10 Of The Best Android Smartphones Ever Released

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New phones reoccur, however the phones we like stick with us permanently and alter the method we do things. Often they remain in our hands for longer than we ‘d expect.

We’ve all experienced this at one point with our smart devices. We’re discussing the one phone that has a specific touch that makes us value utilizing it long past its prime, whether it’s a particular function or the reality that the phone’s general strengths last longer than the typical upgrade cycle reasoning. A few of these phones might even continue to be utilized as an “archive” mobile phone we keep on hand for particular usages, even if of how it resonated with us.

For this story, we’ve gathered 10 of the very best Android phones ever launched. These phones stick out for how liked they were by users and our customers alike. This list is based upon SlashGear’s evaluations, and research study of how users reacted based upon popular threads such as Reddit.

Join us on this walk down memory lane to see which phones previous and present made it.

Verizon Wireless

The Motorola Droid X came out in 2010, in the heady early days of Android mobile phones. It was Motorola’s second-generation flagship phone Like its Droid predecessor, the Droid X just dealt with Verizon’s CDMA network, an exclusivity scenario that prevailed at the time.

The initial Droid offered Android its very first genuine “name” phone to challenge the Apple iPhone. The Droid X developed on that momentum and sense of magic and offered Android the increase it required to take on the iPhone. The phone ran Android 2.1, marking a period when Android remained in its infancy, and phone makers differentiated themselves with software application user interface personalizations like social networks combinations and custom-made keyboards (consisting of one by Swype, the precursor to dragging your finger throughout a keyboard to form letters) discovered on the Droid X.

SlashGear’sevaluationkept in mind an extending bulge on top rear edge needed to offer space for the phone’s then-cutting edge eight-megapixel autofocus cam with dual-LED flash. The phone had distance sensing units, an accelerometer, and a microSD card slot. It consisted of a 16GB card in package to supplement the 8GB of onboard storage, a power relocation that let the Droid X leap-frog over the entry-level iPhone 4’s memory capability.

The Droid X likewise stood apart for having 3 microphones, which can be found in convenient for both sound cancellation and for shooting video.

HTC

At one time, HTC was a significant gamer in the Android phone market. The HTC Hero came out in 2009, the 3rd Android smart device from HTC. The phone had an intriguing journey, coming out initially in Europe. Later on that very same year, it debuted as the HTC Hero in the U.S., where it supported 900/2100MHz HSPA/WCDMA networks and was very first readily available on Sprint. The U.S. variations of the phone were upgraded from the variation offered somewhere else, with flatter physical buttons and a smooth bezel that does not have the distinct “chin” angle of the phone.

This was the very first HTC phone to present a 3.5-millimeter earphone jack, a welcome addition to a still-new gadget that was primed for usage as an Android music gamer, too– much as the iPhone rapidly ended up being the de facto replacement for Apple’s renowned iPod. It was likewise the very first Android phone to support a multi-touch screen, which made it possible for pinch and zoom movements like those on the Apple iPhone, and the very first to incorporate an internet browser with a scaled-down variation of Adobe Flash (then a dominant innovation for website design and video streaming).

The Hero felt comfy in hand, and it was thin (for the time), determining 14.35 millimeters. It even had a trackball to browse menu alternatives. At the back, the Hero had a five-megapixel video camera, without a flash. The phone at first delivered with Android 1.5, however then got the Android 2.1 upgrade. That upgrade included some user interface fine-tunes thanks to the HTC Sense interface, the business’s internal software application overlay that made stock Android more welcoming aesthetically and much easier to personalize and utilize.

Google

The year is 2012, and the Google Nexus 4 is, as its name suggests, Google’s 4th model of its own top quality mobile phone. Google’s previous Nexus phones developed the idea of a pure Android experience, provided on a phone with leading specifications and style. These Nexus phones were produced Google by other producers, with the Nexus name indicating its unique status as a Google phone that will get Android updates initially, before any rivals.

As kept in mind in the SlashGear evaluation, the phone landscape was really various for the Google Nexus 4. While it still stuck out for its unvarnished Android experience and early-access os updates, the Nexus 4 debuted at a time when smart device competitors was warming up.

The Nexus 4 was produced by LG, which in turn based the phone’s style on its LG Optimus G. It stood apart for consisting of an IPS LCD touchscreen with a Corning Gorilla Glass 2 cover layer along with its addition of Qi cordless charging, then a rarity on mobile phones. The phone likewise stuck out for its omissions: No 4G LTE, and no microSD card slot, which suggested you were restricted to simply 8 or 16 gigabytes of storage, and whatever you might save in Google Drive.

The phone amassed numerous fans in its day, merely for its strong balance of efficiency, specifications, and cost. It was priced at simply $199 with a two-year agreement for the 16-gigabyte variation on T-Mobile. This made it exceptionally cost competitive for its day.

HTC

When the HTC One (M7) came out in 2013, HTC required to comprise ground in the mobile phone race. Samsung increased to prominence with its popular Galaxy SIII phone in 2012, and Apple continued to lead mobile phone discussions with its Apple iPhone 5, likewise launched in 2012.

