My top 5 phones of 2020 - Peter

01 January 2021
I often find myself watching a presentation for a new phone and shaking my head. Here are the phones that made me nod enthusiastically. 

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Shanti Dope, 02 Jan 20211. I never asked for everyone to care about it. I only aske... more2. Playing in slow motion AMPLIFIES the difference, which means it becomes less noticeable if you stare at both displays at normal speed side by side. A 480Hz panel would look literally twice as smooth as a 240Hz one if you slow down the motion significantly, but in real life they are hardly distinguishable from each other.

3. Did you look at Japanese news websites as well (I used Google Translate to read them)? That's where they sell their phones the most, after all.
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fandroidnext.info%2F%3Fp%3D824%26amp%3D1&sandbox=1
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsumahoinfo.com%2F%3Fp%3D33142
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsumahoinfo.com%2F%3Fp%3D32965
https://translate.google.com/translate?hl=&sl=ja&tl=en&u=https%3A%2F%2Fsumahoinfo.com%2F%3Fp%3D26842
Well?

4D. No, Sony didn't fix the black crush issue on the OG Xperia 1.

    • g
    • gliturr
    • SXc
    • 03 Jan 2021

    Other than that, I've been reading computer history recently and looking back and I think for a while it has been pretty uneventful for tech. Consumers suffered from not having Huawei around (let's be honest, you'll need a second phone just for stuff like banking and Uber, if you choose Huawei's OS). Some companies like Sony make a nice phone, but then don't market it well enough, essentially making it harder to buy. Samsung made a phone that is the same phone they made last year, at least from my perspective - I am yet again with another middle range Plus phone and I almost couldn't distinguish it from my shattered s10+, which I had to sell at a really low price as they lose value so much.

    Overall, in smaller markets the situation is even more uneventful and buying a nice phone that isn't necessarily from the few manufacturers that advertise aggressively is a really hard thing to do. You get excited about a model, but it's so overpriced because of not being available/produced in large enough quantities, that it's not worth it.

      • G
      • Gliturr
      • SXc
      • 03 Jan 2021

      Shanti Dope, 02 Jan 2021I don't want to call it a bad phone, but it's dif... moreThe issue with Samsung is that you probably use the Snapdragon version, everyone else uses the Exynos. And the latter gets hot really easily, has worse performance, etc., but from someone with a US phone these issues are nonexistent. A screen burn in issue is the cherry on top in OP's case.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • DkQ
        • 03 Jan 2021

        Yey, some love for Asus 7

          Android Authority, 02 Jan 2021Please don't insult Android manufacturers by calling i... moreUhh okay? I acknowledge that the first and end parts of iPhone charging are slow but the 20-80 range is really fast; so much so it surprised me that it was faster than my old android.

          But yes, I know it doesn’t compare to other phones out there, but at the end of the day I’m not gonna sit here and nitpick over charging speeds lol.

          But at least with my 12 Pro Max the battery last sooooo long it’s crazy! Coming from an older android at least 😅

            • ?
            • Anonymous
            • M0x
            • 02 Jan 2021

            Shanti Dope, 02 Jan 2021Every single unit counts. It doesn't matter if it'... more
            My problem was with you calling Sony's performance impressive.
            The reason why I bought Mi sales and its performance this year is to make you understand what qualifies as "impressive"

            Who cares about sales? Every company cares about sales.
            You don't represent Sony. So stop making excuses for their terrible performance in 2020.
            Even if you did represent Sony, the company would want nothing to do with someone who doesn't advocate for more sales of their device.

            Sony does care about sales. You know what Sony doesn't care about? Brand boys like you!!! Sony is simply stuck in the mud now and not much they can do about it.

              • ?
              • Anonymous
              • p%L
              • 02 Jan 2021

              Furiounx, 02 Jan 2021No, flagship androids that have similar battery life as a 1... moreIPhone isn't exactly 1440p either.
              It is an odd resolution between FHD+ and QHD.

              OP8 pro already has better endurance than IPhone 12 pro Max according to Gsmarena endurance rating. It is running QHD+ along with 120hz refresh rate.

                • ?
                • Anonymous
                • p%L
                • 02 Jan 2021

                Android Authority, 02 Jan 2021Please don't insult Android manufacturers by calling i... moreI already called him out for justifying outdated 60hz screen.
                Now he seems to be doing the same about half a decade old fast charging.
                Typical iPhone user refusing to accept that their product is inferior in certain departments.

                  Furiounx, 02 Jan 2021No, flagship androids that have similar battery life as a 1... morePlease don't insult Android manufacturers by calling iPhone charging fast. It is anything but that. Doesn't qualify as flagship charging speeds.
                  Even Samsung 25W is way faster than Apple 20W charging. Other 30W chargers are twice as fast as iPhone no matter what the battery percentage range.
                  Just because you own an iPhone doesn't mean you get to call slow charging speeds fast. 20W is considered universally slow in 2020.

