Best Smartphones Of 2020 On The Basis Of Price, Brand & Usability (July Update)
 |
| Best Smartphones Of 2020 |
The time has come, and we know how difficult it can be to navigate among all the available smartphone models. To make your task easier, we have grouped together for you the top 3 of the best mobiles by category, with links to our specific files to go further. Price, brand, use, format or model in Android, as many categories as you can browse at a glance. Follow the guide!
What are the best smartphones by price range?
The best of the best
The choice of writing
Value for money
Less and less marked performances
It is normal to expect better performance from a € 1000 smartphone compared to a € 100 model. Once the products in hand, we see that the logic is well respected. The most expensive products are more fluid, more reactive. However, the most affordable models are far from being slow. The days when "cheap" rhyme with "slow" seem to be over. An excellent thing made possible by the still further optimization of iOS and Android, and the increase in the power of the chips integrated in our phones.
So why choose a more expensive model? The difference will be felt in certain specific uses such as recording videos in 4K, or in the most demanding 3D games in the Play Store. The most expensive phones are also distinguished by the refresh rate of their screen (90 or 120 Hz against 60 Hz for other models), which reinforces this impression of overall fluidity of the phone.
The big gap in photo sensors
On the other hand, if there is one area where price differences are felt much more, it is that of the quality of photo sensors. If the number of sensors with which the smartphone is equipped is a guarantee of versatility, it is in no way a guarantee of quality. So do not be impressed by the 4 or 5 photo sensors of a 200 € model, without taking a closer look. The best is still to consult our complete tests on Clubic.
Concretely, the most expensive mobiles have better photo sensors, and much more extensive software processing than entry-level models. The quality of night photos is the last bastion of high-end mobiles which use it as a heavy argument to justify (among other qualities) their price difference. If you want the ultimate in photo sensors on mobile, you will have to break your piggy bank.
Pay attention to storage capacity
Brands offering cheap smartphones must save on several points. Storage capacity is one. If the models sold with 16 GB of storage are becoming increasingly rare, there are still some. The 32 GB models are more frequent on the entry level, but also fill up very quickly, especially with the space already occupied by the OS. Fortunately, these models almost always have a slot for a microSD card, which will have to be purchased separately.
From 64 GB of storage, you start to be more comfortable, especially if you choose cloud storage services like Dropbox, One Drive or Google One. As always, it is your uses that determine your needs. If you play a lot on your mobile and capture videos in 4K, we recommend a smartphone with at least 128 GB of storage.
Conversely proportional autonomy
The more you pay for your smartphone, the more you expect it to push the limits in all areas. Unfortunately, this is not the case in terms of autonomy. Admittedly, there are high-end models with very good autonomy, but the less expensive models generally fare better on this front. But then, how do we explain that Jamy? Explanations in the next paragraph.
The explanation is actually quite logical. The most affordable smartphones are equipped with less powerful processors and therefore less energy-consuming. Their screen definition may also be less than that of high-end models. However, their battery capacity is often equal to or greater than that of high-end models. The calculation is therefore quick to do, entry-level and mid-range mobiles have, overall, greater autonomy than high-end models.
What are the best smartphones by brand?
Almost perfect
The best of Apple
All powerful
Leader or challenger?
We all have our little habits, including when it comes to choosing your smartphone brand. Whether it is the same manufacturer as the model we had previously, or the trust we place in a known brand, the criteria are more or less subjective. Choosing well-established brands known to the general public can obviously reassure, unlike a young brand that has just arrived on the market.
But trusting a lesser-known builder also has its advantages. These brands often offer cheaper products and are more dynamic in terms of innovations, because they are precisely trying to stand out from the competition. They are the ones who shake up the established order in the face of leaders who sometimes rest on their laurels. Grass is not always greener elsewhere, but giving confidence to new brands can bring good surprises.
The importance of after-sales service and updates
Buying a good smartphone is good, buying a good smartphone that is regularly updated is better! Again, the brand's reputation is at stake. There is nothing more frustrating than paying a phone several hundred euros to realize a year later that it will no longer receive the latest updates. . Apple and iOS clearly have a head start on this point, although Android is improving year by year on this point. In general, high-end models benefit from longer support for updates, but each brand is to be studied on a case-by-case basis.
