New items in the world of smartphones come out all the time, keeping track of the market is not easy. Some companies present fresh smartphones almost every week, others make several models, which they sell throughout the year. The number of models released does not directly correlate with the overall success of the company. Apple, producing a limited number of models, has long occupied a leading position, and many Chinese firms regularly release fresh devices, but they cannot take a serious market share. In this article, we will consider the main novelties from well-known manufacturers, worthy of attention.
Samsung's main products, of course, are Galaxy S8 and S8 +... These curved glass flagships feature new ultra-widescreen bezel-less screens, the freshest hardware available (Exynos 8895 and Snapdragon 835) and a unique design. But the first devices of the Korean company, released in 2017, were Galaxy A3, A5 and A7 (2017)... These fashion devices of the middle class were presented in the first days of the new year. The devices received glass bodies with 2.5D rounded edges on the front and back, high-resolution selfie cameras and USB port Type C.
Another interesting new Samsung became the Galaxy Xcover 4 - a rugged mid-range device certified to military standards. However, not only he received protection: other new Samsung products also differ in the presence of waterproofing corresponding to the IP68 class. This means that smartphones should be able to withstand immersion in water without any problems.
Apple - minor updates
Apple is a company that has never taken a number of models. The release time of its main new products is usually scheduled for the second half of the year, but in 2016 the American manufacturer changed traditions by showing the iPhone SE. In 2017, in the spring they saw the light updated version iPhone SE with 32GB and 128GB of storage... Also, the Apple company showed a modification of the iPhone 7 in a red case.
Huawei is a company without brakes
The Chinese company Huawei is like a rushing steam locomotive without brakes, which no one can stop. Taking a course to conquer world markets, the manufacturer is confidently moving towards the goal, releasing the darkness of devices. Even Samsung, in lineup which earlier it was difficult to understand, now pales against the background of the Chinese.
Of the flagships in 2017 were shown Huawei P10 and P10 Plus, stylish devices with dual cameras and lenses from Leica. They also received the latest Kirin 960 chipsets of the company's own production and very fast memory, which, due to a shortage of chips, later had to be replaced with a quick one. Another flagship device - Honor 8 Pro which the Chinese know as the Honor V9. It is the flagship of the Honor series, equipped with a Kirin 960 chip, a dual camera and a 5.7 "QHD screen.
The Y line has also undergone an update, within which modest state employees came out. Huawei Y3 (2017), Huawei Y5 (2017) and Huawei Y6 2017 equipped with five-inch screens and quad-core processors. A little more seriously equipped Huawei Y7, which received a 5.5-inch screen, a new Snapdragon 435 chipset, a good camera and a 4000 mAh battery. This is clearly a competitor to various Xiaomi and Meizu, which Huawei is trying to squeeze out at home and abroad.
A smaller version of the Y7 can be called Huawei Nova Smart, aka Enjoy 6s and Honor 6C. This device is also built on the latest budget Qualcomm chipset, equipped with a 13 MP camera, but has a 5-inch screen and a 3000 mAh battery.
Another multi-name smartphone of the company - Honor 8 Lite, also known as Huawei P9 Lite (2017), Huawei Nova Lite, Huawei GR3 (2017) and P8 Lite (2017)... This is a glass representative of the middle class, with a 5.2 "screen, an energy efficient eight-core Kirin 655 and a decent camera. Honor 6X, aka GR5 2017 and Mate 9 Lite. This 5.5 "phablet is notable for having a dual camera at a relatively low price.
Xiaomi is a new flagship, its own chipset and tenacious state employees
home new Xiaomi 2017 - of course Xiaomi Mi6... This flagship smartphone received the latest Snapdragon 835 chipset, glass body, dual cameras with optical stabilization, but lost the 3.5mm headphone jack.
Interesting (although not yet adapted for global sales) Xiaomi Mi5c... This is not just another cheaper version of the flagship (as was the case with Mi4C), but the first smartphone on a chipset of its own design. It contains 8 cores with a frequency of 2.2 GHz, Mali T860 Mp4 graphics and would be just a great competitor to Snapdragon 625 if it were not for the old 28 nm process technology. But, nevertheless, with this chip, Xiaomi has already put itself on a par with companies such as Samsung, Apple and Huawei, because only they themselves develop chipsets for their devices.
