You are never more than a short spell from a launch of an Android phone. But which phone should you be buying? The top phones come from Huawei, Google, OnePlus, Sony, Xiaomi and Samsung.
This guide brings you only the best on the market for a variety of budgets.
Google Pixel 3
Manufacturer: Google
Price: Around £600
There are roughly three reasons for wanting the Pixel 3: it is relatively compact, it gets updates and upgrades quickly, and the camera is among the best on the market. Those are three solid arguments and those who attach great importance to it have an excellent smartphone on the Pixel 3.
However, there are also myriad disadvantages: the competition has screens that are easier to read in direct sunlight, and there were bugs in the software and design errors in the hardware at the time of testing. The glass backside can be pressed in, it is difficult to remove scratches and the backside vibrates when you play sound. The 3.5 mm jack is also missing, and the battery life is below average. The Pixel 3 is therefore not an all-rounder, but more a device for those who find fast upgrades and a good camera so important.
Rating: 8/10
Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Manufacturer: Huawei
Price: Around £600
The Mate 20 Pro is an expensive smartphone with excellent specs. Highlights are the battery life in standby and especially the versatile camera with wide-angle lens, telephoto lens and large primary camera. The 3D face scanner and the fingerprint scanner behind the screen work well but are not as useful as the traditional ‘regular’ fingerprint scanner. It runs on the latest Android version and Huawei promises three years of updates. Loading is super-fast. The screen can be beautifully clear, is always readable and looks good. There are also disadvantages: Huawei makes modifications to the firmware impossible. The USB port serves as a speaker grille, so audio playback while loading is not recommended. A 3.5 mm jacket is missing. The Mate 20 Pro is the most expensive ‘regular’ Huawei smartphone to date.
Rating: 8/10
Huawei P Smart 2019
Manufacturer: Huawei
Price: 189.99
The P Smart 2019 is more a variant of the P Smart + than a successor to last year’s P Smart. it is larger and has a larger screen, just like the P Smart + it has a glass housing instead of the metal design of the P Smart and the soc also corresponds to that of the P Smart +. It seems like a curse from successful telephone manufacturers: there are many different models coming up and it is difficult to see the forest of the strategy through all the telephone trees. Sometimes it seems as if Huawei or daughter brand releases a new midrange smartphone every few weeks. What adds to the complexity is the naming; a telephone is sometimes called different here than in any other part of the world.
Rating: 7/10
OnePlus 6T
Manufacturer: OnePlus
Price:
The OnePlus 6T is another excellent smartphone for a price that is better than expected. Especially the combination of the beautiful OLED screen, the excellent battery life, the smooth operation and the nice Android experience makes the 6T a convincing smartphone. It is unfortunately no better smartphone than its predecessor, the OnePlus 6. The battery is larger, but the battery life is the same. The fingerprint scanner under the screen is great, but not necessarily more convenient or faster. For that you also have to specify the 3.5 mm jack and that is a big sacrifice. The longer screen and the smaller notch are of course welcome.
Certainly, now that many competitors who came out this spring cost less, the competition for the 6T is greater than for the 6, so this OnePlus phone is not a bargain, but an excellent smartphone.
Rating: 7.5/10
AGM A9
Manufacturer: AGM
Price: £279.99
The AGM A9 (A9) smartphone released in 2018. It is powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 450 chipset, 3 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage.
The AGM A9 runs on Android OS v8.1 (Oreo) out of the box. It comes with a Li-Po 5400 mAh, non-removable battery. It features a 5.99 inches IPS display with 1080 x 2160 px resolution. The IPS technology is one of the most leading LCD technologies in theworld.
A9 is 3G and 4G capable. This smartphone has a built-in GPS receiver. GPS is a satellite based navigation system that allows the determination of the exact geographical location on Earth. The A9 comes with Near Field Communications (NFC) functionality for transferring content with other NFC-enabled devices. This AGM smartphone has FM radio receiver.
Rating: 7/10