Smartphone Awards 2017 Ft. MKBHD
Hey Whats up Guys (Marques Brownlee – MKBHD) here and welcome to The Smartphone Awards 2017!
It is almost the end of 2017 and there are a lot of phones released this year. The phones were from different manufacturers in different styles and in different price ranges with different features all kinds of stuff like that. So this show is the best way to figure out the best of the best of what has come out in last twelve months.
See Also: PlayStation Game of the Year 2017 Awards
See Also: Samsung Galaxy S9: Everything There is to Know.
So what we do here is I am (Marques Brownlee – MKBHD) to declare in each category a Winner. And also there are other some good ones I can declare a second place sort of runner-up which is also good in that category. Every single phone on this desk was released during 2017. So there is a lot to choose from. So lets Tech it!
Contents
Category No. 1 – Best Big Smartphone | Smartphone Awards 2017
So phones keep getting bigger every year. There is almost no way around that even with the shrinking bezels. I am a big phone person (me too and currently having Note 8 as my Daily Driver). There is a regular version and a plus version of a phone. I am taking the plus (+) the Extra Large (XL) – The Bigger One. So these are going to be the Best Phones that take the most advantage of having a large amount of space – big display, big battery, big features, etc. And the winner for that Category for 2017 is going to be SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 8.
The Note 8 does it all. It has been kind of stable big phone for a while in the lineup. The biggest reason I want a big phone is a big screen – Note 8 has that the best display on any phone. It has a pretty big battery. It has big optically stabilized duel cameras. It has a big stylus for those who are into that. Big specs. And of course, big software features to take advantage of being such a large phone.
See Also: Top 10 Most Amazing and Advanced Tips & Tricks of Note 8 S Pen (Stylus)
But there is a runner-up that came from actually a new player in the space. I mean it is new as you can get the existing space for the first time this year. And that happened to do a really good job of taking advantage of so much space on a phone and this is the RAZOR PHONE.
The Razor Phone is an awesome use being big. In a world of the super thin bezels, this phone is bigger than normal and shamelessly so to keep the huge bezels. Inside of in fits huge speakers which are pretty much best in class and also happens to have huge 4000 mAh battery. It doesn’t have quite as many big screen features as in Samsung Phone. It doesn’t have as much good screen multi-tasking phone. It doesn’t have the stylus and all that stuff. But it has just a good use of hardware department for being just a big phone. I really like it.
Category No. 2 – Best Small / Compact Phone | Smartphone Awards 2017
And this is a rare breed I am not going to lie. The compact smartphone is much less popular just because phones are getting that much bigger. So the definition of the compact phone has changed in size especially. But for me, the definition is still going to be one that keeps as many flagship features as possible in a small package. And so for that reason, the winner of this category is iPhone 8.
iPhone 8 is a legit flagship. It has all the high-end specs and almost every single feature of the iPhone 8+ except for the dual cameras and it is in the small package. If you are a small hand person you won’t have this the lightest smallest device possible – iPhone 8 is going to do that for you. It kind of overshadowed by the bigger iPhone X and even bigger iPhone 8 plus. But if you are looking for an obviously great camera, pretty solid IPS display, if you are still into Finger Print reader on the front and the touch ID is extremely fast I mean this thing is the complete best compact smartphone for you.
But if you are looking for runner-up in this category, I think it is going to be a slightly bigger phone but it is still the one that keeps all the flagship features of its big brother. That will the PIXEL 2.
The biggest complaint in iPhone 8 and iPhone 8+ is that you don’t get the exact camera in iPhone 8. On the other hand Pixel 2 has the exact same camera as Pixel 2 XL. It is a little bit boxy with little bit bigger bezels but you still get front-facing speakers; you still get a great display and you still get all the same specs and features as you do on Pixel 2 XL.
So there is another smaller version of the phone that does the things like its bigger brother. It might have a better screen than the XL. Also, another shout out for the Galaxy S8 is by far the best designed compact phone.
The S8+ is its bigger brother but you still get the infinity display and also all the same specs in the S8 phone. So again if you are in smaller phones all the features of the bigger brother will come for you.
Category No. 3 – Best Smartphone Camera | Smartphone Awards 2017
This is a good one. This year obviously everyone on this desk has a camera on the back and most people take most of the photos in their life with their smartphone camera. The winner for this category for this year is actually taken such good photos and videos that spoil me to the point the point where I didn’t wanna use some other phone this year because the camera just didn’t stack up. It was that good. It has always been good. But this year was particularly great. The Winner for Best Camera in a Smartphone is GOOGLE PIXEL 2.
