2012 Year in Review: Best 5 Android Smartphones

[TJF2011]

sorry but i love my s3... been a great phone and the s beam is awesome. i love Samsung... wish i had the cash to buy the note 2 though

but the s3 has worked flawless(knock on wood)

 

[Arkbird]

Honestly a horrible list. Not to be rude but it just seems like you took the latest and greatest and made them the "Best" of the years. Most of the phones on here have been out less then half a year. How on earth could you call them the Best of 2012? Just my two cents though.

I personally think it's a pretty good list. Not because the phones are newer or anything but because each of those phones brought something new to the game. The all brought something that made them stand out and made them top sellers.

 

[dgstorm]

Honestly a horrible list. Not to be rude but it just seems like you took the latest and greatest and made them the "Best" of the years. Most of the phones on here have been out less then half a year. How on earth could you call them the Best of 2012? Just my two cents though.

Calling it a horrible list without sharing your perspective is a bit trollish my friend. I have zero problem if you disagree with our choices, but please share which phone's you like better and why. These five phones were chosen by several of us at HQ after much discussion. I can definitely see several valid arguments for different phones being on this list. Please weigh in with more than your "two cents" because we want a whole $buck-fifty worth of input!

 

[gxyS3_918]

I love my galaxy s 3. Best phone I have ever owned. Anyways here is my opinion on the top 5.

1. Galaxy S lll
2. Galaxy Note 2
3. Motorola razr maxx hd
4. HTC One X
5. IPhone 5

 

[hotice]

I like your choices. I do think a lot of great phones were released in 2012. There are all kinds of options at different price points to serve all different purposes.

I wouldn't put the Droid DNA in the phablet category. It's definitely more of a phone form factor. The additional 0.2 inch display diagonal over the GS3, with possibly less bezel on the sides, doesn't put it in phablet category. Sure the GNote was at 5" but keep in mind the aspect ratio was different making it wider in the hand. The GNote 2 has the same aspect ratio as the DNA but a difference of 0.5" diagonal over the DNA is pretty large.

There has never been a Nexus phone that I liked. Even if you go back to the G1, the screen resolution was too low (my WinMo devices were already 480x640 for a number of years and there was no going back), and the OG Droid had a keyboard which I had tried in a mobile years earlier and new that wasn't the form factor for me. The Nexus One had the Snapdragon S1 processor which was terrible - by far the worst of that generation with a 65nm die size (more heat, worse battery life) and lousy GPU (the Adreno 200 was bad). The 1GHz OMAP from TI and 1GHz Hummingbird both had a 45nm die size and much better GPU's, with the one on the Hummingbird being the best. Too bad Samsung didn't know how to integrate a GPS on their phones. As far as Nexus's go we then had the Nexus S which, for some dumb reason didn't have a notification LED - forget that! Then the Galaxy Nexus came out. Nice but battery life wasn't great and it was a very unreliable phone on Verizon making it useless. Also, it's too bad Nexus devices moved to OLED. Everyone should stay with LCD. I have a Maxx HD. Yeah, current OLED tech is very good and the screens look fine and are not bad outside but still, LCD uses less power for a given brightness. Also, Nexus devices need MicroSD slots and what dev doesn't want a real MicroHDMI port!!! I'll take better hardware and wait a little longer for my OS update. Especially since ICS - Android has really grown up!

 

[hotice]

I love my galaxy s 3. Best phone I have ever owned. Anyways here is my opinion on the top 5.
1. Galaxy S lll
2. Galaxy Note 2
3. Motorola razr maxx hd
4. HTC One X
5. IPhone 5

Wow, putting the Note 2 on I can at least understand as well as the One X but the iPhone 5?!?!? I'd put the DNA back on instead of the One X and the Razr M instead of the iPhone 5. I'm for swapping out the Nexus 4 with the Note 2. The DNA is a better representative of the S4 quad than the N4 and it has a 1080p 5" display. The One X camera is represented by the DNA and the CPU by the GS3 and DRMHD.

Here are the problems I see with all iPhones:
1. display is too small
2. no notification LED
3. no app to app direct sharing of data like the share menu in android - only apple sanctioned sharing
4. no real widgets - only on lock screen and only ones apple makes available
5. no MicroUSB
6. no user replaceable battery, MicroSD slot, or MicroHDMI port - pick and choose your favorite(s)
7. no standard bluetooth file transfer
8. too much glass to break (iphone 4/4s)
9. exposed antenna's (iphone 4/4s) easily touchable which can hurt signal strength - there is good reason, based on physics which even Steve Jobs couldn't control, why nobody else did this before apple
10. smallish battery - at least the iPhone 5 does move to a 32nm die size but this still isn't as efficient as the 28nm die size of current android phones (other than the Exynos quad which is also 32nm)
11. Apple has stifled innovation, starting with the first iPod. They release inferior products at high prices and their incredible marketing sells them, flooding the market with products that have the bare minimum of features. This lowers the bar for what consumers expect in a device which slows innovation. The first iPod did nothing but play music when competitors had recording abilities, FM radio's, and standard connectivity for starters.

