Despite the fact that the bulk of smartphone sales in the world are made up of models in the budget and mid-price segments, the main attention is usually drawn to the release of so-called flagships - the best and most expensive smartphones in the model range of various manufacturers. Flagships are interesting because they primarily implement technical innovations, which then migrate to cheaper devices. The price of flagships from the world's leading brands at the start of sales can exceed a thousand dollars. Those who are unable to pay that kind of money, but want to get their hands on a flagship smartphone, can either wait for the price to drop after a few months or buy last year's flagship, the price of which usually drops after a replacement is released on the market.
This ranking presents the top 10 best flagship smartphones for spring 2019. The rating is based on technical characteristics, price-quality ratio and reviews in the Yandex Market (this rule does not apply to new products that have not yet accumulated reviews). The rating includes the flagships of six of the top 10 leading smartphone manufacturers in the world (American company Apple, South Korean Samsung and LG, Chinese Huawei, Xiaomi, ZTE). The top ten global manufacturers also include Chinese brands Oppo, Vivo, TCL and Lenovo, but the products of the first three are not represented in Russia, and as for Lenovo, this company has been focusing on the budget segment in recent years, and produces flagship models under its subsidiary Motorola brand, which is mainly aimed at the American market. Instead of Oppo, Vivo, TCL and Lenovo, the ranking includes leading Taiwanese manufacturers ASUS and HTC and the Chinese brand OnePlus.
10 Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X 32Gb
The average price in Russia is 10,000 rubles. You can buy Redmi Note 4X on Aliexpress for 8.7 thousand rubles. Presented at the end of January 2019, the flagship of the mega-popular Redmi family Note Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi scored 72% of fives according to reviews in Yandex Market (see reviews of Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X). Last year's flagship of this family, Redmi Note 3 Pro, became the most popular Android smartphone in the world, Russia, India and some other countries at the end of 2017 (see The most popular smartphones in Russia in 2017).
Specifications Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X: 5.5-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, operating Android system 6.0, 32 GB permanent and 3 GB random access memory, there is a slot for a memory card up to 128 GB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). Main camera 13 MP, front camera 5 MP. Battery capacity 4100 mAh. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953 processor, 2000 MHz. Adreno 506 video processor. There is a fingerprint scanner. Metal case with plastic inserts on the top and bottom of the back panel.
If we compare this model with last year’s flagships of the family (winter Redmi Note 3 Pro and summer Redmi Note 4), then thanks to the new processor and graphics chip, Redmi Note 4X has increased autonomy and performance, and thanks to the new Sony IMX258 camera module, the quality of shooting has noticeably improved. Apparently, Redmi Note 4X will become one of the most popular models of 2019 (and Redmi Note 4X has already become the most popular phone in the Xiaomi catalog today), which is facilitated by the excellent price-quality combination, which is what Xiaomi is famous for.
9 Apple iPhone 7 Plus 32Gb
The average price is 48,900 rubles. The flagship from the iconic American company went on sale at the end of September 2017. Apple iPhone 7 Plus has two more varieties: with 128 GB of internal memory and with 256 GB. But for the rating, the model with 32 GB was chosen because... This amount of memory is quite enough for the average user, and besides, this type is the most affordable.
The iPhone 7 Plus 32gb scored 50% of the five stars according to reviews in Yandex Market (see reviews of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus).
Characteristics of the Apple iPhone 7 Plus 32Gb: the latest operating system iOS 10 (the sixth iPhone had iOS 9), 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080, 32 GB of internal and 3 GB of RAM. Like all iPhones, there is no support for an external memory card and no support for a second SIM card. Battery capacity - 2900 mAh. Talk time is 21 hours, standby time is 384 hours, music listening time is 60 hours. There is protection against water.
Apple iPhone 7 Plus ranks second in performance (after HTC U11) in AnTuTu's June 2019 study.
iPhone 7 Plus has a dual main camera (2 modules of 12 megapixels each). Compared to the sixth iPhone, the aperture has been improved to f/1.8 (previously f/2.2), which allows 50% more light to pass through; six-lens lens; optical image stabilization (OIS) for photo and video shooting; Slo-Mo shooting in resolution up to 1080p; special processor to process information from the camera (Image signal processor), which does it 60% faster than before. At the same time, both professional reviews and blind tests show that in 2019, the camera of Apple’s flagship is inferior to at least a dozen Android smartphones. For example, in the Dxomark rating, the iPhone 7 camera shares 12th place with the 2016 model Samsung S6 Edge. Based on this fact, we can understand that in terms of camera quality, Apple lags behind Samsung by 2 years. Blind tests also show that the 2019 iPhone 7's camera doesn't hold up to the competition. In a blind test of flagship cameras conducted by the portal hi-tech.mail.ru in April 2019, the seventh iPhone took second to last place. The editors of the portal agreed with the opinion of their readers: “Few people liked the yellowish and dark photos from the iPhone 7 Plus. The camera suffers from incorrect determination of the white balance, which affected the result. The pictures have good detail and sharpness (except for text), but not up to the flagships on Android is no longer up to par."
The creators of the 7th iPhone decided to abandon the analog audio output in their smartphones in order to switch to a completely digital standard CDLA or Continual Digital Lossless Audio. However, this is not a revolution at all, because... Back in the spring, the Chinese used this in the flagship LeEco Le Max 2. In practice, this means that standard headphones for the iPhone 7 will not work: either you need an adapter or wireless headphones from Apple, which are not cheap, namely $159, which is currently exchange rate is about 10 thousand rubles.
Why was the Apple iPhone 7 Plus model chosen for the rating, and not the standard one? Apple version iPhone 7? The 4.7-inch standard iPhone with a very modest resolution of 1334x750 looks anachronistic in 2017, when tablet phones (i.e. smartphones with a screen of at least 5.5 inches and a resolution of at least 1920x1080) finally captured the world market. Plus, the Plus version outperforms the standard version in terms of performance. The standard iPhone 7 doesn’t even have an interesting solution with 3 cameras (like the iPhone 7 Plus version). In general, owners of the 7th iPhone note that it has not made much progress compared to iPhone model 6s, so only owners of iPhones produced in 2015 and earlier should upgrade to the 7th.
8 Huawei P10 64Gb - flagship with the best reviews
The average price in Russia is 34,000 rubles. You can buy Huawei P10 64Gb on AliExpress for 30.3 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). P10 is the new flagship of Huawei, presented at the Mobile World Congress at the end of February 2019. As of today, the model has scored 80% of the five stars according to reviews in Yandex Market (see reviews of Huawei P10), this is the best result in our rating.
Technical characteristics of the model: 5.1-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 7.0 operating system, 64 GB of permanent and 4 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards, the slot for the second SIM card is combined with a slot for a memory card. Battery 3200 mAh. Eight-core Kirin 960 processor of its own design with Mali-G71 MP8 graphics accelerator. The fingerprint scanner is built into a touch button slightly recessed into the body on the front panel. Huawei P10 is made from a single piece of aluminum.
Cameras on smartphones from the leading Chinese manufacturer Huawei are developing by leaps and bounds: in 2016, the company introduced the world's first smartphone with two main cameras (now this technique is used by Apple and other manufacturers); in 2017, Huawei began collaborating with the famous German company for photo production Leica cameras(For example, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev uses a Leica camera worth 5 million rubles), and in 2019 Huawei did everything to make the cameras on their smartphones the best in the world, namely, it involved Leica not only in working on a dual module main camera, but also to work on the front camera. But that’s not all: starting with the P10, Huawei began collaborating with the cult American video camera manufacturer GoPro. As part of the collaboration, GoPro will release an exclusive for Huawei P10 mobile app Quik for fast video processing. The video editor will be built into the standard gallery of the EMUI shell. The essence of the Quik app is to combine photos and videos with background music to create a beautiful memorable video. It is worth noting that GoPro has not previously released applications for either Android or iOS.
What happened in the end? The Huawei P10 uses a combination of two sensors with an f/2.2 aperture: monochrome, which captures light information, and RGB color. The color resolution is 12 megapixels, and the monochrome resolution is 20 megapixels. This combination provides the following advantages: the Huawei P10 camera has a 2x zoom without loss of quality, and it also allows you to take pictures with a blurred background - the so-called bokeh effect. Eat special mode, developed by Leica, which allows you to take high-quality portrait photographs using a monochrome sensor. The result of the collaboration between Leica and Huawei on the front camera of the P10 is an 8 megapixel sensor, with which selfies are twice as bright and with a wider dynamic range, even in low light conditions.
The Huawei P10 camera received 87 points on the Dxomark resource, which is 3 points less than the leader HTC U11 and took 7th place. At the same time, in a blind test by hi-tech.mail.ru in April 2019, the Huawei P10 camera took first place, beating models that scored more points in Dxomark, for example, Samsung Galaxy S8 and Google Pixel. The editors of hi-tech.mail.ru commented on the choice of readers as follows: “The majority appreciated the bright and contrasting pictures, not paying attention to the details” and put the Huawei P10 in 4th place after the Google Pixel, Samsung Galaxy S8 and LG G6 (however, there is a difference Huawei P10 and LG G6 accounted for only one point).
