The year 2022 is almost over and that means it’s time for us at Team GSMArena to name our favorite phones of the year. Should you care about mine? Probably not, but if you insist, read on.
In reverse order (my all time favorite is the last one)…
ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
ZTE Axon 40 Ultra is the perfectly sized flagship. It’s not huge, nor small, but it has a large 6.8-inch display, a 5,000mAh battery, a great design that reminds me of the adorable Galaxy S21 Ultra, and a unique set of cameras.
The focal lengths of the main camera and zoom camera are what make the Axon 40 Ultra one of my favorite phones this year: 35mm is such a large all-purpose field of view that it puts more emphasis on a subject but is still broad enough to be adequate for cityscapes and landscapes. And, thanks to the relatively large sensor behind the bright lens, the Axon 40 Ultra’s main camera is a real photography badass. At the other end of the zoom, at 91mm, the 3.5x camera gets you a little closer than the typical 3x telephoto on a Galaxy or iPhone (those are about 70mm-80mm).
Xiaomi 13Pro
I haven’t seen it myself yet, but I’ve used enough recent Xiaomi smartphones to be sure that the Xiaomi 13 Pro will be exquisitely crafted, fast and of high quality. But it’s the cameras that interest me, especially the main and the telephoto (can you find the schematic here?). The large camera has a 1-inch sensor with huge 1.6μm pixels before binning, which swell to 3.2μm when combined. We saw this imager on the Xiaomi 12S and found it brilliant.
The 75mm f/2.0 camera should make for great zoom and portrait photos. We have yet to know the size of the sensor behind this camera, but I’m optimistic. And I can’t argue with that Wilderness Green color which is ceramic coated.
Asus ZenFone 9
Asus is one of the very few manufacturers that does compact phones right! I spent some time with the Asus Zenfone 9 while we were doing your review and it’s fantastic. It has great phone performance and even great phone battery life in a very small package.
Asus went with a near stock Android UI that was very slick and simple and should be easy to maintain with quick updates down the line. And the new polymer finish on the back panel makes the phone different and fits comfortably in the hand.
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4
I almost bought the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold4 a few times this year. It might have something to do with seeing it both at its announcement event and later at the office having its review done, but I love a big Samsung and they don’t get bigger than this.
What struck me about the Galaxy Z Fold4 is how much faster it was than my then Android 12 Galaxy S22 Ultra. The size of the internal display was also a big factor in my desire to own the Fold4.
Samsung has made great strides in the multitasking capabilities of its latest big foldable device. It’s easier than ever to put multiple apps on the screen, and it works flawlessly. The new permanent taskbar is pure brilliance.
The Galaxy Z Fold4 has also gotten a much-needed camera upgrade. I especially like the new 3x zoom camera. But despite all the updates, the Galaxy Z Fold4 falls short of the…
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
My Phone of the Year: The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. And many other people too, judging by the overwhelming numbers on our specs page, which shows more than 9 million hits.
The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the all-powerful flagship. There’s no other phone with its combination of display, camera array, battery life, and software capabilities. Even the S Pen is still unique.
I can hardly say anything you don’t already know about the Galaxy S22 Ultra, so I’ll close it by saying that I’ve been using it for most of 2022 and I love it. And it keeps getting better and better. The OneUI 5.0 update fixed the weird performance glitch and made the phone buttery smooth.
Around 2023!
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