Best smartphone 2022: we test, review and rank the best phones to buy

We have listed and rated the best results from our extensive telephone reviews in a definitive list. Whether you typically want Apple’s iPhone, check out Samsung’s latest flagship, or want something outside the Android world, this guide can help you figure out which phone should be at the top of your wish list.

If you already know which phone operating system you will be using, you may find it easier to zoom in on the best Android phones or the best iPhone guides. And if the prices below are a little high, you might want to consider looking at a mid-range smartphone or entry-level mobile device.

As with any buying guide, the following choices are the result of countless hours of testing by the Pocket-lint team. However, the phone’s performance isn’t the only thing we take into consideration when compiling these rankings; we also strongly emphasize the price and overall value of the device.

Apple iPhone 14 Pro

With the iPhone 14 Pro you get the usual high level of Apple craftsmanship, design and finish, but this year you get something more: Dynamic Island.

Instead of getting in the way of the camera’s openings, Apple designed the software around it and made it a feature. Show animations when you have timers, music or other live data in the background and you can interact with it as well.

As always, the Pro and Pro Max are the more expensive versions of the iPhone 14, but for the extra money you get a more powerful processor, an always-on OLED display, better cameras, and a premium design.

However, Apple still avoids USB-C on its phones, which makes transferring large ProRes and ProRAW files a bit slow, and power users will likely have to pay the extra money for the Max version to make sure they have it. one day battery life.

Google Pixel 6 Pro

We’ve seen many Pixel phones hit the market over the years, but none have managed to meet the expectations of a flagship device. This has completely changed with the Pixel 6 Pro.

As always, Google has provided a camera and computational photography system that we believe are best in class. However, the stakes here have been raised mainly due to the asking price, which is low enough to leave many competitors in doubt.

6 Pro has a real sense of security and perfection. The design is bold, the screen is crisp, the speakers are excellent, and Android 12 on Google’s Tensor chip runs very smoothly and is first in the Android 13 queue.

It’s a bit chunky, which won’t be for everyone, and the download speeds let it down a bit, but this is an excellent choice for those who want an Android device.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra

While we enjoyed testing all Galaxy S22 models, the Ultra is comfortably Samsung’s most comprehensive flagship. It’s also a very different model from its siblings, taking a healthy dose of inspiration from the now retired Note series.

For those who want to use a stylus with their smartphone, this is a big plus, but the S Pen’s functionality is also easy to skip if it’s not your thing. Fortunately, the S22 Ultra has a lot more to offer and is a great option for those who want a really big screen and an attractive design with a curved bezel.

It’s not quite the same upgrade as the S21 Ultra, but it’s a thoughtful upgrade with a very successful camera setup. It doesn’t offer top-notch battery life or the fastest charging speeds, but its top-notch design and performance make it one of the best phones around.

Oppo Find X5 Pro

It may not have the great appeal that some of the other devices on this list have, but Oppo’s Find X5 Pro is a serious gamer; one that should be at the top of the wish list of those in the flagship market.

The design, with its durable ceramic back and premium display, is a clear plus, but the blazingly fast performance and battery life are the reasons we fell in love with this phone during testing.

There are some weird drawbacks like camera app quirks and a tendency to over-process photos, but these are very minor complaints in what is a truly well-rounded experience. Oppo’s version of Google’s Android 12 software is also welcome, adding some great features without complicating things.

Apple iPhone 13 Pro

Since the iPhone 14 is now available and has the same processor as the previous generation, we decided to recommend the iPhone 13 Pro instead.

It’s a model for those who care a little more about their phone’s performance and want more for their money than what the standard iPhone 14 offers them. It may be an older model, but it still offers a true Apple flagship experience.

It has a better screen than the iPhone 14 with an adaptive refresh rate of 120Hz and a bootable zoom camera. Also, the finish is slightly better. Battery life is good, around 90 minutes longer than the iPhone 12 Pro, and Apple’s ProMotion adaptive refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling.

We recommend that power users can still drain this battery pretty quickly (like almost all other devices, the iPhone 13 Pro struggles under pressure), but overall this is a very polished iOS experience. All of this, of course, also applies to the Pro Max version, as they are essentially the same experience on a different scale.

OnePlus 10 Pro

OnePlus has – in recent years – offered a high-end flagship that doesn’t cost as much as the others. The same goes for the OnePlus 10 Pro.

It has a really great screen, it’s fast and responsive, and this year it even has a powerful triple camera. Like Find X5 Pro, it also has wired and wireless fast charging.

In our opinion, the strong point is the approach to the software. It’s clean and free of bulges, but it’s also customizable with lots of customizations. Plus, get three years of major software updates and two additional security patches.

The downside is that it lacks a bit of identity, blurs the lines between the Oppo (and the Find X5) a bit, and there’s a weird quirk about the camera and battery life, but overall you can’t go wrong with this phone. going wrong.

Xiaomi 12 Pro

This is a bit of a risky choice in our opinion, but the peaks of Xiaomi’s latest flagship are so high that it’s hard to miss even the high-end flagship phones.

On the plus side, Xiaomi has offered a masterclass in terms of display and camera performance with the 12 Pro, with an elegant design that we can compare with any device on the market. The MIUI software also runs very smoothly, despite the odd delay in notifications and Android Auto, a big improvement over its predecessor.

But then there is the bad side of life with Xiaomi’s latest flagship. We’ve really struggled with the device’s battery life and super fast charging can’t completely fix it. It also tends to heat up a bit and the software we mentioned starts to flake off after constant use.