7 Xiaomi Mi 6 64GB is the most powerful Chinese smartphone
The average price in Russia is 28,000 rubles. You can buy Mi 6 64Gb on AliExpress for 24.9 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). The official start of sales of the new Xiaomi flagship took place on July 4, 2019. As of today, Mi 6 64Gb has scored 60% of the five stars according to reviews in Yandex Market (see reviews of Xiaomi Mi6).
Specifications: IPS screen 5.15 inches with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 7.1 operating system, 64 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards. There is no support for external memory cards, although 64 GB is more than enough for the average smartphone user. Battery capacity 3350 mAh. Time battery life in video viewing mode - 9.7 hours, in gaming mode - 7 hours. In terms of autonomy, Mi 6 is approximately one and a half times superior to such flagships as the iPhone 7 Plus or Huawei P10. The 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 processor, together with the already mentioned 6 GB of RAM, gives excellent performance: Mi 6 is the third most powerful smartphone in the world (and the second among Android smartphones), it is second only to HTC U11 and iPhone 7 Plus (antutu rating results .com). There is a fingerprint scanner. There is protection against water.
Xiaomi smartphones have always had excellent technical characteristics, but could not boast of an ideal camera. The camera of the new flagship from Xiaomi is positioned as a real alternative to the iPhone 7 Plus. The main camera of the Mi 6 is equipped with two lenses, a wide-angle and a telephoto lens, both with a resolution of 12 megapixels, as well as a 4-axis optical stabilization system. Working in pairs, these cameras allow you to take beautiful and clear pictures in any conditions. Portrait mode allows you to take clear, high-quality photos. Mi 6 has a portrait lens with a focal length of 52 mm. The 2x optical zoom camera captures stunning landscape shots, while the 10x digital zoom captures even fine details from a distance. Mi 6 with 4-axis optical image stabilization technology takes clear photos while capturing even the smallest vibrations. The built-in accelerometer and gyroscope allow you to stabilize the tilt and movements of the smartphone while shooting.
Front-camera received 8 megapixels and new firmware. Beautify 3.0's beautiful filter technology reacts differently to men and women - it changes the appearance of men a little less. For women, cheeks are reduced, the skin is smoothed and the eyes are slightly enlarged to a greater extent.
The portal hi-tech.mail.ru in the June comparison of flagship cameras in 2019 gave the Xiaomi flagship camera the same points as Sony Xperia XZ Premium. At the same time, Mi 6 was able to bypass the flagship of ASUS - ZenFone 3 Zoom, which is positioned as a camera phone.
So, the new Xiaomi flagship has a good camera and battery life, as well as excellent performance. All this at a price half the price of the flagships of Samsung or Apple. At the same time, this model is not suitable for lovers of large screens - the display diagonal is only 5.15 inches.
6 ZTE Nubia Z11 Mini S 64Gb
The average price in Russia is 17,600 rubles. You can buy Nubia Z11 Mini S on Aliexpress for 16.1 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). A slightly smaller and more technically advanced version of the flagship of the ZTE Nubia family, released in October 2017, received 72% of five reviews in Yandex Market. Technical characteristics: 5.2-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, there is a slot for an external memory card. Supports two SIM cards. Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. There is a fingerprint scanner, which, in addition to unlocking the smartphone, can be used to control the camera, take screenshots, and make mobile payments using NFC.
Main camera 23 MP, front camera 13 MP. The main camera uses a Sony IMX318 module, as in ASUS ZenFone 3 Deluxe.
5 OnePlus 3T 64Gb
The average price in Russia is 26,500 rubles. You can buy OnePlus 3T 64Gb on Aliexpress for 25.7 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). This model, released in mid-November 2017, is an improved version of the OnePlus 3, which appeared in June 2017, received the title of “flagship killer” due to its excellent technical characteristics and affordable price, and also made it into the top 6 best-selling smartphones in the world at the end of the year. Today, the updated version of OnePlus 3T has 76% “A” ratings according to reviews in Yandex Market (see reviews of OnePlus 3T). Technical characteristics: Android 6.0 OS, 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with a resolution of 1920x1080, 64 GB of permanent memory. OnePlus3T has 6 GB of RAM, which allowed it to enter the top five powerful Android smartphones as of June 2019 (data from the AnTuTu resource). In practice, this performance means you can keep two dozen tabs open in Chrome and a couple of games running in the background.
OnePlus3 does not support an external memory card, although with 64 GB of memory it is not particularly needed. Battery capacity - 3400 mAh. There is a fingerprint scanner. Supports two SIM cards.
The advantages of the model include incredible strength. The tempered Gorilla Glass 4 that protects the screen passed the scratch resistance test (similar tests are carried out by famous YouTube blogger Zach Nielson). Representatives of OnePlus, in order to prove the strength of their flagship, took a bold step and dropped OnePlus3 from a flying plane at an altitude of about 230 meters (for comparison: the main building of Moscow State University is 240 meters high). The smartphone fell to the ground face down, but this did not affect its appearance or performance in any way.
OnePlus 3T has a 16-megapixel Sony IMX298 sensor with f/2.0 aperture, optical stabilization, phase detection autofocus and a pixel size of 1.12 microns. The front camera has a 16-megapixel sensor. In July 2017, the Phonearena resource conducted a comparative test of flagship cameras, as a result, the Phonearena editors gave OnePlus 3 (OnePlus 3T has the same main camera) fourth place, behind HTC 10, LG G5, iPhone 6s and surpassing Samsung Galaxy S7 and Sony Xperia X Performance. However, if we compare samsung cameras Galaxy S7 and OnePlus 3, then OnePlus 3 clearly wins only as a front camera, the pictures from it are better than most main smartphone cameras. As for the main camera of the Samsung Galaxy S7, visually the pictures from it are better than the main camera of the OnePlus 3.
OnePlus 3T, without a doubt, has no competitors among Chinese smartphones due to its excellent performance, good battery life and high-quality camera, as well as durability.
4 Samsung Galaxy S8
The average price is 50,000 rubles. The flagship from the leading smartphone manufacturer in South Korea and the world went on sale at the end of April 2019 and today received 57% of the five reviews in Yandex Market.
Fans of the South Korean brand had to wait a whole year for a new flagship (last year's summer flagship Galaxy Note 7 doesn't count, because... Samsung was forced to withdraw this model from sales shortly after they began due to problems with the battery) after the appearance of the Galaxy S7 in March 2017. As a result, the release of the Galaxy S8 caused an incredible stir: in the first two days, the number of pre-orders for the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8 Plus (an enlarged version of the model) amounted to 550,000 units (for comparison: the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 Edge were ordered by 100 thousand people in the first 2 days) . Of course, a year-long wait for a flagship in itself is not capable of causing such a stir; for example, Apple consistently releases flagships once a year, but sales of the seventh iPhone turned out to be quite weak due to the fact that new iPhone for the most part it turned out to be the same eggs, only in profile, when compared with the 6th iPhone. Samsung did not repeat the mistakes of its competitor and presented a truly innovative model that cannot be confused with any smartphone on the market today.
Technical characteristics of the Samsung Galaxy S8: 5.8-inch screen with QHD+ resolution (3840x2160), Android 7.0 operating system with Samsung Experience 8.1 proprietary shell, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM. There is a slot for memory cards up to 265 GB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. Battery life in talk mode is 20 hours, while listening to music is 67 hours. Let's dwell a little on these characteristics and compare them with last year's Galaxy S7 Edge. The screen diagonal has increased by 0.3 inches, the resolution has also noticeably increased, while the phone itself, paradoxically, has become even a little smaller and lighter. This effect was achieved due to the fact that the screen now occupies more than 80% of the area of the front panel: the physical buttons disappeared (they became touch-sensitive), the Samsung inscription, there are practically no side frames, the free space was taken up by the screen. The amount of permanent memory has doubled. However, there is a small step back: the battery capacity has decreased, and therefore the battery life has become shorter, while it is approximately the same as, for example, the seventh iPhone. The processor is Samsung branded Exynos 8895.
When it comes to cameras, Samsung has decided to ignore the trend of dual main cameras in the flagship model, which has been followed by Apple, Huawei, LG and, in the old fashioned way, has a single main camera, an improvement over the already excellent camera of the S7. The S8 camera received a new 12 megapixel Sony IMX333 sensor with DualPixel technology. The front camera (8 MP) is equipped with a fast lens for perfect selfies even at night, and also supports intelligent autofocus with face detection. By the way, face recognition has become one of the interesting features of the S8: to unlock your smartphone, you no longer have to use a fingerprint scanner; you just need to show your face to the smartphone. There is a third method: scanning the iris (however, this method will be inconvenient if you wear glasses or contact lenses).
