Weekly poll: Nominees for Best Phones of 2018

09 December 2018
This is the preliminary round so you can help us pick the contenders before moving on to the final vote to select the best phones of this year.

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  • AnonD-558092
  • 45}
  • 10 Dec 2018

xXENDER FREAKXx, 10 Dec 2018Dang, I love the way u mention those apps xD. Okay, back to... moreThey aren't desperate. It just works! Business is business, money is money. Any money is good, and IAPs is a quick cheap lazy way to get it.

As for storage, OEMs could just slap a NVMe SSD inside a phone. It's not that big (Apple does it). But apps and games are always so poorly optimized on Android. And even then, you know how much Android OEMs like to cheap out on the non-obvious elements.

    AnonD-558092, 10 Dec 2018Also they say that but they couldn't tell the difference fr... moreDang, I love the way u mention those apps xD. Okay, back to what you've said, in my opinion, u wouldn't even notice such a big difference in speed when browsing the web, opening apps etc. The BIG difference you'll notice, is when loading games, because that's where the storage type comes into play. Mobile games suck big time on ANDROID. Those ads, poor optimization, just......nah fam, this is the part where it feels so cheap and flippin' trash as compared to iOS; u have to pay a premium to remove the ads, like really? Are app and game developers that desperate for money? "This shit doo doo" - Daequan

      • P
      • Pajson89
      • S9u
      • 10 Dec 2018

      mate 20 pro ,honor play , xiaomi mi a2 lite

        • D
        • AnonD-558092
        • 45}
        • 10 Dec 2018

        Kangal, 10 Dec 2018I'm loving the puns. However, I will say that if you are f... moreSwitch emulation will be easy. Citra is mature, the Switch system is based on the 3DS, the SoC is an underclocked ARMv8a platform like modern smartphones, just the GPU is powerful and the NVN API might be bridged to Vulkan.

        But I frankly doubt this will happen anytime soon. DS emulation on mobile phones is pretty bad, even though DesMuMe is mature on PC since ages (ah, Nintendo DS on a monocore Pentium 4. Warms my heart as much as it warms my house). Unless I'm mistaken. But I'm more looking forward to 3DS on mobile than Vita. It flopped very hard and there's only a handful of games compared to the huge 3DS library.

          • ?
          • Anonymous
          • sxs
          • 10 Dec 2018

          Chocobo, 10 Dec 2018Huh.....where is Xiaomi mi max 3?Gsmarena probably classifies it as a tablet rather than a phone.

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            • AnonD-762416
            • JbS
            • 10 Dec 2018

            I can't take it serious when obvious mid-range devices like the iPhone XR, Poco Phone and Oneplus are in the flagship category. Those phones, and some of the others, are clearly not that. One is over-priced the others are just fake over-hyped.

              OnePlus 6 easy for the win. After using phone from the release, Its a simple math. Oxygen OS runs smoothly, battery life can be approximate at 7 to 8 hours of SOT, and cameras are pretty good (not AMAZING, although installing GCam there is a whole different story). I planned upgrade to 6T, but there is not much difference between them. I swapped more than 25 phones thru 2 and half years, and OnePlus 6 stays longer than any of them. For mid rangers Xiaomi Mi A2 is amazing telling from my friend side, he is blown away with performances.

                • V
                • Valkov
                • 0mV
                • 10 Dec 2018

                Dear GSMArena, what is cryteria to separate categories - price, hardware, camera capeabilities, overall customer satisfaction ???
                Pocophone and Honor Play are hybrids - they are not a flagships, or a regular midrangers.
                In midrangers segment is missing Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI/Pro. You even included it in your own buyer's guide, but here is missing ?!?! Just why?
                And why there are so many phones with limited availability worldwide or region specific ???

                  So you're basing category in chipsets and not price? That seems silly. When buying a phone, the category of phone you can buy is based in cost, not chipset.

                  The pocophone f1 has upper budget to mid range price, making it a mid range device in this type of comparison. Sure it pulverizes the competition, but not when places in the wrong category. It's a midrange phone and flagship killer, not a flagship itself.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • gJt
                    • 10 Dec 2018

                    r33fd, 09 Dec 2018Poco easily wins for both Flagship and MidRange, simply by ... morePlactic overhyped adware phone of the year is the only award it deserves.

                      • T
                      • Techy
                      • rri
                      • 10 Dec 2018

                      Tpalan, 10 Dec 2018Nokia 7 Plus is missing in the midrange list. The hands dow... moreTotally agree... The Nokia 7 plus was an all round phone

                        Meizu 16th is the best flagship killer of the year because OnePlus has priced themselves out of the running.

                          • D
                          • Danny
                          • srr
                          • 10 Dec 2018

                          Where's the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro?

                            • M
                            • Mr_44
                            • gwA
                            • 10 Dec 2018

                            very funny. not including zenfone max pro m1

                              • p
                              • paulw
                              • nX%
                              • 10 Dec 2018

                              r33fd, 09 Dec 2018Poco easily wins for both Flagship and MidRange, simply by ... moreAH, someone trying to justify purchase of poco? Noone cares..But as you mentioned entry level, I will say I have no problems with my entrylevel phone, and apparently the majority of voters do think the same for that phone.

                                r33fd, 09 Dec 2018Poco easily wins for both Flagship and MidRange, simply by ... moreYou must be rich to think that entry-level phones should not exist.
                                Not everyone is a nerd, some people just want to make phone calls, send text messages and live their lives. Life is not about social-media fake-life and phones won't make you healthy or happy. By the way, entry-level phones are as good as many flagships 4/5 years ago...
                                Get a life!

                                  • ?
                                  • Anonymous
                                  • 7ka
                                  • 10 Dec 2018

                                  Yoga, 10 Dec 2018Samsung Note 9 = The Best "LUXURY" Flagship 2018 Pocophone... moreNot Budget flagship.. it is just a phone with flagship processor at cheap price. Nothing special about that.

                                    AnonD-558092, 10 Dec 2018Also they say that but they couldn't tell the difference fr... moreI'm loving the puns.
                                    However, I will say that if you are focussed on Emulation then performance matters.
                                    Right now Android devices can emulate upto the likes of the Nintendo Wii, but dropping down to something like a GameCube Emulation yields a better experience. And there really is a noticeable difference between say the Note9 (fastest) and the LG G7 (slowest) of devices sporting the QSD 845 chipset. Not to mention a less optimised Exynos or Kirin handset, or an older Snapdragon (835, 821, 710).

                                    And in the coming years, Android devices will next inherit Nintendo WiiU emulation.
                                    Then the buggy PS2 and DS emulation will mature to a full-speed experience.
                                    And after that its probably going to be the Nintendo Switch port.
                                    I'm also thinking the PS Vita will come, maybe after 2022.
                                    Then at this point, ARM chipsets may become fast enough for a port of the PS3 Emulator.
                                    ....but its a little hazy at this point.

                                    (I do expect PS4 Emulation on ARM, just look at what Amazon and Microsoft are doing today, but I do not expect it in a low-power envelope for handhelds. At least not until 2030 and I'm old)

                                      Nokia 7 Plus is missing in the midrange list. The hands down best midranger by a distance. One of the best phones to ever carry the name Nokia...

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                                        • Nayan
                                        • rJY
                                        • 10 Dec 2018

                                        I'm using Asus Zenfone 5z. 8GB/128. Snapdragon 845. It's not in the list.