                    • a
                    • atb
                    • 04H
                    • 02 Jan 2021

                    Shanti Dope, 02 Jan 20211. I never asked for everyone to care about it. I only aske... moreYou have good point here a good comment Not many users see it that way

                      • S
                      • Shab
                      • g30
                      • 02 Jan 2021

                      For me Xperia I || is the best phone

                        • D
                        • Dometalican
                        • 7BB
                        • 02 Jan 2021

                        Shanti Dope, 02 Jan 2021I don't want to call it a bad phone, but it's dif... moreKind of why I want brands to look into Sharp IGZO Pro OLED panels instead. They use lesser lighting to achieve much better battery life and longevity while reducing, of not, eliminating burn-in.

                        At the end of the day, like Graphene batteries, manufacturers need to start looking into micro LEDs as display material.

                          • D
                          • Dometalican
                          • 7BB
                          • 02 Jan 2021

                          [deleted post]I don't have a favorite brand and if you saw my reply, Sony is planning on giving Xperia 1/mark ii users the choice of 4K@60Hz and 1080p@120Hz. Also BECAUSE I don't have a favorite brand, I happen to see that Sony gives me the most hardware options out of all flagships. Name me a flagship with 3.5mm jack, front facing stereo speakers, microSD slot, US networks, triple cam (no macros or depth BS), GORGEOUS display, 8GB/256GB, IP68, and near-vanilla Android and I'll respectively bow in defeat.

                            wongwatt, 02 Jan 2021Samsung displays must be bad quality then, my wife's S... moreI don't want to call it a bad phone, but it's difficult to explain to these people that burn in is already part of OLED's nature due to their organic composition.
                            If an S9, which only shines for about sub-900 nits at maximum is already experiencing burn in problems, how much worse will the newer ones that can go beyond 1000 nits perform after a few years?
                            People always love to conclude things just because their own units didn't face the same problems that others are facing.

                              Nick Tagataka, 02 Jan 2021"But developers found out that such option existed on ... more1. I never asked for everyone to care about it. I only asked why is it that only Sony phones have had such options under the roots if it was an Android thing. Is such question really hard to understand? Of course Sony doesn't allow to make it work because they know how much worse the phone will get after it's set to be like that. Still, it doesn't change the fact that there is an option for it, and it's merely for you to know that they've been using native high refresh rate panels for long; just not utilized due to other hardware limitations.

                              2. Right, so if there's a noticeable difference when played in slow motion, then it means that it really makes a difference as well in regular mode. Again, it is a "better 60Hz" compared to absolutely nothing on the iPhone 12 series.
                              Anyway, the 1 II is more of a multimedia smartphone with its 4K panel. If you want 4K and high refresh rate at the same time, you can just wait for the 1 III instead. I doubt you'd still find faults with its display, unless you're truly nitpicking even the tiniest of flaws.

                              3. Hahaha, nope. Counting the sales of the XZ3, 1, 5, 1 II, and 5 II, we can safely say that Sony has already made more than a million OLED panels in total with those devices, and that should be enough to guarantee that there will be at least one defective unit. However, due to Sony's high level of quality standards, not many issues are reported by the users, if there even was one at all.
                              Samsung, on the other hand, has been working with this technology for literally a decade by now, and it's terrible to see that they're still having faulty units of their flagship phones despite having more funds for R&D than Sony in this respect.
                              It's good that your S10 is safe from the issues, but not everyone is the same. The mere fact that there's at least one person using the same device as you are and is facing such problems is a testimony of how much they need to improve on their quality control.

                              4.
                              A. Okay that's good if it's fixed.
                              B. Okay then.
                              C. Explained in what? All I see is a false claim of such problems being exclusive to cheap panels only, because even high end phones are still experiencing the same issues.
                              D. It did, but also was then fixed with an update. At least in this case, almost all units, if not all had the same exact problem, which means it was totally a software fault and not hardware lottery like on the newest iPhones and sometimes even Samsung.

                                Anonymous, 02 Jan 202160hz in year 2020??? Ewwww.... 😩😩😥🤧 What you are doing is ... morewhere were you back in 2017?

                                  Android Authority, 01 Jan 2021I know people from UK who are using this phone without any ... moreI live in a 5G area but it's nowhere near universal.
                                  Band 20 is a lower frequency range which propagates over longer distances from the transmitter, it is hugely important for people who live outside of major cities and is the only low frequency band available on all four UK networks.
                                  And that's without looking outside of the UK.
                                  Not have Band 20 which is used for dual-band will affect reception strength and quality.

                                    [deleted post]Oh stop spewing nonsense. The A14 chip is 1-2 YEARS ahead of whatever Android has. Also I had an android up until a month and a half ago, the reason I left was because Android itself is just woeful. It simply isn’t fluid or optimised at all like iOS is 🤷‍♀️

                                      Anonymous, 02 Jan 2021Lol other phones giving similar battery life as iPhone 12 p... moreNo, flagship androids that have similar battery life as a 12 Pro Max are in 1440p, NOT 120hz. And no, it’s not slow charging. The first and last parts are slow but the charging in the 20-80 range is blaziingly fast.

                                        Anonymous, 01 Jan 2021"I mean, if Sony gives us the choice to use that or 10... moreSamsung displays must be bad quality then, my wife's S9 has horrific burn in.

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