The Best Smartphones 2020

I bought a Moto X4 last year. It was a $400 phone on sale directly from Motorola for $200. If it was priced at $400, I would have looked elsewhere. It looks like it is no longer available, however, this phone will last me for years. I have a DSLR, so the camera was not a factor in my decision.

On checking the Motorola site, I note that there are a number of phones on sale if anyone is looking for finding a phone within their budget range that, like the X4, normally falls out of that range.

It is interesting that the Amazon link given in the article for the G8 play specifically states "No US Warranty". :confused:
 
No mention of iPhone SEs abysmal battery life and charging speed? If that was better I would get a change of heart. Personally for around 400 bucks I would get an iPhone X rather than SE.

The new iPhone SE will charge from 0% to 50% in thirty minutes... is that not fast enough? Or from 55% to 100% in about half an hour. I literally just tested this on Friday with a brand new SE out of the box.
 
My Oppo F5 from 2017 still works, so I don't plan to upgrade anytime soon. I do want to upgrade to a midrange Pixel phone someday as long as it retains the compact size of its predecessors.
 
The new iPhone SE will charge from 0% to 50% in thirty minutes... is that not fast enough? Or from 55% to 100% in about half an hour. I literally just tested this on Friday with a brand new SE out of the box.
That with a 5W charger out of the box? If so then that's good.
 
No mention of iPhone SEs abysmal battery life and charging speed? If that was better I would get a change of heart. Personally for around 400 bucks I would get an iPhone X rather than SE.
It has a bigger battery than the iPhone 8, which had a bigger battery than the 7 & 6 and was also praised by reviewers for having a good battery. These are iPhones, they don’t need as much power to match equivalent Android devices as they are far more efficient. The smaller battery also creates the illusion of faster charging, it’s not actually charging faster there’s just less of it to charge.
 
Truth be told, phones are a little bit like camera's. You have to work pretty hard to find one that is outright "bad". There are obviously many levels with many features, but as far as smart phones go, I haven't seen one that just isn't any good at all .....
 
No mention of iPhone SEs abysmal battery life and charging speed? If that was better I would get a change of heart. Personally for around 400 bucks I would get an iPhone X rather than SE.
The SE is for people who need a small phone. 4,7" with a flagship SoC is pretty much as as good as it gets right now. It's not for media consumption per se so the small battery is not an issue. Plus unlike other iphones and andoid models it's relatively compact. The only one that even comes close is the Samsung Galaxy S10e.
 
This article is missing QWERTY smartphones entirely. Writing something more than two words plus some emojis with virtual keyboard is a pain.


For $ 339.99

- Physical keyboard
- IP67
- 8M+16M Cameras
- 128GB flash + 6GB RAM
- 6000mAh Battery
- NFC
- Dual SIM
- Fingerprint sensor
- 3,5 mm connector
- Did I mention physical keyboard?

Screen is almost square so widescreen fullscreen videos leave much space blank. But who cares? Videos are better to watch from tablet/laptop/TV/computer/you name it. There is also Real Deal: you can scroll screen swiping keyboard. So just scrolling is possible without touching screen itself. When just reading something, your fingers are not on way.

Definitely deserves place on this list. Simply awesome product considering price.
 
Can't believe the PINE64 wasn't mentioned as "Best Open-source Alternative" in the Best $100+ Phone section.
 
I think a bit more research that included some older phones was called for in the "Value" category.

I'm scouting around for a "new" phone in the $250 price range and found a couple of 2018 era phones that are faster with higher resolution screens and USB-3.1 that are superior to the "Nokia 7.2" or the "Xiaomi Redmi Note 8".

Just because a phone is older doesn't mean it should be dismissed.
 
This article is missing QWERTY smartphones entirely. Writing something more than two words plus some emojis with virtual keyboard is a pain.