Of course, in terms of technical innovations The Galaxy S8 has no competitors today. However, in terms of price-quality ratio, the Galaxy S8, in our opinion, is still slightly inferior to the other Korean flagship of spring 2019 - the LG G6.
3 LG G6 64GB
The average price is 42,300 rubles. The Korean flagship went on sale at the end of March 2019 and today received 76% of five reviews in Yandex Market.
Like Samsung, LG presented the world with a greatly updated flagship when compared to last year's G5. The South Korean company decided to abandon the modularity of the G5, which amazed everyone, but proposed a new interesting solution: the screen in the LG G6 is the world's first IPS display with a QHD+ resolution (2880x1440) with a non-standard aspect ratio of 18:9 (2:1). The screen-to-total front panel area ratio here is almost the same as the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the LG G6's body, with a 5.7-inch screen, has smaller dimensions than last year's 5.3-inch G5. At the same time, LG did not remove the brand name from the front panel; there was a place for it. The buttons on the front panel, like in the Galaxy S8, are touch-sensitive and not physical.
Other characteristics: Android 7.0 operating system with LG UX 6.0 proprietary shell, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM. There is a slot for memory cards with support for a fantastic capacity - 2 TB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). Battery capacity - 3300 mAh. The processor is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821. At first glance, it is surprising that the processor is not the newest, but it can easily cope with any applications and games for Android available today, so, apparently, LG did not consider it necessary to reinvent the wheel and increase the cost of your flagship with the latest processor. The fingerprint scanner is located on the rear panel.
The LG G6 follows the dual rear camera trend, but offers perhaps the best solution available. If usually the main cameras are not the same in quality, and the second main camera is needed only to simulate the software effect of strong background blur (bokeh), then the LG G6 developers abandoned this effect altogether. Here, both main cameras are of equal quality (13-megapixel Sony IMX258 sensor), but have different lenses: one is standard with a viewing angle of 71°, and the other is an ultra-wide-angle with a viewing angle of 125° and an aperture number of f/2.4. Due to this, the lens is able to capture as much as possible more space into the frame where it is needed. Switching between two cameras is instant and without delay. To do this, just click on the special icon in the viewfinder.
LG G6 took part in two blind camera tests conducted among readers of the portal hi-tech.mail.ru in 2019. In the April test, the Korean flagship took third place after Huawei P10 and Samsung Galaxy S8. The editors of the portal also gave LG G6 bronze in the professional assessment, and the first two places were taken by Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8. In the June blind test, the LG G6 again came in third place, this time behind the Honor 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S8. The editors gave first place to the Samsung Galaxy S8, and LG G6 shared second place with HTC U11 and Honor 8 Pro. In the ranking of the best camera phones (smartphones with a good camera), the LG G6 is in 10th place.
The 5 MP front camera also has an increased (up to 100°) viewing angle, due to which you can take selfies with a good capture of the surrounding space even without using a selfie stick. This will also allow you to get into the frame more friends for a group selfie.
The editors of the w3bsit3-dns.com portal awarded the LG G6 a win in the "Best Look" nomination for its excellent design and ergonomics, noting: "LG engineers managed to make one of the most user-friendly smartphones with a large display, which combines aesthetics and certified resistance to external influences of the structure."
If you compare the LG G6 and Samsung Galaxy S8, you will immediately notice the price difference of about 8 thousand rubles in favor of the LG G6. At the same time, reviews of the LG flagship are noticeably better than those of the Samsung flagship. Both models feature an innovative huge display in a standard body. LG G6 at the same time has a dual main camera with useful function wide-angle shooting, as well as a front camera with a wide viewing angle, which the Samsung flagship cannot boast of.
2 HTC U11 64Gb - a smartphone with the world's best camera, as well as the most powerful smartphone in the world
The average price is 45,000 rubles. You can buy HTC U11 64Gb on AliExpress for 43.2 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). New flagship from the Taiwanese manufacturer went on sale in June 2019 and has not yet received customer reviews. At the same time, already at the start of sales it is obvious that, unexpectedly for everyone, HTC released the brightest flagship of the first half of 2019, which surpassed its competitors in camera quality and performance. The HTC U11's excellent camera quality was to be expected considering last year's HTC flagship 10 spent almost the entire year in the rank of owner of the best camera of 2017, only losing this place to Google Pixel in October. Now the Google Pixel camera has moved to second place in the Dxomark resource rating, and HTC U11 topped the rating with a record 90 points (Google Pixel has 1 point less).
The main module contains a 12-megapixel UltraPixel 3 sensor with a pixel size of 1.4 microns, optics with an f/1.7 aperture and optical stabilization. The UltraSpeed Autofocus system, in which every pixel is involved, is responsible for focusing.
The review on the portal hi-tech.mail.ru says about the camera of this model:
“The U11 aims at the target instantly, without missing a beat, even in low light.
I was impressed by the performance of the software. You take 10 frames in a row - and all 10 will be the same. That is, the exposure, shutter speed, and ISO settings are not lost at the slightest movement of the phone, and the built-in algorithms do not recognize this as a change in composition. This often happens in Chinese smartphones, and even in some flagships, for example, Google Pixel or LG G6. There, two photographs can differ in brightness or graininess - as the automation wishes.
When shooting against the sun or a bright sky, HDR Boost pulls out detail even in the darkest areas. The dynamic range is as wide as in Google Pixel images. There is some logic to this: the companies collaborated to develop the Pixel. Perhaps HTC provided the capacity of its factories, and in return Google shared its secret HDR+ algorithms."
The front camera resolution is an incredible 16 megapixels, f2.0 aperture, video is recorded in 1080p.
In a blind test comparing cameras of flagship smartphones and the Canon 5D Mark II DSLR, conducted among readers of hi-tech.mail.ru, HTC U11 took penultimate place, scoring 1 point less than the DSLR. The portal's editors explained it this way: "HTC U11 fell into the same trap as the camera: excellent detail, correct exposure, but it looks too simple compared to its bright competitors." At the same time, not the final sample was used in the test, but a test one, which could affect the quality of the shooting.
Other technical characteristics: Android 7.1 OS, 5.5-inch Super LCD screen with a resolution of 2560x1440, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM. Supports external memory card up to 2 TB. Supports two SIM cards. Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. Talk time is 24.5 hours, standby time is 336 hours. There is a fingerprint scanner on the front panel. The HTC U11 has pressure-sensitive edges, which means that by simply squeezing the smartphone in your hand, you can take photos with the camera, launch applications, or turn on the flashlight.
HTC U11 is IP67 protected and can be submerged in water up to a depth of 1 meter for 30 minutes and sprinkled with sand.
It is also worth noting the beautiful glossy case.
At the moment, HTC U11 ranks first in terms of performance in the AnTuTu resource study, beating not only all Android smartphones, but also the seventh iPhone, which has been in first place for a long time.
1 ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom ZE553KL 64Gb - flagship with the most powerful battery
The average price in Russia is 28,000 rubles. You can buy ZenFone 3 Zoom ZE553KL 64Gb on AliExpress for 24.6 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). The new flagship in the ZenFone 3 line from the leading Taiwanese manufacturer went on sale in March 2019 and today received 66% of the five reviews in Yandex Market (see reviews of ZenFone 3 Zoom).
Technical characteristics: 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 64 GB of permanent and 4 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card up to 2 TB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). Battery capacity - 5000 mAh. Battery life in talk mode on 3G networks is up to 48 hours, when browsing websites over a Wi-Fi network up to 25 hours, standby time up to 42 days. ZenFone 3 Zoom supports fast charging technology (10 minutes of recharging will be enough for an additional 5 hours of talk time). 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953 processor. There is a fingerprint scanner.
ZenFone 3 Zoom is equipped with two high-quality main cameras. The first, based on the latest Sony IMX362 sensor with large pixels (1.4 microns), has a wide-angle lens with a large aperture (f/1.7) and a 12 megapixel matrix with support for ASUS SuperPixel technology. It is designed for shooting everyday scenes, including in low light. SuperPixel technology allows for a 2.5x improvement in light sensitivity compared to the iPhone 7 Plus. In addition, the camera supports optical and electronic image stabilization to minimize blur when shooting photos and videos, uses a color correction sensor to improve color reproduction, and allows you to record video in 4K/Ultra-HD format. The second of the main cameras - with the same resolution of 12 megapixels and optical zoom of 2.3 times - is used for obtaining high-quality close-up shots. In addition to optical zoom, you can use the digital zoom, which gives a total image magnification of 12 times. Switching between cameras is instant, and the combination of the two produces stunning depth of field—and professional-looking photos. In mode manual settings ZenFone cameras 3 Zoom gives you the ability to customize many different photography settings, such as white balance, exposure value, focal length, ISO level and shutter speed.
