It seems like every week we hear about the launch of a new phone. Faster this! Thinner that! It can get exhausting quickly, and if you’re not paying attention, the scenery can change quite quickly before you. Since the iPhone’s launch in 2007, thousands of new smartphones have been released, each iterating on what came before and adding new features along the way.
If you’ve been too busy with your life, you might be feeling confused about the current state of the smartphone market. So with Christmas just around the corner and many Vodafone customers looking to upgrade their old phones, what are the best phones on the net for all budgets?
Top of the range: iPhone 6s, Xperia Z5, Galaxy S6 Edge +
We have included three phones in this section, because when you spend money each month on a phone, you want to make sure it will continue to please you for the next two years. After all, there is nothing quite as annoying as getting a new phone only to find that it doesn’t work the way you’d like it to.
First there’s the iPhone 6s and, well, it’s the latest iPhone. It comes in 16, 32, and 64GB flavors, as well as a larger Plus variant. While new features like ‘Force Touch’ are kind of a gimmick at the moment, it doesn’t take away from the fact that this is the most capable iPhone yet. Powerful, slim, and with a great camera and screen, it’s a great phone. Battery life, however, is still a disappointment and if you don’t like iOS on any other Apple device, you’re still not going to like it here.
The Sony Xperia Z5 is a criminally underrated device. It’s completely waterproof with a beautiful design, not to mention blazing fast, has a great camera, two days of battery life, and a beautiful display. Its battery is sealed in line with that of the iPhone, but it comes with a micro-SD slot to expand its memory, so you’ll have plenty of room for all your music, photos, and videos. Don’t worry about a fingerprint reader either, because you have one.
Finally, there is the Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge +. His name may be a mouthful, but he’s a worthy contender. If you are looking at the iPhone 6s Plus and wondering what your competition is, look no further. The Edge + has perhaps the most beautiful design and build quality of any smartphone, a huge battery, an excellent camera, a nice fingerprint reader, and great pacing. It also has a wild immersive screen that features a number of nifty tricks to impress your friends.
Mid-range: Xperia Z5 Compact
Our first pick for the mid-range phone of choice is the Xperia Z5 Compact. We picked the Z5 as one of our top-end picks, but I don’t think the Compact is the inferior device. It has the same processor and camera and is just as beautiful and well built. In fact, the only change is its size (it has a very comfortable 4.6 “screen to use). So if you want a smaller smartphone with great power, this is the place.
Budget: Moto G (2015)
Once upon a time, buying a good smartphone meant spending a lot of money. These days, however, you can spend a little and get a lot of what makes those expensive smartphones great. Our example is the Moto G. Made by (you guessed it) Motorola, the device has a 5 “HD screen, a beautiful 13MP camera, a clean build of the latest version of Android, a fast processor, waterproof case and a great battery It doesn’t do everything previous phones do, but if you want a smartphone on a budget, this phone will impress you like no other.