Top 20 BEST Smartphones of 2017!

Innovative rear second screen, but it lacks third-party support so is hard to recommend.

Huge battery and decent specs at a fair price, but too chunky for most people.

Good phone, but battery, fiddly dual camera and high price make it a tough sell over the S8 Plus unless you love the Note line.

Impressive but underwhelming, with a lower screen-to-body ratio than the original and cheaper rivals catching up fast.

Powerful and tough, but gesture navigation feels like a first-gen product that takes more effort.

Consolidated hardware and software, but dated big bezels and poor battery life aren't enough in 2017.

Dated design and weak battery life let it down in 2017.

Ticks many boxes with probably the best phone audio, but weak low-light camera and a patchy OLED display.

Nice to hold but only okay across the board and late to the game.

Impressive build and display at first, but clunky UI, fake dual camera and poor battery wear thin.

Not perfect, but a lesser-known phone he was thoroughly impressed by for build, dual cameras and display.

Leica dual camera gives Instagram-ready photos in a compact, premium body with a standout finish.

Powerful speakers, but dated design based on the 2016 Nextbit Robin and a weak camera nearly cost it a top-5 spot.

Amazing value and near-perfect price to performance, held back only by thick bezels and superseded by the 5T.

Good price-to-performance and premium build, but Chinese software and sideloading the Play Store put off Western buyers.

Good price-to-performance and premium build, but Chinese software and sideloading the Play Store put off Western buyers.

Full package for $250 and his pick for best budget bezel-less phone of 2017.

Fifth place: small, AI-assisted phone with a superb OLED display, camera, battery and performance.

Fourth place: handles fundamentals well, looks good, has one of the best cameras and is better value than the Note 8.

Third place: staggering value at around $100 with 4K video, a 21MP camera and a deca-core CPU.

Second place: controversial screen issues, but great software and his main device for weeks.

First place: improves display and camera at the same price and stands toe-to-toe with the best phones at half the cost.