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There’s no right answer to this; no one knows what the ‘smartphone of the year’ is.
Because there isn’t one. Each to their own. Every smartphone has its positives and negatives. iOS versus Android. Fold versus regular. One person’s favourite camera system is the subject of another person’s ridicule.
Smartphones are incredibly personal devices. The operating systems and ecosystems on which they run result in laughably vitriolic spats between grown adults. The only thing that comes close is the hilarious battles I witness between Headphone People within the comments sections of my YouTube videos.
That’s the first caveat to my Smartphone of the Year award for 2023. The second is that, unlike some reviewers, I don’t get to try every single device that’s released each year. I’m not sure I’d want to, either – and that isn’t sour grapes; trust me, you can have too many smartphones to review.
One always stands out for me, though, and in 2023, it was a genuine surprise.
Runner up: Pixel 8 Pro
The Pixel 7 Pro was my smartphone of the year for 2022, and the Pixel 8 Pro nearly grabbed the crown last year, too.
I love Google’s approach to smartphones. The design, the pure Android experience, and the camera system are all utterly brilliant, right across the lineup. The latter, in particular, remains my favourite asset of Pixel devices, and is, in my humble opinion, capable of producing the best-looking images of all smartphones.
The Pixel 8 Pro is still a keenly-priced flagship. At the time of writing, the usual £999 starting price (which is still comfortably below the iPhone 15 Pro Max) has been slashed by £100 as part of a new year discount. Once again, you don’t get that with Apple. Ever.
A quick shout-out must go to whoever got Bay Blue over the line as the fancy colour of choice for 2023. It makes an already brilliant, AI-focused smartphone the best-looking smartphone of the year for 2023 – and that’s quite an accolade.
So close: iPhone 15 Pro Max
Ooh, Tim. I’m sorry. I am genuinely sorry – I know you had a rough Christmas, thanks to all that Apple Watch drama. But I just can’t make the iPhone 15 Pro Max my smartphone of the year.
It came close – closer than I ever thought it would. This is still an astronomically expensive portable telephone, but it is, arguably, the most impressive on the market if we’re looking solely at build quality, materials, and sheer presence.
Nothing comes close to the iPhone 15 Pro Max in that regard, and the switch to titanium was inspired – as was the addition of a 5x optical zoom for the camera system.
The problem with the iPhone is that it resides in an ecosystem into which one inevitably falls, and as world-beating as it might be, the investment required in companion devices and services makes it an utterly unfair point of comparison. None of the other devices on this list have that weirdly brilliant yet frustrating achilles heel.
I couldn’t leave this one out: Pixel Fold
I’m a foldable phone convert and, this year, Google revealed the direction in which all foldable phones should head in 2024.
Narrow cover screens don’t cut it. Complex, over-engineered, bloatware-filled operating systems are annoying. What matters is a usable front display, great camera system, and just enough utility inside to make that big display worth digging into.
Sure, the Pixel Fold’s internal display has large bezels. We still don’t know the long-term durability (although a year in, I’m yet to see reports of significant problems, and mine remains tight as a nut). But this is a first-generation device, and it’s a stonker.
I couldn’t leave the Pixel Fold out of this list for that reason. I have a drawer in my studio that is full of smartphones I’ve previously reviewed and which I’ve been lucky enough to hang onto. The only one I return to regularly is the Pixel Fold. There’s something incredibly magnetic about it.
In fact, I love the Pixel Fold so much, it’ll be my Android companion for CES this month.
I can’t wait to see what Google does next with its foldable, and how others will follow suit. And, no I haven’t even held a OnePlus Open yet, let alone tried it.
The winner: Honor 90
Ok, I’ve kept you waiting long enough (although the title of this blog post kinda gave it away, didn’t it?). My smartphone of the year is the Honor 90.
I reviewed the Honor 90 on my YouTube channel in early July and had no idea what to expect. It was my first experience of an Honor device and, given the budget-ish pricing, I thought I’d be in for a run-of-the-mill Android experience.
How wrong I was.
The Honor 90 comes with either 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage or 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. Priced at £449.99 and £499.99 respectively, it sits just below the magical £500 barrier, making it immediately interesting for anyone who isn’t swayed by the bright lights of the flagships.
If you’re expecting a low-to-mid-range feature set in exchange for your hard-earned money, think again. The Honor 90 has one of the best displays of any smartphone I tested last year, thanks to a 6.7” quad-curved floating screen that features P3 colour, 1,600 nits of peak brightness, and a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate. It is stupidly good for the money.
It doesn’t stop there, though. While the Snapdragon 7 Gen 1 isn’t the latest chip from Qualcomm, the fact it is the accelerated version means the Honor 90 zips along as smoothly as it should. You never feel shortchanged in terms of horsepower.
The camera system is great, too. The 200MP main camera captures super images for this price point, and even the video performance belies the price of the Honor 90. The same can be said about the fine jewellery-inspired design, which is striking, different, and exciting. We need that kind of thing in a world of boring slabs of metal and glass.
The Honor 90 does cut a few corners – it has to at this price point. While the aforementioned design is indeed a lovely thing, the Honor 90 feels slightly more delicate than the flagships previously mentioned in this list. It also lacks stereo sound (something I have zero interest in on a smartphone, personally) and wireless charging. It does, however, have 66w fast charging and both facial and fingerprint biometric security.
I’m not alone in my appreciation of the Honor 90, either. I’ve spoken to several fellow tech reviewers who have expressed similar admiration for what Honor has done with this device. If you’re looking for an Android smartphone that delivers everything that matters – and beyond – you will not find better for the price. The Honor 90 is refreshingly brilliant.
Are Honor phones any good?
This is a question worth asking because if, like me, you’ve been ensconced in the iPhone for many years, your knowledge of Android smartphone manufacturers is probably a little rusty.
The answer is quite simple: yes, Honor phones are very impressive. I can’t wait to dig into the 2024 Honor lineup as it arrives, and if you’re on the fence about buying a smartphone from a brand of which you’ve had little experience, the Honor 90 is an example of a device that will change your mindset, immediately.
Wrapping up
I should offer some notable mentions of smartphones that didn’t make this list, shouldn’t I?
The Samsung Z Flip 5 was a joy to review and use. A bit like the Pixel Fold, it’s a device to which I’ve been drawn long after the review period – in this case, almost solely because of the form factor and that brilliant selfie-focused cover screen.
The Sony Xperia 1 V wins the gong for the most brilliantly silly smartphone I’ve reviewed this year. It’s too tall, has pointlessly impressive display specifications that never really make themselves known, and you can turn it into a Venice cinema camera, which is something no one asked for. But that’s why I love Sony to death.
I can’t overlook the Nothing Phone (2), either. The new rebel on the block delivered a brilliant second-generation evolution of the undeniably impressive Nothing Phone (1). But the price increase (at £180, it’s the biggest hike of any device I can think of) has set a worrying expectation for what Carl Pei and co. will do next. We’ve been here before, haven’t we?
Lastly, the Google Pixel 7a cannot go without mention. If we’re talking about the brilliance of mid-range smartphones, it almost steals the crown from the Honor 90.
Smartphones face a challenge in 2024 – stealing the limelight from the impending Apple Vision Pro launch. I think they can do it, though; Apple’s leap into spatial computing is an expensive, risky one, and I think the novelty of coverage surrounding the new headset will wane rather quickly. What we see next in terms of budget smartphones and foldables, however, will remain interesting throughout the year.
I can’t wait!
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