Every year, popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (better known as MKBHD) holds his own Smartphone Awards, picking out the best smartphones in different categories. While last year the iPhone was awarded in three different categories, Apple’s smartphone lost out to its competitors in this year’s awards.
just like last year, MKBHD has established multiple award categories for smartphones. Is it so:
- best big phone
- best small phone
- best camera system
- better battery
- The Design Award
- value award
- bust of the year
- MVP (Phone of the Year)
Unsurprisingly, there are plenty of Android smartphones vying for the awards, while Apple currently sells just eight different iPhone models, and only five of them have been released this year. Of course, although the awards are based on MKBHD’s own criteria, it considered both the technical aspects and its personal experience with each device that competes for the awards.
But how does the iPhone compare to all other Android smartphones?
best big phone
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is undoubtedly a large phone with its 6.7-inch screen. However, MKBHD chose Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra as the best large phone of 2022. According to the YouTuber, the S22 Ultra takes advantage of the huge 6.8-inch display with the stylus combined with software optimized for the big screen, the 5000 mAh battery and four camera lenses on the back of the phone.
MKBHD also praised the ASUS ROG Phone 6, which is considered a smartphone for gamers, in the same category for having “incredible and massive stereo front-facing speakers” and a headphone jack. The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 also got an honorable mention for being the same thickness as a regular phone when folded.
best small phone
Last year, Apple won the Best Small Phone category with the iPhone 13 mini. After all, there aren’t many small phones left on the market, and the iPhone 13 mini was essentially an iPhone 13 with premium hardware inside a body with a 5.4-inch screen. But this year, Apple killed off the iPhone mini and replaced it with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.
So the Best Small Phone of 2022 winner was the ASUS Zenfone 9. It’s certainly not as small as the iPhone 13 mini, as it has a 5.9-inch screen, but it’s still considerably smaller than most smartphones today. With flagship specs, a “surprisingly good camera,” a headphone jack, and good battery life, MKBHD calls the Zenfone 9 “easily the best phone of this size.”
Oppo Find N2, which is a foldable phone, got an honorable mention in this category for looking extremely compact when folded.
best camera system
Choosing the best camera on a smartphone can be extremely subjective, especially since there are different criteria for photos and videos, and each person has their own preferences when it comes to color level and sharpness. some days ago, MKBHD shared the results of its smartphone camera blind testin which Google’s Pixel 6A took first place, while the Pixel 7 Pro came in second.
But what about the MKBHD preferences? Although he praised the photos taken with the Pixel 7 and Vivo X90 Pro+, iPhone 14 Pro Max won the Best Camera System award this year.
The YouTuber says the iPhone has a stronger camera experience, including how fast it is to open the Camera app and take a photo, consistency across all lenses, and how good the device is at shooting video compared to all other devices. android smartphones.
better battery
The winner of the Best Battery of 2022 is the ASUS ROG Phone 6. Since it is considered a gamer smartphone, ASUS put a 6,000 mAh battery inside the phone. At the same time, it supports fast charging up to 65W, allowing users to recharge the battery from 0% to 100% in less than an hour.
Last year’s iPhone 13 Pro Max won best battery, and many other reviews also praised the battery life of last year’s iPhone despite the addition of the 120Hz display. However, the iPhone The 14 Pro Max didn’t offer the same battery experience as the iPhone 13 Pro Max, as Apple kept the battery the same size and added an always-on display.
Interestingly, Marques praised the battery life of the iphone 14 plus, which beats the iPhone 14 Pro Max because it has a normal 60 Hz display without the Always On feature. As a result, the iPhone 14 Plus consumes less power than the Pro model.
The Design Award
Design category is also quite subjective, and even MKBHD agrees with this. And the smartphone that won The Design Award in 2022 is the nothing phone. Looking from the sides, the Nothing Phone is reminiscent of one of the latest iPhones. However, the Nothing Phone has a transparent back filled with LEDs that can be used for multiple things like notifications and flash light while you’re filming.
“It definitely borders the line between trick and feature. […] I find it very clean. I think it’s great that you can see how much battery there is while you’re charging it. […] Little things like that. You don’t see many phones trying new things.”
The Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 got an honorable mention in the design category for being a foldable phone that looks much more solid than other foldable phones.
value award
Last year Google’s Pixel 6 won the Value Award, and this year the award went to the pixel 7. MKBHD argues that the Pixel 7 is the best in its $599 price range and even beats some more expensive flagships with its specs. “It’s so good that it made the [Pixel] 7 Pro seems like it’s not that good,” he added.
ASUS Zenfone 9 once again received an honorable mention, this time in the Value Award category for offering a “truly unique combo” including a 120Hz display for $699.
bust of the year
The Bust of the Year 2021 was Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2, which has two separate screens and launched at a price of $1,500. This year, however, MKBHD chose the OnePlus 10T as Bust of the Year for having a “fairly large delta between expectations and possibilities vs. actual results.”
MVP (Phone of the Year)
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra was the 2021 winner for Phone of the Year. But what about this year? The 2022 winner is Google pixel 7. As mentioned above, MKBHD says the Pixel 7 is a great value with its good cameras, display, and battery, plus a “flagship software experience,” while costing much less than other premium smartphones.
With similar arguments, ASUS Zenfone 9 also won an honorable mention for Phone of the Year. Third, MKBHD chose the Galaxy S22 Ultra for this category, which he defines as “boring” and “expensive”, but at the same time one of the best phones one can get in 2022.
to wrap
Out of three categories in 2021, the iPhone has now only been awarded in one of the categories in 2022. And yet, MKBHD noted that it prefers the iPhone’s camera due to its excellent quality for recording videos.
When it comes to photos MKBHD has already said it in his videos that the iPhone 14 Pro camera exaggerates post-processing effects like HDR, making some photos look very unrealistic – and personally i agree with that.
What are your thoughts on the results? Would you have a different list than MKBHD for the best phones of 2022? Let us know in the comments section.
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