In the budget series, Redmi also did not do without new products. They are intended for global sales Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X 5.5 "and five-inch Redmi 4X... They received relatively fresh Qualcomm chipsets (Snapdragon 625 and 435), which are distinguished by energy efficiency. Otherwise, these are typical Redmi, with powerful (for its price tag) stuffing, but minor compromises, like an average camera or not very successful screen calibration.
The latest novelty - Xiaomi Mi Max 2, a giant 6.44 "phablet. The fresh device, although it scores fewer points in the benchmarks than its predecessor, is very tenacious. Not only is the Snapdragon 625 chipset just ideal in terms of power and power consumption ratio (for 2016-2017 ), so the battery of the second Max was also increased to 5300 mAh.The camera on the flagship matrix also deserves attention.
Meizu - no flagships
For some reason, Meizu has a delay with flagships in 2017. Either MediaTek cannot start making new top-end Helio X30 chips, or Chinese engineers are working on flagships with Qualcomm after reconciliation, but the fact is: there are no flagships and there is no hot news on the horizon.
New for 2017 - budget Meizu M5c and Meizu M5S... The first is the cheapest Meizu, a competitor to the Xiaomi Redmi 4A. It is plastic, has a quad-core processor, a 5 "screen and an 8 MP camera. It compares favorably with Xiaomi with a fingerprint scanner (4A does not have it). Meizu M5S - metal smartphone with a diagonal of 5.2 "and an eight-core MT6753.
HTC - a new series of smartphones
HTC has decided to focus on the new U-series. The new flagship in the lineup is HTC U11... It received a top-end Snapdragon 835 chip, a camera with optical stabilization, a 5.5 "QHD screen and water resistance. An interesting feature is the pressure-sensitive side edges.
However, the debut of the series was not the last flagship, but presented back in winter HTC U Ultra... It also has a QHD screen, but at 5.7 ", a strong camera with large pixels, but is built on last year's Snapdragon 821. This smartphone has no sensitive edges, but there is a second screen 2" above the main one. In parallel with this device came out and HTC U Play with a 5.2 "display, Helio P10 chipset and 16 MP camera.
Motorola (Lenovo) - budget and mid-range cameraphones
Lenovo has decided to focus on its Moto brand. There were no new products under the main name, but state employees were released under the subsidiary trademark Moto C and Moto C Plus... These are cheap devices with 5 "screens, processors with 4 cores and modest cameras. But these smartphones have got the latest Android 7. The model with a plus is also notable for a tenacious 4000 mAh battery.
In the middle price category were presented Moto G5 and G5 Plus... Smartphones have become metal, traditionally received fingerprint scanners, and cameras are very good for their price.
Sony - old design, new cameras
Sony adheres to the same design for all smartphones. The Japanese have released several devices that are similar in appearance, but different in terms of the price and inside. Xperia L1- a stylish budget employee with a quad-core processor and a 5.5 "screen, but with HD resolution. Xperia XA1 and XA1 Ultra- mid-range devices with 23MP cameras on the back and powerful selfie cameras. They are built on the basis of the latest MTK Helio P20 chipset, and differ in diagonals. The regular XA1 is equipped with a 5 "FullHD matrix, while the ultra version has a 6" screen.
Looks even more interesting Sony Xperia XZs... Although this smartphone is identical to last year's XZ model in many respects (even the same Snapdragon 820 chipset), it received a new 19MP camera. It is interesting in that it is capable of recording video in Super Slow-Mo, with a frame rate of 960 FPS.
For those who are not satisfied with the purchase of last year's filling, albeit with new camera, offered Sony Xperia XZ Premium... It is also equipped with an innovative photo-video camera, but received a 5.5-inch 4K screen (the second time in the history of smartphones, the first was also Sony) and the Snapdragon 835 chipset.
Nokia (HMD) - Rise from the Ashes
HMD, which now holds the rights to the Nokia brand, has begun to restore the manufacturer to its former glory. The first smartphones were devices Nokia 3 and Nokia 5 and Nokia 6... The first smartphone is a budget employee with a five-inch HD screen, MT6737 processor and 8MP cameras in front and back. The Nokia 5 is a mid-range device with an octa-core Snapdragon 430, a 5.2 "HD screen and a 13MP camera on the back.
