Flagship smartphones of the year. Device screens - dimensions, quality, comparison

15.07.2019 Mistakes

Now let's take a look at the camera settings in the devices under test and let's get started.

Phone model	Number of megapixels	Angle (mm)	Lens aperture	Image stabilization
LG G2	13	30	F2.4	Optical
Nokia Lumia 1020	5/38	26	F2.2	Optical
Nokia Lumia 1520	20	26	F2.4	Optical
Camera FujiFilm X20	12	28	F2.0	Optical
Samsung Galaxy Camera 2	16	23	F2.8	Optical
Samsung Galaxy S5	16	31	F2.2	Digital
HTC One (M8)	4	28	F2.0	Optical
Samsung Galaxy Note 3	13	34	F2.2	Digital
Sony Xperia Z2	8/20	28	F2.0	Digital
Apple iPhone 5s	8	34	F2.2	Digital

Shooting conditions

Almost all photos were taken on smartphones in automatic mode (the touch focus was not used, and on the Sony Xperia Z2 they set "Smart mode" and manual, on the Nokia 1020 photos were taken in 5 MP and 38 MP modes), with automatic white balance, standard settings sharpness, color reproduction and maximum quality. Where it was possible to turn on optical or electronic stabilization in the settings, we turned it on. Each frame on the phone cameras was filmed from one position with a minimum time interval (about 5 seconds). We didn't try to get the perfect photo (using a tripod, for example) because the average person probably wouldn't bother with a mobile camera that much. The standard scheme of photographing - took out a gadget, launched the camera and took a picture.

Everything that will be described is a purely subjective point of view, based not on the results of your vote, but on your own experience.

Who where?

LG G2
Nokia Lumia 1020
Nokia Lumia 1520
Fujifilm X20
Samsung Galaxy Camera 2
Samsung Galaxy S5
HTC One (M8)
Nokia Lumia 1020 (5 MP)
Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Sony Xperia Z2
Sony Xperia Z2 (8 MP auto mode)
iPhone 5S

Poor lighting in the room

The shot was taken in the GUM flight of stairs. There is not very good mixed lighting in this place (on top - fluorescent lamps, on the left - sunlight).

It seems to me that Samsung Note 3 did a little better than the rest. Although, in fact, it is extremely difficult to judge, since almost all devices took approximately the same frame. Note 3 has a brighter picture, good detail, white balance is close to ideal. Nokia Lumia 1520 would give second place, but its picture is a bit green. Third place - Sony Xperia Z2 in "Auto" mode. The rest of the photos are difficult to comment on. The only thing that stands out is the Nokia Lumia 1020 with the darkest frame.

In principle, a good photo at number 8, under which the Nokia 1020 “hidden” with a 5 MP image.

Shooting indoors in good light

The shot was taken in good natural light inside the GUM building. In this case, it is worth considering the detail, since the emphasis was placed on the plate in the frame.

First place - Nokia Lumia 1020. No wonder, because it has the highest resolution. The second place - number 9 - is the Samsung Galaxy Note 3. On a par with it is the Samsung Galaxy S5. The third place, in my opinion, is occupied by Sony Xperia Z2 with 20 MP frame.

It is again difficult to comment on the rest of the frames: some are a little better, some are a little worse.

Macro photography in good light

In fact, I don't like to test cameras in macro mode, because the shift of the photographer relative to the subject gives a different picture on different devices.

The Samsung Galaxy S5 coped best with this mode: high detail, correct white balance, good contrast and color reproduction. I think that the first place should be shared with the Sony Xperia Z2 with 8 MP shot in automatic mode. Nokia Lumia 1020 can be added to them, as its picture is the largest. Second place - Samsung Galaxy Note 3. The worst shots - 3, 4, 7 - are Nokia 1520, FujiFilm X20 and HTC One.

Shooting in sunlight

The most favorable shooting conditions: the sun is behind, the blue sky, a contrasting object.

I liked the photo number 8 - Nokia 1020. Here is a low-resolution frame (5 MP), but with high detail, correct white balance. Second place - Samsung Galaxy Note 3. Of course, you could add Galaxy S5 here, but its picture seemed more "noisy". Third - Sony Xperia Z2 in "auto" mode. Note that the Sony Xperia Z2 took the worst shot in manual mode, much like the HTC One M8.

Shooting against the sun

It seems to me that shooting against the sun is difficult not only for smartphone cameras, but also for ordinary cameras. Much depends on the lens. Sun from above.

I think that in this test there are two outsiders: surprisingly, the FujiFilm X20 camera and the HTC One M8 smartphone. The frames are dark, the details are worked out extremely poorly. The rest of the devices showed approximately the same result. Nokia Lumia 1520 has the most “creepy” BB, the most correct one is Nokia Lumia 1020, Galaxy Note 3.

Shooting landscapes in sunlight

This test shows the capabilities of cameras in terms of detail. The sun is behind.

In theory, Nokia Lumia 1020 should be in the first place here. Alas, this is not so. The fact is that this device sometimes shoots very well with high detail, and at times the picture is slightly washed out. What it depends on, I could not find out. In any case, know that the 1020 photographs as detailed as possible.

