Phones

A seven-year-old phone that looks and runs amazingly well with Ubuntu Touch.

Impressive privacy hardware and fast software, but expensive, short on apps and unlikely to challenge Android.

A 2019 mid-ranger running Sailfish OS, which he calls his favourite Linux software so far.

Loved the packaging and accessories, with only a minor gripe that the back looks flatter than the teaser images.

Impressed by the packaging and custom accessories at a normal-phone price, though the look is not to his personal taste.

A high-grade accessory set that has little to do with the phone, which is top-end in places and mid-range in others.

His favourite so far for its classy black and gold simplicity, but the car-bonnet shape and software would not suit him long term.

Likes most of the design and would see a fan being happy, but finds the box fairly standard and the themed icons lacking.

Innovative showpiece with disappearing cameras, but he sees little practical benefit and says it is not the most exciting concept phone.

Impressed by Vivo's phone whose whole back panel can change colour on command through electrochromic glass.

Thinks the rollable concept solves almost every problem of foldables and is a step beyond them.

Sees sense in earphones built into a phone but is unsure it would succeed commercially.

Finds Vivo's detachable camera weird and unconvincing, but certainly not boring.

Sees a single retractable zoom camera as a game-changing fix for the three-lens compromise.

Had some good ideas, but the dual screen solved no real problem and the phone was too expensive.

He admires the e-ink vision, but Android's power draw meant the battery benefit was far smaller than claimed.

Curved design and self-healing back were interesting ideas, but the healing was underwhelming in his scratch test.

Smaller, subtler and with noticeably better self-healing than the original, though still imperfect.

A rare Project Tango phone that was overtaken when Google's ARCore made the extra sensors unnecessary.

Astonishingly thin at 5.2mm, but thinness stopped mattering once durability problems hit the industry.

A really good, blissfully fast phone that just misses top-tier camera quality, but is cheaper.

Impressive camera and powerful, but hard to justify over £700 given how good the alternatives are.

Exceptional hardware with a great camera and battery, but the lack of Google apps and Huawei's chip supply problems make it hard to commit…

Surprisingly well-rounded phone whose gimbal camera gives the most stable video on a smartphone, especially in low light.