Which is the right smartphone for you? (Early 2018 edition)
With so many choices out there, it can be hard deciding which is the right smartphone for you. But after reviewing almost every phone released this year, we have a pretty good idea of which smartphone best fits which person. Let's get started.
You're on a budget
You're on a budget, but you want an all-display smartphone
You love music
You want the biggest display
You want to shoot sports photography
You want the latest Android features
You love portrait photography
You want to be able to change your smartphone's features
You're concerned about phone security
You want to shoot carefree and fast
The Xiaomi Mi A1 is almost like a budget version of a Google Pixel phone, as it runs on pure Android OS.
For just S$349, you also get a full metal build, a 5.5-inch Full HD display, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 processor, expandable storage, and a dual rear-camera wide-angle and telephoto lens setup.
Read: Our full review of the Xiaomi Mi A1 here.
Check: Latest retail prices here.
The ASUS ZenFone 5 has a 6.2-inch Full HD+ LCD display with a notch in it that makes it look very similar to an iPhone X. It also has a dual rear camera setup pairing a 12-megapixel f/1.8 lens with an 8-megapixel f/2.2 120-degree wide-angle lens. The front-facing camera is an 8-megapixel f/2.0 83-degree lens. The phone is powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 636 processor with 4GB RAM. Best of all, it's available now for just S$488.
Read: Hands-on with the ZenFone 5.
Watch: Unboxing the ZenFone 5!
While headphone jacks continue to disappear from smartphones, LG has taken the opposite approach, fitting an audiophile quality 32-bit Quad DAC into its latest LG V30+.
The V30+ is also the first smartphone to support the MQA (Master Quality Audio) format. MQA is a high quality file format that boasts a better compression ratio for high-res audio than FLAC, but without the data loss associated with lossy file types like MP3. Instead, MQA repackages high frequency audio data into superfluous bits of data inherent in hi-res audio files.
Read: Our review of the LG V30+.
Check: The latest retail price here.
The Samsung Galaxy Note8's bezel-less Infinity Display design means it can cram a huge 6.3-inch 19:9 aspect display into a much smaller body.
The Note8 is also one of the most feature-packed smartphones available, with an IP68 build, always on OLED display, dual rear camera with OIS on both lenses, wireless fast charging, 4G+ LTE Cat 16 support, and of course, its signature S-Pen stylus.
Read: Our full review of the Samsung Galaxy Note8 here.
Check: The latest retail prices here.
The Sony Xperia XZ2's Motion Eye rear camera comes with a unique feature set that makes it ideal for shooting fast-moving subjects. The 19-megapixel, f/2.0 camera has a special DRAM memory element built into the sensor itself, which allows it to buffer up to three full-resolution images at all times. You can capture these images, as well as a fourth shot, by pressing the shutter button. The buffered images means that even if your reflexes are a bit slow, you'll never miss a shot.
The Motion Eye camera is also capable of capturing super slow motion footage at 960FPS in Full HD quality - other phones are only capable of HD quality super slow motion.
Read: Our full review here.
Check: The latest retail prices here.
If you're a fan of all things Google, the Pixel 2 XL is the phone for you. As Google's own phone, it runs on pure Android and will always receive the latest Android updates and features first.
You can also be sure that it is the best companion for other Google hardware, like Google's language translating Pixel Buds bluetooth earphones.
Read: Our full review of the Google Pixel 2 XL here.
Check: The latest retail prices here. The phone is however only officially available via Singtel.
Most smartphones are now capable of taking great photos, but Apple's iPhone X is a step above everyone else. Its dual rear camera setup features OIS on both lenses, which lets it take great wide-angle and telephoto shots even in low-light environments, and it also has excellent software, with some of the best HDR and metering out there.
But the X's best asset is how well it does portrait photography. Its True Tone flash cleverly adjusts color temperature and intensity based on its analysis of the scene so skin tones always look natural, and its Portrait Mode background blurring and Portrait Lighting lets you shoot the best portrait photography you can achieve without a DSLR and a studio setup.
Read: Our full review here.
Check: The latest retail prices here (64GB, 256GB).
Google and LG may have abandoned their modular smartphone plans, but Motorola has been able to carve out a niche in the market with the unique Z2 Play.
On the back of the Z2 Play sixteen magnetic pins allow you to attach one of Motorola's MotoMods modules. These hot swappable modules let you change the capabilities of your phone, letting you attach a secondary battery, a JBL sound system, a Polaroid instaprinter, a Hasselblad camera with x10 zoom, a Pico mini projector, and many other things.
Read: Our hands-on with the Moto Z2 Play here.
If you're looking for the most secure phone out there, the BlackBerry KeyOne Black Edition is probably it. BlackBerry focuses on enterprise-level security down to the hardware-level with unique security keys added to the processor of every KeyOne which can track, verify, and provision each device. The KeyOne also features FIPS 140-2 compliant full disk encryption, which is a U.S. government-grade encryption that protects your private information if your phone is lost or stolen.
BlackBerry also has a dedicated security research and response team to continuously monitor for security threats and is one of the fastest to release security patches whenever a vulnerability is discovered.
Read: Our full review here.
Sometimes, auto mode just doesn't cut it and you end up modifying your shots with filters or re-shoot with other desired settings/modes.
Now, there's a smarter way to shoot with the Huawei P20 Pro. Using their HiSilicon Kirin 970 chipset with a dedicated NPU for AI processing, it performs real-time scene/object recognition to apply one of the 13 scene modes and optimize settings for your intended shot. It also has an amazing AI-powered night mode.
Read: Huawei P20 Pro review.
Check: The latest retail prices here.
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