With our increasing mobility and addiction to information, smartphones—our powerful pocket computers that help us create, locate, communicate, and vegetate—have become an indispensable part of modern life. Our reliance on these wireless wonders will only increase as they become increasingly intelligent, filtering our data and predicting precisely when we’ll need it most, even performing actions on our behalf, eventually. This is why it is so important to pick the phone that best serves you—at least until the roles are reversed.
[SIZE=4]Updates[/SIZE]
Our small team is spread thin trying to test and evaluate an endless barrage of new products. We did finish our review of Motorola’s third-generation Moto G, and found it to be a solid offering with excellent battery life. The Moto E provides better value, but for an extra $100 the Moto G gives you a bigger screen, more internal storage and RAM, and much better cameras.
We also (finally) finished looking at the LG G4. It’s certainly a nice phone, but it falls behind Apple’s and Samsung’s flagships in most categories. Unlike most premium phones, however, it still comes with both a removable battery and microSD card support.
While neither the Moto G nor G4 displace our current top picks, it’s fall and change is in the air. Both the Moto X Pure Edition and Apple’s new iPhones have left positive first impressions. Samsung has done a good job matching, or even surpassing, Apple’s hardware, design, and features, so the choice between Galaxy and iPhone will likely come down to overall user experience.
There are many factors to consider when choosing a smartphone: size, performance, features, software, price. Our comprehensive reviews give you the knowledge and data to make informed decisions, but if you do not have the time to read our smartphone novellas, or feel overwhelmed by all the charts and numbers, we also give you a shortcut. Every month, we publish our top picks in several different categories and tell you what makes these particular phones stand out.
While we could categorize phones based on ecosystem (Apple, Google, Microsoft) or screen size, we decided to differentiate based on price, with one exception. Our recommendations cover three different price tiers: Low-End (less than $200), Mid-Range ($200 - $500), and Flagship (more than $500). We also include a separate Phablet category for phones that make the best use of their larger screens.
To gain a better understanding of how we evaluate display, audio, camera, system, gaming, and battery performance, please readHow We Test Smartphones And Tablets.
[SIZE=4]About Our Recommendations[/SIZE]
[ul]
[li]We only recommend smartphones we’ve actually tested.[/li][li]We only review phones for sale in the North American market.[/li][li]Our recommendations are based on data that we’ve collected and our own subjective experiences. We recognize that our readers are diverse, however, with different needs, preferences, and opinions, so our best picks may not be the best for you.[/li][li]The list is based on full retail U.S. prices from online retailers. We do not list carrier subsidized prices, because it’s not fair to phones that are only offered unlocked at full price (Also, why should we have to sign a two-year contract just to buy a computer?).[/li][li]The prices are for new phones only, not used or open-box.[/li][li]Prices and availability change on a daily basis, but the embedded green links provide real-time pricing.[/li][/ul]
[SIZE=5]Best Smartphones[/SIZE]
[SIZE=4]Best Low-End Smartphone[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Motorola Moto E (2nd gen) 4G LTE[/SIZE]
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$94.70On Amazon
[SIZE=3]2015 Editor Recommended[/SIZE]
Motorola’s second generation Moto E offers a polished smartphone experience for a low price. While there’s a less expensive 3G-only version, it’s worth paying a little extra for the 4G LTE capable model that also comes with a speedier Snapdragon 410 SoC—the same processor powering the latest Moto G. The 8GB of onboard storage is typical at this price point, but this can be expanded with an inexpensive microSD card. Its long-lasting battery will go a day or more between charges (depending on use), and Motorola even calibrates the 4.5-inch display—something we did not expect in this price range—giving it an edge in color accuracy. The Moto E also is bloatware free and offers a pure Android experience.
Like other phones in this category, camera performance is not great. Low-light image quality suffers the most, since there’s no LED flash. In good lighting, images from the 5 MP rear camera are suitable for sharing on social media, but you’ll still want a dedicated camera for important shots.Read the Full Review
[SIZE=4]Best Mid-Range Smartphone[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Asus ZenFone 2[/SIZE]
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$299.00On Newegg
[SIZE=3]2015 Editor Recommended[/SIZE]
Asus, a company better known for its PC hardware, also makes a smartphone that tops its competitors in performance and price. The Intel Atom powered phone was the first to ship with 4GB of RAM and offers real-world performance and battery life similar to flagship devices that cost several hundred dollars more. Headphone audio quality also equals that of much more expensive devices, and while it only has a single rear-mounted external speaker, it’s one of the best implementations we’ve ever heard. The Dual Active SIM support means you can keep your personal phone number separate from your work number, with both numbers active at the same time. There’s also microSD support if the 64GB of internal storage proves insufficient. If price is your primary criteria, there’s also a version that comes with a slower Atom Z3560 SoC, 2GB of RAM, and 16GB of internal storage for only $200.
