Every year, popular tech YouTuber Marques Brownlee (better known as MKBHD) hosts his own smartphone awards, picking the best smartphones in various categories. Last year, the iPhone won in three different categories for him, but Apple’s smartphone didn’t get the spotlight on its competitors at this year’s awards.
Like last year, MKBHD set up multiple award categories for smartphones. they are:
- best big phone
- best small phone
- best camera system
- best battery
- design award
- Value Award
- Bust of the Year
- MVP (Phone of the Year)
Not surprisingly, while there are many Android smartphones vying for awards, Apple currently sells only eight different iPhone models, and only five were released this year. Of course, the awards are based on his MKBHD own criteria, but he considered both the technical side and his personal experience with each device competing for the award.
But how does the iPhone compare to all other Android smartphones?
best big phone
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is indeed a big phone with a 6.7-inch screen. However, MKBHD chose Samsung’s Galaxy S22 Ultra as his Best Big Phone of 2022. According to the YouTuber, the S22 Ultra has software optimized for big screens, a 5,000 mAh battery, and his four camera lenses on the back of the phone.
MKBHD also praised the ASUS ROG Phone 6, considered a gamer smartphone, in the same category for having “incredibly massive stereo front-facing speakers” and a headphone jack. We also appreciate that the Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 is as thick 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 on the market, and the iPhone 13 mini was basically an iPhone 13 with premium his hardware inside the body with a 5.4-inch screen. But this year, Apple discontinued his iPhone mini and replaced it with the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus.
So the 2022 Best Small Phone winner was the ASUS Zenfone 9. With a 5.9-inch screen, it’s not quite as small as the iPhone 13 mini, but it’s significantly smaller than most smartphones today. With a great camera,” headphone jack, and great battery life, MKBHD said the Zenfone 9 is “easily the best phone of its size.”
Oppo Find N2, a foldable mobile phone, won a prestigious award in this category for looking very compact when folded.
best camera system
Choosing the best camera for your smartphone can be very subjective. Especially since photos and videos have different standards and everyone has their own preferences when it comes to color levels and sharpness. A few days ago, MKBHD shared the results of their blind smartphone camera test. Google’s Pixel 6A came in first and the Pixel 7 Pro in second.
But what about MKBHD preferences? He praised the photos he took with his Pixel 7 and his Vivo X90 Pro+, but the iPhone 14 Pro Max won the best camera system of the year.
According to the YouTuber, the iPhone’s camera experience is more stable, the speed of opening the camera app and taking pictures, the consistency across all lenses, and the device’s superiority in capturing video compared to all Android phones. points.
best battery
The winner for Best Battery of 2022 is the ASUS ROG Phone 6. Considered a smartphone for gamers, ASUS has included his 6,000 mAh battery in the phone. At the same time, it supports fast charging up to 65W, allowing the user to charge his battery from 0% to 100% within an hour.
Last year, the iPhone 13 Pro Max won the Best Battery award, and many other reviews also praised last year’s iPhone’s battery life, despite the addition of a 120Hz display. However, the iPhone 14 Pro Max failed to offer the same battery experience as the iPhone 13 Pro Max. That’s because Apple kept the battery the same size and added an Always-on Display.
Interestingly, Marques praised the iPhone 14 Plus’ battery life. This is better than the iPhone 14 Pro Max because it has his usual 60Hz display without the Always-on feature. As a result, the iPhone 14 Plus consumes less power than his Pro model.
design award
Design categories are also pretty subjective, and even MKBHD agrees with this. And the smartphone that won the 2022 design award is Nothing Phone. From the side, the Nothing Phone reminds me of his one of the latest iPhones. However, the Nothing Phone has a lot of transparent LEDs on the back that can be used for multiple purposes, such as notification and flash light while shooting.
“It definitely crosses the line between gimmick and function. […] I think it’s really beautiful. I like that you can see the battery level while charging. […] Little things like that. You don’t see many phones trying new things. ”
Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 won the prestigious award in the design category for a foldable phone that looks more sturdy than other foldable phones.
Value Award
Last year Google’s Pixel 6 won the Value Award, and this year’s Pixel 7. MKBHD claims the Pixel 7 is the best in the $599 price range, beating out more expensive flagships on its specs. “It’s very good that it succeeded [Pixel] The 7 Pro doesn’t feel like such a good deal,” he added.
ASUS Zenfone 9 takes home the prestigious award once again, this time in the Value Awards category, for offering a “truly unique combo” that includes a 120Hz display for $699.
Bust of the Year
2021’s Bust of the Year is Microsoft’s Surface Duo 2, which has two separate screens and launched at a price of $1,500. But this year, MKBHD chose his OnePlus 10T as Bust of the Year. This is because “there is a rather large gap between expectations, possibilities and actual outcomes.”
MVP (Phone of the Year)
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra was the 2021 Phone of the Year winner. But what about this year? The 2022 winner is Google’s Pixel 7. As mentioned earlier, MKBHD says the Pixel 7 is a great value because it has a great camera, display and battery, as well as a “flagship software experience” while being significantly cheaper than other premium smartphones. there is.
In a similar debate, the ASUS Zenfone 9 also earned an honorable mention as Phone of the Year. In third place, MKBHD chose the Galaxy S22 Ultra for this category. This defines him as “boring” and “expensive”, but at the same time he is one of the best phones available in 2022.
wrap up
Out of the three 2021 categories, the iPhone was only awarded one of the 2022 categories. Still, MKBHD pointed out that they prefer iPhone cameras because of their excellent quality for shooting videos.
As for photos, MKBHD already said in his video that the iPhone 14 Pro’s camera exaggerated post-processing effects such as HDR, making some photos look so unrealistic. I personally agree with that.
What do you think of the results? Do you have a different list than MKBHD for the best phones of 2022? Let us know in the comments section below.
Also Read:
FTC: We use automated affiliate links to earn income. more.
For more Apple news, watch 9to5Mac on YouTube.