ZenFone 3 Zoom features ASUS TriTech+ Triple AF system, which includes dual-pixel phase detection autofocus technology similar to that found in DSLR cameras. Phase sensors for focusing are contained in each pixel of the photosensitive matrix, which ensures the fastest and most accurate focusing, even for moving objects. In addition, the ASUS TriTech+ system includes tracking autofocus (for both photos and video) and laser autofocus that fires in just 0.03 seconds.
On its official website, ASUS posted comparative photos of ZenFone 3 Zoom and iPhone 7 Plus, which show that ZenFone 3 Zoom demonstrates better shooting in panorama mode, better color rendition, copes better with night photography and macro photography.
In a blind comparison test between cameras of flagship smartphones and the Canon 5D Mark II DSLR, conducted in June 2019 among readers of hi-tech.mail.ru, ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom took 4th place, beating the DSLR camera, as well as the best in the world ( according to the authoritative resource Dxomark) smartphone HTC camera U11. The editors of hi-tech.mail.ru commented on this: “ZenFone 3 Zoom surprised. The smartphone does not belong to the premium category, but readers liked its bright photographs.”
ZenFone 3 Zoom has a high-quality front camera with a 13-megapixel Sony IMX214 sensor and ASUS SuperPixel technology, which further doubles light sensitivity. When shooting in low light conditions, the smartphone screen turns bright white, acting as a flash. Combined with software features like Portrait Enhancement and 140-degree Panoramic Selfies, this camera lets you take highly detailed, great-quality self-portraits—and with all your friends in the frame.
Listening to music with ZenFone 3 Zoom immerses you in a world of sounds that regular smartphones simply unable to play - because only ZenFone 3 Zoom supports SonicMaster 3 technology and is certified for audio playback high resolution.
As we can see, this smartphone has no weak points at all. Usually flagships suffer from a very average battery, while powerful battery ZenFone 3 Zoom allows you to work without recharging twice as long as the 7th iPhone or Samsung Galaxy S8, while its price is half the price.
Do you want a new smartphone, but don't know which one is the best? Our rating of smartphones 2019 by price and quality comparing top models from Apple, Samsung, Huawei and other manufacturers will help you choose the best phone today.
| № | CNET | Tom's Guide | T3 | PC Magazine | PhoneArena |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Apple iPhone XS Max | Apple iPhone XS | Apple iPhone XS Max | Apple iPhone XS | |
| 2 | Apple iPhone XS Max | ||||
| 3 | Galaxy Note 9 | ||||
| 4 | Apple iPhone XS | Samsung Galaxy S10 E | |||
| 5 | Samsung Galaxy S10 E | Moto G6 | |||
| 6 | |||||
| 7 | Moto G6 | ||||
| 8 | Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus | Samsung Galaxy S10 E | Sony Xperia XZ3 | Moto E5 | |
| 9 | Samsung Galaxy S9 | Asus Rog Phone | Samsung Galaxy S9 | Apple iPhone 8 Plus | |
| 10 | Apple iPhone 7 | Huawei P20 PRO |
Prices for each model in the list are indicated for the maximum configuration that can be purchased on the Russian market.
10. Sony Xperia XZ3
Price: 54990 rubles.
Peculiarity: The best display.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 9.0
- Dual SIM support
- screen 6″, resolution 2880×1440
- 19MP camera, autofocus
- memory 64GB, memory card slot
- RAM capacity 6GB
- battery 3330mAh
- weight 193g, WxHxD 73x158x9.90mm
The top ten best smartphones of 2019 in terms of price and quality opens with a powerful, lightweight and waterproof premium smartphone from Sony. Its OLED HDR screen features wide viewing angles and high pixel density. This is perhaps the brightest screen you can have. modern smartphones. In doing so, it adapts to what is shown on the screen, locally darkening dark areas for better black balance and the best contrast with high brightness levels.
Dynamic Vibration System technology gives the effect of immersion in what is happening on the screen. This is achieved simply - by turning on vibration as an addition to the visual and sound range.
The large amount of RAM allows the XZ3 to easily handle anything from graphically intensive games to video and image editing.
The phone can record 4K videos. And at the lower 1080p resolution, it has two levels of electronic interference protection that Sony calls Steady Shot (the phone's accelerometer is used to smooth out the user's hand shake and jerkiness).
Pros: excellent connection quality even in places where other smartphones fail, high sound quality from the speakers even on maximum volume. Sony claims the XZ3 has the longest battery life of any flagship Android or iPhone smartphone.
Minuses: without protective film It is better not to use the screen, minor scratches occur, the body is very slippery, there is no fast charging.
Price: 44990 rubles.
Peculiarity: The most beautiful design.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 9.0
- Dual SIM support
- screen 6.4″, resolution 2310×1080
- dual camera 48MP, autofocus
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- RAM capacity 8GB
- battery 4000mAh
- weight 180g, WxHxD 75.40×156.90×8.10mm
The Honor brand has made a name for itself with high-quality devices at an affordable price. But among them and among the best smartphones of 2019 in our ranking, the View20 stands out thanks to its amazing design. Unlike previous smartphones rulers with gradient and linear tints on the “back”, on the View20 the light is reflected in the shape of the letter V. This looks especially impressive on a red phone.
The device is equipped with the top-end Huawei Kirin 980 processor, a huge 6.4-inch FHD+ LCD display, large storage capacity, 6 or 8 GB of RAM, and a super-fast fingerprint scanner.
Pros: all applications “fly”, the battery lasts up to one and a half days at full load, the main and selfie cameras are excellent, albeit without optical stabilization.
Minuses: Auto-brightness does not always work correctly, you have to turn it up manually, there is only one speaker, there is no dust and moisture protection.
Price: 34990 rubles.
Peculiarity: The most frameless smartphone.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 9.0
- Dual SIM support
- screen 6.39″, resolution 2340×1080
- dual rear camera 12MP/12MP, autofocus
- 3G, 4G LTE, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- RAM capacity 6GB
- battery 3200mAh
- weight 218g, WxHxD 74.69×157.89×8.46mm
This is the first slider in the Xiaomi smartphone line. And its appearance makes you fall in love with the phone at first sight. Uncompromising framelessness, without any cutouts or holes. Ideal for those who like to watch videos on their smartphone.
Although the main camera is inferior in image quality to such recognized camera phones as Huawei Mate 20 Pro and iPhone XS Max, it still takes a solid “A” for its price category. In addition, it has a mode with advanced settings.
Mi Mix 3 also has the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor and the same 6 GB of RAM as most competitors. Overall, this is an ideal phone for those who have a good idea of what they want from a smartphone and do not want to overpay for unnecessary options.
Pros: In terms of the ratio of design, price and functionality, this model is perhaps optimal in the ranking of the best smartphones of 2019. Of course, the price of Mi Mix 3 cannot be called budget, but compared to the clearly inflated price of the same Note 9 or XS Max, the “Chinese” is the most profitable.
Minuses: The cover collects all fingerprints, not all games and applications are optimized for the aspect ratio, because of this a large black stripe at the bottom may be visible.
Price: 59990 rubles.
Peculiarity: Photo flagship.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 9.0
- Dual SIM support
- screen 6.39″, resolution 3120×1440
- three cameras 40MP/20MP/8MP, autofocus
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- RAM capacity 6GB
- battery 4200mAh
- weight 189g, WxHxD 72.30×157.80×8.60mm
The best smartphones of 2019 boast good photo and video quality. However, the best of the best at the moment is the Huawei Mate 20 Pro.
On its back is Leica's superb triple camera system, capable of 5x hybrid zoom, 3x optical zoom and 0.6x wide-angle zoom to ensure photos capture as much detail as possible. Superb nighttime images are achieved by stitching multiple shots together, and Smart HDR identifies over 1,500 scenarios across 25 shooting categories to give you photos with great light and great dynamic range.
Combined with robust camera software, the Mate 20 Pro is the best all-around photography flagship smartphone on the market.
In addition to the triple main camera, the device is equipped with Huawei's top-notch Kirin 980 processor, 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage. It also has a battery that reviews say lasts for two days of heavy use, as well as 40W cable fast charging and 15W fast wireless charging. And just like the icing on a huge cake, the Mate 20 Pro can... wirelessly charge another Qi-compatible device.
Pros: triple main camera, top performance, lower price compared to its main competitors, long battery life.
Minuses: very slippery, the screen is often defective - after a while it “turns green” (this can be seen at low brightness settings).
Price: 91990 rubles.
Peculiarity: The best smartphone with a large screen.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 8.1
- Dual SIM support
- screen 6.4″, resolution 2960×1440
- memory 512GB, memory card slot
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- RAM capacity 8GB
- battery 4000mAh
- weight 201g, WxHxD 76.40×161.90×8.80mm
The king of big and powerful phones has a 6.4-inch screen - 0.1 inches larger than the previous version. It has bright and rich colors, impeccable black balance and great viewing angles.