The HTC One ended up being a go-to for users who valued development combined with HTC’s software application functionality. Per SlashGear customer Vincent Nguyen’s analysis back in 2013, “The HTC One makes an engaging argument for being the best-made Android phone we can remember, a style that both feels and look premium.” It had actually a carefully curved back, that made it simple to hold, and its video camera lenses were flush with the back of the phone. The front-facing Beats Audio-powered speakers flanked the leading and bottom of the display screen, with 2 touch-sensitive secrets sitting below the screen, to make it simpler to return and return home without compromising valuable screen property.

The 4.7-inch Full HD 1,980-pixel screen struck an attractive balance in between size and pixels-per-inch vs. bigger five-inch screens of its day, and the option of a somewhat smaller sized screen made this phone easier to hold than contending designs. The battery was not detachable, however, and the phone did not have a microSD card slot, 2 functions that completing Android phones still frequently supported at this time. It still had HTC Sense overlay to streamline operation; now in 5.0, HTC eliminated a few of the bloat and wacky graphics. This phone likewise presented HTC BlinkFeed, its newest effort at pulling numerous socials media under a single umbrella.

HTC launched a variation of this phone in 2014 called HTC Google Play Edition M7, which dropped the Sense overlay and later on got an Android 5.1 upgrade

LG

Among the last considerable phone releases from LG, the V20 made an effect in 2016 as a phone focused on content development– long before the developer economy increased to prominence. LG had fortunate timing, as the LG V20 came out at a time when Samsung’s Galaxy Note 7 had its notorious blowing up battery concern, the problem that got the Keep in mind 7 rememberedThe recall left a space for high-end phones that year, and the V20 was poised well to fill that space.

The LG V20 stuck out for its audio and imaging functions. SlashGear’sV20 evaluationkept in mind: “This mobile phone was produced individuals who desire the most exceptional and special smart device on the marketplace, complete stop.”

For beginners, the phone had 2 screens, one above another, and 2 screens operate independently. The secondary screen offers practical faster ways to apps and operations, and it works to match an app by offering simple access to settings. The 5.7-inch IPS LCD had 2,560 x 1,440 pixels, or 513 pixels per inch, and it utilized a Corning Gorilla Glass 4 cover layer.

The V20 likewise incorporated an outstanding digital-to-audio converter (DAC), which implied the phone might manage playing lossless 24-bit audio files and CD-quality audio from streaming services like Tidal. These functions alone keep this phone beneficial as a music gamer. Our evaluation kept in mind audio sounded excellent through earbuds, and the phone might tape lossless LPCM audio and 24-bit/192 kHz FLAC audio. You might tape in stereo, too.

The rear-facing video camera likewise stuck out amongst the giants of the time. Like the V10 before it, the V20 had 2 cams, the primary electronic camera and a wide-angle cam. The primary cam had 16 megapixels, more than the 12-megapixel primary electronic camera on the iPhone 7 Plus.

Samsung

After the fiasco that was the remembered Note 7, the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 strengthened Samsung’s expertise with its Note line. It likewise showed Samsung’s doubling down on the Note’s essential identifying function, its S Pen stylus.

The follow-on to the Note 8, the Note 9 stuck out as the very best Android phone of its time. SlashGear kept in mind in itsKeep in mind 9 evaluationthat, “The Note 9 is a supercar smart device. Like all supercars, you pay handsomely for the opportunity of driving a flagship.”

While its commercial style was really comparable to its predecessor, within was a totally various story. The phone’s specifications were upgraded throughout the board, with an upgraded, snappier Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, a sturdy 4,000 mAh battery, and the addition of Bluetooth to its renowned S Pen stylus. Bluetooth connection permitted the stylus to serve as a push-button control for the cam, music playback, and more.

The Note 9 had a stunning big, 6.4-inch Super AMOLED screen, and it consisted of a microSD card slot and an optimum of 512 gigabytes of onboard storage. The video cameras were strong entertainers, too, with 2 12-megapixel sensing units, and one with a 2x optical zoom. The video camera app likewise presented Samsung’s Scene Optimizer, the business’s very first handle AI-driven image capture.

While this phone was a strong entertainer that was future-proofed in numerous methods, it was hindered by one vital omission: The phone did not have a 5G radio, which implied it could not operate at the fastest speeds over the quick cordless networks very first coming online at the time. It likewise had a 3.5-millimeter earphone jack (the Galaxy S10/Note 10 series were the last ones to consist of an earphone jack).

OnePlus

The OnePlus 7 Pro crashed onto the scene in mid-2019, falling in between the normal winter season flagship Galaxy S launch from Samsung, and Samsung’s Note launch at completion of the summer season. OnePlus initially appeared on the scene with excellent phones at a lower expense than rivals’ flagship phones.

With the OnePlus 7 Pro, the business moved its technique. As kept in mind in SlashGear’sOnePlus 7 Pro evaluation“the OnePlus 7 Pro is an entrance into the future for the business– a future in which OnePlus has the ability to use high-end functions in a phone that’s every bit as much a hero as the greatest names in the market.”

