These are the 6 best smartphones of 2016

At the beginning of this year, the smartphone industry looked uninspiring. It seemed stagnated in terms of innovation. But we were mistaken.

Even though there were no big breakthroughs in 2016, the phone companies did enough to recreate the buzz.

Xiaomi continued with its price war, but was joined by OnePlus, which just kind of smashed the high-end phone market with its phenomenally-priced OnePlus 3. Xiaomi and Apple also pushed in other directions, towards the product innovations, experimenting with new technologies.

Xiaomi showed that it was possible to make a phone that has almost no bezels. Apple, on the other hand, showed what was possible with the phone in terms of photography by putting a medium length telephoto lens in its iPhone 7 Plus.

And then there is Google, which in 2016 directly entered the market with the fantastic Pixel. These developments set the stage for an exciting 2017 as far as the phones are concerned.

But before we talk about the next year, let’s pick our winners of 2016.

OnePlus 3

This is arguably the phone of the year. It is a high-end phone which matches the likes of the iPhone 7 and the Galaxy S7. It loses on some, it wins on some.

But the most important bit is that it does all of it with a price that is almost half of what others charge. The OnePlus 3 is a phenomenal phone, giving people premium and high-end experience at a mainstream price.

Google Pixel

Google Pixel is the beginning of Google’s phone journey. This is, according to the company, Google’s first phone that has been designed and made in-house.

It is also a great phone with software that is best in the business.

In fact, Google’s software, including the virtual assistant and Android Nougat, makes the Pixel arguably the smartest smartphone in the market right now. But that is not all.

The phone also comes packed with a fantastic camera which, purely from technical perspective, is the best ever seen in a phone.

iPhone 7 Plus

There are many phones that have two cameras under their back cover. But only the iPhone 7 Plus is doing it right.

Not only the iPhone 7 Plus improves on the iPhone 6 Plus, which anyways is a very good phone, but also it is Apple’s first phone with two-lens camera. One of these is a regular lens, while the other one is a medium-length (56mm) telephoto lens.

This means, finally, you get 2X zoom in a regular-sized phone. In other words, finally, you have a phone that can click fantastic portrait shots and get up close to what you are clicking.

It doesn’t sound like much, but it is a big deal, and in the coming years other phone makers will follow Apple on this part.

Samsung Galaxy S7

The Galaxy S7 has the distinction of being a phone that can beat the iPhone. It is also a super sexy phone, with its metal and glass body. It is like a jewel.

But the best feature of the Galaxy S7 is its hardware. Each component in this phone — screen, camera, processor and everything else — is top class. The result is that this is a phone that is fast, clicks wonderful photos, especially in low light, and looks great in hands.

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3

Xiaomi Redmi Note 3 is an outlier. Reason? It costs Rs 10,000 and yet comes with the hardware that many companies are putting in Rs 40,000 phone.

Not just that, Xiaomi also uses this hardware well enough to offer a phone that stands tall among other phones in this price bracket. The Redmi Note 3 is the best phone for Rs 10,000. Period.

The phone is so popular that it is rarely in stock.

Moto G4 Plus

Compared to the earlier Moto G phones, a lot of changes can be seen in the Moto G4 Plus. And not all of these changes are for good.

Yet, the Moto G4 Plus manages to be one of the highlights of the year with its remarkable feature set and a great camera.

The Moto G4 Plus comes with the same stock Android that Moto G fans love and has the hardware that makes it the most powerful Moto G ever.

The fact that the phone is sold for less than `15,000 also helps its case, making it really popular in the Indian phone market.

(Courtesy of Mail Today.)

Also read: Why iPhone 7 is the safest smartphone in the world