Like the Galaxy S9, the Note 9 has a different processor depending on where you buy it. The European model is powered by Samsung's Exynos 9810 chip, while the North American model uses Qualcomm's Snapdragon 845 processor, which powers the OnePlus 6 and other top-end phones released in 2018.
The dual camera system on the back is the same as the Galaxy S9+. This is a dual 12 MP camera: one wide-angle with dual aperture, and the other with a 2x telephoto lens. New to the Note 9 is an artificial intelligence system that optimizes photo quality by recognizing a range of objects even if the image is blurry.
Another new addition is the Bluetooth-enabled S Pen. In addition to the usual screen recording with the stylus, you can use the S Pen to trigger actions on your phone such as taking a photo in the camera app, pausing music, or presenting the next slide in PowerPoint.
Pros: Excellent performance, fits comfortably in a large hand, excellent photo and video quality.
Minuses: Battery barely lasts a day under intense use, not included wireless headphones, overcharge.
Price: 58990 rubles.
Peculiarity: The best Chinese smartphone.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 9.0
- Dual SIM support
- screen 6.41″, resolution 2340×1080
- dual camera 16MP/20MP, autofocus
- memory 256GB, without memory card slot
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- RAM capacity 8GB
- battery 3700mAh
- weight 185g, WxHxD 74.80×157.50×8.20mm
OnePlus is the best smartphone of 2019 from China when it comes to performance. In the Geekbench 4 overall performance test, it was second only to the latest three Apple models. Business Insider called it 6T.
And the 6T's screen is comparable in brightness and color accuracy to the Pixel 3, which costs about $200 more.
OnePlus isn't the first phone maker to put an in-display fingerprint sensor, but in this model it's less demanding and snappy.
Like the OnePlus 6T, the new model comes with a 16MP and 20MP dual rear camera setup and a 20MP front-facing camera. However, the manufacturer has made some improvements to the 6T's software to improve photo quality, especially in portraits and at night.
Pros: lightning-fast operation of the face scanner, user-friendly interface, prompt release of updates, smoothness and speed of processes.
Minuses: Average mono speaker sound quality, no notification indicator, no headphone jack, lacks wireless charging.
Price: 64990 rubles.
Peculiarity: Best Apple smartphone.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with iOS 12
- screen 6.1″, resolution 1792×828
- 12MP camera, autofocus
- memory 128GB, without memory card slot
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- weight 194g, WxHxD 75.70×150.90×8.30mm
This model has a number of advantages compared to its more expensive counterparts. It has a larger screen than the XS (6.1 inches versus 5.8 inches), comes in a wide range of colors, and has the best battery life of any iPhone.
Apple installed the same 12-megapixel wide-angle camera on the iPhone XR as on the XS and XS Max, but without the 2x zoom. Despite this, photos come out with excellent dynamic range, color and detail, as well as good low-light performance. The XR's selfie camera is identical to that of the iPhone XS.
Pros: has most of the features of the iPhone X and XS, including performance, Face ID and wireless charging. At the same time it costs less.
Minuses: The rear camera does not have optical zoom. The LCD screen is large and bright, but the contrast level is inferior to the OLED screen of the iPhone XS.
Price: 76990 rubles.
Peculiarity: The best new product of 2019.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 9.0
- Dual SIM support
- screen 6.4″
- three cameras 16MP/12MP/12MP, autofocus
- memory 128GB, memory card slot
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- RAM capacity 8GB
- battery 4100mAh
- weight 175g, WxHxD 74.10×157.60×7.80mm
The top three in the top 10 best smartphones of 2019 opens with a flagship from Samsung with a 6.4-inch AMOLED screen, a battery that will last all day with the most active use, and a combination of three rear cameras.
So far, the S10 Plus is the only one of Samsung's four new Galaxy S10 phones to offer up to 1TB of built-in storage and a ceramic finish on the 512GB and 1TB models.
It's a small thing, but it's nice that after two years of complaints, Samsung listened to users and released software that allows you to remap the Bixby button to open a different app.
Pros: A bright and contrasting AMOLED screen, long battery life and many useful camera tools. Ability to charge wirelessly from another device.
Minuses: At night and in low light, photos taken by the Galaxy S10 Plus don't come out as detailed as when using the Pixel 3's Night mode. The ultrasonic fingerprint scanner isn't always fast or accurate. Tends to slip out of hands and off surfaces, especially if they are not perfectly smooth.
Price: 46490 rubles.
Peculiarity: The best Android smartphone.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with Android 9.0
- screen 5.5″, resolution 2160×1080
- camera 12.20MP, autofocus
- memory 64GB, without memory card slot
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- RAM capacity 4GB
- battery 2915mAh
- weight 148g, WxHxD 68.20×145.60×7.90mm
Why we chose Pixel to be the best Android smartphone for now? Thanks to Google's amazing software. The main feature of the Pixel 3 is Google Assistant, which can be integrated with other services such as Gmail and Calendar. This is usually useful - especially Assistant's new ability to answer calls on your behalf. (Yes, this sounds crazy, but in fact it helps fight spam calls). On the other hand, constant notifications, tips and tricks are annoying, but fortunately, you can turn off these features.
What's also impressive about this phone is the bright and clear photos taken with just one rear camera. However, Pixel rivals, including the OnePlus 6T, iPhone XS and Galaxy Note 9, require two cameras (and sometimes more) to produce the same quality photos.
Pros: Takes great photos even in very low light and can take widescreen selfies. The device is waterproof and has wireless charging.
Minuses: There is no way to expand the memory and there is no headphone jack.
1. Apple iPhone XS Max
Price: 106990 rubles.
Peculiarity: The best smartphone of the year.
Characteristics:
- smartphone with iOS 12
- support for two SIM cards (nano SIM+eSIM)
- screen 5.8″, resolution 2436×1125
- dual camera 12MP/12MP, autofocus
- memory 512GB, without memory card slot
- 3G, 4G LTE, LTE-A, Wi-Fi, Bluetooth, NFC, GPS, GLONASS
- weight 177g, WxHxD 70.90×143.60×7.70mm
And because of its 6.5-inch screen, this device looks like a mini cinema that you carry in your pocket.
The XS Max is IP68 rated for dust and water resistance. That is, the device can withstand immersion to a depth of two meters for up to 30 minutes.
The XS Max's dual rear cameras deliver superior photo quality even in low light, with an aperture that lets in up to 50 percent more light without sacrificing sharpness. In addition, you can independently adjust the depth of field after shooting.
Another nice little fact: facial recognition works faster on the iPhone XS Max than on the iPhone X. This is due to improved algorithms in iOS 12.
Pros: big and beautiful OLED display, ultra-fast A12 Bionic processor, longer battery life than the iPhone XS, excellent cameras with Smart HDR and improved bokeh mode.
Minuses: lack of fast USB-C charging from the box.
Nowadays, smartphones are becoming more expensive every year. There were times when, for example, Apple smartphones at the start of sales cost $600 and many considered this price too high. And now the iPhone 8 is $699, the iPhone 8 Plus is $799, and the iPhone X costs $999, which for many is not a reasonable waste of money. The time when flagship smartphones cost 30,000 rubles has passed. After the jump in the price of equipment in 2014, buyers began to approach the choice of smartphones more carefully.
Thanks to some factors, you can still find the best smartphone in terms of price and quality.
Growing competition.
A large number of players in the smartphone market leads to the fact that some begin to reduce prices in order to attract consumers. Chinese manufacturers such as Xiaomi, Meizu, Huawei followed this path and were able to acquire multimillion-dollar fans. They offer truly balanced devices at reasonable prices.
Frequent release of new smartphones.
Another pleasant factor influencing the price reduction. Some manufacturers, in the race for market share, try to frequently release smartphone models, presenting new features. Due to this, prices for previous generations have to be reduced. For example, Xiaomi Mi 5S Plus, at the start of sales in Russia, the device cost 34,990, but after the release of Mi 6, prices went down. At the moment, Mi 5S Plus in Russia is available from 20,500 rubles, and on Aliexpress you can buy it for 16,500 rubles.
The problem is that a large selection of models can make it difficult to make a purchasing decision. Finding the best price-quality ratio has never been so easy and yet so difficult, despite the many options. A good screen, a powerful processor, a camera that takes great pictures and a capacious battery are still some of the most important features when choosing a smartphone.
A low budget does not mean that you will not have access to excellent options and functionality. Of course, flagship models may be out of your reach, but we tried to select the best smartphones in terms of price-quality ratio, where every ruble invested will be justified. Due to lack of knowledge about what is available on the market, we want to prevent you from buying budget models from Samsung, Sony, LG and others. Often they cost the same, or even more, while having many times worse characteristics (low-resolution screen, simple camera, small amount of operational and internal memory, not a powerful processor).
The average cost of a smartphone sold in Russia in 2017 was 13,400 rubles. Our rating includes 5 smartphones from 8,500 to 13,000 rubles, which will delight you with their parameters. We also included several smartphones in the range from 15 to 20 and from 20 to 30 thousand rubles.