The phone can be found in 2 colors, each with 2 rate points and 2 memory and storage setups (a complicated design, to be sure). It had an ingenious 6.67-inch AMOLED screen with QHD+ resolution and a quick 90Hz revitalize rate, much better than a lot of rivals at the time. Among its 3 video cameras had an outstanding 48-megapixel sensing unit. The front electronic camera has a distinct pop-up style.

OnePlus’ OxygenOS is the business’s own take on Android, with its user interface fine-tunes to make some jobs much easier and expose abilities missing out on from stock Android. You get quick-access settings to a Reading Mode, Zen Mode, and a Screen Recorder, plus an integrated VPN. Like other OnePlus designs, the phone has an exclusive fast-charging innovation built-in; you require to utilize the phone’s consisted of battery charger to see the fast-charging advantages.

Google

By the time the Google Pixel 7 Pro occurred in 2022, Google required to present functions that made it genuinely competitive with Apple and Samsung’s flagship phones, and to do so at an aggressive cost. More so than any other Pixel phone before it, the Pixel 7 Pro provided a premium flagship experience at a not-so-premium cost.

In SlashGear’sPixel 7 Pro evaluationwe described the phone’s $899 cost as favorably aggressive in an age where Apple and Samsung’s flagship designs cost upwards of $1,000. It didn’t take wish for the Pixel 7 Pro to get aggressive discount rates, making this phone an attractive option to the Apple/Samsung duopoly.

This design kept a comparable look to the Pixel 6 series before it, with a metal and glass style and a metal bar at the back balancing out the cams. It has a 6.7-inch OLED screen with as much as a 120Hz revitalize rate, putting it right up there with other flagship phones and making it a competitor for mobile video gaming.

The genuine magic of the Pixel 7 Pro sits inside the chassis. It has Google’s second-generation Tensor G2 processor inside. The processor stressed AI and computational image processing, and with it came even much better electronic camera efficiency, with capabilities that “seem like borderline magic” as SlashGear’s customer put it. The phone is loaded with functions that make modifying and image capture simpler and more instinctive than ever. Among the most buzz-worthy (and beneficial) functions was Magic Eraser, which streamlined background elimination from images. The video cameras have actually gotten function updates because release, and will continue to get function and Android system updates up until 2025, and security updates till 2027.

Samsung

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra stands as Samsung’s last excellent flagship phone. before Galaxy AI (baked into the Galaxy S24 series) made waves. This phone scored a near-perfect ranking in our evaluation, and for great factor.

The chassis shows subtle style modifications in the S23 Ultra over its predecessor: It has a more squared-off style and its Corning Gorilla Glass Victus 2 cover layer does not have the rounded edges of earlier models. The S Pen parks itself inside the phone, and it stays an enticing and peerless incorporated stylus for composing straight on the phone’s 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED show with its quick 120Hz revitalize rate.

The greatest news behind the S23 Ultra lies with the addition of a 200-megapixel electronic camera sensing unit to the previous 50-megapixel sensing unit. While this might look like a trick, it worked well to provide sharp information and abundant colors. The remainder of the cam variety works well to record fantastic, gratifying images. The default 1X lens utilizes a 12-megapixel sensing unit, while the 3X and 10X optical zooms utilize a 10-megapixel sensing unit. Samsung consists of a variation of Adobe Lightroom for shooting RAW images (likewise offered through Samsung’s Expert RAW app). The electronic cameras likewise include enhanced night photography and optical image stabilization.

The phone utilizes a personalized Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, and together with the consisted of 12GB of RAM, this phone’s zippy efficiency will not dissatisfy anytime quickly. The only factor to think about updating would be if you yearn for the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra‘s AI experiences– and even then, possibly not, given that a couple of functions are arranged to debut ultimately on the S23 Ultra.

OnePlus

As the latest phone on this list (launched in late 2023), it might appear a bit early to consist of the collapsible OnePlus Open on this list. And yet, our company believe this design has major legs.

The OnePlus Open is OnePlus’ very first stab at a folding phone, and it scored a struck with its very first effort. The OnePlus Open followed other significant 2023 foldables from Samsung and Google. Plainly, OnePlus bore in mind about what worked, and what didn’t, when it concerned those phones. Kept in mind SlashGear’s customer, “The OnePlus Open is an all of a sudden capable phone that perhaps provides the very best of both worlds: the inner screen of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5, and the cover screen use of the Google Pixel Fold.”

A considerable difference with this phone is its size. The OnePlus Open is the very first folding phone that does not appear like 2 phones stacked on top of one another. Rather, this phone and its 2K, 7.82-inch inner screen folds to a gadget that’s hardly thicker than a single handset from a rival. SlashGear’s evaluation notes it weighs simply 5 grams more, and stands simply 2 millimeters thicker than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

The phone’s electronic cameras are competitive, and its spacious screen supports approximately 3 apps open at a time. It features 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage requirement, topping rivals’ specifications and a lot of zest that, together with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, you need to get stylish efficiency for the foreseeable future. The one noteworthy omission, however, is cordless charging. A lot of users may not even miss out on the cordless charging, because the phone supports quickly charging over its optional exclusive 80-watt battery charger and its consisted of 67-watt battery charger (at lower power, you can charge to 50% in simply 15 minutes).