My top 5 phones of 2023 – Michail

25 December 2023
A trio of compact flagships and two foldables piqued my attention this year.

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Anonymous, 25 Dec 2023It's ironic that the author includes a phone which GSM... moreWow, each author has their own preferences, that's so surprising isn't it..

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    • Anonymous
    • gDg
    • 25 Dec 2023

    It's ironic that the author includes a phone which GSMARENA itself mentioned as a loser, in their top 5

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      • Mikey
      • gqL
      • 25 Dec 2023

      trapper09, 25 Dec 2023Boring choicesYour reply is boring. These phones are considered great for a reason. He's trying to be honest, not different.

        Anonymous, 25 Dec 2023Watch out, you mentioned an iPhone in your top 5, now you w... moreit's not the mention of the iPhone that's bothersome to me, it's the seemingly "huge change" they keep talking about that does. Not much has changed, this could very well have been an iPhone 14S or even an iPhone 13SS or something.

        The iPhone 15 pro is amazing, but not because it brought huge changes but because of the combination of all the changes that Apple made in the past few years that all added up and now created a nearly perfectly complete package. That's how the phone should be marketed, not something "new" that makes old phones obsolete. It absolutely does not do that, it just makes for a complete package with very little (if any) ACTUAL flaws.

          In a perfect world a smartphone enthusiast website would have a variety of top 5 smartphones

          But alas it just the same flagships every year

          You never ever see 4.5+ rating for a budget device on this site and it makes you think that there isnt nuisance with judgement of these devices for thier individual classes and piers/competition

          Which makes sense I guess because enthusiast sites are nice spaces that don't match taste of the general wider world

            Anonymous, 25 Dec 2023find x6 with the hideous chin curved screen and huge camera... moreExactly its not part of your favourite phones and you're allowed to disagree with it.

            Its my favourite in terms of i own an oppo find x5 and other than huawei, prefer the software design and feature sets (i came from a pixel 6 pro, used multiple different s20-22 series phones so it is definitely better software and colourOS is massively underrated), i love the back design of the 6 series (something different but im a sucker for centre camera islands) and has all the bell and whistles i could need and want... Almost (i wish they had a biometric unlock sensor, shame samsung got rid of theirs after the 10 series).

            The point is im not going for the cheaper, less equipped siblings, I'd rather him say "s23u coz it has everything and software support" than the s23 which if it is his favourite, fine, just seems very product pushing and this is only my opinion, more power to him if he loves the phone (im guessing he uses it and just generally does what he needs, some people prefer the safer options).

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              • Anonymous
              • 3SI
              • 25 Dec 2023

              Watch out, you mentioned an iPhone in your top 5, now you will get hate comments that call for your lynching

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                • Anonymous
                • k@B
                • 25 Dec 2023

                Super Android 22, 25 Dec 2023Well as a probably top 3 phone tech site going with probabl... morefind x6 with the hideous chin curved screen and huge camera bump, no thanks and in no way is #1 who are u kidding, not to mention UI doesn't even come close to beating the others

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                  • Anonymous
                  • k@B
                  • 25 Dec 2023

                  Anonymous, 25 Dec 2023I agree these are some good phones in the list The writer ... moreindeed compact sleek designs all the way

                    Lister, 25 Dec 2023The reviewer may not be able to easily get hold of chinese ... moreWell as a probably top 3 phone tech site going with probably the most viewers world wide for this segment they need to be getting chinese only or asia only released phones, theres actually no excuse for that (its like usa and Europe are the only ones that exist and india is the only asian country, nope... I mean africa as a contient or south america basically never get any info on much and i bet they have hundreds of thousands of users from these continents).

                    If he had said the s23u it would atleast make sense, i love my find x5, been almost flawless, but its not anywhere near "my favourite" or would the s23 be nor is it to most s23 owners (they'd probably have the s23u).

                    Any flip phone mentioned also makes sense, its something different to the norm and has a bit of flair (plus they're getting better priced) so again it would make more sense him enjoying the flip5 over the worst mainstream flagship, the s23.

                    My personal 5 would be:-

                    5. iphone 15 pro max
                    4. Huawei mate 60 RS
                    3. Xiaomi 14 pro
                    2. Honor magic 5 ultimate
                    1. Find x6 pro.

                    Ive never even used any of these but they all have something that is either fully desirable, from either best recording capabilities, best looks imo, best picture taking, proper security unlocking features, baked in features to that phone etc to very expensive/unobtainable devices or have SOMETHING unique to them (most people here will disagree, you're allowed to discuss and disagree).