The senior device at the moment is Nokia 9, which is also equipped with a Snapdragon 430 chip, but has a 5.5 "FullHD screen. Interestingly, the top version of the smartphone is equipped with the flagship 4 GB random access memory... The device also has a 16 MP camera and a pair of stereo speakers.
LG - there are many smartphones, and very different
The main novelty of 2017 for the Korean company was the LG G6. This is a 5.7 "diagonal ultra-widescreen, almost bezel-less smartphone. The device is also equipped with two cameras (normal and wide-angle).
In the K-series, LG presented a number of devices of different types. The youngest - LG K3 (2017), with a 4.5 "screen, obsolete WVGA resolution and appropriate hardware. LG K4 (2017) received a large 5 "diagonal, but the same low resolution and a similar Snapdragon 210 chipset.
Model K8 (2017), also known as LG X300, looks more serious. It has an HD screen, a Snapdragon 425 chipset and a 13MP camera. LG K10 (2017)- this is already a full-fledged player of the middle price category, with an eight-core MT6750 processor and a 5.3 "HD screen. LG X Power 2(aka K10 Power). Compared to the regular K10, it has a larger screen (5.5 ") and a battery (4500 mAh).
Looks interesting LG Stylus 3, aka K10 Pro, which supports pen input. It is equipped with a large 5.7 "screen, but with HD resolution. The device is based on the MT6750 chip or Snapdargon 435, depending on the market.
Asus - optical zoom and augmented reality
The ZenFone series update usually happens in the second half of the year, and the first half of the year Asus is not very active in the smartphone market. However, in January 2017, Asus ZenFone 3 Zoom and Asus Zenfone AR... The first smartphone received a 5.5-inch AMOLED screen with FullHD resolution, a Snapdragon 625 chipset and Hi-Fi sound. However, its main feature is the dual camera. By switching matrices with different optics, an approximation of 2.3 times is achieved, which is more than that of the iPhone 7 Plus.
Asus Zenfone AR is a phablet for working with augmented reality. It is equipped with a 5.7 "QHD screen and the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 821 chip. The 23MP camera is equipped with optical stabilization, depth and motion sensors that allow you to use the camera for AR (augmented reality), inscribing virtual objects into images of the real world.
Conclusion
These are not all the novelties of the world of smartphones presented in 2017, but we hope that such a selection will help you navigate the market. mobile devices... It did not include small Chinese brands like Elephone or Oukitel, or devices like Oppo, which are only for China. To keep abreast of the latest news, keep an eye on , which contains all the announcements of mobile devices.
There are still three months left until the end of 2017, but in September there were so many interesting models that it is already possible to decide that there will be no "sensations" in mobile phones before the New Year. Over the past 30 days, iPhones have changed generations, and Xiaomi, Samsung, ASUS, Sony and LG have released new models and have already announced their prices. Now you can choose from new models worthy of purchase. What we are going to do now.
Apple iPhone X - anniversary smartphone for the rich. Like the good old days
Apple smartphones have always been an expensive pleasure, but with the anniversary iPhone X, the guys from Apple have brought the principle of "don't go anywhere - buy" to the absolute. Because this is the first smartphone, the high price of which even Americans are unhappy with. But Tim Cook shrugs off, they say, "buy in installments, on credit or in shares", because the iPhone X is worth it. Is it worth it?
Yes and no. Yes, because in 2017 there is no abundance of quality flagships in everything. We have LG G6 - a good mobile phone, but slow due to the old processor. There is Xiaomi Mi Mix 2, in which the frames are striking because of the wide body, and the cameras are taken from some kind of budget consumer goods. There is Sony Xperia XZ Premium, the most technologically advanced "on paper", but rather "sad" in reality - it takes so-so photos, the body is bulky, the stereo speakers are quiet ... Who else? Huawei flagships they cannot boast of anything but cameras, HTC U11 is a glossy, well-made "shovel" in an outdated design. Remains, who would doubt, Samsung.
And not anyhow, but Galaxy Note 8, because the S8 turned out to be "under-flags" - with a camera rearranged straight from the Galaxy S7 edge, a body in the shape of a soap dish, a Bixby voice assistant that does not work in Russia (and many other countries) and a fingerprint scanner "in hard-to-reach places."
But record-breaking powerful processor, the cool screen and the longing of buyers for the new flagships of Samsung (Galaxy Note 7, as you remember, was out of the market ahead of schedule) did their job. And the real, full-fledged flagship has already become the Galaxy Note 8 - angular and more comfortable, with a new dual rear camera and an "adult" amount of 6 GB of RAM. And it costs ... at least 70 thousand rubles. That is, 15% cheaper than the "minimal" iPhone X.