Since we have to evaluate on specific shots, the first place, in my opinion, is occupied by Samsung Note 3: a clean and contrasting shot with the right WB. The Samsung Galaxy S5's camera is a little blundered: more artifacts, less detail. Therefore, second place. Third - 10 and 1 - Sony Xperia Z2 in manual mode and LG G2. Worst of all - Nokia Lumia 1020 (only because the resolution is 5 MP) and Samsung Galaxy Camera 2.

Taking a portrait in low light

We apologize that we could not find a person for the portrait, so we have a plastic gentleman in a black hat.

I liked photo number 8. This is Nokia Lumia 1020 in 5 MP resolution. Many may say that the white balance is wrong here. In fact, the face of the mannequin is not yellow, but close to the complexion of a person. On the right, a violet light shone, so the nose and shirt were correctly dyed in this color.

Photographed very well FujiFilm X20 and Sony Xperia Z2 in auto mode. About the same - Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2 in manual mode.

Shooting in low light

The most difficult test for mobile cameras.

The best shot, I think, was taken by Nokia Lumia 1020 (ISO 800) in both 38 MP and 5 MP: high detail, minimum artifacts or noise. Oddly enough, but the second place is occupied by HTC One M8 (exposure 1/12, ISO 640). It has a little less detail, but a slightly brighter picture.

Worst shots - Sony Xperia Z2 (1/25, ISO 1000) in manual mode, Samsung Galaxy S5. It is worth noting that the Galaxy S5 takes pictures in auto mode, and in this case the Night mode was set. In terms of time, the S5 shoots the longest - about 4 seconds, along with processing! The rest of the devices were removed approximately the same.

Shooting text under artificial light

The subject of the shooting is a newspaper. From above, 4 fluorescent lamps with a warm shade shine.

Perfect white balance for Nokia Lumia 1020 and Apple iPhone 5. The most wrong one is for FujiFilm X20.

If we talk about detailing, then in the picture of the Sony Xperia Z2 in manual mode, you can see the texture of the photo print pattern (lower right - small circles). However, the edges of the frame are slightly blurred, possibly due to the F2.0 aperture. The texture can also be seen on the Nokia Lumia 1020 in a 5-megapixel image. Weakly, but still, the picture is noticeable on the Nokia Lumia 1520. The worst thing is the HTC One M8.

Conclusion

Once again I would like to repeat that the photos and testing were carried out by me, therefore, naturally, the test results are purely subjective.

If we are talking about a smartphone with the highest possible settings and post-processing, then the Nokia Lumia 1020 takes the first place. I understand that many will disagree, however, the Lumia 1020 is the only smartphone that can shoot in RAW data received from the photomatrix). Of course, few people will deal with processing and reformatting from DNG to the familiar JPEG, nevertheless, such a thing exists. In addition, no one bothers you to shoot in 5 + 38 MP mode in JPEG.

Another 1020 boasts fully manual settings: shutter speed, ISO, exposure, white balance and even focus. As a bonus - a xenon flash and an LED that helps to focus in low light.

Do not forget that Lumia has a dedicated camera button, and if you buy a special case, you will get not only protection for the device, but also a comfortable smartphone grip for shooting, a thread for a tripod, and a built-in battery (1020 mAh).

Of course, the Nokia 1020 also has significant drawbacks:

The shooting speed (camera launch, focusing, processing) is the lowest of all existing smartphones on the Russian market
Large dimensions of the device
Small screen and low resolution matrix
IMHO, but still the Windows Phone operating system remains for me. Although it is already quite possible to live with 8.1.

I would put several mobile gadgets in second place at once: Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy S5 and Sony Xperia Z2.

Samsung has the best quality so far: minimum artifacts, minimum noise, good detail, fast and accurate focus. With a minimal margin - Samsung Galaxy S5. At the moment, the device has several problems. I really hope that they are connected with the firmware. The essence of the problems is this: there is a lot of digital noise and artifacts in the S5 pictures, autofocus does not work well at close range, and in low light it may not focus at all. However, as we were promised, colors are not distorted in the dark.

The Sony Xperia Z2 smartphone is still incomprehensible to me in terms of taking photos: some photos come out better in auto mode, others in manual mode, landscape shots often have blurring. Pleased with a wide angle and decent detail in the center of the frame.

The Nokia Lumia 1520 takes decent pictures, but it just has trouble with the white balance. In addition, among all the test gadgets, it is the largest.

The absolute average is the iPhone 5S, although I put it in the penultimate place. The result was about the same last year. The device does not have enough stars from the sky, but it does not hit, roughly speaking, in the dirt with its face.

Smartphone LG G2 shoots well, at least it fights noise well, “draws” a nice picture.

The last place is occupied by the HTC One M8 camera. His shots look cool only on the screen. Positives: decent shooting at night, fast camera launch speed, shooting speed.