How to choose the right smartphone for you.
- Realize the need to buy a new smartphone. For what purposes will it be used? Which set of functions/parameters is important for your tasks.
- Search and evaluate options. Our website has ratings for all important parameters, price (up to 10,000, up to 15,000, up to 20,000, up to 25,000, up to 30,000 rubles), functionality (best camera, best battery, protected).
The smartphone market is growing every year. It is becoming increasingly difficult to choose the right model, as the market offers many alternatives. Many rely only on personal preferences when choosing a means of communication according to appearance. There are also those who are based only on technical characteristics and price. And there is another category of people, guided by the opinion of the majority. Especially for them, we have prepared an extensive review top of the most popular smartphones on the global market and in Russia in the following categories:
- Budget and ultra-budget segment. Includes a category up to 5000 rubles. These phones should be considered only as means of communication.
- Middle segment and top models. In this category, we considered both smartphones priced up to 20,000 rubles (the most popular category among mass buyers), and more expensive phones, the main purpose of which is not to make calls, but to demonstrate the wealth of the owner.
It is necessary to note one more pattern. The higher the price, the better the technical characteristics. But sometimes you can find chinese phone with better features at a cheaper price than most branded counterparts.
The most popular smartphones: budget segment
Segment of low-cost mobile devices for calls. They serve as classic means of communication and educational models for children and the elderly.
5 DOOGEE X70
Large battery capacity
Country: China
Average price: 4330 rub.
Rating (2019): 4.0
Doogee X70 looks elegant in black, unusual in yellow and blue. And its main advantage was the high-capacity 4000 mAh battery. In turn, this made the device heavier and it weighs 167 grams, when the weight of competitors varies from 130 to 150 grams. We also like the IPS format matrix with a bright picture. Security functions include fingerprint ID and face control from the camera. A big plus is that the battery is removable and if it becomes unusable, it can be replaced. At the same time, there is no risk of breaking the back cover; it turned out to be of very high quality, which has a positive effect on shock resistance.
Inside there is a slot for two SIM cards or one card and a flash drive. Despite its cheapness, the smartphone does a good job of searching for satellites and works without recharging for 2-3 days while surfing the Internet. No viewing social networks and browser, autonomy can last for 4 days.
4 Micromax Q357
The lowest price
Country: China
Average price: 2339 rub.
Rating (2019): 4.0
Smartphone Micromax Q357 is a representative of a typical classic smartphone entry level. This model would be an excellent option as a spare mobile phone or a gift for a child or elderly person. There is nothing superfluous here. The Android 7.1 operating system is simple and primitive, not full of factory junk and works stably under any load. The battery, with a slightly larger capacity than its competitors, holds 2400 mAh of energy, which, coupled with energy-efficient hardware, guarantees up to 24 hours of battery life in talk mode and 254 hours in standby mode.
The cameras are standard - rear 5 and front 2 megapixels. The pictures from both are mediocre and do not reach the amateur level. The case is made of plastic without soft touch coating.
3 Fly View Max
Dual main camera
Country: China
Average price: 4705 rub.
Rating (2019): 4.2
This inexpensive phone stands out among its competitors with its dual camera, created according to the 8+0.30 Megapixel scheme. The main camera is also not bad, 5 Megapixels is in any way better than 2, which are found in most ultra-budget models. Support for many communication and Internet networks, including 4G LTE, will help you stay connected. The amount of RAM is already 2 GB, which means simple games you can play. True, not for long due to the meager capacity of the 2200 mAh battery.
Additional security features include a fingerprint scanner. Buyers are advised to shoot video only during the daytime, otherwise noise will appear on the camera. It is difficult to find a case or bumper; to do this you will have to spend a lot of time on various sites.
2 ZTE Blade L8
Increased strength
Country: China
Average price: 3490 rub.
Rating (2019): 4.2
For almost 3,500 rubles, the craftsmen from ZTE managed to create an inexpensive mobile phone that, according to customers, is indestructible. The body is made not of plastic, but of polycarbonate, and the parts are adjusted in such a way that it is sometimes difficult to remove them manually. Buyers believe that the L8 can be safely taken for extreme recreation or fishing. You can drop it, pick it up with dirty hands, and it will work, but you don’t need to do this on purpose. The factory did not skimp on the built-in memory, which is not 8, but 16 GB, which will eliminate the need to buy a flash drive for the first time.
The disadvantages are typical for its segment. There is no NFC module, security functions are almost completely absent, as well as high-quality shooting due to the 8 Megapixel camera that takes soap. Despite the stated diagonal of 5 inches, in fact it is 4.9. A small detail hidden by the manufacturer limits the L8 to only second place in this top category. The excessively heavy battery with a capacity of only 2000 mAh also raises questions.
Having traced the global dynamics of market changes in the world and Russia, we discovered several interesting facts. In 2009, Nokia products were the most popular. The Finnish brand was the undisputed market leader with its clamshells and indestructible push-button phones. 2010 was marked by the emergence of Apple as a leader, introducing the iPad, which fueled interest and increased demand for the first versions of the iPhone.
In 2012, Apple fought to replace Samsung and retains its global leadership to this day. And if over the past 7 years only Apple and Samsung competed for primacy, now Huawei has come close to them. Next comes Xiaomi and the trend is that due to the economic crisis, people increasingly prefer “Chinese” due to a more humane price tag.
1 VERTEX Impress Click NFC
Best selling smartphone
Country: China
Average price: 3530 rub.
Rating (2019): 4.3
The best-selling and inexpensive smartphone has a body made of cheap plastic, which reduces its shockproof properties to a minimum. From a functional point of view, everything is great, the presence of NFC eliminates the need to carry a wallet, and all cards can be downloaded to Google services. MediaTek MT6580M with 4 cores and a frequency of 1.3 GHz works quickly with 1 GB of RAM until you start games. The screen turned out to be quite good for its price segment, the viewing angles are acceptable, the sensitivity is rated as average, but you need to get used to it.
After 4 hours of use, on average, you will lose about 10% of the charge. You will spend the same amount of time on detailed setup and analysis of what is written in the instructions. Finally, 4 o'clock cellular conversation without interruption will completely drain your 2000 mAh battery. Of the 8 GB of internal memory, only 5 are available, since everything else is occupied by factory software, which can be removed without delay. It is recommended to use the camera only during the day, as the built-in flash is quite weak.
The most popular smartphones: from mid-range to top-end models
The middle segment and top models with good options for the mass consumer and modern youth.
5 Samsung Galaxy A50 64 GB
Triple camera
Country: South Korea
Average price: 16,650 rub.
Rating (2019): 4.9
In the first half of 2019, the Galaxy A50 sold more than 12 million units. The smartphone gained success and popularity thanks to its balanced characteristics and triple camera. The case fits perfectly in the hand, and complex rainbow effects are created on the back when you select the blue version and let the sun hit it. The screen is bright and large enough to see text without straining your eyes, and the color gamut here is simply incredible. The software shell turned out to be somewhat cumbersome and at first, synchronization between Samsung and Google services can be very tiring.
It’s worth mentioning separately about the triple camera, assembled according to the 25+8+5 megapixel scheme. This combination makes it possible to take selfies with high quality pictures and electronic stabilization. However, the features of the smartphone still reveal the manufacturer’s desire to save money, which is expressed in the plastic back, which can be easily scratched. The battery, which, despite the capacity of 4000 mAh, lasts only a couple of days, is also worthy of censure.
4 Samsung Galaxy A40 64GB
Excellent body paint
Country: South Korea
Average price: 15590 rub.
Rating (2019): 5.0
One of the leaders in color range among current new products. There are white, blue, red and black colors to choose from. All of them are made at the highest level and justify the cost of a smartphone, and the white color does not attract marks or fingerprints at all. Quite compact, even despite the screen diagonal of 5.9 inches. There is no NFC system, instead it is a proprietary development of Samsung Pay called MST. The screen frames are quite narrow, thanks to which it can be called virtually frameless.
Distribution and connection via Wi-Fi go without problems, the fingerprint scanner works 98% without errors. A sore subject of the Chinese, namely dynamics, is corrected here. The earpiece is very loud, and the main one, according to buyers, can produce surround sound. The plastic of the case feels expensive to the touch.
3 Xiaomi Redmi Note 7 4/64GB
The most popular Chinese smartphone
Country: China
Average price: 12,790 rub.
Rating (2019): 5.0
The best-selling phone in Russia and rightly deserving first place in the top category. More than 10 million units were sold in the first half of 2019. Everything about it is beautiful. You should start with the display, looking at which you will not find any flickering and, as a result, fatigue, headaches and other side effects from prolonged interaction with technology. The camera is simply gorgeous and puts most, if not all, smartphones in its segment to shame thanks to its 48+5 megapixel design. Excellent gaming performance is ensured by a combination of Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor and Adreno 512 graphics accelerator, which work with 4 GB of RAM. Judging by tests on YouTube, the smartphone has a very durable glass screen that can withstand most impacts.
