Phones

A very close runner-up for best compact phone, with good looks, performance and cameras better than the specs suggest.

An impressive, clever compact phone that he loves for its size, though battery, camera and price show why small phones remain a niche.

Xiaomi's camera-focused flagship wins more categories than the iPhone, with excellent rear cameras and a great screen, but a washed-out fro…

A surprisingly capable budget phone that feels like a flagship on the surface, only losing out for power users on performance, camera and b…

The fastest Android phone, with huge battery life, loud speakers and fast charging, but not enough to make an iPhone user switch.

Best compact phone of 2023, with long battery life, a headphone jack, microSD and a physical camera button.

Wins best battery award by matching the Xperia 5 V's battery life at $400, though the naming is poor.

Loved it as stylish with an awesome camera, but it is China-only.

A tier below, but really good and arguably much better value for money.

Wins most improved phone: strong specs at around $700, though camera processing needs work.

Like the S23 with a bigger battery, but the nearly two-year-old Exynos 2200 chip makes $600 hard to justify.

Gaming phone of the year, with top performance, huge battery life and a great accessory ecosystem.

Best budget phone: prioritises the right hardware, with a good chipset, flagship-feeling screen and a respectable 108MP camera.

Densely specced for an upper mid-range price, but lacks water resistance and wireless charging, and the invisible selfie camera performs te…

The nicest phone he has held, with brilliant hardware and software, and a surprise in-house 5G Kirin chip, though app support remains janky.

A decadent-looking flagship with excellent cameras, though it uses a nerfed 4G Qualcomm chip.

Exceptionally smart with a great telephoto camera, software and battery life, but held back by weak video, thermals and unfinished features…

The best iPhone Flagship, with great cameras and bright displays, though it gets hot when gaming.

Slimmer and lighter than his 14 Pro Max, with the best battery life of any phone he has used day to day.

Sponsored video: he says he will not switch to it, but is glad such an affordable flip phone with a good front flash and a barely visible c…

His main phone mostly for the Apple ecosystem and video quality, though he is not hugely impressed with this generation.

Still the best phone if you want a lot of battery life, beating every Android phone, though it is not cheap.

Its camera and software hold up impressively even on a heavy cinema-style rig, with strong low-light video and balanced exposure.

A vlogging-focused phone that finally puts as much effort into the front camera as the rear, with some fun AI features.