The Best Smartphones

Given that battery capacity was reduced slightly battery life was mediocre at best, especially with all communication modules enabled. In return, its triple camera performed exceptionally well, and it is one of the best smartphone cameras currently available. The dual speakers have also been upgraded noticeably, and now offer a good sound quality and soundscape. The biggest drawback are the missing Google services. Apart from that, the Huawei smartphone is an incredible device.

Its quad-camera features a 108 MP sensor, an ultra-wide angle lens, and two zoom lenses with 3x and 10x optical zoom, respectively, and support for up to 100x digital zoom. Supported communication standards include 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, and NFC. Battery life was decent overall.

In our review, the S21 Ultra managed to prove its value. However, VHT160 Wi-Fi turned out to be rather poor, and the lack of Bluetooth audio codecs can be frustrating at times.

Compared to its Pro sibling the mini’s rear-facing dual-lens camera lacks the telephoto lens, the LiDAR scanner, and support for ProRAW. Apart from that we noted its bright and color-accurate display, its accurate location services, and its Sub6 5G with a wide range of supported frequencies. Due to the smaller capacity battery life was on the short side yet still acceptable.

We did not find too many flaws on the iPhone 12 Pro. Its peculiarities are not going to bother long-time iPhone users, and there are almost no annoying limitations worth noting. Except for maybe the lack of Bluetooth High Res Audio support and the fact that 5G is not supported in Dual SIM mode.

The Mi 11 Ultra is an excellent smartphone with a bright and colorful display.

 One of the highlights is the small display at the rear. Among other things it enables you to take selfies using the main camera. A total of 256 GB of internal storage should suffice for almost everybody, and the powerful high-end Qualcomm SoC paired with 12 GB of RAM make for an excellent experience when running any application whatsoever. The colorful 120 Hz OLED display did a fantastic job overall.

Xiaomi devices are not officially sold in North America.

Both phones come with triple cameras featuring a main 12 MP sensor accompanied by an ultra-wide angle and a telephoto lens. The latter features a giant 64 MP sensor but no optical zoom capabilities. Instead, it offers a nearly lossless 3x hybrid zoom as well as a 30x digital zoom.

Both devices performed very well in our tests, and our only gripe was with their respective audio performance. If purchasing directly through Samsung, you get a wider palette of colors to choose from. It can also be purchased through the usual retail channels, such as for example Amazon.

The Asus ROG Phone 3 is one of the most powerful Android smartphones currently available, and a clear number one when it comes to mobile gaming.

The Asus ROG Phone 3 offers wide cellular frequency support, much more so than the Strix. In return, its battery doesn’t last as long. If you are looking for a very good gaming smartphone with a high-frequency display and optional OEM accessories the Asus ROG Phone 3 will be hard to beat.

Like most Asus smartphones, the ROG Phone 3 is almost impossible to find in North America. The international unlocked GSM model is available on Amazon with prices starting at $930, and while the official retailer listed on the ASUS USA website, Mobile Advance, has the phone listed for $1,050 it is currently unavailable.

What is completely new is OnePlus’s cooperation with Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad. Their team helped color proofing the photo app, which further improved the already good photo quality compared to the OnePlus 8 Pro even further. However, even the new and improved camera is not quite up on par with the best of the best.

What is, however, is Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888, the fastest currently available Qualcomm SoC capable of running even the most demanding applications smoothly and without breaking a sweat. That said this increased performance will most likely go unnoticed during everyday use. The Adreno 660 GPU is just as powerful and a good match for the CPU.

One of the gripes we have had with its predecessor, its slow USB 2.0 interface, has been upgraded to USB 3.0. What remains are a few minor complaints, such as missing eSIM support or a microphone that tends to boom when recording loud noises.

The OnePlus 9 Pro is slightly more expensive than its predecessor and thus much closer to its competitors. Prices start at around $700 on Amazon.

Supported communication standard include Wi-Fi 6 as well as 5G. Call quality is good, and we had no issues with the splash-proof case either. The USB-C charging port at the bottom is only connected via USB 2.0.

Its 50 MP camera took photos rich in detail, and a telephoto lens allows for 5x hybrid or up to 20x digital zoom. Individual customizations can be performed in a so-called pro mode that is not limited to photos but can also be applied to videos.

A big plus is the Oppo’s battery life. Thanks to its 4,500 mAh battery it lasted for almost 19 hours in our real-world Wi-Fi battery test. Another benefit is its low price, although this does not apply to US customers. Since the device is not officially sold in North American its import price is fairly high and starts at around $1,100 on Amazon.

The Mi 10 Ultra is a great choice no matter what.

In addition to a large and bright 120 Hz OLED panel the Mi 10 Ultra also offeres long battery life and extremely fast charging in less than one hour thanks to up to 120 W of charging power. If you don’t need the more recent Mi 11 Ultra the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra can be a great alternative.

Xiaomi devices are not officially sold in North America.