhone 11 Pro hardly changed compared to last year's model and is definitely the most compact high-end smartphone. It has a 5.8-inch OLED screen with 2436 x 1125 pixels. The fast SoC always ensures a responsive user experience. The storage cannot be expanded, so you have to choose between 64, 256 and 512 GB SKUs.

The new triple camera now includes an ultra wide-angle lens, which enables really great shots both for pictures and videos. The Apple smartphone once again offers an IP68 certification and supports wireless charging. The significantly increased battery capacity also enables excellent battery runtimes.

You should have a look at the iPhone 11 Pro Max if you want a bigger battery and more more screen area.

The Samsung Galaxy Note10+ is the high-end model of the Note-series and offers a huge 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED screen with 3040 x 1440 pixels. The smartphone is powered by Samsung's own Exynos 9825, which is supported by 12 GB RAM. You can choose between 256 or 512 GB internal storage, which can also be expanded via microSD card. The optional 5G SKU is limited to 256 GB though. There is a quad-camera at the back, which consists of a wide-angle, a telephoto, an ultra wide-angle as well as a depth of field sensor. The battery capacity is good at 4300 mAh, but the runtime is still shorter than expected.

Overall, the Galaxy Note 10+ does not cause any criticism for the specs. It is still unfortunate that the stereo jack as well as the heart rate monitor from the previous model were removed. The new gestures of the S-Pen are certainly nice, but more of a gimmick than a real benefit.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 5G is not only equipped with a dedicated 5G modem, but also the biggest battery and the biggest AMOLED screen (6.7-inch) within the current Galaxy S-series. Otherwise, the specs are very similar to the other models, but the cameras did receive a small upgrade compared to the S10 with an additional 3D sensor both at the front and the back. 8 GB RAM and 256 GB internal storage are adequate for this segment, but the latter cannot be expanded. The S10 5G is also limited to a single-SIM SKU.

If you can live with the two drawbacks, then you will definitely get one of the best smartphones from the S10-series with the longest battery runtimes.

The Samsung Galaxy S10+ has a 6.4-inch Curved-Dynamic AMOLED display, and the front glass is only interrupted by the holes for the two front cameras. Depending on the SKU, you either get a ceramic or glass rear (Gorilla Glass 5). The frame is always made of stainless steel and gives the smartphone a very sophisticated impression.

The Galaxy smartphone is powered by a fast Exynos 9820 combined with up to 12 GB RAM and 1 TB internal storage, and the latter is also expandable via microSD. Fast LTE and Wi-Fi 6 are included as well, and you can transmit data via Bluetooth 5.0 with dual-audio, MST, Ant+, and NFC. The list of features is pretty much complete and wireless charging in both directions is supported as well, so you can also charge other devices with the smartphone via induction. We like the cameras and their features, but they are not perfect.

Samsung's Galaxy smartphone does not reveal many drawbacks. The battery runtimes were not convincing during the review, but Samsung should be able to improve the performance via updates in the future. The facial recognition is not really secure and the Koreans still do not include aptX HD for their high-end device. 

The OnePlus 7T Pro once again offers an extendable camera and therefore an AMOLED screen without a notch and with slim bezels. The latter is 6.67 inches with 3120 x 1440 pixels and a fats refresh rate of 90 Hz. A powerful SoC, 8 GB RAM as well as 256 GB internal storage complete the good package. 

The triple camera takes good pictures and is pretty versatile. The two speakers create a comparatively rich sound and the battery runtime is very good. However, you have to waive features like the stereo jack, an IP certification and wireless charging.

If you prefer a more exclusive product, you should take a look at the McLaren Edition, which offers another design as well as more RAM.

The Mate series is the technological pinnacle from the Chinese manufacturer. The Huawei Mate 20 Pro definitely meets this claim. It features a fast SoC with 6 GB RAM, a powerful Leica triple camera, a brilliant and bright 1440p OLED screen, a rapid quick-charge mode as well as wireless charging, it is dust- and waterproof, is equipped with an IR blaster, has rapid MIMO WLAN with HT160 and the fastest modem you can currently find in a smartphone. The Mate is slim, despite its big 4200 mAh battery. 128 GB internal storage is adequate for this price range.

It is, however, unfortunate that Huawei does not offer other storage versions in all regions. Huawei's new Nano memory card does not really compensate for that since it occupies the second SIM slot. Implementing one of the speakers in the USB port is a smart idea, but not always ideal.

The Apple iPhone 11 is the least expensive product within Apple's current smartphone generation. The 6.1-inch IPS display has a resolution of 1792 x 828 pixels, so the pixel density is lower compared to the bigger siblings and there is no HDR support, either. The design is also a bit bulkier with wider bezels. The small iPhone is available with 64, 128 or 256 GB storage.

The dual-camera at the back offers an additional wide-angle lens. The smartphone is also certified according to IP68, supports wireless charging and provides long battery runtimes. It is, however, annoying that Apple ships the smartphone with an insufficient power adapter.

The highlight of the Samsung Galaxy Fold 5G is the 7.3-inch foldable OLED screen. You also get another Super-AMOLED panel (4.7-inch) at the outside, so you do not have to open the smartphone every single time. The spec list is excellent with a Snapdragon 855, 12 GB RAM as well as 512 GB UFS 3.0 storage. It also supports the latest 5G standard.

The triple-camera at the rear is on par with the Galaxy S10+ and takes very good pictures. There is a total of three front camera, so you can take pictures from all angles. The battery runtime is surprisingly good, despite the large display. The biggest point of criticism is certainly the durability of the main display.

The Asus ZenFone 6 is certainly not high-end in all areas, but still offers a very appealing price-performance ratio for about 500 Euros. The Taiwanese smartphone sports a 6.4-inch ISP display (2340 x 1080 pixels) without a notch, which results in a high display-to-body ratio. This is realized via swiveling main camera, so you can also take great selfies. The smallest SKU gets 6 GB RAM and 128 GB storage, which can be expanded via microSD card. The 5000 mAh battery is another highlight.

The Asus smartphone leaves a good impression in our review, but there are some drawbacks due to the comparatively low price. The ZenFone is neither equipped with an IP certification, nor does it support wireless charging. Both VoLTE and WLAN calling are not supported, either. The ZenFone 6 is only available via Asus eShop.