Total:

Nokia Lumia 1020
Samsung Galaxy Note 3, Samsung Galaxy S5, Sony Xperia Z2
Nokia Lumia 1520
LG G2
Apple iPhone 5

Challengers: Lenovo VIBE Z2 Pro [ ] and Lumia 930

The expansion of the smartphone market, where everything has long been divided between A-brands, is not easy, but the electronics giant Lenovo managed to beat more established rivals at the end of this year, taking third place in terms of sales after Samsung and Apple. The company's recipe for success is devices that impress not only with performance, but also with battery life. Therefore, VIBE Z2 Pro with top performance and a battery of four thousand milliamp-hours deserved an honorable second place.

Nokia Lumia 930 is the latest flagship on Windows Phone, presented under the legendary Finnish brand. Fans of the “tiled” interface and devices running on it were pleased with a real premium gadget without reservations for an undemanding platform in the form of a budget processor. The bright colors of the case, which have long become the hallmark of Lumia devices, are trimmed with a metal rim, which distinguishes the older model from the simplest devices in the family. The Finn has an excellent camera, a colorful FullHD display with proprietary ClearBlack technology and a filling that is more than enough for a stable and smooth operation of the Microsoft operating system.

Phablet of the Year: Samsung Galaxy Note 4 [ ]

Inspired by the success of the third generation Galaxy Note, this year Samsung announced an equally successful successor to the popular phablet. The device of the latest model was improved both outside and inside, leaving only the diagonal the same. As a result, the Korean smartphone has become the best in its class.

Challengers: Huawei Ascend Mate 7 [ ]

Ascend Mate 7 has become one of the most interesting novelties of this year's IFA. It turned out that the company, whose name contains the word "achievement", is able to make not only fashion devices, but also phablets. The device with its highlight, a fingerprint scanner on the back cover, turned out to be almost perfect and fully consistent with its price tag.

Another phablet with a fingerprint sensor turned out to be no less attractive to its target audience than the Flagship of the Year, with an impressive battery life.

Mid-range: Lenovo VIBE X2 [ ]

This smartphone, in addition to winning its nomination, may well claim the award for the most memorable design. VIBE X2, as if created from several thin sheets of polycarbonate, fascinated the editors with its appearance and capabilities.

Challengers: Nokia Lumia 830 [ ]

Another device with Modern UI made it to the list of the best smartphones according to the editors. Lumia 830 is the golden mean in the slender Nokia/Microsoft lineup. This is a camera phone with optical image stabilization, optimal hardware for Windows Phone 8.1 and looks like a flagship case with a metal frame.

The use of metal in the manufacture of the case of an affordable smartphone is a distinctive feature of the updated version of the former flagship Huawei P6S. An elegant smartphone with a high-quality display deservedly turned out to be in the top three of the middle class.

Budget: ASUS Zenfone 5 [ ]

The premiere of three smartphones from the Zenfone line, powered by Intel Atom, brought ASUS fame as a manufacturer who knows a lot about affordable devices. The model with a five-inch display suited the largest number of users. A nice design, a good price-performance ratio, such regular system updates that are rare for budget Android devices - that's what helped Zenfone win over hundreds of competitor gadgets.

Contenders: Fly Tornado Slim [ ]

Significantly advanced in the craft of smartphone construction and Fly. The ultra-thin smartphone called “Slim” looks like a representative of the premium class, provides sufficient performance for solving everyday tasks and is unlikely to leave the fair sex indifferent.

A selfie smartphone from Nokia with a youthful design and a front camera that creates high-resolution self-portraits, after the rise in price of electronics in December this year, can offer its owners a very high level of performance, as for a device in the budget segment.

Best Chinese Smartphone: Meizu MX4 [review in progress]

Chinese manufacturers have long been crowded in their homeland, so they are ready to conquer new countries. In any case, Meizu MX4 easily won the hearts of iGuides. Record performance in synthetic tests, smooth interface, balanced appearance, ultra-clear 2K display - how not to give this miracle of technology the first place?

Challengers: Xiaomi Mi4 and OnePlus One ( )

2014 was an extremely successful year for Meizu's main competitor, Xiaomi. Repeatedly, the press was full of headlines about how the vendor's next gadget was sold out in a matter of minutes. The flagship Mi4 has not yet officially reached the domestic market, but rightfully deserves a mention in this article - frankly, the smartphone has no weaknesses at all.

Sometimes a bet on an aggressive promotional campaign turns out to be winning: a startup, which in 2013 was known to a very limited number of people, managed to implement more than half a million “flagship killers”. More features for less money has become the motto of OnePlus. I would like to believe that next year this trend will continue to capture the world of electronics.

The most unusual smartphone: Samsung Galaxy Note Edge [ ]

Samsung continues to introduce flexible displays into its products. If the usefulness of the curved Galaxy Round could seem doubtful - the curved display in the Note Edge claims to be the new standard for next year's phablets, at least from Samsung. Large usable screen area - more opportunities. Now it's up to developers to find interesting ways to use the touch edge.