In thousands of rubles, the overpayment is significant, in percentage terms it is tolerable. In the end, over the past year, iPhone lovers have laid out 68 thousand rubles for the iPhone 7 Plus without any problems. It is unlikely that these same people will suffer from hunger when they profitably sell the old iPhone for 30-38 thousand and get the amount for the new model out of their wide trousers. because wireless charging, the new casing, processor and revised camera weren't enough to make the iPhone 8/8 Plus take off. Outdated on release day and dear iPhone model- Who needs it?
And the iPhone X is needed because it has only one competitor, largely equivalent: in terms of camera performance, the difference between the X and the Note 8 is small, the display is about as good, Apple's processor is much better, little is known about autonomy, but in all likelihood, Samsung will go into the lead. The iPhone's water resistance is less brutal, there is no stylus (although few people need it), and without a memory card and a headphone jack, you can also live ... but it's sad.
Truly new habits with iPhone X - unlock without a fingerprint scanner and a speaker and sensor cutout at the top of the display. It turned out ugly, but the piezodynamic under the screen, as in the Xiaomi Mi Mix, does not shine with quality (so much that the Chinese abandoned it in Mi Mix 2), the front camera is at the chin level and the indentation for the sensors in the same place is the same level of insanity as "Neckline" in the iPhone X.
But a solid screen at the bottom instead of a "beard" and dimensions as in Samsung Galaxy J3 (2017) with 5-inch display. Even in the "frameless" LG Q6, with the same dimensions, there is only a 5.5-inch (not 5.8 ", as in the iPhone) display - the iPhone X is unprecedentedly compact.
But political wisdom says that "whoever does not understand, he will understand." We have just such a situation - who loved Apple smartphones before, it will whine for a long time, will suffer financially, but will buy at least a basic modification of the iPhone X. Whoever wants “something similar, but cheaper” will buy Samsung Galaxy S8 from small dealers for 38-40 thousand. The most economical guys will wait until Huawei and Xiaomi learn how to make frameless flagships, and will buy this kind of commercials for 25-28 thousand on Aliexpress in December-February.
iPhone X is unlikely to be taken as briskly as more cheap models, but it will not remain without attention - Apple fans have been waiting for a "revolution" in mobile phone design for too long, and have long been willing to pay for it.
XiaomiMi Mix 2 - "Do like Samsung, but cheaper"
Bruce Willis is said to be a very sullen and nervous man in life and on the set of films; many fellow actors dislike him. But he can afford to be capricious, because he is the last boy scout and in general a superhero without a latex suit - such are now a rarity. Here is Apple as a legislator, and on the beautifully built interaction of computers, mobile phones and licensed stores, prices bend and do not lose in prestige. But will they take expensive Xiaomi for merits in the style of “we have been selling you the most cheap smartphones with powerful processors! " - doubtful. But the Chinese do not lose hope and ardently justify why Mi Mix 2 should become popular.
Because a solid ceramic body, a flagship processor, a 6-inch screen in a 5.5-inch body, and the minimum amount of RAM is the same as the maximum on the Samsung Galaxy S8. And the display is now with the same proportions, and not "squared", as it was in the first generation of Mi Mix.
Cool? Highly! In terms of speed, organization of the display in the case and case materials, this is so far the only Chinese rival to the Galaxy S8 and iPhone X.
Only it is not a competitor in other dimensions - the screen is beautiful, but in quality it does not reach the "best" models. There is no water protection, there is no headphone jack (adapters came in Chinese models), the cameras are cheap, the sound in the headphones is also not outstanding, the autonomy is average. But the price, to put it mildly, is not average: when ordering from China, Xiaomi will cost only 5 thousand less than the Samsung Galaxy S8. It's scary to imagine how much they will ask for Mi Mix 2 in the official Russian store. And a little more confused by the fact that the "elite Chinese phone" OnePlus 5, which is not frameless, but better in all other parameters, costs 28 thousand. The same is the price of the new Korean LG G6 with a sharper screen, more quality cameras and waterproof (with an old processor, though).
