Smartphone buyer's guide - GSMArena News

Introduction

Smartphone buyer's guide - GSMArena News

Decisions, decisions, decisions. The holiday season is upon us and 'tis the season of joy and happiness. But it could also be one of the most stressful events each year because them presents won't buy themselves, will they? That's why we decided to pitch in and hopefully make some of those decisions easier for you.

This 2018 was a fruitful year when it comes to smartphones and there were times when we raced against time to bring those on-time reviews for you. Because we know how important this information for the early adopters is, those who preorder and get some extra goodies, but also risks that come with the territory.

And now we are ready to give you that cheat sheet you need for this smartphone shopping season. We boiled a whole year of work down to a few pages for you. How about that?!

For the past smartphone guides we used to divide the phones into price brackets, but for this one we decided to try something different. We'll focus on one feature on each page and list the best phones in this category prices low to high. This way you can easily jump on photography or gaming and see what the best phones at each of those categories are.

So, are you ready for the tour?

The categories:

• Basic phones
• Gaming phones
• Camera phones
• Gigantic screens
• Battery life
• All-rounders
• Flagships

Let's begin!

Basic phones

Every now and then a person just needs a phone for making calls, and all other features come second. The handsets evolved so rapidly, though, that the regular (dumb) phones didn't have time to really catch up and find their place.

But there are quite a few offers from different makers, which won't overcomplicate your life and will allow you to stay in touch with family, friends, and colleagues without making you go crazy with laggy performance.

Let's check some of those!

€50: Nokia 3310 3G

• Good: Calls and build quality
• Bad: Games, camera, social networks

There are so few feature phones available, and we just couldn't contain ourselves from recommending at least one. And that's the Nokia 3310 3G. The sequel to the sequel to the most legendary phone has one special thing going on for it and that's the fact it's not special at all.

The 3310 is one very simple phone, easy to work with, great for calls and messages, with long-lasting battery and you can have it in various colors. So, if you have a relative in need of a "dumb" phone, then look no further.

€120: Xiaomi Redmi S2

• Good: Large screen, dual-camera with portraits, battery life
• Bad: Limited availability

Xiaomi has been known to make the best entry-level smartphones and the Redmi S2 is probably the best starter money can buy. The cheap fella has a nice 6" display, a snappy Snapdragon 625 chipset, and there is even a dual-camera at the back! If the Redmi S2 (or Y2 for some markets) is available in your country, it could be exactly the phone you need.

€140: Xiaomi Redmi 5 Plus (also known as Redmi Note 5)

• Good: High-res screen, daylight pictures, battery life
• Bad: Selfies, portraits, limited availability

Another very tempting Xiaomi is the Redmi 5 Plus. It has a higher-res screen and larger battery, at the expense of a mediocre selfie camera and the lack of depth sensor for portraits.

€140: Nokia 3.1

• Good: Build quality, Android One
• Bad: Battery life, gaming

If build quality is of utmost importance, then the Nokia 3.1 might be your cup of tea. It is one very sturdy phone, compact, shoots nice pictures during the day, and runs on Android One-enrolled operating system.

The Nokia 3.1 can't adequality handle games and didn't impress us with battery life, so there is that.

€140: Xiaomi Mi A1

• Good: 1080p screen, metal body, dual-camera with telephoto, Android One
• Bad: Slow updates

Another lucrative deal is the already aging Xiaomi Mi A1. While it was off to a bad start because of delays with the updates, the Mi A1 price has dropped to some very tempting levels. The Mi A1 has a perfectly normal 16:9 1080p screen, the body is all metal, and the dual-camera is quite nice with telephoto and portrait options.

The Mi A1 can't impress with selfies and might be dropped soon from the Android One upgrade roster, but it's still a very good deal nevertheless.

€150: Samsung Galaxy J6

• Good: Super AMOLED screen, dependable battery
• Bad: Games

Finally, Samsung has one very interesting offer and it's currently on sale. The Galaxy J6 is probably the cheapest smartphone with a Super AMOLED you can buy. It has a dependable battery life and promising camera but won't impress with performance.

Still, if you like the OLED screens, maybe you should check this one out.

Gaming phones

The mobile games have already proven to be one of the most profitable branches of the gaming industry and each generation of smartphones are thinning the gap between the handsets and the full-blown consoles. The makers have already implemented various DND modes for games, notification handlers, as well as GPU boosters and optimizers.

And if you are wondering where to play ("Don't you guys have phones") Diablo: Immortal next year, well, this is the right page for you.

€280: Oppo F7

• Good: Great screen, adequate performance, long battery life, nice camera
• Bad: Made of plastic, limited availability

The Oppo F7, while not available across the world, has a lot to offer to the users in the market where it has a presence. The large 6.23"screen turned out nice, the Helio P60 is quite powerful and can handle 1080p games very well, and both the main and selfie camera take some good pictures.

The F7 posted great battery life scores in our test, too.

€300: Honor Play

• Good: Everything - build, screen, chipset, performance, camera, battery
• Bad: Nothing

The Honor Play turned out to be one of the hottest smartphones this year and is surely winning this category in particular. It has an excellent large screen, a powerful Kirin 970 chip with GPU Turbo, it takes great photos, and it has outstanding battery life.

There is more! The Honor Play is made of metal, which should provide better thermal conduction and less performance throttling.

And the best part - it's available on a bargain price!

€350: Pocophone F1

• Good: Everything - build, screen, chipset, performance, camera, battery
• Bad: Nothing

Honor Play's toughest rival is, of course, the Pocophone F1 by Xiaomi. While it's quite the deal in India, the F1 isn't as cheap elsewhere. It still is the cheapest Snapdragon 845-powered smartphone money can buy, it has a nice screen for gaming, offers very capable camera on both ends, and it also has the battery to keep the lights on for quite some time.

€400: Sony Xperia XZ2

• Good: The large screen without a notch, Snapdragon 845, camera, battery
• Bad: Low-light pictures, selfies

Sony Xperia XZ2 is another affordable Snapdragon 845-featuring smartphone. It has a large 5.7" screen, free of any cutouts, nice water-proof glass design, and a camera that takes some commendable photos and slow-mo clips.

The XZ2 plays nice with PlayStations and Sony TVs, while as a standalone multimedia gadget it shines with its stereo speakers and dependable battery life.

€450: Xiaomi Black Shark Helo

• Good: Screen, performance, camera, battery, gaming design
• Bad: Availability, after-market support

Xiaomi has outdone itself this year with the Pocophone, but it didn't stop there. The maker has joined the race for the best gaming smartphone and released not one, but two offers this year with the latest being the Black Shark Helo.

The Helo packs a 6" AMOLED screen without any notch, the most current Snapdragon 845 chipset with the whooping 10GB of RAM, and great all-round camera package both for regular and selfie photos.

The Black Shark Helo has a gaming-inspired design with LEDs and a large 4,000 mAh battery for those long gaming sessions.

The only real issue we have with the Helo is its limited regional availability.

€600: Razer Phone

• Good: 120Hz screen, performance and gaming, stereo speakers
• Bad: Battery life, screen brightness, mixed bag camera quality

Once you've handled a 120Hz screen, you can't go back. You just can't. After you've experienced the buttery-smooth Android and various games, everything else feels like it stutters. And the first phone to introduce a screen like that is the original Razer Phone.

The Razer Phone aluminum body is as ruggedly handsome as they come, but its IGZO IPS LCD 120Hz display is one of a kind. The phone has last year's Snapdragon 835 chipset, a mediocre battery life and it's as imperfect as they come. But if you are enamored with the 120Hz screen (you have to see it yourself to appreciate it), then better get yourself a good power bank and don't delay the jump any further.

There is the newer model, of course - the Razer Phone 2 with Snapdragon 845 and a Chroma LED Razer logo on the back, but its price is still quite high, and it has its share of shortcomings.

€650: Sony Xperia XZ3

• Good: Large 1440p P-OLED screen, Snapdragon 845, good camera, Sony PS/TV integration
• Bad: Low-light pictures

Sony's newest Xperia XZ3 is quite cheap if compared to the current crop of flagships. It builds on the XZ2 with an updated design, a larger and higher-res P-OLED screen, and a much better selfie camera. If those things are worth to you the extra €250 over the XZ2, you should consider this one by all means.

€650: Huawei Mate 20

• Good: Large screen with tiny notch, top chipset, great camera, excellent battery life
• Bad: Limited availability, no waterproofing, EMUI doesn't allow third-party launchers

Our final suggestion for a gaming phone is the Huawei Mate 20. It has a very nice design, its screen is large with a minuscule waterdrop-like notch, and it has the latest Kirin 980 chip with GPU Turbo 2.0.

The Mate 20 tri-camera setup is also among the best in quality and versatility on the market, too.

The Mate 20 isn't available everywhere, though, and its price can be quite steep for the gray imports to work.

Camera phones

Years ago cameraphones were rare, exquisite devices, which prioritized the picture taking experience above any other aspect. But today, every phone is a camera phone but not all cameras are created equal.

The latest trends in mobile photography are AI-based image processing, handheld low-light enhancing modes, and most recently, everyone is racing to fit as many snappers on the back as possible. It's not only zoom snappers, but ultra-wide-angle cameras are making a comeback after being ignored by pretty much all manufacturers besides LG.

So, on this page we will try to gather the best smartphones under €600 that will deliver excellent image quality, various camera modes, and, of course, the highest camera count! There are even better cameraphones out there, but we've reserved those for last, and you will find them in the last category of this Buyer's guide.

€180: Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera

• Good: Large screen, excellent camera with nice portraits, selfies, battery life
• Bad: No manual mode or 4K video recording (only with a 3rd party app)

Our first suggestion is the cheapest possible yet capable one - the Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera. Yes, we agree, the name is awful, but the phone is quite the opposite.

The Redmi Note 5 AI Dual Camera has a 6" 1080p screen and runs on the most current mid-range chipset - the Snapdragon 636. There is even a 4,000 mAh battery with Quick Charge 3.0.

The highlight of the phone is the dual-camera on the back, though. The setup has a 12MP sensor with large pixels, a bright f/1.9 aperture, and dual-pixel autofocus. The second 5MP snapper is the depth sensor.

We reviewed the phone and found out its camera handles great both day and night pictures, the portraits are quite good, too, as well as the selfies. The image quality is consistently good across the board.

The only thing the camera app lacks is a comprehensive manual mode and 4K video recording. The latter you can enable via a third-party camera app, though.

€200 Xiaomi Mi A2

• Good: Notch-free screen, Snapdragon 660, great camera with portrait and manual modes, nice selfies, Android One
• Bad: No audio jack, no microSD

Xiaomi Mi A2 is probably the more interesting offer, depending on your local market. It's one of the cheapest smartphones powered by the Snapdragon 660 chipset, it has a notch-free 6" display, and runs on Android One.

But it appears on this list mainly for its camera. The dual-camera on the Mi A2 is quite impressive - it has a 12MP main sensor with large pixels, f/1.75 lens, and a secondary 20MP snapper which is supposed to enhance low-light scenes. The main camera can record 4K video too, while at the front a 20MP snapper handles the selfies - and these are solid selfies we're talking about.

The image quality is pretty great for a €200, plus the Mi A2 offers full-blown manual mode, so you can tweak whatever you like.

€280 LG G6

• Good: High-res screen, excellent camera both regular and ultra-wide-angle
• Bad: Battery life, selfies, Snapdragon 821 is capable but ageing

We often dismiss LG phones for being last to the race, but we often forget they are cheaper than the rest of the top dogs. And their prices fall very quickly, too.

That's why we took a second look at the last year's LG G6 and even though its software updates future is unclear - we just have to recommend it for its cameras. The G6 has a waterproof glass design, a 1440p HDR video screen (one of the first with rounded edges), and a still capable enough Snapdragon 821 chipset.

LG was the one to make popular the ultra-wide-angle camera and the LG G6 has one 13MP wide and another 13MP ultra-wide snapper on the back. Both provide mind-boggling image quality for the price bracket the phone occupies. The main 13MP shooter is even optically-stabilized, and with f/1.8 aperture, it can hold its own even in low-light.

Never the selfie masters, even the latest LG phones could use some work on the selfie quality front. The LG G6 is no different with its 5MP front camera, but it saves face by offering a second 18mm wide lens for those group selfies.

We think for that price, you can't get a better mobile camera.

€350 Honor 10

• Good: Design, chipset, excellent all-round camera
• Bad: Modest battery life

Honor 10 was the cheapest Kirin 970 smartphone back in May, but its greatness lies elsewhere. Sure, the glass design is a looker, but its color+monochrome camera setup is what makes it worthy of consideration.

Both the color and monochrome images are great no matter if taken in broad daylight or at night. The dual-camera is also well-suited to do portraits shots.

The Honor 10 also offers quite a few interesting shooting modes including manual, variable aperture, light painting, among others.

