For me, 2023 felt a bit stale. Final yr I even acquired enthusiastic about a few of midrangers, however this time round I could not discover one which stands out. Even the premium section wasn’t notably spectacular to me, in order that’s why I picked solely 4 telephones for my high listing.
One model that is lacking from my listing is Samsung. Despite the fact that I am not an enormous Samsung fan, I’ve all the time favored the S Extremely sequence, however the Galaxy S23 Extremely simply appears like extra of the identical to me. The identical goes for the Galaxy Z Fold5 – it is good, however unexciting.
Xiaomi 13 Extremely
Let’s begin with my day by day driver – the Xiaomi 13 Extremely. After utilizing the Xiaomi 11 Extremely and the 12S Extremely, the 13 Extremely feels way more refined than its predecessors. Regardless of the relatively bizarre design with all of the slopes on the again, the 13 Extremely for me is the closest to a “zero compromise” smartphone you may get in 2023.
The primary issues I search for in a telephone is the software program and the most recent installments of MIUI are nice. All three Ultras I’ve used present exceptionally clean and snappy expertise from day one. Jogs my memory of my first few years utilizing OnePlus telephones – fluent expertise from begin till the final day.
The second factor is cameras and the Extremely certain does cowl all bases. For me, the right telephoto combo is 3x + 5x or 3x + 6x and fortunately sufficient, the Extremely added a really potent 3.2x telephoto digicam, giving me each motive to improve from the 12S Extremely.
It is useless to undergo the specs sheet as soon as once more as a result of let’s face it – the chipset, show, fingerprint reader, charging, battery, and many others. are all considerably comparable throughout all flagship telephones. It is an awesome telephone with little to complain about.
Xiaomi 13
I’ve all the time had a factor for small premium telephones and I wish to preserve observe of this relatively area of interest section in 2023. And I imagine that the vanilla Xiaomi 13 is by far the very best small flagship smartphone this yr.
Most of what I mentioned concerning the 13 Extremely applies to the vanilla 13 as nicely. It has all of the bells and whistles and does not skip on the telephoto as nicely, which is a uncommon discover in compact telephones. The Galaxy S23 is one other exception to the rule.
The Asus Zenfone 10 and the Pixel 7, for instance, each lack correct telephoto cameras.
There’s one thing about holding a small and highly effective telephone, particularly if it is well-built. And the Xiaomi 13 certain feels nice within the hand.
OnePlus 11
Though a long-time fan of OnePlus, I have never been impressed by a telephone from the maker in fairly some time, particularly after executives determined to kill OxygenOS. The corporate additionally misplaced its aggressive edge in a way.
Nonetheless, the OnePlus 11 felt considerably totally different. I had the prospect to evaluation it and apart from the unimpressive 2x zoom digicam, the handset turned out to be a wonderful all-rounder.
It may very well be because of the rising smartphone costs all through 2023 normally, however the reality is OnePlus 11 was an awesome deal even at launch. The truth is, the digicam efficiency is spectacular and the {hardware} is flagship-worthy as all the time.
Even the software program felt snappy, feature-rich and welcoming. We had been disillusioned to see most of the older OxygenOS options go, however as they are saying – you win some, you lose some.
vivo X Fold2
I felt compelled to choose the very best foldable for me this yr because it’s clearly the longer term we’re heading towards. As I mentioned earlier, 2023 felt stale even within the foldable section. Nonetheless, the vivo X Fold2 caught with me. The Xiaomi Combine Fold 3 will get an honorable point out as nicely as a result of its distinctive design and potent digicam setup.
What I favored concerning the vivo essentially the most was the design (I actually recognize fake leather-based backs), the virtually crease-less interior display screen, the usable outer display screen (it did not really feel like an afterthought) and maybe the very best characteristic to have on a horizontally-folding smartphone is the twin ultrasonic fingerprint reader.
I personally very a lot dislike side-mounted fingerprint readers as they drive you to make use of the telephone together with your proper hand and it is robust to unlock when it is positioned on the desk, for instance. The vivo X Fold2 fixes all these points with two fingerprint readers – one on the quilt display screen and one on the primary folding display screen. You’ll be able to unlock the system whichever manner you want and the 2 scanners enhance ease of use fairly a bit. I’m wondering why no different producer is doing this with its foldables because it makes a lot sense.
That is all from me this yr and I hope we get some extra thrilling stuff in 2024. I would wish to see extra midrangers with higher cameras (I am sick of the dated 8MP ultrawide shooters) and newer chipsets that make extra sense in 2024. I might additionally wish to see a major step ahead within the foldable section.