Challengers: BlackBerry Passport and Amazon Fire Phone

It takes courage to present a smartphone with a classic QWERTY keyboard. Especially when it comes to a company that loses its position year after year. However, reviews of the BlackBerry Passport with a square screen are all enthusiastic. With a face-to-face acquaintance with the gadget, the outlandish at first glance design becomes an advantage, and you absolutely don’t want to part with the BlackBerry creation, as with any passport.

In 2014, Amazon first tried its hand at making smartphones. Fire Phone did not gain popularity even among fans of the Kindle line, but was remembered for its sensors that track the position of the owner of the device in space. Although 3D effects did not help the creator of the "fiery" device to take laurels from Apple, they helped one of the most unusual gadgets of the year.

Every year, smartphone manufacturers release new flagships. Bigger screen, faster processor, new version of the operating system... But are the latest flagships as good as their immediate predecessors, as they told us at the presentations?

Summing up the results of the year and taking a look at all the novelties of 2015, I will boldly express doubts about its effectiveness in the market of expensive smartphones. Most devices have become more beautiful (a subjective assessment, of course, but glass, metal, leather definitely look more solid than plastic), processor power is constantly growing and battery capacity is lagging behind them, resolution is growing and pixel size is decreasing ...

Let's compare some of this year's flagships with the 2014 lineups. On the one hand, when buying an expensive phone for several years, it is logical to spend a little more money for the sake of top performance and not feel like the owner of outdated technologies tomorrow. On the other hand, manufacturers are involved in a race where they do not have the opportunity to take a break for a year or two and look for an interesting solution, they need to roll out the next updated version by all means. But we - users - have a choice: update every year (I've always wondered who these people are who update phones with each new version) or reasonably assess the market and invest a considerable amount in a really worthwhile device.

Samsung Galaxy S6 vs Samsung Galaxy S5

Perhaps, I’ll say right away that many authoritative publications ( consumer reports , for example) soon after the release of the S6, they noted that there was little point in chasing a new model. Compared to the Galaxy S5, this year's flagship loses in several important ways.

One of the first things that catch your eye -dust and moisture protection certificate IP67which he lost. The latest model has become a beautiful and fragile thing in appearance, the design, indeed, has been given a lot of attention - this is an indisputable advantage of the sixth S-ki. The fifth Samsung looks somewhat outdated, and all because in 2014 plastic was “in vogue”, in 2015 manufacturers rushed to make devices expensive not only in content, but also in appearance. In general, the glass and metal of the S6 is worthy of competing, for example, with the skin of the LG G4, but not with its predecessor in the line.

Samsung Galaxy S5 Plastic Case

But are you looking for a smartphone for the sake of beauty? If this is a very significant parameter for you, then I think the choice is a foregone conclusion and you will not be able to buy an S5 once you see an S6, and even more so a modification of the Edge. And if you are still willing to bargain, look further.

Not in S6 microSD slot. The leaders of the smartphone market seem to have been doubting in recent years whether it is needed, and then they add it, then they remove it from the devices, so Samsung in 2015 for the first time abandoned this flagship attribute. Delivering memory as needed seems to be a dubious bonus in the era of cloud services and the ubiquitous Internet, but by removing the connector, the developers of the 6th Sumsung were clearly pushing us to buy a more expensive (very expensive - about $ 750-1150!) version of the device with 64 or even 128 GB of memory on board for storing photos and music. Daring to buy the most "simple" version - with 32 GB (the developers prudently refused from the volume of 16 GB) - we must take into account that 9 GB is reserved for the system, i.e. actually you get 23 GB.

If you don't store millions of photos and tons of music, then a memory card might worry you a little, but here'sbattery- Definitely one of the most important parameters when choosing a phone. So, the S5 battery "holds" 2800 mAh, and S6 - only 2550 mAh, which translates into 21 hours of talk on last year's phone and 17 on the newest one. In fairness, it should be noted that you are unlikely to feel this difference sharply (in any case, you will charge your smartphone at least once every two days at night / at work, I don’t think that someone counts the hours every time and waits until the battery discharged completely). However, the battery cannot be counted in the advantages of the S6 (the only advantage is the possibility of fast charging and wireless support, but these goodies seem to be added to cover the reduced battery capacity at an increased resolution), and if you also consider that for the S5 you can get replaceable battery (in the sixth, the battery is non-removable) and turn on a special power saving mode, then the leader in this characteristic is obvious.

	Galaxy S5	Galaxy S6
Battery capacity	2800 mAh	2550 mAh
In talk mode	21 h	17 h
In standby	390 h	200 h
Audio/video operation	67/13 h	49/13 h
fast charging	—	+
Wireless charger	+	+
Energy saving mode	+	+
Removable battery	+	—

About screen specifications. In numbers, the Galaxy S6 looks advantageous: with the same 5.1-inch diagonal as the S5, the screen resolution in the latest model is QualHD (2560x1440 pixels) versus FullHD (1080x1920 pixels). In reality, this difference is imperceptible on a 5-inch screen, but it negatively affects the graphics accelerator and battery consumption. Displays in both Super AMOLED models, impact-resistant glass - Corning Gorilla Glass 3 and 4 generations. According to the manufacturer, glasses of the 4th generation break half as often when they fall - in this formulation it sounds beautiful. And if so: Gorilla Glass 4 withstands a fall on asphalt in 80% of cases. That is, yes, it is stronger than what is in the Galaxy S5, but in fact, the probability of breaking an expensive device is far from zero and it is better to rely on a case and careful use.