In general, an attempt to push the flagships of Samsung and Apple against the most expensive Xiaomi model will end up beating the latter in most of its characteristics. And with the Chinese relatives, Mi Mix 2 will compete with difficulty due to impracticality and bad cameras - there is a risk that Huawei Mate 10 with a new processor and 18: 9 screen will be ahead in almost all respects and not much more expensive.
It turns out that Xiaomi has built a fast "cruiser" with a huge screen and good autonomy. Here it is, a replacement for the second generation Xiaomi Mi Note and the only "moderately large" Xiaomi in the 2017 lineup.
At the same time, Mi Note 3 was retrained from “a cheaper replacement for Samsung Galaxy Note 5/7” into a completely new model. Coincidence? I do not think!
Xiaomi Mi Note 3 - when you want a camera, like a flagship, but without additional payment for a super-powerful processor
I am trying to find competitors with a similar construction idea for Mi Note 3 and I understand that such smartphones were no longer produced in 2017. Do you remember the spirit of 2016, when the dollar rose not only against the ruble, but also against other currencies outside the eurozone? At this wonderful time, smartphone manufacturers suddenly faced a situation when people, frightened by new realities, stopped spending money on flagships at new prices and, at best, bought models at a price that appeared before the price increase.
But this did not make it easier for the producers: the party founders said "it is necessary!" - the Komsomol department of advertisers and marketers answered "yes!" As a result, flagship smartphones with a degraded processor were born at a more or less reasonable price - LG G5 SE or HTC 10 Lifestyle, for example. In Russia, the prices for them, however, were still inadequate, because with the exchange rate of 75 rubles per dollar, it would not work out otherwise. But the Brazilians and other Latin Americans appreciated the maneuver.
In 2017, no one is engaged in such activities anymore - it makes no sense to change only the processor in a full-fledged flagship, if they are already buying it. And those who need cheaper smartphones buy all sorts of "Lite / mini / Play" or smartphones with a standard name instead of full-fledged flagships with the Plus / Premium / Pro index. There are not even enlarged and reduced smartphones with an average processor and cameras straight from the flagship. In this regard, the Mi Note 3 is unique.
Watch your hands: we take the standard 5.15-inch flagship Xiaomi Mi 6, scale it up to 5.5 inches, instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor, we put the middle-class model with the 660 index. flagship ”, we distract them with a new high-quality SCLFI camera. And we sell this stuff for 21-24 thousand rubles in China!
In terms of its intended purpose, the smartphone is very similar to Huawei Nova 2 Plus, but we know that the camera in Nova is pleasant, but only of the level “above average” (and the processor is below average, but let's not talk about sad things).
Why not? Glass metal case very beautiful, especially in blue. It is even more pleasant to hold in the hand compared to the Mi 6, because the weight remains the same as that of the 5.15-inch model, but the dimensions have increased, and the smartphone has ceased to resemble a heavy bar of soap with a metal frame.
And still, the main drama unfolded around the processor. With the departure of the powerful, but hot and old Snapdragon 650/652, Qualcomm has plugged a hole in the model range with the cheap Snapdragon 625, which is “hot” to the limit. claims for steepness, but then the 625th turned into "Bezrukov mobile phones". That is, it's good that we have Sasha Bely, but not everyone was ready to see him in the role of Pushkin, Yesenin and Jesus Christ. Therefore, when Snapdragon 625 and its derivatives (626/630) began to be installed in smartphones costing 30 thousand rubles or more ( ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom, Moto Z2 Play), some misunderstandings arose and smartphones did not work. The Snapdragon 660 came to be a real intermediate between the flagship 835 and the already mass-market old models of the 600 series.
And it did become, although it turned out to be so deeply "chopped off" in comparison with Snapdragon 835 that it lost even last year's flagship, Snapdragon 820. That is, the repetition of history, when Snapdragon 652 replaced the 808 and 810 models, did not happen. But on the other hand, this chip has become much faster in games (by 30%, according to Qualcomm), it feels better in applications, and it has a dedicated chip for processing photos and videos. That is, the difference in processor power should not affect the quality of photos and videos in Mi Note 3.
In general, the new Xiaomi has a right to exist - only cheaper flagships costing 27-30 thousand rubles can spoil its sales. Because last year's OnePlus shoots no worse than the Mi Note 3 a year later, and taking into account the "defective" processor in Xiaomi, it also turns out to be faster. And don't forget about the models that are sharply losing in price: HTC 10 and LG G6 with a difference of about 3-4 thousand rubles from Xiaomi, in almost all respects are better than the controversial novelty of the Mi-series.
