Weekly poll: Best new phone of the week

Peter, 17 July, 2016

We had several exciting launches this week, ranging from a solid entry-level Moto E3 to the near flagship Huawei Honor 8.

Actually, it may only be perception that separates the Honor 8 from flagship status. The phone is a Huawei P9 in a different shell - thicker and heavier, but not by much on both counts.

You still get a dual 12MP camera (if not a Leica-branded one), a 5.2" 1080p screen, fingerprint reader on the back and Android 6.0 Marshmallow. Sure, the chipset is Kirin 950 instead of 955, but close enough.

The Asus Zenfone 3 ZE520KL brings a 16MP camera with OIS and Laser/Phase detection AF. We're intrigued by the Snapdragon 625 chipset - it uses only power-efficient Cortex-A53 cores and they are built on a 16nm process instead of 28nm like the old S615 chipsets. Battery life should be pretty impressive.

Huawei Honor 8 • Asus Zenfone 3 ZE520KL • Motorola Moto Z Force • Motorola Moto E (3rd gen)

The Moto Z Force was announced earlier this year, it's yet to launch. Verizon unveiled the Droid Edition this week, bringing it closer to reality (though we still don't have an exact launch date).

The Moto Z features a modular design, packs a 5.5" AMOLED screen with QHD resolution and is powered by a Snapdragon 820. It boasts an impressive 21MP camera with OIS too. The Force version adds a bigger battery (3,500mAh) and ShatterShield for the screen.

On the other end of the spectrum is the Moto E3. Es were some of the best phones in the "small and affordable" segment. Affordable it still is, £100, but it grew to 5". It will launch in September and bring Nexus-like Android purity (6.0 Marshmallow, of course). We're not 100% clear how the Moto E3 is different from the Moto G4 Play, however, the G4 is £30 pricier so there must be a reason.

Which phone is your favorite? Keep in mind we're not looking for the best specs but instead for the best combo - the Moto E3 can easily sell more units than the Moto Z Force.

Best new phone of the week