The question of after-sales service is also important. If your phone has a hardware problem, be aware that you can take advantage of the legal warranty of conformity up to two years after your purchase. The fact that the manufacturer has physical stores can also reassure you if you prefer to meet the sellers of the brand more directly rather than going only via the internet.
The interface, a story of taste
The first choice available to you concerns iOS or Android. Apple's interface takes advantage of the brand's entire ecosystem. Your iPhone will be perfectly synchronized with a MacBook, an iPad or an Apple Watch. An undeniable strong point. If you prefer Android, you will have to choose from the different manufacturer interfaces. They all bring their share of interesting functionalities and customizations. The rest will be a matter of taste compared to the design of each of these interfaces.
One of the great strengths of Android is that it is possible to change this interface very easily by installing "alternative application launchers" which you will find very easily on the Play Store. To name a few: Nova Launcher, Evie Launcher or Niagara Launcher. Well-known brands also offer them, such as Microsoft for example. They all have more than enough free versions, and paid versions if you want to take personalization even further.
Different prices for the same brand
You may have your favorite brand, that does not mean that all of its smartphones from this manufacturer are of the same quality. With the exception of a few brands, all offer entry-level, mid-range and high-end models, at prices ranging from 150 to sometimes more than 1,000 euros. If the interface is identical, this is not the case for the design and the on-board components. A manufacturer who excels in the design of high-end mobiles may not be very competitive on the more affordable models.
This is precisely why we offer our guides to the best smartphones by brand, price, use, etc. No manufacturer is able to outperform its competitors across all price ranges. For this reason, we advise you to reason in tariff range rather than in brands when the time comes to choose your phone. To help you, do not hesitate to consult our various files.
What is the best smartphone by use?
Indestructible
Night photo
The photo-price quality ratio
What is your way of life?
A question of common sense that it is however necessary to remember. Too often, we get carried away by the “hype” of marketing and novelty, and end up buying a smartphone that doesn't really meet our daily needs. If you work in an office, you probably won't need the same phone as a mountain guide. Asking yourself the question of your real needs is therefore the first step towards a reasoned choice of a mobile that corresponds to your real needs.
If you work on construction sites, a rugged smartphone capable of withstanding falls on concrete and extreme temperatures is surely a wise choice. It may not be the most designer model in the store, but you can use it serenely without fear of breaking it at the slightest shock. Same thing if you are a fan of extreme sports. A model also capable of taking good videos can be a good idea if you want to film your exploits.
Which traveler are you?
If you travel regularly, chances are you will want to bring back some nice souvenir photos. It is often said that the best camera is the one you have with you. On this point, smartphones have clearly won the battle against conventional cameras. If you prefer to travel light, chances are you will leave your DSLR at home for your phone. It is still necessary that it ensures in photo to immortalize your round the world.
But traveling also involves risks for your mobile. This is where we face a dilemma: the most gifted smartphones in photos are far from being the most resistant, and vice versa. There remains the option of protective shells, even if they never offer the same degree of security as the best shockproof phones. Again, the type of travel you enjoy will determine the most suitable phone.
The best is the enemy of good
We all like to have a choice. This feeling of being free to compare and take the time to choose what you need. But too many choices can also paralyze us. If you are presented with two models of smartphones, you will be able to quickly determine which one you want. Unfortunately, there are now thousands of references. When writing Clubic, we test a lot of models each year, and offering you a selection of the best models is not always easy.
Our advice is therefore the following: never regret your choices. Whether you take a few minutes or several weeks to decide, stop comparing once your decision is made. The smartphone market is going very fast, and new models are coming out every day. The important thing is that you are satisfied with your new mobile, and that it does perfectly what you ask.
Day or night?
In favorable light conditions, all of our smartphones are now able to take excellent photos. But if there is one point on which the high-end models stand out from the others, it is that of the night photo. In this little game, the mobiles that we qualify as “ultra-premium” clearly stand out from the competition. A specific use which is far from rare. We all ended up in the evening with photos of poor quality, because the lighting was not optimal and our phone simply did not go the distance.
The best mobiles for capturing night photos can now be counted on the fingers of one hand. These are generally models at 700 € or more. They take advantage of a night mode using several sensors, a longer exposure time, and very advanced software optimization. So much so that some smartphones are capable of capturing images that are brighter than what the human eye can perceive. If night photography is an important criterion for you, you now know what to expect.
Which smartphone format to choose?
The latest from Apple
Compact and enduring
One or two hands?