Samsung Galaxy S5 home screen

Samsung Galaxy S6 start page

When it comes to images, you can't help but rememberabout the camera. The main sensor of the S-ok is the same - 16 megapixels. But the 6th model has a number of advantages. Firstly, f / 1.9 lenses versus 2.2 for the Galaxy S5. Secondly, stabilization: the smartphone of 2014 is equipped only with software stabilization, while this year's flagship has optical stabilization. The difference between the two versions is best seen when shooting video and also in low light conditions: the noticeably more noise on the fifth model makes it less attractive to photographers who need to always have a replacement for their DSLR on hand.

Cat photo on Galaxy S5

PowerThe Galaxy S6 is, of course, taller than the S5. The 2015 model has an 8-core processorExynos 7420 1.5 + 2.1 GHz - the first ever 14-nanometer - with an ultra-high-speed graphics core Mali T-760. In the Galaxy-5, the Exynos 5422 1.9 + 1.3 GHz processor (if you buy not in Ukraine or Russia, the chipset can be Snapdragon 801 - S5 was produced in two versions in different regions), Adreno 330 is responsible for the graphics.

Naturally, according to Geekbench, Samsung's latest model got a lot more points (Geekbench 3: 2900 points for S5 and 5200 for S6) and you can write a long list, due to which: for example, Exynos 7420 technology is availablebig.LITTLE, in which the chip switches between two sets of processors for maximum performance and minimum battery consumption (although we already noted that the S6's battery does not save, hmm), or a much faster RAM (2873 MHz versus 933) while whatThe S5 is equipped with 2 GB, while the S6 has 3 GB.In reality, these figures are hardly noticeable. For todayday 2 GB of RAM and other characteristics of the S5 is enough for almost any application and comfortable interaction with a smartphone. Although there is a possibility that in the next two years (how long do you choose a device for?) you will really need more memory, and most likely - for games.

More important Device software. In the year between the release of the fifth and sixth, Android 5.0 Lollipop appeared. It is on the Galaxy S6 with the TouchWiz shell. Android KitKat 4.4 is preinstalled on last year's flagship, if you wish, you can officially upgrade to 5.0, but keep in mind that on the Web you can easily find a list of minor bugs related to updating(both phones are , but obviously ). And the fourth Android is on so many devices around the world that it is unlikely to become obsolete in the coming years.

In conclusion about the decisive -about the price. At the moment, Galaxy S5 with 16 GB of memory (remember, with microSD expansion) is sold for about $400, Galaxy S6 with 32 GB - $625-665 (depending on color), S6 Edge with 32 GB - $780-950. True, there was news that. But it's up to you to decide whether the sophisticated design and dubious technical goodies of the Samsung Galaxy S6/Edge are worth half, or even double the cost of the S5. In my practical opinion, no.

iPhone 6s vs iPhone 6

I’ll make a reservation right away: in my opinion, if you are still comparing 6s and 6, and even more so if you read the text, where, in addition to the iPhone, Samsung, Motorola and Nexus appear, then you are looking for which device it is reasonable to invest a considerable amount of money in, and the argument “this is latest iPhone!” - the argument is insufficient. Otherwise, you've already bought a 6s and are saving money for an iPhone 7.

So, about comparing 6s and 6.

Speaking of iPhone, can't get startedfrom design. True, you can’t say much about it: outwardly, 6s differs very little from its predecessor. Objectively, it has become thicker, taller and heavier (the latter is the most noticeable, 143 g versus 129 g of the iPhone 6). The main change is more durable 7000 series aluminum (in the 6th - 6300 series). Although Apple manufacturers assure that the scandal with the iPhone 6 bending in the back pocket of the trousers is overblown (there were about ten such claims under the guarantee around the world), the new model was worried about thickening the “fragile” places (although not painlessly).

The design of the iPhone 6s differs little from its predecessor, but there is a pink color

Unfortunately, the apparatus has not grown in size to accommodatebatteryLarger capacity: The 6th iPhone has a 1810 mAh battery, the 6s has a 1715 mAh battery. In practice, this means, for example, a drop in the charge level from 100% to 70% after watching an hour and a half video inFull HD on the iPhone 6s, while on the iPhone 6 it takes away 26%.Users also noted a difference in iPhone 6s battery consumption, however, the company, recognizing that the difference can be 2-3%.Below are the official data from Apple, which shows that the battery life models 6 and 6s practically did not change.

	iPhone 6	iPhone 6s
Battery capacity	1810 mAh	1715 mAh
In talk mode	14 h	14 h
In standby	250 h	240 h
Audio/video operation	50/11 h	50/11 h
fast charging	—	—
Wireless charger	—	—
Energy saving mode	+	+

Screenthe phones are identical: 4.7-inch diagonal, resolution “not like everyone else” - 750 x 1334 pixels, IPS LCD matrix.

