Every year, popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (better known as MKBHD) holds his Smartphone Awards, where he selects the best smartphones in various categories. Last year, while the iPhone was awarded in three different categories, Apple’s smartphone lost the attention of its competitors this year’s awards.
like last year, MKBHD has set several award categories for smartphones. They are:
- The Best Big Phone
- The best small phone
- Best Camera System
- Best Battery
- Design Award
- Value Award
- bust of the year
- MVP (Phone of the Year)
Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of Android smartphones vying for the awards, while Apple currently only sells eight different iPhone models, and only five of them were released this year. Of course, while the awards are based on MKBHD’s own criteria, it has taken into account both the technical aspects and personal experience with each device competing for the awards.
So how does the iPhone compare to other Android smartphones?
The Best Big Phone
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is definitely a big phone with a 6.7-inch screen. However, MKBHD named Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra as the Best Large Phone of 2022. According to the YouTuber, the S22 Ultra uses software optimized for the big screen, a 5,000mAh battery and a large 6.8-inch screen. four camera lenses on the back of the phone.
MKBHD also praised ASUS ROG Phone 6, is considered a gaming smartphone in the same category as it has “massive, stereo front-facing speakers” and a headphone jack. The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 earned the honor of having the same thickness as a regular phone when folded.
The best small phone
Last year, Apple won Best Small Phone with the iPhone 13 mini. After all, there aren’t many small phones left on the market, and the iPhone 13 mini was essentially an iPhone 13 with premium hardware inside a 5.4-inch display. But this year, Apple killed off the iPhone mini and replaced it with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.
Thus, it is the winner of the Best Small Phone of 2022 Asus Zenfone 9. With a 5.9-inch screen, it’s certainly not as small as the iPhone 13 mini, but it’s much smaller than most smartphones today. With flagship features, a “surprisingly great camera”, headphone jack and good battery life, MKBHD says the Zenfone 9 is “easily the best phone in its size”.
Oppo Find N2, a foldable phone, takes the honorable mention in this category because it looks quite compact when folded.
Best Camera System
Choosing the best smartphone camera can be extremely subjective, especially since there are different criteria for photos and videos, and everyone has their own preferences when it comes to color levels and sharpness. A few days ago, MKBHD shared the results of a blind smartphone camera testhere Google’s Pixel 6A model was the first, and the Pixel 7 Pro was the second.
But what about the advantages of MKBHD? While he praised the photos taken with the Pixel 7 and Vivo X90 Pro+, iPhone 14 Pro Max won this year’s Best Camera System award.
The YouTuber says the iPhone has a more solid camera experience, including how fast it is to open the Camera app and take a photo, compatibility between all lenses, and how good the device is at shooting video compared to all Android smartphones.
Best Battery
Best Battery 2022 winner ASUS ROG Phone 6. As it is considered a smartphone for gamers, ASUS puts a 6000 mAh battery inside the phone. At the same time, it supports fast charging up to 65W, which allows users to charge the battery from 0% to 100% in less than an hour.
Last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max won the Best Battery award, and many other reviews praised last year’s iPhone’s battery life despite the addition of a 120Hz display. However, the iPhone 14 Pro Max failed to deliver the same battery experience as the iPhone 13 Pro Max, as Apple kept the battery the same size and added Always-On Display.
Interestingly, Marquez praised the battery life iPhone 14 PlusIt beats the iPhone 14 Pro Max because it has a regular 60Hz display with no always-on feature. As a result, the iPhone 14 Plus consumes less energy than the Pro model.
Design Award
The design category is also quite subjective and even MKBHD agrees. And this is the smartphone that won the Design Award in 2022 Nothing Phone. When viewed from the side, the Nothing Phone resembles one of the latest iPhone models. However, the clear back of the Nothing Phone is full of LEDs that can be used for many things like notifications and flashlight when you’re shooting.
“It definitely straddles the line between gimmick and feature. […] I think it’s really neat. I think you can see how much battery you have while charging. […] Little things like that. You don’t see a lot of phones trying new things.”
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 won an honorable mention in the design category for being a foldable phone that looks sturdier than other foldable phones.
Value Award
Last year, Google’s Pixel 6 won the Value Award, and this year, the award pixel 7. MKBHD claims that the Pixel 7 is the best in its $599 price range and even surpasses more expensive flagships in terms of features. “So good that he made it [Pixel] The 7 Pro kind of feels like it’s not such a good deal,” he said.
The ASUS Zenfone 9 again took home an honorable mention in the Value Award category for offering a “truly unique combination” of a 120Hz display for $699.
bust of the year
The bust of 2021 was Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2, which has two separate screens and went on sale for $1,500. But this year he chose MKBHD OnePlus 10T As Bust of the Year for having “a very large delta between expectations and capabilities and actual results”.
MVP (Phone of the Year)
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra model won the 2021 Phone of the Year. What about this year? 2022 winner Google Pixel 7. As mentioned earlier, MKBHD says the Pixel 7 is a great value with good cameras, display and battery, plus a “flagship software experience”, while it’s cheaper than other premium smartphones.
With similar arguments, ASUS Zenfone 9 was chosen as the Phone of the Year. MKBHD was chosen in third place Galaxy S22 Ultra It’s also one of the best phones available in 2022 for this category, which it defines as “boring” and “expensive”.
wrapping
Out of three categories in 2021, the iPhone has now been awarded in only one category in 2022. However, MKBHD noted that it prefers the iPhone camera for its excellent video quality.
As for the photos, MKBHD already said in their videos iPhone 14 Pro’s camera exaggerates post-process effects like HDR, which makes some photos look very unrealistic – and I personally agree with that.
What are your thoughts on the results? Have a different list than MKBHD for the best phones of 2022? Let us know in the comment section below.
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