A 4000 mAh battery will provide Redmi Note 7 with autonomy for 3 days, and the optimized Android 9.0 operating system will help with this. The glass case is very pleasant to the touch and looks expensive.
2 Apple iPhone 8 64GB
Top quality
Country: USA
Average price: RUB 37,948.
Rating (2019): 5.0
The most popular model from the iPhone series of previous generations on the official market. About 10.3 million units were sold in the first half of the year. Performance is amazing thanks to the 6-core Apple A11 Bionic processor. The quality parameters of photos and videos are still unattainable for many analogues - even 4K videos of 60 frames are easily recorded. An important innovation is the Slow Sync flash, thanks to which in the dark you can take high-quality photos without highlighting the subject and evenly illuminating the background. The adaptive Taptic Engine vibration response system works in such a way that you won't miss a call, but won't be annoyed by rumbling or buzzing.
The physical control button has been replaced with a touch one and has minimal delay when unlocking the smartphone. One of best IPS matrices with a high DPI number and, accordingly, a reasonable resolution without prohibitively large numbers in the screen resolution parameters, which puts less strain on the hardware and battery. Model 8 still has a drawback, and it lies in the overly aggressive noise reduction when taking photos.
By tracking the Russian market, we can establish that our people continue to prefer Chinese models more if it is a budget market. The leaders here are Xiaomi products. They also show good results in the premium segment, but they cannot displace the already popular Apple and Samsung.
As for the secondary market, things get more interesting here. The sales leader is the iPhone 7 and some versions of the 6s.
1 Apple iPhone X
Style icon
Country: USA
Average price: 56,580 rub.
Rating (2019): 5.0
The most popular American smartphone of the new generation, sold in Russia. The “unibrow” in the center of the body set a new style, which is already followed by many other manufacturers. Among the interesting things to highlight new iOS 11, which is made in the best traditions of the company with maximum stability and performance, as well as a complete absence of garbage. Facial recognition technology has powerful artificial intelligence with self-learning and error correction functions. The screen has bright and beautiful colors and full white and black colors. There is also protection against dust and dirt, which copes well with its tasks in domestic conditions.
Such a powerful system has relatively low battery life: smartphone talk time is 21 hours, and music listening time is 60 hours. The main disadvantage is considered to be overweight. The digital indicator has been removed altogether, replaced by a regular battery icon.
How to choose a smartphone?
The popularity of models perfectly characterizes their demand and consumer attitude. We would like to give you some additional advice:
Smartphones in the budget segment, for example, up to 5,000 rubles should not be taken as the main one mobile device if you have a budget. But as a spare “dialer” they are ideal. The optimal models can be considered smartphones costing from 7,000 to 25,000 rubles. Anything higher is a matter of prestige.
What about Chinese models and is it worth paying attention to them? Definitely yes. Huawei and especially Xiaomi have significantly increased production and are almost as good as Apple, Samsung and LG, and the price is 15-20% lower. Let us highlight the most interesting models:
- If you are in the ultra-budget segment, then we recommend VERTEX Impress Click NFC.
- Focusing on a medium budget? You won't find a better Xiaomi Redmi Note 7.
- Do you want to get a high-quality smartphone with a long service life? Apple iPhone 8 is the best choice.
This ranking presents the top 15 best smartphones for December 2018. The rating is based on technical characteristics, price-quality ratio, reviews and popularity in Yandex Market. The rating included models (mostly flagships) from the top 10 leading smartphone manufacturers in the world: the American company Apple, South Korean Samsung and LG, Chinese Huawei and its subsidiary brand Honor, Xiaomi, (represented by the subsidiary brand OnePlus), American Motorola, Finnish Nokia. Also on the list are leading Taiwanese manufacturer ASUS, Japanese Sony and Chinese OUKITEL. In addition to the flagships, the rating included the three best smartphones for today in the price category up to 20 thousand rubles, as well as the best smartphones under 15 and 10 thousand rubles.
15th place.
Motorola Moto G5s Plus 32GB - inexpensive smartphone with NFC and dual camera
The average price in Russia is 9,500 rubles.
The smartphone, which went on sale in Russia in September 2017, received 57% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 96% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of Motorola Moto G5s Plus 32GB).
Technical characteristics: 5.5-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, pure Android 7.1 operating system, 32 GB of storage and 3 GB of RAM, there is a slot for an external memory card up to 128 GB. 2 SIM cards. Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. Fingerprint scanner at the bottom of the front panel. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor. NFC available.
Dual main camera: 13+13 megapixels. Front camera 8 MP.
Motorola Moto G5s Plus takes first place in.
14th place.
Nokia 7 Plus is the most popular Nokia smartphone
The average price in Russia is 23,000 rubles.
The Nokia model, which appeared in February 2018, received 61% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 82% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of Nokia 7 Plus). This is the most popular model in the catalog Nokia smartphones in Russia (Yandex Market data).
Technical characteristics: the now fashionable narrow-frame 6-inch screen with a resolution of 2160x1080, the Android 8.0 operating system, 64 GB of internal and 4 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card up to 256 GB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). Battery capacity 3800 mAh. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor. There is a fingerprint scanner.
The main camera is double: a 12-megapixel main module with an f/1.75 aperture, a second 13-megapixel module (aperture 2.6) provides 2x optical zoom and a background blur effect in portrait mode. Front camera 16 MP.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro 4/64GB is the best budget smartphone
The average price in Russia is 15,000 rubles. You can buy Redmi Note 6 Pro on AliExpress for 13.2 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free).
The start date of sales in Russia is October 25, 2018. The new model from the budget Redmi Note family received 76% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 91% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro).
The heir to the most popular Xiaomi model of 2018, Redmi Note 5, has not yet reached the popularity of its predecessor, but is close to it: 6,885 Redmi Note 5 and 4,305 Redmi Note 6 Pro phones were purchased through Yandex Market over the past 2 months (data for versions with 64 GB of RAM, these models sell better than those with 32 GB of RAM).
Technical characteristics: 6.25-inch frameless screen (with unibrow) with a resolution of 2280x1080 pixels, Android 8.1 operating system, 64 GB of permanent memory and 4 GB of RAM, a slot for a memory card with a capacity of up to 256 GB combined with a slot for a second SIM card. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor. Fingerprint scanner on the rear panel. Battery capacity - 4,000 mAh. No NFC.
The main camera is double: the first 12 megapixel lens with f/1.9 aperture, the second 5 megapixel lens with f/2.0 aperture, the front camera is also double: the first 20+2 megapixel lens.
What has changed compared to Redmi Note 5? The design has changed and Redmi Note 6 Pro has acquired the classic frameless look with a unibrow, as a result of which the size (from 5.99 to 6.25) and display resolution have increased. The processor and battery remained the same, but the cameras were improved: Redmi Note 5 had a single front camera of 13 megapixels, the new model has a dual front camera of 20 + 2 megapixels. Redmi Note 6 Pro today costs 1,750 rubles more. Of course, the innovations are worth the money, although the new model may not appeal to those who do not like the unibrow.
see also
Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact - the best compact smartphone
The average price in Russia is 37,800 rubles. The smaller version of Sony's flagship, which went on sale on April 12, 2018, received 61% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 80% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact).
Technical characteristics: 5-inch screen with a resolution of 2160x1080 pixels, Android 8.0 operating system, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, support for an external memory card up to 400 GB. Two SIM cards. Battery capacity - 2870 mAh. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. There is a fingerprint scanner.
The smartphone is equipped with a main camera with a 19 megapixel Sony IMX400 sensor and a 5 megapixel front camera. The Motion Eye camera is capable of recording video in 4K HDR format, as well as shooting in Super slow motion mode at 960 frames per second in Full resolution HD.
The portal w3bsit3-dns.com named the Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact the best compact smartphone of 2018: “Compared to mainstream mobile phones, today’s winner looks almost like a toy. But it has flagship hardware: Snapdragon 845, an excellent camera and a high-quality display. Powerful smartphone, which is convenient to use with one hand."
OUKITEL K10
The average price in Russia is 20,000 rubles. You can buy OUKITEL K10 on AliExpress for 17.6 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free). The model from the Chinese manufacturer, which appeared in January 2018, received 70% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 88% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of OUKITEL K10).
Battery capacity - 11,000 mAh. The manufacturer indicated the following battery life: talk time 90 hours, standby time up to 42 days. The UL Benchmarks test result is 28 hours 49 minutes (the second longest operating time among smartphones).
Here's what they say in the reviews:
"Powerful battery, it lasted exactly 2 weeks and still has 13% left."
“I’m generally delighted. Everything works, it picks up satellites in 2-3 seconds, the applications I need fly, the memory is large, and so on. Yes, it’s heavy, so what? But with intensive video use, three days without charging.” .