Some may remember Steve Jobs who praised iPhone screens that could be browsed from one end to the other with one hand. Water to flow under the dots, and all smartphones, Android or iOS, today display generous diagonals, often above 6 inches. Screen borders may have shrunk, but that doesn't make them less difficult to use with one hand. Some "compact" models below the 6 inch bar still do, provided you don't have small hands.
The border between models that can be used with one hand and those that are not is tiny. Beyond the diagonal itself, many criteria come into play, such as the thinness of the borders, the screen format or the interface. We come back to these last two points a little below. The best way to find out is to try it out. We therefore advise you to take charge of the telephone you wish to acquire, in certain department stores or the shops of mobile operators for example.
Bigger = bigger battery?
Yes, in the vast majority of cases. If we can question the ever more impressive size of our smartphones, this has the advantage of leaving more room to integrate large capacity batteries. This translates into an increase in overall autonomy, even if the power of the on-board processors or the screen refresh rate can undermine this gain in endurance.
But this increase in autonomy hides a sadder observation: battery technologies are struggling to evolve on our mobiles. Increasing their capacity seems for the moment the most viable large-scale solution according to the manufacturers. Also note that a larger battery is a heavier smartphone, which can be annoying once in hand, and of course in your pocket (if you have pants large enough).
Attention to the screen format
Size matters, but be careful not to overlook the format. The 16: 9 has long reigned supreme in the world of smartphones. But our hands have not grown as quickly as screens, brands have found a way to keep phones usable: switch to a longer screen format, higher. This is how the 18: 9 and 21: 9 formats came into being.
The goal is twofold: aesthetic and practical. Thus, the 18: 9 format makes it possible to optimize the screen-to-frame ratio while reducing the borders of the screen. The elongated format is also more comfortable to use with one hand, and highlights multimedia uses such as watching movies or video games. If these two uses are not in your habits,
More or less adapted interfaces
Increasing the diagonal of the screens is one thing, adapting the interface accordingly is another. In this little game, some manufacturers are doing better than others. This is particularly the case of Samsung and its new One UI interface which succeeded the venerable TouchWiz. Concretely, this results in icons positioned lower on the screen, and shortcuts accessible from the edge of the slab. The result is a very user-friendly interface, even with one hand.
If all the interfaces do not have even the turn of the big screens, it is only a matter of time before everyone gets started. Again, the ability to greatly customize Android using alternative application launchers allows you to get around the "problem" and create an interface to your tastes.
What are the best Android smartphones?
The best of the be
The choice of writing
Value for money
Wait, save
New smartphone models are released at such a speed that an "old model" may be as old as a few months. The good news is that it will allow you to do good business! How? 'Or' What ? By taking advantage of the lower price of the old model (which objectively is still very good) that leads to its replacement. This is particularly interesting on the high-end products released last year, which can be bought for several hundred euros cheaper, and which remain excellent phones.
But it will ask you to take it upon yourself. Yes, the latest model is better. But did you really need it until it came out last week? This is proof that we are buying in a completely irrational way. Ask yourself and step back before your purchases to always save money.
Learn before you buy
As it is not easy to find your way in the high-tech jungle, informing yourself is the first thing to do before choosing your Android smartphone. That's great, sharing the best information and advice on new technologies is the reason for Clubic. In order to avoid unpleasant surprises, it is always best to consult our columns, and in particular our tests, to have enough information before acting on your soul and conscience. So you've come to the right place.
Recycle
I would not lecture you on the need to reason your purchases in order to pollute less, save the planet (and ourselves). But before you even recycle your “old” smartphone, ask yourself the question: do I really need a new one? If the answer is yes, look at the solutions available to recycle your mobile. Whether to give it a second life by reselling it, offering it to someone close to you, or simply sending it for recycling, it is always better than keeping it in a drawer for it to collect the dust. . Sorry for the nostalgic ones who still have their 3210 in a cupboard.
Have you thought about the occasion?
In the logical continuation of recycling your old smartphones, have you thought of acquiring your new model on the second-hand market? It's a great way to save money while extending the life of an existing product. If this scares you, know that today there are very serious sites that specialize in second-hand products, like Blackmarket or Recommence, with after-sales service and guarantees ranging from 6 to 24 months. You will see for yourself that it is possible to save several hundred euros on products which came out a few months ago, which have been used very little, and which are still in excellent condition.
Comment Me Your Favorite Smartphone😊❤
No comments: