PhoneArena Readers’ Awards 2022: Best Phones of the Year!
Which phones are the best ones in 2022? Which one has the best design? And which one has the best camera?
With no further ado, let the voting begin!
BEST INNOVATION of 2022
Name the one feature that was the most innovative and drove key technologies in the industry forward
Smartphone innovation seems to grow slower as the industry matures, but when we compiled this list, we had a surprising number of exciting new innovations in both software and hardware. Which one do you think was the most important one for the year?
BEST DESIGN of 2022
Who says smartphone design is boring? Select the company that has the most exciting smartphone design
Okay, the modern smartphone is basically just a slab and it’s as simple as that gets, but some phones added a few extra feature to really modernize the look of that slab and add just a bit of extra flare. Which phone had the best design in 2022?
BEST AGING PHONE of 2022
Which 2021 phone aged best in 2022? Vote for your favorite!
Only wine seems to have the honor of getting better with time, and gadgets usually aren’t, but some 2021 phones held up surprisingly well in 2022! Vote for the smartphone that you think aged most gracefully this year!
BEST GAMING PHONE of 2022
Raw power, no throttling, solid battery life and preferably advanced gaming controls… which is the best gaming phone?
If you want to enjoy your smartphone gaming session to the fullest, you probably need a slightly more powerful phone and preferably a gamepad or at least some added controls to make life easier. Which phones catered to gamers and which one was actually the overall best gaming phone?
BEST BUDGET PHONE of 2022
Select the budget phone that gives you most value for your money
You certainly don’t have to spend a fortune on your next flagship phone, if you just want a solid handset and you can get an absolutely stellar device with solid battery life, fast performance and a good camera at prices way below the $500 mark. We have rounded up a selection of a few exemplary 2022 budget phones, but feel free to share other favorites you have in the comments section!
BEST “AFFORDABLE FLAGSHIP” of 2022
aka the “flagship killer”!
Some people call these devices “affordable flagships”, others call them “flagship killers”, but in essence, these are $600 to $800 phones that have all the features of premium flagships, which usually go for $1,000 or more.
The idea is to save some money while losing as little of that coveted flagship experience as possible.
Well, good news are that there are plenty such devices in 2022, so you really don’t need to overspend for the flagship experience.
BEST FOLDABLE PHONE of 2022
We got exponentially more and better folding phones in 2022
Foldable phones still feel kind of new, but they have already been on the market for around three years and they are better than ever in 2022. The Galaxy Z Fold 4 and Flip 4 are the most mature foldables on the market, but Samsung started having some competition in 2022 and for the first time we saw that you could get different form factors, different experiences and even faster innovation in some areas.
BEST CAMERA PHONE of 2022
Which phone has the best overall camera: the refinement of the camera app, the photo quality and video recording all count
Ranking the very best camera is an extremely difficult task that takes up the time of many top YouTubers and even dedicated websites, but we wanted to hear the ultimate judge: our readers!
A great camera phone has got to have it all: a great and easy to use camera app, but also at least some manual controls, a high-quality viewfinder is also desirable, then it must take great pics during the day, but also at night, and last but not least it has to record excellent video. Is there such an all-outliner
MOST IMPROVED PHONE of 2022
Which phone improved the most in its 2022 version?
We are also curious to hear your thoughts about which phone underwent the biggest improvement since its last year’s version. The company that gets this award will be recognized for making a bigger leap than the rest of the phone makers.
BEST ANDROID PHONE of 2022
The king of Androids
If we look at just the beautiful and vast world of Android smartphones, which phone deserves the title “king of Android phones”? Well, that’s up to you to decide. We have included the most popular choices in our opinion, but in case we have missed a particular other phone that deserves this honor, do let us know about it in the comments!
BEST OVERALL SMARTPHONE of 2022
Vote for the ultimate honor: the best overall smartphone of the year
Finally, this is the big award: best overall smartphone! Here, the best Android phones of the year clash with the iPhones in an ultimate readers’ vote to determine which phone deserves the title. This will be a heated battle, but it’s crucial that you let us know your reasoning for picking one particular phone over the others.