So, if you are a fan of Huawei's versatile cameras, you should definitely check the Honor 10.

€450: Xiaomi Mi 8

• Good: AMOLED screen, Snadpragon 845, Face ID, flagship camera, selfies
• Bad: Availability, durability

Xiaomi Mi 8 is still one very hot offer. The Mi 8 has a large 6.21" Super AMOLED screen, runs on the Snapdragon 845 chip, and offers true Face ID.

The Mi 8's camera is what caught our attention, though. It has a dual-setup on the back with a 12MP primary sensor with 1.4µm pixels and a bright f/1.8 aperture, 4-axis OIS, and dual-pixel autofocus. The secondary 12MP snapper has a 56mm telephoto lens for 2x zoom.

And the camera did deliver in image quality - all three of them, including the selfie one on the front.

€450: Huawei P20

• Good: Excellent all-round camera with Night Mode, stunning design, fast chip
• Bad: Waterproofing, EMUI is not everyone's favorite

Huawei P20 is probably one of the best offers you can get if you want your cameraphone to excel at night photography. It has a stunning design, a nice screen, and one very capable chipset, but its dual-camera is probably the phone's highlight.

The P20 series introduced the handheld faux-long-exposure Night Mode, and Huawei has been famous for it ever since. In fact, many other companies followed suit and launched similar modes this fall.

While we rarely used the 20MP monochrome snapper, the 16MP color one has optical image stabilization, it can do 2x hybrid zoom, and of course - produces great daylight and stunning low-light shots. Huawei is also famous with its versatile camera modes, and you get all of them on the P20.

€550: OnePlus 6T

• Good: Excellent screen, Snapdragon 845, flagship-grade camera
• Bad: Useless second camera, waterproofing, the UD fingerprint sensor is a mixed-bag

The Never Settle OnePlus 6T has settled for a waterdrop notch on that Optic AMOLED and the absence of an audio jack. It has the looks of a flagship, the chipset of a flagship, and as it turned out - the camera of one, too.

The 16MP f/1.7 primary is optically stabilized and produces great pictures with stunning dynamic range. OnePlus has introduced its own take on the Night Mode, which takes less time to take a picture though it doesn't come close to Huawei's regarding tonal range and image quality.

The 20MP camera on the back surely helps in some way, but we haven't found how.

€550: Google Pixel 2 XL

• Good: the best single-camera on both sides, Android by Google
• Bad: Plagued by production issues, dated design

The Google Pixel 2 XL is known for two things - having the cleanest of Androids, and the best of cameras. The Pixel 2 XL has long been deemed as the ultimate camera for day and night, but it excels in portraits - no matter with the main or the selfie camera.

Yes, it has a large OLED screen and fast processor, but its camera prowess and pure Android is what really matters.

€600: Huawei P20 Pro

• Good: One of the best camera setups with optical zoom, AMOLED screen, fast performance, dependable battery with SuperCharge
• Bad: No card slot or audio port, EMUI could be a shortcoming to some

And now it's time for the best phone in this (up to €600) category - the Huawei P20 Pro. If you want a flagship, with the best possible camera, without having to shell out a thousand bucks - look no further.

The Huawei P20 Pro has one of the most versatile cameras on the market with 3x optical and 5x hybrid zoom. Its large 40MP sensor spits great 10MP images, while its Night Mode can only be matched by the one on the Mate 20 phones.

The P20 Pro also has all camera modes Huawei has come up to date.

Finally, the P20 Pro is one of the most beautiful smartphones we've encountered, it has a great AMOLED screen, a fast Kirin 970 chipset, and a great battery life. Oh, and it's water resistant! What's not to like? Well, not everyone is a fan of EMUI so choose wisely.

Gigantic screens

Some people can go for days without a computer and rely on their smartphone for everything. Others have long commutes and prefer to avoid carrying a tablet for multimedia consumption when they already have a smartphone in their pocket. Whatever the reason, big screen phones have their place in the lives of many of us.

The definition for a phablet was revised quite a few times already as our understanding for a normal size screen grew bigger and bigger. The introduction of the bezel-less displays made the term even tougher to fix between numbers, so you could say that now all phones are phablets.

Here, for this Gigantic screen section we picked the phones that will offer you the most screen estate for your gaming or multimedia pleasure.

€260: Xiaomi Mi Max 3

• Good: 6.9" LCD screen, massive 5,500 mAh battery, dual-camera with portraits, casual games
• Bad: low-light pictures, limited availability

The cheapest offer we were able to find is the Mi Max 3 by Xiaomi. The phone has a massive 6.9" 1080p display and an impressive 5,500 mAh battery underneath to back it up. The Mi Max 3 has a very decent Snapdragon 636 chipset and a dual-camera with portrait mode.

The Mi Max 3 can last you for 16 hours of video on the big screen or 18 hours of web browsing. Its GPU is good for casual games, too. If you are on a budget and you need a screen that large, check the Mi Max 3 out.

€280: Honor 8X Max

• Good: 7.12" LCD screen, massive 5,000 mAh battery, dual-camera with portraits, casual games
• Bad: low-light pictures, selfies, extremely limited availability

The Honor 8X Max is available in China, but various retailers have exported it already. While it's a tough one to find, it might be worth the hassle.

The 8X Max has a giant 7.12" 1080p LCD screen with a dewdrop notch on the top, also runs on the Snapdragon 636 chipset, and offers a dual-camera with portrait mode on the back. The battery is a bit less impressive with its "modest" 5,000 mAh capacity.

€400: Honor Note 10

• Good: 6.95" AMOLED without notch, top chipset, great camera, massive battery
• Bad: no audio jack, extremely limited availability

Another China-limited giant is the Honor Note 10. You can definitely tell that Chinese users like their screen big. This one has a 6.95" 1080p AMOLED screen and runs on the flagship-grade Kirin 970 chipset. On the back, there is a dual-cam with 16MP color and 24MP monochrome sensors.

The good thing about this giant is the lack of a screen cutout, which is becoming a rarity these days. Various gray imports are available for this Honor, too, so if you find it suitable for you, the hassle might be worth it as well.

€400: Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S

• Good: 6" immersive screen, good camera, Snapdragon 845
• Bad: battery life, availability

The Xiaomi Mi Mix 2S is quite an impressive glass phone with 6" bezel-less screen. Indeed, the display diagonal isn't as large as the rest of our suggestion, but the all-screen front and the lack of a notch make for one very immersive experience.

In addition to the great screen, the Mi Mix 2S also runs on the most current Snapdragon 845 chipset and offers a very capable dual-camera with portraits and telephoto zoom.

Oh, and the Mi Mix 2S is quite cheap already, so it's quite a worthy deal.

€580: Xiaomi Mi Mix 3

• Good: Immersive 6.39" AMOLED, good camera, Snapdragon 845
• Bad: battery life, availability, the pop-up camera

Yes, another Xiaomi! The Mi Mix 3 builds on the good qualities of Mix 2 but takes a different approach for the selfie camera.

The Mix 3 has a large 6.39" 1080p AMOLED screen, and it occupies the whole front - no need for a chin and a bottom selfie camera. There is a front dual-camera, but it sits on a mechanical pop-up piece on the top.

Those are the two upgrades over the Mi Mix 2S - the screen and front camera. The rest is mostly the same - Snapdragon 845 chip, dual-camera with a telephoto zoom, and not the largest of batteries.

€700: Huawei Mate 20 X

• Good: 7.2" AMOLED, Kirin 980, best-in-class triple camera, huge battery
• Bad: availability

Our final recommendation is a no-brainer, too. We are referring to the Huawei Mate 20 X. Its giant 7.2" 1080p AMOLED screen has a tiny notch for the camera and is quite impressive to look at. The Kirin 980 with GPU Turbo 2.0 is a beast under the 1080p resolution, which makes the 20 X perfect for gaming.

The Mate 20 X also packs the best camera we've seen so far - the triple-one from the Mate 20 Pro.

Other notable features include the large 5,000 mAh battery with SuperCharge support and the stylus support. There is a 3.5mm audio port on the Mate 20 X, too.

Unfortunately, Huawei is only selling the Mate 20 X in a limited set of countries (with China being among them obviously). We hope things will change but we won't hold our breath.

Battery life

We gave it a long consideration whether a battery life chapter was worth including because there was a big enough chance we would have shortlisted the phones with the best battery life in one of the other categories.

So, we decided to approach this differently. Here we will list the phones that have great battery life according to our test database but didn't make the cut in any of the other categories for various odd reasons.

€110: Realme 2

• Good: Outstanding battery life, large screen, dual-camera
• Bad: Feeble chipset, plastic phone, low-res screen

The Realme 2 scored an outstanding battery life in out test with 121 hours with its 4,230 mAh battery. It's one of the cheapest smartphones around (where available, that is), it has a trendy 6.2" notched screen of 720p resolution and an entry-level Snapdragon 450 chipset.

But no matter how budget the Realme 2 is, its design is nothing short of stunning. It also impresses with a dual-camera on the back, which can do some nice portraits.

€180: Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite

• Good: Notched 1080p screen, dual-camera, Android One, excellent battery life
• Bad: Mediocre chipset, low-res selfies, limited market reach

Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite is not available in all markets and is often dismissed because of its notched screen and its not-that-interesting camera. It's enrolled in Android One though and has a very nice 5.84" 1080p screen.

The Mi A2 Lite is powered by a 4,000 mAh battery that coupled with the Snapdragon 625 chipset delivered an excellent battery rating of 106 hours in our test.

€200: Motorola One Power

• Good: Large notched screen, dual-camera, Android One, excellent battery life
• Bad: Limited availability

The Motorola One Power is currently available in India and China, but it's one fine handset with brilliant battery life. The One Power has a large and notched 6.2" LCD screen and runs on the promising Snapdragon 636 chipset. The One Power dual-camera on the back can do portraits, while its selfie shooter snaps high-res photos boosted by the front LED flash.

The One Power has a beefy 5,000 mAh battery that, coupled with the Snapdragon 636 chipset, should deliver some impressive battery results. And even though we haven't had the pleasure of reviewing it, from what we're hearing, the Motorola delivers indeed.

€220: Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018)

• Good: 6" AMOLED, dual-camera with portraits, high-res selfies, great battery life
• Bad: Mediocre performance

Samsung Galaxy A6+ (2018) offers a 6" Super AMOLED 1080p screen on the cheap, but the maker has opted for an entry-level Snapdragon 450 chipset. That's probably one of the major reasons why the A6+ scored a 106h endurance rating in our battery test even though it packs only a 3,500 mAh battery.

The A6+ has a 16MP main camera with bright aperture and a 5MP depth sensor for portraits. On the front there is a 24MP f/1.9 shooter with a LED flash for selfies - quite impressive.

€260: Xiaomi Mi Max 3

• Good: 6.9" LCD screen, massive 5,500 mAh battery, dual-camera with portraits, casual games
• Bad: Low-light pictures, limited availability

Well, we are including this phone for a second time, but in case you've missed it - the 6.9" Mi Max 3 with its huge 5,500 mAh battery aced our test with a 115-hours result. And that's another reason to consider it.

€300: Sony Xperia XA2 Plus

• Good: Nice design, great 6" display, capable camera, excellent battery life
• Bad: Subpar performance, thick and heavy, low-light camera performance

Finally, the Sony Xperia XA2 also aced our battery life test scoring 104 hours with its 3,580 mAh battery. We are quite fond of its ruggedly handsome design, its 6" screen turned out pretty great, and it has one very capable camera in everything but low-light.

And it's a Sony, so it should play nicely with Sony's ecosystem of devices, too.

The all-rounders

You've probably wondered why you didn't see your favorite smartphone so far. Well, that's because it's most probably here on this page, where we've gathered all the smartphones that got right pretty much everything. Let's meet the all-rounders.

€110: Realme 1

• Good: Nice screen, powerful chipset, very good battery life
• Bad: Low-light camera performance, no fingerprint reader, availability

The first Realme was and still remains the cheapest all-round phone available this year. It has a large 5.84" 1080p screen, a powerful Helio P60 enough even for demanding games, good camera quality, and enough battery backup.

€170: Realme 2 Pro

• Good: Even better screen (with notch), dual-camera with portraits and good low-light performance, long-lasting battery life
• Bad: Availability

Raise that budget a bit, and you can opt for the Realme 2 Pro, which packs an improved larger screen, a better dual-camera (even at low-light) and more battery juice.

If Realme is not available in your country, then Xiaomi is your next best bet.

€220: Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite

• Good: Large screen, powerful Snapdragon 660, skilled dual-camera, high-res selfies
• Bad: Average battery life

The Xiaomi Mi 8 Lite is cheap and yet it's good for pretty much everything. The Mi 8 Lite has a 6.26" 1080p LCD screen, powerful Snapdragon 660 chipset, and a dual-camera on the back with large 12MP sensor and portrait mode.

