Admin Dec 20, 2020
This 2020 has been an interesting year, shall we say, not the best year for a lot of reasons. But one of the positive things we had this year is that we had a lot of wonderful smartphones. I have put together a list of my top 10 favorite smartphones of the year. Now, normally I do five top-five smartphones, but this year there have just been so many, maybe too many. So I've had to make this a top 10 list.

Top 10 BEST Smartphones of 2020

Now, a few disclaimers before we start. This year, I tested a lot of smartphones, but obviously, I didn't test every single one of them. So this is my personal top 10 list. It might be different from yours. That's fine, guys. We don't need to fight, especially in 2020. Just drop your favorites in the comments below. This list is also in no specific order, I'm just giving you my top 10. Also, this list is not in any specific order, I'm just giving you my top 10. I will disclose my overall favorite smartphone.

Samsung Galaxy S20

Once again, in no specific order, the first smartphone on my list is the Samsung Galaxy S20 Only Fans Edition.

Now Samsung released quite a few new S20 devices but the one that stood out to me personally was the S20 and that's because a lot of boxes are ticking and coming in at a very fair price. You're not making too many compromises. You've got a great 120-hertz display. Like all very nice cameras, you have a triple rear-facing camera setup, no gimmicky two-megapixel macro cameras.



you have an ultra-wide primary as well as a telephoto. Nice specs, resistance to water and dust, wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, and slots for SD cards, which are very rare these days, and for my UK peeps, you can get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 version. You're not just stuck with an Exynos option.

We now have a plastic back, granted, so it's not as premium, but most people are arguably using a case anyway. So S20, a phone that's very easy to recommend.

iPhone 12

The iPhone 12 is another smartphone that's also very easy to recommend. Apple has launched many iPhones this year, too, but for most people, the iPhone 12 is the iPhone.

And this year, there are not many compromises. Compared to the Pros last year, if we look at the iPhone 11, there were a lot of compromises.

With the iPhone 12, this is not the case. We have a very nice show. Granted, the notch is there. We have great cameras, some of the best out there, which are consistent with great videos. Dolby Vision with HDR, which right now is not completely compatible anywhere.



But even without that, the quality you get is amazing. And with the A14 Bionic chip, it's one of the fastest smartphones out right now. You only get a base of 64 gigabytes, which I'm not too pleased about and there's no charger out of the box that I can deal with, you know, but the fact that there's always lightning is a bit of a drawback for me.

But aside from that, the iPhone 12, a decent smartphone, is really easy to recommend.

Oppo X2 Prouillbot

The next smartphone on my list was the first smartphone of the year with 120 hertz, as well as a quad HD display. That is the OPPO Find X2 Pro. It's a smartphone that I enjoyed using. We've got fantastic all-around cameras, as well as the fastest 65 Watt SuperVOOC charging I've tested this year. Top of the line specs with 512 gigabytes of storage, with ColorOS, which has improved massively compared to previous years.



There is no wireless charging now, but we have the best-wired charging, which I found myself missing a little bit and I'm not a big fan of cameras with selfies. That aside, it's an excellent, excellent smartphone. And the next smartphone on my list is very similar to the OPPO Find X2 Pro.

Oneplus 8 Pro

Now that's because OnePlus and OPPO are partner companies, that kind of looks a little strange, but you know what I mean, they're partner companies, so they share a lot of techs. And although OnePlus released a lot of smartphones this year, the highlight for me was the OnePlus 8 Pro because it does' have many compromises. In this blog, I know I keep saying that, but anyway, generally, OnePlus devices, even though they are competitively priced, lack a few features. The OnePlus 8 Pro has a slightly higher price, but it ticks off almost all the boxes.

We've got wireless charging for the first time on an OnePlus device. 30-watt wireless charging as well. Excellent software, OxygenOS still one of my favorite skins on Android. Very fast and smooth.



And very good overall cameras. This is an area where OnePlus struggles in general, however, the OnePlus 8 Pro has very nice cameras. And for me, especially the macro camera. Now, this isn't the gimmicky two-megapixel macro camera.

This is a very good macro camera that uses the ultra-wide camera to focus in close. And it's one of my favorite cameras out there with macros. As with the OPPO Find X2 Pro, I'm still not a fan of the selfie camera, but the OnePlus 8 Pro is a nice overall kit.

Google Pixel 5

Google Pixel 5 is now the next smartphone on my list. Now last year, I think Google missed the mark with the 4 and the 4XL.

With those motion sensors, they had a huge forehead which nobody used. They went for a telephoto camera instead of an ultra-wide.



All of these things. This year, I think that with Pixel 5, Google did very, very well. You've got a great display with 90 hertz. Uniform bezels, and we also now have an ultra-wide camera, so it's good to see Google kind of go back on their words and listen to what people want. Now, it's not the highest spec computer out there, unlike the OnePlus 8 Pro, it has the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 5G chipset, which is still very nice, especially very good with the stock Android software.

If you want to get the latest updates, then the Pixel will be the way to go. And you've also got excellent battery life. And the Pixel 5 is coming in at a competitive price point. So thumbs up from me for the Pixel 5.

Huawei P40 Pro

When it comes to apps, the next smartphone on my list is a little bit different. And that is the Huawei P40 Pro. I enjoyed using the Huawei P40 Pro, and mainly it was around the cameras.

It has fantastic cameras that have some of the best zooms you'll find on any smartphone. There is also the Huawei P40 Pro+, which kind of extends even further on that zoom. But I think the P40 Pro is a good balance. And surprisingly, the selfie cameras are excellent. You get a cutout of the pill form, but that means that the front-facing cameras give you excellent portraits. A fingerprint reader, 41 watts of wired charging, 27 and a half-watt of wireless charging unlocks the 3D face. It ticks a lot of boxes. However, unfortunately, Google Play Services is not supported.



Now, it is still perfectly usable if you're willing to do a few workarounds but it's so unfortunate that we don't have Google Play Services.

Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra. Now you guys may know that I wasn't a huge fan of the S20 Ultra, some lots needed improving. What's awesome is that Samsung took the feedback from the onboard S20 Ultra and gave us almost all of the upgrades we requested on the Note20 Ultra.

This is an excellent smartphone. In my opinion, this has the best display on a smartphone right now. You've got 120 hertz, granted it's at 1080p, but this is the brightest display on the market.



Excellent cameras with great zoom, and my personal favorite ultra-wide camera on any smartphone right now. A really good design with an SD card slot, one UI which I do like. However, I do wish updates were quicker on Samsung devices. And the S Pen is something you don't get on any other smartphone. I don't use it every day, but it's so handy when I do need it. Do some quick doodles, edit some photographs, sign some papers, there's the S Pen.

Now, depending on your region, you might get an Exynos version which is inferior to the Snapdragon version. That's quite unfortunate. But apart from that, Note20 Ultra, excellent device.

iPhone 12 Pro Max

We now have the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which is the top of the iPhone line, and it's very big. That's what she said. However, I do like the updated design with the flat edges as we have on the iPhone 12. And again, those cameras, the iPhone 12 Pro Max has some of the best cameras on the market.



The world's first smartphone with optical image stabilization via sensor-shift. And the telephoto camera is 65 millimeters long, which gives the best portraits on any smartphone, in my opinion.

The video with Dolby Vision HDR is fantastic again. Even if you have it turned off, it still gives you the best video on any smartphone, in my opinion. Now it is still a 60-hertz display, I was hoping for 120 hertz, which we don't have this year, unfortunately, but that aside, the iPhone 12 Pro Max is an excellent, excellent smartphone.

Samsung GalaxyFold 2

The next smartphone on my list is the Samsung Galaxy, I'm not going to call it I'm just going to call it the Z Fold, or the Z Fold 2, the Fold 2. The Galaxy Fold 2 from Samsung. Now, this is still, in my view, the best foldable smartphone you can purchase. And it is also the year's most improved smartphone.



Take a look at the Galaxy Fold 1, which I was super excited about but there was lots of room for improvement. In comes, the Galaxy fold 2.Looks like Samsung has listened to pretty much everything we asked for. The front display is now very usable and it stretches to the sides.

Now the main display is more robust and 120 hertz is available. We've got excellent cameras. And I still find it mind-blowing that tech has come so we’re far from finding a smartphone that can open up into a tablet.

Now, of course, because the display has to be foldable, it's always something you have to be a little bit careful about. And it's all very, very costly. As stated, however, if you're looking for a foldable unit, the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 is my recommendation.

Asus ZenFone 7 Pro

Last smartphone on my list. This has been a complicated one because there are so many others. Excellent smartphones as well.

But the ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro was the one that made the list. Now I like ASUS as a company because they do try to innovate and come up with new things, and one of the things that we've got on the ZenFone 7 Pro, which you're not going to see on any other smartphone is a flip-up camera.



This now allows you to have the same rear-facing cameras as the front-facing cameras, giving you outstanding performance. And it also means 8K video from the front-facing camera which you're not going to get anywhere else. Granted, you might not want 8K video from the front-facing camera, but it is there. Top of the line specs a massive 5,000 milliampere-hour battery which lasts all day long and then some. There is no wireless charging now, which I considered being lacking and because of the process, there's no water and dust resistance. And also availability is quite limited, I'm not sure if you can get it in all regions. However, the ZenFone 7 Pro, great, great smartphone.

Final Words :

And that's my top ten list, but we just haven't done it yet. There are a few honorable mentions. So the Sony Xperia devices really good overall smartphones with excellent cameras. However, they didn't make my list because I still feel that they are niche devices. I'm probably going to get some hate from Sony fans for that, but great smartphones, nevertheless.

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro, again, another excellent smartphone, which shares a lot of the same features that we've got on the P40 Pro. However, once again, no support for Google Play Services. Xiaomi this year released a bunch of new smartphones at very competitive prices. My standout was the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro, with its 144-hertz display. And let's not forget LG. LG with the LG WING, which admittedly, I'm going to put my hands up,

I was quite negative about, before actually trying it, so I'm sorry, LG, for that. After actually getting it and trying it out, it's actually a cool smartphone and opens up lots of new possibilities, and I'm all for innovation. That's my list with the honorable mentions. What are your favorite smartphones of the year?

As mentioned, please don't argue with me, do drop them in the comments below. We can all still be friends.

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