                    Its why we have a problem with a well respected reviewer to basically give us the "safe" "generic" choices (unless he only lives in the usa or something then it should be a contient based article). If those are his favourite, fine, its just worrying knowing this is how the employed staff buy in to the mainstream monopoly that we find ourselves in.

                    It was a well written article and know we all wish him and his family a merry Christmas /happy holidays and all the best to the team and thank you for giving us a very high quality tech site and putting time in.

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                      • Lister
                      • pLY
                      • 25 Dec 2023

                      The reviewer may not be able to easily get hold of chinese branded phones, but whatever you think, it's their own personal opinion, just like Ivan's.

                      The level of anger here speaks volumes about this site's demograph.

                        The Android Freak, 25 Dec 2023So Samsung will loose again this year to Nothing/One Plus/V... moreYour own statement already shows why Samsung will remain on top. Samsung has the largest market availability, especially in western markets. People will buy what's available for them. And Samsung has better brand equity than any of the Chinese OEMs (except maybe Huawei). So those Chinese OEMs can do whatever, it will take a lot to dethrone Samsung.

                          Every year they use the same brands fir 5 top phones of the year

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                            • Anonymous
                            • 0p}
                            • 25 Dec 2023

                            The Android Freak, 25 Dec 2023So Samsung will loose again this year to Nothing/One Plus/V... more🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣🤣

                            13 ultra was 1500 euros. Obviously 14U costs more

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                              • Ssg
                              • r3c
                              • 25 Dec 2023

                              Still on it! My Top 5 Phones of 2023- Well! Well!! Well!!!
                              I wouldn't care much to hit the nail on the head, straight forward.
                              Devices this year were actually competitive, alot of weak Oems step up the game for competition sakes, and this actually worked out for our own good. As usual every year I crave thight for an all round better (not the best,...cause non is perfect yet!) device and now putting funds issue aside, I wanna dive deep in mind "my favorite 😍" the latest with much giving features✌️

                              A punch hole selfie (single or double /3ple)
                              A tough battery life
                              A big enough display (I prefer it curved, seems more stand-out to me considering the numerous flat slabs out there)
                              An in-display fingerprint guard
                              Then I actually need a plus along side, presumably defeating the dilemma for this selective pick... The S-Pen support, commonly found on the Ultra device from Samsung! 😍

                              ... I said I need it all round and so it goes.

                              But for the sake of funds and expenses, I'm getting a note 10+ hoping to get same experience of the all round availability from the latest Ultra.



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                                • AnonD-986504
                                • s87
                                • 25 Dec 2023

                                Great list!

                                  I like the Z Flip5 for finally having USB3 with wired video output support, but the lack of DeX makes me think twice about buying one. I may as well buy the vanilla compact S23 with far better reliability than the Z Flip5.

                                  The Find N3/Open could be the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 alternative, but it costs about an extra $200 for matching 512GB internal storage in Malaysia. Also, Oppo doesn't develop their custom Desktop Mode to rival DeX, unlike Honor, which did put Magic Desktop Mode on the Magic Vs/V2.

                                  Google has pushed the "smart" in the smartphone to the max with the Pixel 8 series, but it's a shame that the Pixel line is still not officially available here in Malaysia.

                                    potato4k, 25 Dec 2023The SD8gen2 by itself is a huge upgrade for the Galaxy S se... moreSo Samsung will loose again this year to Nothing/One Plus/Vivo/Xiaomi. Let's see what Xiaomi brings to global markets. Xiaomi 14 Pro is yet to certify for global. But I hope Ultra comes at 1499USD for 512GB.

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                                      • Ssg
                                      • r3c
                                      • 25 Dec 2023

                                      My top 5 phones for 2023 - hmmm😊
                                      The gold medal I have in store for my favorite choices goes to my present daily drive, a very uncommon but low end TRANSSION device, the Pop 7 pro✌️

                                      Man! This device serve me well, I won't denial it and the fact is I'm truly lucky that I'm not the type that ask much from smartphones,putting photography and gaming asides I'm OK with a tough battery life low end device.

                                      I've tried 3 good times this year switching to Apple but I was unlucky that iOS was not on my side(couldn't do much, because of less customizations that actually had impacts on my digital business). Then I should have use an android along side but I'm not type that feel confy moving around with many slabs in hands.

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                                        • AnonD-1040250
                                        • F3y
                                        • 25 Dec 2023

                                        I'm just imagining all the poor people that have been gifted a HMD/Nokia phone for Christmas and the face of disappointment as they switch it on.

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