€260: Xiaomi Mi 8 SE

• Good: 5.9" HDR AMOLED screen, Snapdragon 710 chipset, skilled dual-camera, high-res selfies
• Bad: Huge notch

If you are ready to spend a few more euros, then you can get the Xiaomi Mi 8 SE. It has a 5.9" AMOLED HDR screen, a faster Snapdragon 710 chipset, while keeping the same dual-camera the Mi 8 Lite has.

€270: Sony Xperia XA2

• Good: Compact 1080p screen, capable camera, fast, great battery life
• Bad: Selfies

The Sony Xperia XA2 isn't the most powerful or beautiful smartphone out there, but it never failed us at anything. And it's among the few compact ones, which we are still fans of.

The XA2 has a 5.2" LCD screen and Snapdragon 630 chipset, a high-res 23MP main camera, and it did excellent in our battery life test returning 93-hour rating. The XA2 is available on various sales right now, so it deserves a serious consideration.

€340: Nokia 7.1

• Good: Design, HDR LCD screen, dual-camera with great photos and best portraits
• Bad: Selfies, the most demanding games require a better chipset

The Nokia 7.1 is one very attractive and lightweight Android One smartphone. Its key feature is the 5.84" LCD HDR screen of 1080p resolution and the dual-camera with Zeiss lens and portraits. And we found the screen excellent, while the portraits are among, if not the best we've seen so far.

The Nokia 7.1 has a good chipset and battery life, and the only thing we didn't find on par were the selfies.

It would be a crime if we do not mention yet again the Honor Play and the Pocophone F1. Those two are available at around €350 and excel in literally everything.

€350: Honor Play and Pocophone F1

• Good: Everything
• Bad: Nothing

The Honor Play is made of metal, has a more versatile camera setup, and NFC, which the Pocophone doesn't.

The Pocophone is made of plastic or Kevlar, it has a built-in FM radio, and offers stereo speakers.

€500: Samsung Galaxy S9

• Good: Infinity 1440p AMOLED, great chipset, excellent camera, waterproof
• Bad: Can't do optical zoom

Samsung Galaxy S9 is one of our top picks for a compact phone. It has an edge-to-edge curved Super AMOLED screen of 1440p resolution, waterproof glass design, and one of the most powerful chips on the market.

The Galaxy S9 innovated the rear camera with variable aperture, which improved both the daylight and low light picture quality.

It also snaps nice selfies and is available in quite a few colors. The Galaxy S9 price has dropped a lot since its launch, so it's one of the best all-rounders you can buy.

€550: OnePlus 6T

• Good: 6.41 AMOLED, Snapdragon 845 chip, great camera, Oxygen OS
• Bad: No waterproofing, useless second camera on the back

We've already recommended the OnePlus 6T for its high-quality camera - it produces great photos with stunning dynamic range. But the 6T also packs a brilliant Optic AMOLED, top of the line Snapdragon 845 chip, and a large battery. Its Oxygen OS is also among the smoothest Android launcher we've encountered.

€600: Samsung Galaxy S9+

• Good: Larger Infinity 1440p AMOLED, great chipset, excellent camera + tele, waterproof
• Bad: Nothing

Samsung's Galaxy S9+ costs €100 more over the Galaxy S9 and it will get you a bigger screen and a second 12MP telephoto camera on the back. If that's a reasonable upgrade for you, by all means you should get it - it's among the cheapest flagships this fall.

€750: Apple iPhone XR

• Good: Bezel-less LCD screen, large battery, Face ID, great camera with portraits, the fastest chip available
• Bad: Unimpressive resolution, no telephoto snapper

Finally, if you are after one of the current iPhones, then the iPhone XR should be the right one for you. It has a large screen, the most powerful mobile chipset in the world, and its camera does pretty great no matter the occasion. The iPhone XR has Face ID and does portraits with both of its cameras.

Flagships

If money is not an issue at all and you want the cutting-edge technology and the latest models in your pocket, then you've come to the right place.

€800: Samsung Galaxy Note9

• Highlights: Notch-free 6.4" 1440p AMOLED, variable aperture for the main camera
• Concerns: Bloatware

The Galaxy Note9 packs everything Samsung has achieved throughout this year - the largest Super AMOLED Infinity display, the fastest Exynos/Snapdragon chipset, dual-camera with variable aperture, excellent battery life, and, of course, the new active S-Pen.