This was a pretty easy one for me. The photos and videos from this guy, particularly photos were ridiculous from Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL. Awesome detail, dynamic range, sharpness, fast focus, image stabilization, low light performance – it is pretty much great in everything. It is just super easy to use. And on top of all of that Portrait Mode is incredible with one camera. So again it does the same thing in Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.
My runner-up for this I think does better videos just because 240 frames per second slow motion, high quality 1080p video is severely under-rated. That comes from the duel optically image stabilize camera-wielding iPhone X.
Not a lot of cameras are capable of what this thing is in ‘video department’ and it fits in your pocket which is awesome. But I think most importantly despite its exposure problems iPhone X photos have the best colors. Like if I can combine the Pixel 2’s image processing and dynamic range and portrait mode and sharpness and detail all of that with the iPhone’s colors – it totally wins.
See Also: PlayStation Game of the Year 2017 Awards
Category No. 4 – Best Budget Phone | Smartphone Awards 2017
This is going to be the one that gives you the most smartphone for the least amount of money. That is what it is all about. You can ask people everyone has a different definition of budget. If you say what is the cheap phone? Cheap means something different for everyone. But either look at – this winner has the best smartphone bank for the buck. The most for the least money. And that one is the ONEPLUS 5T.
And that is because for the price this thing really is a flagship. From the design, the all-metal built, thin bezels, the dual cameras, the high-end specs, 8 GB Ram, it is not skipping anywhere. It even keeps the headphone jack. We have seen phones casting 700, 800, 900 or even 1000 bucks. The OnePlus 5T does almost everything they all do and it starts at 499 bucks. That is a serious bank for the bucks and that is why wins the award for this year.
Now a lot of people might be thinking – wait a second – 500 bucks is not quite what I would consider the budget. And I agree again. Cheap is different for everyone. So I give my runner-up to MOTO G5+ which is still the best phone you can get under 300 bucks. In fact, it is probably close to 200 bucks now.
And I also want to mention HUAWEI HONOR 7X. All these phones are doing great for the money and I would repeat what I said before good phones are getting cheap – well not so much a $1000 flagships. But cheap phones are really getting good.
Category No. 5 – Best Battery Life | Smartphone Awards 2017
This one is pretty simple right. We look for the ones that have the longest lasting battery. That will last an entire day. Heavy users look for an onscreen long time and would take it off the charger early in the morning and not touch it again until late that night with no issues. The winner for that category has been the RAZOR PHONE.
So another award for the newcomer in 2017. Razor phone made a great use of that big space. They put a 4000 million power battery in here. And it surely lasted a really long time. They built this phone around gaming 8 gigs of RAM for gaming better. Big speakers because it made gaming better. Huge battery because gaming is really battery intensive. But a lot of those things just made it a better phone. So if you are not gaming all the time, Razor Phone still has a huge battery which it means it lasts almost forever. That is why it won the award for this year.
Also sort of runner-ups, two phones that lasted a long time. One is Pixel 2 XL with OLED display, stock android, huge battery, did great for it and lasted all for me. And also my iPhone 8+ is still the king of standby time. It has a huge battery and a smaller display because of all those bigger bezels. But it means it just lasts you for all day. If you use an iPhone you kind of know this thing is really good.
Category No. 6 – Best Design | Smartphone Awards 2017
This is kind of the one that has evolved all these years. It used to be the one with the craziest design. It used to be the best-built phone. This year in 2017 is I think is going to be the one that has the combo of design and build. And that is going to another newcomer for this year and it is the ESSENTIAL PHONE.
This one is my favorite and most polarizing phone of the year. I couldn’t really recommend it because when it first came out of short a couple of categories like the camera and battery life for the price they are trying to charge. But now they have dropped the price so much I think this is one of the best looking phones that came out and it is worth the price again. Ceramic back, titanium sides, and super thin bezels. Its notch really drew on me but I used to get with this phone. I liked it a lot. I think this one is overall the design award.
I have some runner-ups also and I will give that to iPhone X getting rid of the home button. The iPhone had huge forehead chin. Even it has notch but I quickly get used to it. Getting rid of the home button is the major step so far. So that gets the runner-up award. And I also give it to Galaxy S8 and S8+. The super clean design. The overhanging design from each side. It is not everybody favorite because of curved edges and some potential accidental screen touches but I think it is super-clean. And it is hard to argue just how good it looks being this class sandwiched and super sleek design.
Category No. 7 – Biggest Bust | Smartphone Awards 2017
There is a bust every year. I hate giving out this award because you want to be positive. You want to focus on the best of best because there is so much good. But some just stick out like a sore thumb and just are not a good use of space for some particular reasons. So the bust (worst phone) of the year 2017 is you probably saw coming is the HTC U ULTRA.
You know this one takes the cake for the worst phone of the year 2017. Just not a lot to say good about this one. I don’t want to spend a ton of time one it.
Category No. 8 – Biggest Comeback / Most Improved Phone| Smartphone Awards 2017
Sometimes you have to fall down hard to take you the next biggest step up and I think what the HTC did this year. Because then HTC U11 came out and it turned out to be great. This thing has a lot to be great.
This thing has a lot more going for it. It has obviously sweet color changing back which I am not a big fan of. But it generally was a really good phone. Much better camera. It didn’t add a headphone jack. It had speakers. Really nice display and software from HTC. These phones also introduced that ‘squeeze feature’ – the pressure sensitive sides to launch something that we also see in Pixel 2 and Pixel 2 XL.
Later in this year, HTC came out with HTC U11+. That was the more complete most impressive phone. That thing had even a better camera. It had even a better design.
Category No. 9 – The MVP / Most Valuable Phone| Smartphone Awards 2017
The Finale. The Best Phone to come out in the year 2017. There can only be one but there were so many great phones came out past 365 days. Pixel 2 highlights, LG V30 Probably the most underrated. OnePlus 5T doing big things with low prices. Even Huawei Mate 10 Pro fine on the radar. iPhone X making it way. So many big new names coming out. Razor Phone, Essential Phone stuff we didn’t expect to see. But there is only one MVP. The is only one most complete phone of the year. And my winner for that is the Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
This is actually the complete smartphone that came out this year. Honestly, the biggest problem I have with this device is the placement of the Fingerprint Reader. That is a nick pick for a lot of people. Everything else about this it is waterproof, it keeps the headphone jack, it has a stylus, it has a huge battery, it has great software experience, it has the best screen on any phone. It has dual cameras both are optically image stabilized. It has big specs. Lots of RAM. Fast processor. Loudspeakers. Expendable storage. This thing is Super Complete. It is expensive and I think a lot of people have trouble spending a thousand dollars on a phone. But if you were to, you would want it to be as complete as Note 8. So actually I don’t have a problem with its price.
See Also: 8 Mind-Blowing? Features of Samsung Galaxy Note 8 You Haven’t Heard of.
This would have also probably technically won the Comeback of the Player considering what happened with the Galaxy Note 7 which was bust of the year exploding in everyone’s pocket. Again if Samsung could have moved this fingerprint down a little bit I will be really happy. But Galaxy Note 8 is the MVP.
There are some runner ups too. My first runner-up for MVP is going to the Pixel 2 XL. This phone again has a lot going for it. It has the best Camera on any phone. Best Software. The fastest updates of course – already android 8.1. The fingerprint reader is in the right place. It does not have the headphone jack. It has great front-facing speakers. The display on the Pixel XL is only I kept it back. But this is the that I have used the longest time this year. My SIM card has been and as my daily driver for a couple of months. So I give the first runner-up to Pixel 2 XL.
And my honorable mention is going to be iPhone X. Just for finally shifting what it means to be an iPhone. Because honestly speaking being iPhone in my mind, before this thing came out, meant not having modern design and not having thin bezels on top and bottom. This changes that. This has modern design and thin bezels. Now it has also paved the way for other $1000 phones to come out. Now, this is so damn expensive. But I like that it has paved the way for future iPhones to be modern and clean in the design department that they haven’t been. So that is the good start.
So That is it!. That is the best of what comes out in 2017. Not a bad year if you ask me what has come out. Whether you are a person that has a preference for low budget phones or if you like big phones or compact phones, if you need all-day battery – whatever you are into; whatever you need from a smartphone you can probably get it. You can hardly press going wrong with something on this table right now.
See Also: PlayStation Game of the Year 2017 Awards
That is pretty much it. Until the next one Thank You for watching. Talk to you guys in the next one. PEACE!
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So what do you think which smartphone should be the MVP of 2017? Well I agree with Note 8.