The first smartphone. So it's kind of a constant, and you're probably expecting that. This is one of the first smartphones released this year, the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. Well, this smartphone ticks almost every box for me. And despite being released very early in the year, it still holds up against a lot of other flagships. We're looking for a camera with a beautiful display and the best zoom of any smartphone camera. I have a great all-around camera. This year it includes great performance and an S Pen, making it essentially a note-taking device. I'm a fan of the Note series, so not everyone is a fan of this, but it's nice to see this built into the S series. Well, it's not perfect. Battery life hasn't increased over time and many devices have much better battery life. Performance is top notch but now there are devices with 8+ Gen 1 instead of 8. Still, it's arguably one of the best smartphones in 2022. The S22 and S22 Plus have some honorable mentions. If you don't have the money to buy the S22 Ultra or don't want the S Pen, S22 and S22 Plus offer a lot of what the S22 Ultra does, but at a fraction of the price.
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| Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra |
In my opinion, the best compact smartphone you can buy in 2022 is the ASUS ZenFone 9. Now, in my opinion, this is a compact smartphone without really many compromises. You're still getting the 8+ for Gen 1. You're getting a 120 Hz display. You're getting a six-axis gimbal-stabilized camera. Serious speakers, fast charging. A 3.5 millimeter headphone jack, I mean, where do you see one of those? and all of that in a comfortable and compact form factor, which I really, really like. Now, it's not perfect. The price has increased quite a bit compared to what we had on the ZenFone 8. And we do have a bit of a chin on the front display, which I'm not a huge fan of. I think they should have gone for something a bit more consistent. And we don't have wireless charging, which pretty much all of the other flagships nowadays do. Having said that, it is still the best compact smartphone that you can buy, and I really do like it.
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| ASUS ZenFone 9 |
And in my opinion, they are the iPhone 14 Pro and the Pro Max. Now, with the iPhone 14, it is pretty much an incremental update. You can just call it an iPhone 13, really. However, I do think we've got some great improvements on the 14 Pro and Pro Max. And the Pro Max for me in particular has been such a great device. The improved display with the Dynamic Island I mean, you might not love the Dynamic Island, but you can't deny that it is pretty unique. We've got the brightest display that I've tested this year, which is great for outdoors, especially if you wear sunglasses like me. amazing overall experience. And I would say, in my opinion, the best camera package for consistency and quality The iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max have amazing cameras, and still the best video on any smartphone. absolutely amazing video. If I do want to record video, my go-to is always the iPhone. Now, the battery life is also really good, though not as good as the iPhone 13 Pro Max. That might be down partly to the always on display, which is pretty much just a dimmed lot screen. Now, it looks like Apple is taking that feedback on board and giving us more options with the always-on display. And the iPhone 14 Pro and Pro Max in particular in the UK and many other regions have increased quite significantly in price. I know that's not Apple's fault and it's down to the economic situation, but it's something to keep in mind. However, if you are after the best iPhones you can buy, the iPhone 14 Pro or Pro Max are the ones to go for. Now, I do have to give an honorable mention to the iPhone 14 Plus. Again, this is a bit of an incremental update, but if you are after a larger iPhone at a more competitive price, that is going to give you the best battery life on any iPhone.
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| iPhone 14 Pro |
Now, the next smartphone on my list might be a bit of a surprise to you guys. It is the Google Pixel 7, yes. not the 7 Pro. The 7 Pro is great, don't get me wrong, but I think the Google Pixel 7 is really good for most people, and it's the one that I can recommend to most people because of its very competitive price point, just under £600 or $600. Now, for that price, you are getting almost everything that you get on the 7 Pro, which is quite a bit more. You're getting the same primary camera with Google's software processing, which is amazing. I know some people find it a bit too overprocessed, but I really like it. Google's very own Tensor chip with the software optimizations, which you won't find on other smartphones, such as Photo Unblur, which actually works pretty well in my experience. You've got the Google phone assistant as well as the ability to transcribe voice notes, all of which are really useful and unique to the Google Pixel experience. Now, sure, you only get 90 hertz instead of 120 hertz, which is something that you expect from a flagship, and you don't get a dedicated telephoto camera. However, the Google Pixel 7, in my opinion, is a great buy and something that I can easily recommend. Now, an honorable mention does have to go to the Google Pixel 7 Pro. It is still a great flagship, and it's priced more competitively compared to other flagships, and it has improved quite a bit compared to the Google Pixel 6 Pro, which I had so many bugs with.
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| Google Pixel 7 |
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