But with regards to the screen, there is one important innovation in the latest version - this3D Touch. The display is sensitive to pressure: after a long press, for example, a menu is displayed (similar to the right mouse button on a PC) or a preview of a photo / link / letter opens over an open application (in English, the function is called “peek”), after which the thumbnail can be closed , removing your finger from the screen, or expand it by pulling it up, or download it by pressing the screen even harder (“pop”). To date, 3D Touch can only be used on Apple products, in particular on 6s and 6s Plus phones, respectively, while 3D Touch is supported mainly by native applications (Mail, Messages, Safari), although Apple developers assure that this technology is the future all devices, and giants such as Instagram and Evernote have already released updates to support the innovative feature.

3D Touch function: context menu called by a long press on the screen

This is perhaps the most powerful argument in favor of buying the latest IPnone model. Those. if you are interested in 3D Touch and, in your opinion, it is worth the money that is the difference in price between 6 and 6s models, then the choice is made. True, if you wait a little, then next year, for sure, Android smartphones will receive similar functionality (in, according to rumors).

Let's take a quick look at the rest of the parameters of the flagships.

Camera"grew" from 8 megapixels in the iPhone 6 to 12 megapixels in the iPhone 6s - formally, this is an improvement in performance, but, in fact, with the same matrix size (and it has not changed), the number of pixels has little effect on image quality (in the dark, rather even badly affected due to the smaller size of the pixels and their, accordingly, the ability to capture light). But the iPhone 6s shoots 4K video (the sixth one is 1080p), and the video quality is really different. Those. If you regularly update your YouTube channel or home archive, then the latest iPhone has something to please you. In addition, the front camera has increased the resolution from 1.2 megapixels in the 6th model to 5 megapixels in the 6s and has been “overgrown” with buns.

Apple promises that CPUThe iPhone 6s A9 delivers 70% faster performance and 90% faster graphics performance than the iPhone 6's A8. Synthetic benchmarks confirm this (according to GeekBench 3 6s scored 4400 points, 6 - only 2902), but in fact you you will hardly notice a fraction of a second faster application loading. Save time on the speed of work, but lose battery life - this is the motto, it seems, of all the flagships of 2015. Games - yes, most likely, in two years, the iPhone 6 will already be difficult to cope with new products.

Ultimately, comparing the latest iPhones comes down to choosing between 3D Touch + 4K video and around $200 extra. The price of smartphones today looks like this: the iPhone 6 with 16 GB can be bought for $700, similar in terms of storage to the iPhone 6s - $920. In the maximum "configuration" for 128 GB, the iPhone 6 costs about $900, 6s - $1195.

Motorola Nexus 6 vs Huawei Nexus 6P

This comparison is the most difficult and ambiguous, since phone manufacturers are different and each new Google attorney strives to prove that his version is the best ().

Externallyall Nexus are similar, but the newer 6P is smaller than the previous one (at a time when the dimensions of most flagships are growing from year to year, there was nowhere to increase the smartphone after Motorola). The Nexus 6 and 6P are the same height, but the 6P is narrower and thinner. This difference is clearly noticeable to the touch, it was inconvenient for some to hold the 6th Motorola Nexus in one hand, but this is a very subjective indicator.

Housing materialin both cases, it corresponds to the fashion of its time: the Nexus 6 in 2014 came out plastic with an aluminum frame, in 2015 metal is popular - and the Nexus 6P is completely aluminum.However, the strength of the metal is in great doubt, since users have proven that.

Appears on Huawei's latest Nexus for the first time in Google's smartphone lineupfingerprint scannerlocated on the back of the device. If this scanner is what you really need in a smartphone, then here is a noticeable difference between the models in question from each other.

The new 6P received a USB Type-C connector with the ability to quickly charge (the latter is also available on the Nexus 6).Batteriesthe Nexus differ slightly, and once again Google's lineup of phones is different from the competition: the Nexus 6P has a larger battery (3450 mAh) than its predecessor (3220 mAh). At the same time, the 6P has lost the ability to wirelessly charge, and if you really need it (really?), then it is available in the 6th.

	Nexus 6	Nexus 6P
Battery capacity	3220 mAh	3450 mAh
In talk mode	24 hours	23 h
In standby	330 h	440 h
Video viewing	10.5 h	11.5 h
fast charging	+	+
Wireless charger	+	—
Energy saving mode	+	+

A smaller device, of course, has a smaller diagonalscreen: 5.96 inches for Nexus 6 and 5.7 for Nexus 6P. At the same time, the resolution of the phones is the same - QualHD (2560x1440), the pixel density has accordingly increased: from 493 ppi for the last year model to 518 ppi for the current one. In fact, this is the whole difference, i.e. on the new Nexus, the image is a little sharper, the colors are displayed somewhat better (although in both cases there are AMOLED displays, and their color reproduction is not for everyone), but this difference is noticeable only if you compare the devices side by side, half an hour after the purchase you will forget about it. The dubious significance of replacing Corning Gorilla 3 (Nexus 6) glass with Gorilla 4 (Nexus 6P) was mentioned above when comparing Samsung flagships.