For $ 339.99

- Physical keyboard
- IP67
- 8M+16M Cameras
- 128GB flash + 6GB RAM
- 6000mAh Battery
- NFC
- Dual SIM
- Fingerprint sensor
- 3,5 mm connector
- Did I mention physical keyboard?

Screen is almost square so widescreen fullscreen videos leave much space blank. But who cares? Videos are better to watch from tablet/laptop/TV/computer/you name it. There is also Real Deal: you can scroll screen swiping keyboard. So just scrolling is possible without touching screen itself. When just reading something, your fingers are not on way.

Definitely deserves place on this list. Simply awesome product considering price.

This actually looks really nice for anyone that misses the good 'ol Blackberry days.
 
It has a bigger battery than the iPhone 8, which had a bigger battery than the 7 & 6 and was also praised by reviewers for having a good battery. These are iPhones, they don’t need as much power to match equivalent Android devices as they are far more efficient. The smaller battery also creates the illusion of faster charging, it’s not actually charging faster there’s just less of it to charge.
In a few videos I watched where they test it against other phones it always goes out first, usually by far. It's endurance rating on GSM Arena is 73h which is not great. Being better than iPhone 8 isn't much of an achievement, it's old. You have better battery life in much less expensive phones.

The SE is for people who need a small phone. 4,7" with a flagship SoC is pretty much as as good as it gets right now. It's not for media consumption per se so the small battery is not an issue. Plus unlike other iphones and andoid models it's relatively compact. The only one that even comes close is the Samsung Galaxy S10e.
It is for people who want a small phone but you can't just assume people will use it lightly and then dismiss battery life as not an issue, not at $400. By that logic you fix a shitty camera by not using it therefore it's not an issue anymore.
 
I think a bit more research that included some older phones was called for in the "Value" category.

I'm scouting around for a "new" phone in the $250 price range and found a couple of 2018 era phones that are faster with higher resolution screens and USB-3.1 that are superior to the "Nokia 7.2" or the "Xiaomi Redmi Note 8".

Just because a phone is older doesn't mean it should be dismissed.
The problem there, Mugsy, is most phones only receive updates for 2 years.
My Breeze II hasn't received updates for @ 8 years (but it's not Android or iOS so I don't worry).
 
Google pixel 3a is the best phone I've owned at any price point. Did Shawn write this article because this whole article basically says, "if you can't get an iPhone, get this"

iOS was the better choice 10 years ago while the smartphone market was still evolving. That is no longer the case
 
As someone has stated (tbf not point of main article ) - it's worth checking out discounted or 2nd hand phones now . My Nexus 6 still going strong was $200 brand new . Picked up a pixel 3 xl in vg condition a month ago for $180 ( thought my Nexus had battery problem - but I yanked I accidentally damage the mini usb- so as only doesn't charge if slightly mis-aligned to right ).
Anyway Pixel nicer screen for outside , excellent camera + free unlimited photos/videos to 2021 - storage forever - that's a great deal if you had a young family = click click click
 
I'm looking for sub $200 phone with pixel 3a styling, but seems like that kind of design language have been died for long time now.
 
This article is missing QWERTY smartphones entirely. Writing something more than two words plus some emojis with virtual keyboard is a pain.


For $ 339.99

- Physical keyboard
- IP67
- 8M+16M Cameras
- 128GB flash + 6GB RAM
- 6000mAh Battery
- NFC
- Dual SIM
- Fingerprint sensor
- 3,5 mm connector
- Did I mention physical keyboard?

Screen is almost square so widescreen fullscreen videos leave much space blank. But who cares? Videos are better to watch from tablet/laptop/TV/computer/you name it. There is also Real Deal: you can scroll screen swiping keyboard. So just scrolling is possible without touching screen itself. When just reading something, your fingers are not on way.

Definitely deserves place on this list. Simply awesome product considering price.
Huh, just swipe to type. Both Android and iOS have this. It is superior to any other way of typing. It is worth getting used to.
 
Back