ASUS ZenFone 4 and ZenFone 4 Pro - "pan" -photo flagman, or disappeared
“I don’t want to be a free queen, I want to be the mistress of the sea,” ASUS decided, and instead of continuing to produce inexpensive ZenFone and competing with Xiaomi and Huawei, they raised the prices of their mobile phones to the level of Samsung and Apple, starting in 2016. In the fourth generation of ZenFones, the situation, as you can see, has worsened.
This is not to say that 33 thousand rubles in the basic ZenFone 4 are asked for nothing at all: high-aperture optics (f / 1.8, as in the iPhone 7) and optical stabilization to combat shaking. And, what is especially impressive, the huge size of each individual pixel, 1.4 microns (the larger - the better night shots, and during the day there are less "rough" digital noise effects) - Xiaomi Mi 6 and Huawei P10 "smoke on the sidelines" because this is an indicator comparable to the cameras in the Samsung Galaxy S8 and Note 8.
It's cooler only in Google Pixel, but finding this rapidly aging "glucodrome" on sale is daunting, so let's assume that even the basic ZenFone 4 is a feast for the eyes in terms of the technical aspect of the camera! And in ZenFone 4 Pro it is still cooler - the aperture is f / 1.7, the joint work of phase and laser focusing (a smartphone with them should perfectly navigate in shooting and focus itself), and three microphones are responsible for sound recording at once.
But this is where the pleasantries end and the troubles and other "kruchinushki" begin. Because an apartment in Khrushchev is in the middle of nowhere, even if it has an interior worthy of an aristocrat and a TV for millions of rubles, it's still an apartment in Khrushchev. At the devil's place.
Because the displays are ordinary. Bright, but for more than 30 thousand, almost everyone has such installed. The clarity is average, like your Xiaomi Redmi Note 4, 3 times cheaper than a mobile phone. For some reason, the old Samsung Galaxy S7 for the same money turns out to be faster, and with water resistance, and with a better display, and with the same (if not cooler) camera, albeit a single one. Perhaps without stereo speakers. And you can also buy Huawei P10 from official suppliers - a Chinese, whose camera quality has been tested by time and a huge number of buyers. If ASUS really made a revolution and for the first time, except for good cameras, learned how to take pictures with these "pieces of glass", there are no questions. And without this, you immediately recall that Huawei is 50% faster in processor tasks and more than twice as fast in games.
If you understand the ideas of Xiaomi, which sell a smartphone with flagship cameras and a mid-range processor for 22-24 thousand, it is still possible, then for ZenFone 4 they will ask for 500 euros (the same 33-34 thousand rubles) even with delivery from abroad. That is, in the "gray" market, the younger Zenfon 4 will cost only 3 thousand less than the Samsung Galaxy S8, and 6 thousand rubles more than the currently highest quality Chinese phone, OnePlus 5 or a frameless waterproof flagship with a Quad HD display , LG G6.
Who will buy ZenFone 4 Pro for 50 thousand rubles is an incomprehensible mystery. Remember the reviewers singing praises and awarding last year's ZenFone 3 Deluxe? Have you seen at least one owner of such a model live since then?
In general, for success and furor, the new ZenFone 4 will need to surpass Huawei P10, Samsung Galaxy S7 and OnePlus 3T in shooting quality - this is the only (oh yes, stereo speakers!) That ASUS can oppose to smartphones of equal price in Russia. ZenFone 4 Pro will have to plug in the belt for sound and cameras as much as Samsung Galaxy S8 and Apple iPhone 7 Plus. Otherwise, the new ASUS will fail in sales and will be sold in cell stores at a price “just to take”, like Motorola flagships.
Lg V30 - a rare kind of "Korean fancy flagship"
LG V30 is the case when everything is fine in a smartphone, but so expensive that you don't know how to comment on this Korean miracle. Many will miss the glorious past of the V-series, smartphones with an additional notification screen, separate memory and dual SIM slots, and a removable battery. But even people who are far from technology today understand that the "classics" of smartphone construction are no longer held in high esteem. Serve everyone slim frameless models with two cameras. Which LG did.