Other technical characteristics: 6-inch screen with a resolution of 2160x1080 pixels, Android 7.1 operating system, 64 GB of permanent and 6 GB of RAM, a memory card slot combined with a slot for a second SIM card. 8-core MediaTek Helio P23 processor. There is a fingerprint scanner. There is NFC.
The main camera consists of a 16-megapixel Samsung S5K3P3 sensor (interpolated to 21 megapixels) and an 8-megapixel secondary sensor. Phase autofocus, dual flash. The front camera is also dual 13+8 megapixels.
ASUS Zenfone Max Pro (M2) ZB631KL 4/64GB - an inexpensive smartphone with a powerful battery
The average price in Russia is 17,000 rubles.
The new product, which went on sale in Russia on December 12, 2018, received 49% of fives from reviews in Yandex Market and 88% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of ASUS Zenfone Max Pro M2).
Technical characteristics: IPS screen with a unibrow 6.3 inches with a resolution of 2280x1080 pixels, Android 8.0 operating system, 64 GB of permanent memory and 4 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card up to 2 TB, 2 SIM cards. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 660 processor. Fingerprint scanner on the rear panel. Battery capacity - 5000 mAh. The battery life in talk mode is 45 hours, in standby mode 35 days. There is NFC.
The main camera is double: the first 12 megapixel sensor with f/1.8 aperture, the second 5 megapixel sensor with f/2.4 aperture. Front camera 13 megapixels with f/2.0 aperture.
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Honor 8X 4/64GB is the best mid-range smartphone
The average price in Russia is 17,700 rubles. Buy Honor 8X 64GB on AliExpress possible for 14 thousand rubles(delivery to Russia is free).
The start date of sales in Russia is October 15, 2018. The model received 61% of fives in Yandex Market and 88% of recommendations for purchase (see). Today this is the most popular smartphone in Russia in the Honor / Huawei catalog (see).
Technical characteristics: frameless huge screen 6.5 inches (this is the most big screen in the Honor phone catalog) with a resolution of 2340x1080 pixels, Android 8.1 operating system, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, a slot for a memory card up to 400 GB, support for 2 SIM cards. Battery capacity - 3750 mAh. 8-core HiSilicon Kirin 710 processor. Fingerprint scanner on the rear panel. There is also a face unlock feature.
The main camera is double: the first module is 20 megapixels with an f/1.8 aperture, the second module is 2 megapixels with an f/2.4 aperture. Front camera 16 MP with f/1.6 aperture.
The portal w3bsit3-dns.com named the Honor 8X the best mid-range smartphone of 2018: “Although the Honor 8X belongs to the middle class, the smartphone looks an order of magnitude more expensive than its category - which is worth the design of the back cover alone. The hardware also did not let us down: a fast chipset, advanced camera settings with support neural networks, a large display and decent battery life brought the device a well-deserved victory."
ASUS ZenFone 5 ZE620KL 4/64GB
Average price in Russia - 23,000 rubles.
The Asus flagship went on sale in April 2018 and today has received 61% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 90% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of ASUS ZenFone 5).
Technical characteristics: screen with narrow frames and a unibrow 6.2 inches with a resolution of 2246x1080 pixels, Android 8.0 operating system, 64 GB of permanent memory and 4 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card up to 2 TB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). Battery capacity - 3300 mAh. Battery life in talk mode on 3G networks is up to 25 hours, when browsing websites over a Wi-Fi network up to 17 hours, standby time on 4G networks up to 22 days. ZenFone 3 Zoom supports fast charging technology: it can be charged to 60% in 38 minutes. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor. Fingerprint scanner on the rear panel. There is a face unlock feature.
ZenFone 5 is equipped with two stereo speakers, which are designed using five magnets and metal voice coils. The speakers are 36% larger than ZenFone 4's, delivering stronger, richer sound, aided by optimized acoustic chambers. NXP's intelligent dual amplifier not only suppresses distortion, but also protects speakers from damage when high level volume.
The main camera is double. The first module is 12 megapixel Sony IMX363, f/1.8 aperture, 4-axis optical stabilization, LED flash. The second module is 8 megapixels, f/2.2, 120-degree viewing angle. Front camera 8 megapixels, without autofocus, f/2.0, viewing angle 84 degrees.
Scene Recognition uses artificial intelligence technology to analyze and match your subject to one of 16 templates, then use the optimal camera settings for it. At the same time, the algorithms used by the ZenFone 5 smartphone for this function are constantly improving, which means that photography will become more and more intelligent.
There's a smart portrait enhancement feature that analyzes facial features in selfie photos and makes small, but highly effective, natural-looking improvements, regardless of age, gender or skin color. Moreover, this function can work in real time when broadcasting video over the Internet.
Photo resource specialists Dxomark gave the camera of the fifth ZenFone an overall score of 90, 93 points for photography (the same, for example, for the iPhone 8) and 86 points for video.
Despite the release of the more powerful flagship ZenFone 5Z in June, ZenFone 5 remained Asus's most popular flagship because, at a cost of 10 thousand rubles cheaper, it has a better battery and exactly the same camera, losing to the newer model only in performance. Therefore, only fans are recommended to overpay for the new flagship mobile games.
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LG G7 ThinQ 128GB - the flagship with the best reviews and the best music smartphone
The average price in Russia is 32,700 rubles. The LG flagship went on sale on June 1, 2018 and today has received 100% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 96% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of the LG G7).
Technical characteristics: frameless IPS screen 6.1 inches (with unibrow) resolution 3120x1440, Android 8.0 operating system, 128 GB of storage and 6 GB of RAM. There is a slot for memory cards up to 2 TB. Support for two SIM cards. Battery capacity - 3000 mAh. The processor is an eight-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845.
The main camera is dual 16 MP with aperture f/1.6 + wide-angle 16 MP with aperture f/1.9, front camera 8 MP with aperture f/1.9. The LG G7 ThinQ camera did not impress the specialists of the resource dxomark.com; they gave it 84 points for photography.
Fingerprint scanner on the back panel.
Protected to military standard MIL-STD 810G.
The portal w3bsit3-dns.com named the LG G7 ThinQ the best music smartphone of 2018: “Quad DAC technology (eight DAC modules, four per channel) and a gain control system depending on the load impedance. The LG smartphone can easily pump headphones at 300 Ohms - it can do that not every Hi-Fi player."
Technical characteristics: frameless IPS screen with a unibrow 6.18 inches with a resolution of 2246x1080 pixels, 64 GB of permanent memory and 6 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). No NFC. Battery capacity 4000 mAh. 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor. In the ranking of the most productive smartphones of the resource, Pocophone F1 ranks tenth in the world. This is the most inexpensive model in the top ten. Therefore, for fans of mobile games, the Pocophone F1 will be ideal due to its excellent price-quality ratio.
Fingerprint scanner on the back panel. Plastic case.
The main camera is dual 12+5 megapixels, f/1.9 aperture, front camera is 20 megapixels.
5th place.
Apple iPhone Xs Max 64GB
Average price in Russia - 79,500 rubles. Sales start date is September 28, 2018. Apple's new flagship received 75% of five reviews in Yandex Market and 83% of recommendations for purchase (see reviews of the Apple iPhone Xs Max).
The Xs Max lineup also has varieties with 256 and 512 GB of memory, however, the version with 64 GB was chosen for the rating, because... she has best reviews and also the most affordable.
The Xs Max has the largest screen in the history of iPhones - 6.5 inches. Screen type - OLED. Resolution 2688x1242. iOS 12 OS. 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM, without memory card slot. Apple A12 Bionic processor. In respect of iPhone performance Xs Max leaves all Android models far behind. But the question is whether such performance is needed in 2018, since, for example, the Xiaomi Pocophone F1, which costs 4 times less than the Apple flagship, confidently copes with even the heaviest games (and for those who are not into games, the performance of even average models is enough) .
Battery capacity 3,174 mAh. The manufacturer indicated the following battery life: talk time 25 hours, music listening mode 65 hours.
The main camera is dual 12+12 megapixels. Despite Apple’s statement that “the iPhone Xs camera opens a new era in the history of photography,” specialists from the photo resource DxOMark after iPhone testing Xs Max put it only in third place after two Huawei flagships. So if you need the best mobile camera, then it’s worth buying not a new iPhone at all, but a Huawei flagship, which is also almost half the price. Front camera 7 MP. According to user reviews, selfies turn out to be too glamorous as a result of excessive automatic processing, while on last year's iPhone X selfies turn out much more natural.
If the already mentioned iPhone X a year ago was really a new word in the world of smartphones (for example, many other manufacturers then adopted the unibrow), then the iPhone Xs Max can only surprise with its huge screen, and even then only for Apple fans, because other manufacturers already have such huge screens.
OnePlus 6T 8/128GB
The average price in Russia is 34,700 rubles.
The start date of sales in Russia is November 30, 2018. On Today the model scored 69% of fives in reviews in Yandex Market and 95% of recommendations for purchase (see.