Asus’ ZenUI Android skin offers customization options usually reserved for third-party launchers. It includes other useful features too, like a one-handed mode, but comes with a fair amount of bloatware. There’s also room for improvement when it comes to ergonomics: The top-mounted power button is hard to reach and the rear-mounted volume controls should be larger to make them easier to locate. The 1080p 5.5-inch IPS display is great to see at this price point, but its limited max brightness and high gamma curve make the screen appear a bit dark.Read the Full Review
[SIZE=4]Best Flagship Smartphone[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Samsung Galaxy S6[/SIZE]
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$606.94On Amazon
[SIZE=3]2015 Editor Recommended[/SIZE]
Samsung’s latest Galaxy phones are surrounded by controversy and packed with technology and features. The most obvious change is the sleek new design, incorporating an aluminum frame and glass back. Elevating form over function, Samsung sacrificed the removable battery, microSD slot, and IP67 environmental protection—the exact features that made the Galaxy S5 unique.
If you can live without those features, however, the new Galaxy comes packed with innovative hardware. The S6’s Exynos 7420 is the first SoC built on a 14nm FinFET process, it’s the first device to use the latest UFS 2.0 NAND storage, and it also uses the latest high-bandwidth LPDDR4 memory. All of this cutting edge tech makes the S6 the performance leader for this generation.
There’s other improvements as well, including an excellent QHD SAMOLED screen, a new touch-based fingerprint scanner, support for both Qi and PMA wireless charging standards, and a great camera. The new phone also includes Samsung Pay, Samsung’s secure mobile payment solution that works with standard magnetic stripe and NFC enabled terminals. The Galaxy S6 is expensive, but no other phone can match its performance, features, and technology.Read the Full Review
Alternate Flagship Pick
[SIZE=3]Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge[/SIZE]
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$575.01On Amazon
[SIZE=3]2015 Editor Recommended[/SIZE]
The Galaxy S6 now has a curvier sister, the Galaxy S6 edge, whose screen has dual-curved edges. Other than the curved screen and thinner, sharper feeling sides, the S6 edge includes all of the same hardware, features, and design language as the regular S6, which is why it shares the top spot.
The S6 edge does add a few software features that take advantage of the curved screen. Probably the most useful is People edge, which allows you to add up to five contacts, each with their own unique color, to a shortcut bar that’s accessible by swiping in from the edge of the screen. Tapping on a contact exposes various communication options. A like-colored tab appears at the edge of the screen when receiving a notification from one of these privileged people. The curved edge can also be used as a scrolling customizable ticker and bedside clock. These features can be handy, but the real allure of the curved screen is aesthetic.Read the Full Review
[SIZE=4]Best Phablet[/SIZE]
[SIZE=3]Samsung Galaxy Note 4[/SIZE]
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$492.46On Amazon
[SIZE=3]2015 Editors’ Choice[/SIZE]
Samsung’s Galaxy Note series helped popularize large phones, so it’s no surprise to see one at the top of our list. The Galaxy Note 4 is a great smartphone—excellent QHD 5.7-inch SAMOLED display, good performance, quality camera, and an attractive design that incorporates the best qualities of both aluminum and plastic—but it’s an even better phablet, with features that maximize the large display’s utility. Multi Window allows you to view and work with more than one app at the same time, and there’s special one-handed modes that shrink the entire screen or just the keyboard and dial pad, which make the large phone easier to handle. The S Pen, a stylus combined with an active digitizer, is what gives the Note its name and further sets it apart from its peers. Sure, you can write and digitize notes with the included OCR capability, but there’s also the Air command menu, which provides quick shortcuts to common stylus tasks, and Air view, which allows you to see previews of content before opening it. The Note 4 also includes power-user features like a removable battery and expandable storage with microSD cards.
The Note 4 is not perfect—the external speaker is lame, there’s some UI stuttering, and the slow-motion video modes are weak—but no other large-screened phone comes close to the Note 4’s features and utility.
for the full article
http://www.tomshardware.com/reviews/best-smartphones,4230.html#xtor=EPR-8886