There are still very few large flagships with powerful processors, high-quality cameras and "frameless" screens - can you name at least 5 of them? iPhone X, Samsung Galaxy S8 / S8 +, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 ... oh, that's it. Because both generations of Xiaomi Mi Mix fall short in terms of cameras and sound. LG G6 due to the policy of "rush-urgently release until Samsung releases the S8!" So what if the processor is slow ?! " did not live up to the hopes placed on it, and all other mobile phones are still divided into "garbage" based on Xiaomi Mi Mix and archaic models with large frames at the top and bottom of the screen. With such a "bell tower" you start to rejoice that the V30 at least slightly dilutes this "Samsung-iPhone" zoo.
Moreover, the display - wow! P-OLED (like AMOLED, but created by LG) display is beautiful, super-bright (up to 600 cd / m2 in auto-brightness mode) and looks no worse than Samsung. The body is the same size as a 5.5-inch smartphone, but with a 6-inch display. The finger scanner is where it should be, unlike you know who. And a headphone jack is also present - incomprehensible to the greedy Apple, the craftsmanship, I suppose.
Cool sound, and even the speakerphone "shakes" as the Galaxy S8 never dreamed of - in LG headphones it plays much better than flagship Samsung (DAC ESS Saber ES9218P). The cameras, to the delight of many, have a special configuration - the second rear camera is not responsible for blurring the background, but for wide-angle (in order to cram something that is not crammed into the photo) pictures. At the same time, the main rear camera received a record high-aperture optics. For the same reason that Little Red Riding Hood's grandmother was "modernized" with big eyes - "to see you better, granddaughter." With an aperture of f / 1.6, this is quite believable, but LG is silent about the tiny pixel size (only 1.0 microns), because of which the pictures on the rear camera come out more or less comparable to the Galaxy S8. That is, this is good, because the G6 lags behind the flagship much more noticeably. But the revolution that fellow enthusiasts have been talking about for so long has not happened, and the Galaxy Note 8 shoots a little better.
But the price is noticeably higher than 60 thousand rubles "happened" - because of it LG is tormented by doubts whether it is worth selling a smartphone in Russia. There is a risk that he will not even try - Koreans are not used to starting sales "for fun", like Motorola with its Z2 Force for 60 thousand, or the aforementioned ASUS with the controversial ZenFone 4 Pro.
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact - the best compact flagship is back
With this framelessness of yours, "shovels" are experiencing a second youth - models with a display with a diagonal of less than 5.7 inches will soon not remain in nature at such a rate. Fans of compact mobile phones want to believe that Apple will revive the iPhone SE in a frameless form (for example, with a 4.5-inch display in a 4-inch case), but so far these are only aspirations, not rumors or something reliable.
A compact Sony flagship- here it is! I must say, the Japanese learned a lesson from the criticism of last year's X Compact, and this time they decided not to disappoint the audience. Water resistance was returned, the processor is now again the flagship (instead of the infamous Snapdragon 650 in its predecessor), and the rest of the smartphone has regained its "title of nobility" after it was demoted earlier.
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
Super-fast, surprisingly durable (the battery is of an adult capacity - 2700 mAh, versus 1960 mAh in the iPhone 7, for example), with the coolest display in this "weight category". And even with stereo speakers with moderate dimensions. Impressive.
However, in terms of shooting photos and videos - it's a Sony, in the bad sense of the word. That is, the camera is good, but not everywhere and not always - it shoots well during the day. Much better than your Honor 8/9 and iPhone SE. But indoors and in night shooting, the picture is not very happy - a high-quality photo can only be obtained when shooting in manual mode, after turning all the "twists". In addition, manual mode also artificially limited - a maximum of 1 second of exposure. Enough for handheld shooting, but why it was necessary to create artificial obstacles if you are not creating an iPhone is difficult to understand.
And the smartphone is not cheap, but it can only be called expensive in comparison with competitors. Which are not. Or there is, if we are talking about the massive iPhone 7, which with its 4.7 inches diagonal has never looked compact.
Sony Xperia XZ1 Compact
Evgeny Kharitonov
There are several speculative rumors revolving around the Samsung Galaxy Note 8. In the aftermath of the fire scandal, the Note 8 should be very convincing in terms of design, functionality and, of course, top-notch workmanship. It should get an almost bezel-less display with a diagonal of 6.3 inches - that is, be even larger than.
