Our editors talk: Best phones, worst phones 2017

27 December 2017
As 2017 draws to a close, we take a look back at the phones, which impressed us, and the ones which disappointed us. This end-of-year edition of our Editors Talk series will give you a glimpse at the love-and-hate relationship we have with smartphones and their design and features.

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S8 User, 12 Jan 2018True. At the costs of not so perfect screens and camera. Bu... moreOnePlus over Xiaomi, amoled display, still have headphone jack, better camera and close to stock Android.(compared to Xiaomi Mi 6/Mix 2)

    Imperator Neubaticus, 28 Dec 2017Go back to 2015 then while the rest of us moves on. You'd d... moreSays the kid that loves his E7 while lowkey has Samsung Note 4 and Note 8 but loves the old symbean and older phones but would trash others that like older models.
    Thumbs up for you logic.

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      • Ashton racoon
      • rJK
      • 28 Jan 2018

      I have a galaxy j7 Samsung it is a good phones for a normal routine use . But It does nt have basic features like screen mirroring , cast screen,nfc,gyroscopic sensor and face recognition lock. But in technical use point of view it is a worse phone . Xiaomi redmi is a features phone its price is also offordable than j7

        SidStar, 04 Jan 2018True, nobody can beat Xioami and One Plus when it comes to ... moreTrue. At the costs of not so perfect screens and camera. But hey, some people only care about specs.

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          • S.dot
          • 4D6
          • 10 Jan 2018

          I guessing the car the dude was talking about that integrated too much into the touch screen was the Tesla Model 3

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            • Anonymous
            • s0h
            • 06 Jan 2018

            worst trend of 2017: removal of features while increasing prices of phones. Also, 18:9 screens. Certaintly manufacturers need to find something different to do, but such aspect ratio doenst improve user interface, doesnt improve ergonomics ( narrow phone is easier to hold but taller screen more difficult to reach ), but the most ridiculous thing to say in its favor is that it improves experience for video content. To those who say that, please name a consumer dslr, mirrorless or video camera that records video inthe 18:9 aspect ratio...THERE ISNT ANY!

              harwey, 02 Jan 2018well mate,I guess it comes down to what you like..For me,th... moreWell said, it does comes down to individual tastes and preferences.

              I would recommend that you try out a recent Huawei/Honor model to check out their customizations. They are pretty neat.

              You might even find that they are better than those available in Xioami phones.

                TheLostWanderer, 03 Jan 2018Even their hardware and built design is really bad in my op... moreTrue, nobody can beat Xioami and One Plus when it comes to providing value for money phones.

                They do manage to offer flagship grade specs in half the rate at which other major brands retail.

                  SidStar, 01 Jan 2018Harwey, have nothing much against Mi phones except their us... moreEven their hardware and built design is really bad in my opinion. But it's tolerable because it's cheap. But it definitley looks cheap too.

                  Main Xiaomi "feature" is it's price.
                  And so far I don't recall seeing any innovation from their side. Unless security breach is seen as one.

                    AnonD-690051, 02 Jan 2018see this: apple decrease iphone performance by 28% after ju... moreIn other words, I dodged the bullet by buying Galaxy S8 instead of iPhone8?

                    BTW I'm totally in love with S8 and it's simply amazing phone, which I wouldn't trade even for iPhone X.

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                      • Carol
                      • L7b
                      • 03 Jan 2018

                      Anonymous, 30 Dec 2017You and the person that voted you up must live in opposite ... moreHave you been drinking again? 2 years ahead? It might be having more hardware then it's predecessors, but hack if that phone is even close to some android devices. Is the other way around, 2 years behind;). They never proved that cpu is fast (but only on their own backed system that still shows no real difference between their new released devices). To claim a cpu is fast you also have to prove it. On a lot of hardware types and systems.

                        SidStar, 01 Jan 2018Harwey, have nothing much against Mi phones except their us... morewell mate,I guess it comes down to what you like..For me,the biggest plus for Android is limitless customisation options.I like those.I've changed everything on my Mi6-themes,wallpapers,launcher and best bit-icon packs.Now it looks funny but crazy unique,to me at least.And I cannot wonder how my phone still runs superfast and smooth.If you do that with Sams,LG,Sony and others,they will become super slow.Many prefer stock Android,not me,and I believe Xiaomi makes best custom Android OS today.

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                          • AnonD-690051
                          • thv
                          • 02 Jan 2018

                          see this: apple decrease iphone performance by 28% after just 4 months of use.
                          so all iphone users must replace their batteries every 4 months to get full performance.

                          https://simplyfixit.co.uk/iphone-battery-slow-benchmarks/

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                            • Anonymous
                            • nCb
                            • 01 Jan 2018

                            Too much focus on the hardware which there is not much to do, bezel-less is not really new and i'm for one like to have some bezel around the screen, also i like to have some thickness to the phone, i hate slim phones with weak battery.

                            Anyway, the most important thing in phones now is the interface, in hardware based websites the interface does not find enough attention, and the phone makers are not willing to make daring new interfaces.

                            One thing i'm disappointing about: the non-smartphone is going away slowly, give me one with the best camera and i'll buy it, i don't want smartphone, current non-smartphones have bad cameras. where is the new N86?

                              harwey, 29 Dec 2017Best phones of 2017? - Xiaomi A1 because of the price,and X... moreHarwey, have nothing much against Mi phones except their user interface. Somehow, it just doesnt feel right. They do put in good hardware at reasonable cost, but the user experience is not fluid enough for my taste.

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                                • Anonymous
                                • LkA
                                • 01 Jan 2018

                                NichtsGemacht, 30 Dec 2017I think they are mostly based in Bulgaria if I am not mistaken..Phone Arena has ppl in Bulgaria

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                                  • Anonymous
                                  • LkA
                                  • 01 Jan 2018

                                  AnonD-690051, 31 Dec 2017worst smartphone is: Overpriced but still use Lcd, Bad ca... moreYou just described iphone 8+

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 3Ai
                                    • 01 Jan 2018

                                    AnonD-569198, 31 Dec 2017There is literally no phone that required so many parameter... moreS7 did. Yet they even made steps back in key parameters (battery, fingerprint placement) and stayed still in things that badly needed improvement (raw performance, ram amount). Yet it gets universal praises.

                                    Apple on the other hand actually strived (and managed) to improve everything about their phone, and all people see is the pricetag (which btw is only $50 more than Note 8, a much inferior phone hardware wise)

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • 3Ai
                                      • 01 Jan 2018

                                      Anonymous, 31 Dec 2017Their new phones are now made for the fashion crowd. So dum... moreMaking videos in landscape is not very smart anyway.

                                      But holding the phone should be of no issue if it includes a decent palm rejection method.

                                      Bezels were useless and got the boot (mostly). IMO the only good of 2017 in the android world (everything else was either meh or downright destructive)

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • tNw
                                        • 31 Dec 2017

                                        The iphones especially the 7/7s ones should take the cake. Not even two years old but got gimped by the manufacturer.

                                        And the shills from both the media and consumers got outed with the rehased defensive posts.

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