It’s fine in a vacuum, just not at the jaw-dropping standards of the main camera.Īll that and we haven’t even talked about another major Pixel selling point: this is a pure Google phone, so you can expect to get exclusive Android-Pixel features and the fastest software updates too. The ultra-wide camera, however, doesn’t fare as well.
This is a phone that you can point and shoot and get a great shot almost every time. Now that the Pixel 6 has camera hardware that’s actually up to 2022 standards, the result is an absolutely stunning camera experience. This is because Google’s awesome computational photography leverages the company’s all-knowing AI and machine learning smarts. But these compromises are very easy to accept for those who want a phone that looks and feels like a flagship but costs half the price.īut let’s get back to that camera: the Pixel’s cameras have been the best or among the best cameras in the industry for years, despite the fact that the camera hardware in the last couple of Pixels were getting long in the tooth. Of course, there are areas of compromise to get this phone down to this price range: the display only refreshes up to 90Hz (but Google’s UI optimization is so good that animations feel smoother than that anyway), there’s no zoom lens, and relatively slow wired and wireless charging. You also get a relatively large 4,614 mAh battery, a 6.4-inch OLED screen, IP68 water resistance, and a gorgeous, unique design with some very fun colors. Despite costing almost half of the typical flagship phone, there are several key flagship features in the Pixel 6, including Google’s first-ever self-developed SoC, Tensor, a new 50MP camera that, when paired with Google’s camera software prowess, makes for arguably the best main camera around. But it’s the best phone for most people, the phone regular consumers should consider first because of the combination of performance, features, and value for money.Īnd starting at $599, the newly released Google Pixel 6 takes this category by a landslide. This category is tricky because the phone that tops this list isn’t usually the best phone per se in terms of having all the most premium features.
Simply put, while the Galaxy S22 Plus is not Samsung’s top slab phone offering, it is flagship enough for most people.īest Samsung Galaxy Phones for every budget and need Best Android Phone for most people: Pixel 6
The 4,500 mAh battery here, while not as large as the one in the Ultra, is still enough to power the phone all day, and it’s also rated IP68 for water and dust resistance. On the software front, you still get Samsung’s excellent OneUI with all the bonuses that come with it including Samsung DeX and you also get a top-end SoC (either Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200 depending on your region) too. The Galaxy S22 Plus is also a bit smaller - its screen is “just” 6.6-inches - without the pointy corners of the Ultra, so it’s almost objectively a more comfortable phone to hold. You won’t get the S-Pen stylus, nor the 10x Periscope zoom lens, but you still have a beautiful 120Hz OLED screen, an excellent 50MP main camera, solid 12MP ultra-wide lens and a superb 3x telephoto zoom lens. If you find the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s $1,200 price just a tad too high, the Galaxy S22 Plus offers a lot of what made that phone great at a penny under $1,000. But other than these, the Galaxy S22 Ultra has no other real misses. Granted, the Exynos 2200 has some issues, and the 45W wired charging has no practical time benefits over 25W charging, and the vibration motor may feel a little weak. Throw in Android 12 with four guaranteed years of Android updates and then another year of security updates, and great Samsung software features like Samsung DeX and you have a do-it-all, well-rounded flagship that offers more than what any other phone has to offer. In fact, when you consider the design language of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and how it strays from the other two Galaxy S22 devices, it’s clear that this is a Galaxy S phone in name only. Unlike the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which supported an S-Pen that required a separate purchase and had no good place to stay, the Galaxy S22 Ultra’s S-Pen is included with the package and stored in a silo at the bottom of the device, just like the Galaxy Note. But it’s the addition of the S-Pen stylus that has changed things.