Top 5 smartphones of 2015

     

Greetings internet! The holiday season is upon us and so is the exam season apparently!!So we are at the end of 2015 and the world of technology was quite abuzz this year. A lot of new phones came out some were new, some had a 'S' added to their name. So it is the end of the year and I thought maybe I should compile a list of all the top smartphones that came out in 2015 and here we are. I have chosen 5 phones in total and this list is not just on specs or performance but end user experience. Also as this is top 5 list it includes only or mostly flagships which are all above the range of Rs.25k. So without any further delay let us make a gigantic hole in your pocket shall we?

5.)Moto X Style

photo: motorola.in

Or as it is also called the moto x pure depends in which region you are. Motorola has done it again with the moto x style, it is an ideal android device it has a decent design with metal frame and rubberized back with a ton of back covers available. Also in the U.S. you get the moto maker to customize it. It has that gorgeous looking 5.7 inch Quad HD display with a snapdragon 808 which give you awesome performance. The fact that it runs stock android(with some moto additions like moto display which are awesome) and is already on android marshmallow makes it future proof. Another USP is the supplied turbo charger it makes charging this device a breeze, it can go from 0 to 40% in 15 minutes.The included 21mp camera is not the best but not the worst either. But all is not good the biggest omission here is fingerprint scanner which was all the rage in 2015. You can tell as all other phones on this list have one. Also the device is a little heavy although this is nitpicking. At Rs.31,999 this is still a great buy. 

  

4.)Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 edge

photo: samsung.in

 

Of course the Akshay Kumar of smartphone companies is on the list. See I say that because we all know both of them are great but this mindless philosophy of throwing everything at us is alien to me. I mean make one great thing instead of 3 shitty and 1 one great. For example there are in all 3 versions of this phone. Samsung Galaxy S6(the regular one),S6 edge and then a S6 edge plus. So yeah, anyway this time around we don't get the all plasticky phone from Samsung instead at a glance it opposite to what you associate a Samsung device with. It looks stunning in all metal and glass chassis also the 5.1 inch Quad HD super AMOLED display is wow. This time around it is powered by a homegrown chip the exynos 7420 which has proven is mettle. The camera are as good as it can get and can give better results then the iPhone 6s in some scenarios. The battery life although is not that great if you are a power hog you would need to charge it again before the day ends. The other problem is the RAM management, although Samsung has toned down there touch wiz UI(thank heavens for that!) it still sometimes can show its true colors. Still the display and camera alone make it worth buying specially the edge version which adds the functionality by giving little information along the edge. It is available for Rs.45000 for the edge version.

3.)Apple iPhone 6S

photo:apple.in

Okay I know what you are thinking, if iPhone is third what is number one right? Well fact check there is a lot that is not in the iPhone which other phones have but first lets talk about the pros.

Well it is an iPhone (enough said!!), the new additions include the 3-D touch technology which detects the different pressure levels applied to the screen and adds a lot of functionality. Also this time around when apple said 'S' they meant it, the new A-9 chip is ridiculously fast and this makes this phone a beast. Then why is it not no.1? Well for starters the 720p 4.7 inch display in 2015 is just sad to see. I know some people are going to argue that in such a small screen it won't make a difference true but when you compare it to a display of a other flagship you see the difference and when I have to sell a kidney to buy a phone I might as well get a better display. Also no fast charging makes no sense also the 12 mp camera is great but not the best. Other phones on this list have a better camera. But all is not lost as mentioned it still is an Iphone and well no matter what I say its going to sell millions of units anyway. Its available for Rs.52000.(Also there is gigantic plus model available which is essentially this phone but a wanna be iPad.)

2.) Samsung Galaxy Note 5

photo: samsung.in

    Say what you will about Samsung but you have to give credit where it is due. Samsung changed the game with the introduction of the Note series but with the Note 5 they have moved a little ahead. The design, the metal build, the new pop in style S pen all of it makes Note 5 an awesome phone. The 5.7 inch super AMOLED display again is stunning to look at. S pen functionality is great and has a lot more to offer now. The 4K video actually is very nice from this particular camera module. The only glitch here is again the RAM management with 4GB on board it still can sometimes manage it poorly.

Honorable Mentions

 LG G4 and Sony Xperia Z5

photo: sonymobile.com

Both great smartphones and are in no way can be termed as bad but are also not good enough to be in the top 5. Lg G4 although a great phone with a tremendous camera is let down by the UI by LG. It is cartoonish and at times laggy which is not acceptable for a flagship phone. The Z5 has been reported to have insane heating issues which can be frustrating if you are a power user. Some other phones could have been argued for to be on the list like One plus 2 but they have been intentionally kept out as priced under Rs.25000.

1.)Nexus 6P

  photo: consumer.huawei.com

  Nexus 6P is the fastest android smartphone this year, that is a fact. The new finger print scanner that google calls nexus imprint is accurate and is on par with the touch id. Manufactured this year by Huawei it is a beautiful all metal construction housing an octacore Snapdragon 810 with 3GB of RAM. It also has a 5.7 inch Quad HD AMOLED display which is stunning. The 16 mp sensor is one of the best in 2015. It has great battery life and above all it will get the latest version of  android from Google. But this too has its fare share of cons. First it is quite a big device which is not for everyone. Also there was a whole issue with bending when a you tuber uploaded a video of bending the phone with bare hand pressure. But this has happened before too with way bigger brands, unless you are planning to use it as bridge you should be good. The nexus 6P is available for Rs. 39,999 for 32GB model.

   

 So that was my list of the top 5 phones this year, I would love to hear your thoughts in the comments below. You guys agree or disagree? Also feedback is appreciated, let me know what you guys would like to read!!