If you are considering buying last year's Nexus, then the photos are clearly not the main thing you need from a smartphone, because the device from Motorola has a mediocrecamerain comparison with other flagships of 2014: main - 13 megapixels with apertureƒ/2.0 and frontal - 2 megapixels, both without any special buns. In the new Nexus from Huawei, the camera was given more attention: although the main resolution has decreased to 12.3 megapixels, laser autofocus has appeared (but optical image stabilization has disappeared), there is a dual LED flash. As with the aforementioned iPhone 6s, the Nexus 6P can record 4K (30fps) video andslow-motion at 720p (240 fps). The only thing that spoils the picture is the vulnerability of the protective glass of the 6P camera, which sometimes .

On the Nexus, you can now take high-quality selfies: the resolution of the front camera is 8 megapixels (the 6th has 2 megapixels). This last characteristic can be important if you really like taking pictures of yourself. Otherwise, the pictures on the Nexus 6 were also quite high quality.

Same plot on Nexus 6P

Huawei did not deny itself the pleasure of measuringcapacities: The Nexus 6P has a Snapdragon 810 processor, the Nexus 6 has an 805 processor, the processor clock speed has increased from 2 to 2.7 GHz. But we have already said twice in this text that the formal increase in power in smartphones in 2015 has little practical meaning. In fact, the difference between Snapdragon 810 and 805 is that the use of two cores is optimized on the 810, and applications that are not sharpened for “multi-core” (and there are many more!) Work faster on the 805. Yes, the 6P will perform better in 3D games, but in everyday surfing and calling, both phones are fast and will be so for at least a couple of years.

The amount of RAM in both devices is 3 GB. Modifications are available for the amount of internal memory of 32 and 64 GB, plus the Nexus 6P is available with 128 GB (there is no slot for a memory card in any of them).

Both devices work onoperating system Android 6.0 Marshmallow (more precisely for Nexus-s already), the only difference is that on the newer 6P, fingerprint reader bells and whistles are available and Google will support it for a year longer.

With all the indicated nuances,price differencefor the model of 2014 and 2015 reaches 300 dollars! Today, a 32GB Nexus 6 can be purchased for $410, and a similarly sized 6P for $715; modification to 64 GB will cost $500 and $765 respectively.

The year 2015 is coming to an end, and all its novelties have already been released to the market. Summing up the year and comparing several current flagships with their predecessors, we can safely say that we have not seen anything radically new and revolutionary.

And this cannot be attributed to sampling error: LG G4 vs G3, Sony Z5 vs Z3, HTC One M9 vs M8 ... Everyone relied on design, increasing numbers in power comparison tables, how to make a capacious small battery - they didn’t come up with, as a result a large number of expensive phones with almost no competitive features appeared on the market.

The 3D Touch feature from Apple is undoubtedly interesting and promising. The fingerprint scanner is an interesting addition, but not a very significant one. The ability to record video in 4K quality - I personally don’t understand the demand for this, well, probably someone shoots a movie on a smartphone, but a mass product with this function is a little ahead of its time. High-quality photos - yes, but, whatever one may say, not a single device will make a photographer, any aperture, resolution and pixel density is not enough for an interesting picture, and to capture a pleasant moment - for several years now, as on all Android and iPhone devices, sufficient quality a photo. Graphics in games is perhaps the main reason why it is worth chasing new processors, but paying extra hundreds of dollars for the opportunity to play half an hour a day? ..

It is the price that spoils the picture of 2015: smartphones have become much more expensive and only a little more interesting. Probably 2014 was such a technologically successful year that the developers needed a breather. Let's hope this means that the next one promises surprises and the increase in autonomy that everyone has been waiting for!

In the past year, we saw a lot of interesting mobile innovations, so it was very difficult for us to single out the 10 best of them. Smartphones that have something to surprise buyers and which can be a great gift for the New Year were included in the rating of the site.

Apple iPhone 6

This year, Apple surprised us with two smartphones at once - the iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus (). However, the company from Cupertino does not separate the two modifications of the device, even in the company's online store they are on the same tab.

Apple iPhone 6 (both modifications) deserved to be included in the rating due to its extremely high popularity among buyers. In the first 3 days, more than 10 million of these gadgets were sold in the world.

Despite the revealed marriage of smartphones (who has not read about and?), They can boast of people's love - for high-quality assembly, high speed and a well-functioning iOS ecosystem. By the way, "Apple iPhone 6 became the most interesting gadget for Belarusians in 2014.

Tim Cook did not lose by abandoning the strategy of releasing small devices. So it's no surprise that the 5.5-inch iPhone 6 Plus is in high demand, especially in Asia (see graph below). Analysts even argue that the iPhone 6 Plus could significantly impact sales of the small iPad mini.