Sure the iPhone may be a good choice for some people but I'd argue that WinPhone 8 is a better choice for anyone considering an iPhone unless there are apps not available that they absolutely need.

 

[trestevenson]

1. Samsung Galaxy Note II
2. HTC Droid DNA
3. Samsung Galaxy S III
4. Motorola Droid Razr Maxx HD
5. HTC One X+

 

[gflam]

I'm just putting DNA as the best phone had it since Sunday and have loved every minute with it. Just really glad to be off of Sprint and enjoying some 4g LTE sweetness

 

[stillwaiting]

Note II FTW!!!

 

[tjk629]

It is a hard pick. I think they all have something that makes them really good.

S3, cause it's the S3
DNA, cause it represents the future
RAZR HD MAXX, cause I think Moto really needs props on their MAXX line. Nice battery that doesn't bulk the phone up.

 

[gxyS3_918]

Wow, putting the Note 2 on I can at least understand as well as the One X but the iPhone 5?!?!? I'd put the DNA back on instead of the One X and the Razr M instead of the iPhone 5. I'm for swapping out the Nexus 4 with the Note 2. The DNA is a better representative of the S4 quad than the N4 and it has a 1080p 5" display. The One X camera is represented by the DNA and the CPU by the GS3 and DRMHD.

Here are the problems I see with all iPhones:
1. display is too small
2. no notification LED
3. no app to app direct sharing of data like the share menu in android - only apple sanctioned sharing
4. no real widgets - only on lock screen and only ones apple makes available
5. no MicroUSB
6. no user replaceable battery, MicroSD slot, or MicroHDMI port - pick and choose your favorite(s)
7. no standard bluetooth file transfer
8. too much glass to break (iphone 4/4s)
9. exposed antenna's (iphone 4/4s) easily touchable which can hurt signal strength - there is good reason, based on physics which even Steve Jobs couldn't control, why nobody else did this before apple
10. smallish battery - at least the iPhone 5 does move to a 32nm die size but this still isn't as efficient as the 28nm die size of current android phones (other than the Exynos quad which is also 32nm)
11. Apple has stifled innovation, starting with the first iPod. They release inferior products at high prices and their incredible marketing sells them, flooding the market with products that have the bare minimum of features. This lowers the bar for what consumers expect in a device which slows innovation. The first iPod did nothing but play music when competitors had recording abilities, FM radio's, and standard connectivity for starters.

Sure the iPhone may be a good choice for some people but I'd argue that WinPhone 8 is a better choice for anyone considering an iPhone unless there are apps not available that they absolutely need.

I'm not an iPhone fan never even owned one. But. Girlfriend owns the 4s and my friend had a 5. I do know that there is a lot of negative feedback from both fans and phone critics about the 5 not living up to expectations or hype. But I put it in front of the dna simply because I was disappointed with htc for not giving it a better battery and also not removable. and expandable storage, I admit the specs are the best we've seen in a smartphone to date, but why make a phone with such amazing specs and quadcore processor with a 2020 milliamp battery non removable, and a 16 gig non expandable memory. Could have been the greatest phone made to date with these additions, just an epic fail IMO. At least with the iPhone you have the option to buy a phone with more internal memory. Also the camera does not compare to the iPhone 5, s3, one X, or note 2. Anyways that's why I excluded the DNA. The one X definitely deserves to be in the top 5. The DNA is in the top 10 not top 5, you can say what you will but I'm entitled to my opinion. And I respect yours, you make valid points too. We can just agree to disagree.

 

[LocoRon]

Galaxy Note II, all the way!

I haven't been able to afford one just yet (and I might save my money for the Note III next year). But... it's definitely the most innovate line right now (as far as things I'm interested in, anyway).

I guess some of the software innovations have been ported over to the SIII (such as multi-window), but they started with the Note line! Plus, with the stylus, I could finally stop carrying a pad of paper with me to jot down ideas (or so I hope!)

I think the Note is the only phone that could pry a qwerty slider out of my hands.

 

[Caesars]

It's worth it!

Return of the Android

 

[BenLand150]

I've got to give it to the Note 2! Not sure how it didn't make it on the list.

 

[npro1464]

The HD (Maxx) was good, but the S3 was a game changer. My phone has converted three of my friends already from iPhone to the S3 already.