€800: Google Pixel 3 XL

• Highlights: Notched 6.3" 1440p P-OLED, top-quality camera and portraits, pure Android
• Concerns: Only 4GB of RAM

The Google Pixel 3 XL remains one of the best performers when it comes to single-camera experience and does them portraits really well. It has a large 6.3" P-OLED 1440p screen with a notch, dual-selfie camera at the front, and vanilla Android by Google with the fastest updates around.

€900: Huawei Mate 20 Pro

• Highlights: Notched 6.39" 1440p AMOLED, Kirin 980 chip, the most versatile (triple) camera, 40W charging
• Concerns: Proprietary NM card slot

The new Mate 20 Pro is a one-stop smartphone for everyone who cares about having camera versatility and the most cutting-edge features. It has a flagship AMOLED screen and chipset, as well as jaw-dropping 40W SuperCharge, but the camera is just outstanding. It has ultra-wide snapper, regular wide camera, and 3x telephoto shooter with OIS. Combined those can do great macro shots, 5x hybrid zoom, different portraits, variable aperture, there are even some special film modes and slow-mo.

€1000: Apple iPhone XS Max

• Highlights: Notched 6.5" 1242p Super AMOLED, Apple A12 chip, great camera with Smart HDR, IP68-rated (up from IP67)
• Concerns: No 3.5mm adapter in the box, fast-charger sold separately

Apple finally answered all those requests for an X Plus version with the new XS Max. It has the largest mobile screen Apple has ever used, still as bezel-less, notched, and OLED-ish. Inside the XS Max is also the fastest chip available, and Apple's most sophisticated camera setup yet with Smart HDR and a new take on the portraits.

Expanded dynamic range (HDR-like) for all 30fps videos is available always, as well as wide stereo audio capturing on all clips. The cinematic (OIS+EIS) stabilization has improved across the board, too.

If luxury is your thing, then you have a choice between the Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche Design and the Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition.

€1700: Huawei Mate 20 RS Porsche Design

The Mate 20 RS Porsche Design has identical internals and screen with the Mate 20 Pro but enjoys a far flashier appearance and a much richer retail package.

€1700: Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition

The Oppo Find X Lamborghini Edition wraps the regular Find X with slick black carbon-fiber, in true supercar fashion, and there is a new black UI theme with golden accents.

Other upgrades over the regular Find X (and its pop-up cameras) include 50W SuperCharge, and 512GB internal storage.

When you are paying so much for a phone, it's only natural to get it with a nice packaging. Inside the fancy box, this special edition of the Find X comes with a 50W SuperVOOC charger and a super nice braided USB cable to go with it. A pair of Oppo O-Free wireless earbuds with golden Lambo accents have also made it into the box. Finally, there is a proper matching case, too.

Final thoughts

Obviously, if you want to buy a smartphone either for you or for someone else - there is plenty to choose from. In fact, the market is so oversaturated that it can get you headaches before you reach a decision.

And we really hope our guide has helped you shortlist a few models for further consideration.

Looking back at what we have recommended and remembering previous holiday seasons we can clearly see the displays and thus the phones get bigger and bigger, and the notch will stick for a long time. But, hey, at least the screen bezels are on the path of extinction. That's a nice silver lining we guess, but it's still really tough to find a powerful yet compact smartphone.

Another trend is the increased camera count. The dual-camera is the new normal today, but the triple-camera will probably become ubiquitous next year.

And while the batteries have been stuck for quite some time, you can now charge them incredibly fast.

And as much as we hate to admit it, it seems the 3.5mm audio port is on its way to retirement. At least, we hope the microUSB port will follow it too so we can finally settle on a universal plug. We will be more than happy to see Apple switching to USB-C for its iPhones next year as it did with the recently released iPads.

Among all other things, the trend of the increasing flagship prices is more than apparent, and we expect them to get even higher next year.

On a positive note, the budget and mid-range phones by Xiaomi and Oppo has become so good, that big makers like Samsung, Sony, or Nokia can't offer anything adequate to beat those. So, yes, while flagship prices go up, the mid-range fierce race has made the rates go unbelievable low. And we have no complaints about that, of course.

Next year will probably be the year where we finally see the introduction of the first operational 5G phones. Phones with flexible screens will probably hit the market too, but we don't think any of these two categories will take off in 2019.

So, that's some food for thought. But for now, we wish you happy shopping, and we hope you find the phone to keep you happy!