Illustration: AppLovin

Samsung GALAXY Note 4

Many experts call it, and not the best Samsung smartphone in the past year .. Probably, if Samsung released this gadget without a stylus and corresponding functionality, thereby making it cheaper, GALAXY Note 4 would be even more popular.

Here is the most powerful filling at the moment: a bright and ultra-clear Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, protected, a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 processor (or an equally powerful eight-core Exynos 7 Octa), an optimized and user-friendly interface, as well as an excellent camera and high time offline work.

It should also be added that the GALAXY Note 4 is the first Samsung flagship to receive a metal case, which makes it attractive not only in terms of characteristics, but also in terms of design.

Top LG smartphones have always been distinguished by an excellent combination of price / performance. Here we can recall not only the Nexus 4 and 5 smartphones, but also last year's LG G2. Let the LG G3 cost a lot at the start, but it dropped significantly over the next few months.

It is significant that in Russia the LG G3 has become almost the only flagship of the A-brands that has not risen in price after the collapse of the ruble - now its recommended retail price is at the level of 24,990 Russian rubles (about $490 at the current exchange rate). The advantage of the LG G3 is the presence of a dual-sim version (officially sold in Belarus).

In addition to excellent performance (5.5-inch display with a resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801) and a pleasant design (minimal bezels around the display, ergonomic shape, convenient, according to many experts, buttons on the back cover) LG G3 stands out for its camera .

Despite the fact that a 13-megapixel photomodule is not a record-breaking (by current standards), Western and Russian observers often call the LG G3 camera the best among current smartphones. To get high-quality images helps, among other things, an innovative laser focusing system.

HTC One (M8)

The continuation of last year's flagship HTC smartphone received, unfortunately, almost the same unremarkable ultrapixel camera. The dual photomodule allows you to take photos with the ability to postfocus, but at the same time loses to the cameras of other flagship gadgets.

Otherwise, the smartphone is at its best - the HTC One (M8) has an all-metal body, a powerful filling (5-inch Full HD display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor) and an optimized interface. The device turned out to be so successful in terms of design and shell that a number of reviewers even called it the iPhone on Android. A well-deserved fourth place.

Lenovo Vibe Z2 Pro

Lenovo's flagship tablet phone with a metal case, excellent camera and powerful hardware (Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 with a frequency of 2.5 GHz, 3 GB of RAM) is logically "hooked" for the 5th place in our rating.

Despite the 6-inch display, which for some will be already beyond the comfort zone, the device is very convenient to use because of the ergonomic shape. And the resolution of 2560 x 1440 pixels does not make it possible to distinguish between individual pixels on the screen.

Huawei Ascend Mate 7

Another metal tablet phone from another Chinese manufacturer, worthy of taking a place in our top ten.

There is a 6-inch IPS Full HD display, the latest HiSilicon Kirin 925 octa-core processor with a maximum clock speed of 1.8 GHz, up to 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal memory. The resolution of the front camera is 5 megapixels, the main one is 13 megapixels. It is important that the device received a capacious 4100 mAh battery.

Samsung GALAXY Alpha

The smartphone is the pioneer of a new line of Samsung devices - stylish, rather powerful devices in a metal compact case.

Experts called the Samsung GALAXY Alpha a warning blow to Apple: like the iPhone 6, the smartphone received a thin metal case (albeit a plastic cover) and a 4.7-inch display. And it appeared on the market shortly before the release of the new flagship Apple.

Read all the details about in the review on the site.

Nokia Lumia 930

(now the devices of the legendary company will be produced under the Microsoft brand) got into our rating thanks to its powerful hardware, attractive design and not the highest price - which, however, is not surprising for Windows Phone devices.

The smartphone is based on a Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 quad-core processor with a frequency of 2.2 GHz each, has 2 GB of RAM and 32 GB of non-volatile memory without the ability to connect a microSD card. Battery capacity 2420 mAh.

Read the review on the site.

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact

This smartphone can be called the most powerful compact gadget of 2014, which allowed it to get into our rating.

The mini version of Sony's current flagship received a 4.6-inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1280 x 720 pixels, a glass and plastic body, a powerful Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 processor, a 20.7-megapixel camera and 2 GB of RAM. The internal memory is only 16 GB, there is also support for memory cards. The battery capacity was 2600 mAh. Device thickness - 8.6 mm, weight - 129 grams. The enclosures are available in white, black, orange and green.

Huawei Ascend P7

Closes the top 10 smartphones of 2014 according to TUT.BY, the stylish flagship Huawei -.

It became one of the most popular gadgets in Belarus following the results of the outgoing year for its excellent combination of design (thin and light body made of plastic and glass), features and cost. The 5-inch smartphone with a Full HD display, 8-megapixel front and 13-megapixel rear cameras received a Kirin 910T processor with four ARM Cortex-A9 cores clocked at 1.8 GHz and Mali-450 graphics. The amount of RAM is 2 GB, a flash drive of 16 GB of permanent memory plus a microSD slot.

And which smartphones deserve to get into the top 10 in your opinion? Write to us in the comments.