In addition, a dual 12MP main camera and an 8MP front camera are expected here. And also, according to rumors, a variant with a large amount of built-in memory of 256 GB should appear. The release could take place already in September. Nothing is known about the cost yet, but we believe that it will be around 60,000 rubles.
But the Note 8 isn't the only top model we're still waiting for from Samsung in 2017: after the corresponding protective film, there was ground for speculation about the new, protected Samsung Galaxy S8 Active. Allegedly, he will receive not only a 5.8-inch OLED display, but will also meet US military standards for device security.
Inside, the Exynos 8895 processor and 5 GB of RAM should appear. First of all, it should become available to buyers in the United States, the release date and cost are currently unknown.
This is the first Note 8 image leak.
Apple iPhone 8 & iPhone SE 2
The beginning of September is "Apple time" and until then, more and more rumors about Apple's new iPhone 8 appear: the biggest innovation is likely to be a new OLED display with an integrated fingerprint reader. But rumors are circulating about the scanner on the back of the case.
The power button can also be used as a Home button at the same time. The camera will also receive new functionality: Now she can simultaneously shoot high-speed and 4K video, and can also recognize and capture scenes. There are also rumors of wireless charging support. The starting price will allegedly be from 1100 to 1200 US dollars (65,000 rubles or more).
Another novelty from Apple's house is the iPhone SE 2, a cheaper and smaller alternative to the iPhone 8, which is slated to hit the market with a price tag of around RUB 30,000. While one can only guess about the design, it seems that everything is already known for sure about the technical stuffing of the smartphone. According to rumors, the A9 will be replaced with the A10 chip already known from. When a more affordable iPhone 8 alternative will become available for purchase, however, it is currently not known.
What will the new iPhone look like? Google's new "power center": Google Pixel 2
The successor, the Google Pixel 2, thanks to the Snapdragon 835 processor, will be expected to deliver 30 percent faster performance than its predecessor. We assume that the release will take place in October, simultaneously with Android 8 O. The price will have to be, like the previous model, between 800 and 900 euros (55-63 thousand rubles).
Google Pixel will soon receive a successor Huawei comes out in double packaging
According to some reports, the Huawei Mate 10 should outperform the iPhone 8. The almost bezel-less 6-inch Full-HD display can be compared to that of the Galaxy S8 - at least according to rumors. A particularly energy efficient processor should have a positive impact on the length of time autonomous work... In addition, some sources report that there will be a dual camera with 3D sensors, as well as integrated face recognition. We believe that Huawei will again rely on Leica optics. The cost and release date are not yet known, but we expect to get acquainted with the device in October.
But Huawei Mate 10 will not be the only novelty from this manufacturer: according to rumors, a new Huawei Nova 2 will be released, which will receive a Kirin 658 processor and 64 GB of internal memory. Presumably, the main camera with a resolution of 12 megapixels will be installed here, and the resolution of the selfie camera will be 5 megapixels. Smartphone Nova 2 will be due in August.
Perhaps this is how the Huawei Mate 10 will look like? Nokia wants to return: Nokia 8
While at first no one was even sure about the name, the information about the Nokia 8 is gradually becoming more specific: a smartphone from Nokia should be convincing not only with a 5.7-inch display, but also with a dual camera with Zeiss optics. In all likelihood, it will appear in three color options: blue, silver and gold. According to rumors, the Nokia 8 will work Snapdragon processor 835, and the cost of a smartphone will be approximately 600 euros (42,000 rubles). It should be presented on August 16 in London.
Various leaks of information about the new Nokia 8 are running More than just basic equipment: the Essential Phone
The Essential PH 1 is the first smartphone from Andy Rubin, the developer of the Android operating system. And after many delays, the time should finally come when the Essential Phone goes into mass production. Of particular interest is the design, with the Essential Phone likely getting a nearly bezel-less 5.7-inch display.
In addition, according to the manufacturer, a 13-megapixel camera will be installed here, and for a surcharge of $ 50 (3000 rubles), the capabilities of the smartphone can be expanded with a 360-degree camera. Amazon USA has already announced that they will include it in their range. Thus, with a starting price of approximately $ 700 (RUB 41,600), it will initially only be available in the US.
Essential PH 1 in various colors Despite the fact that the bulk of smartphone sales in the world falls on budget and mid-range models price segment, the main attention is usually riveted by the release of the so-called flagships - the best and most expensive smartphones in the lineup of various manufacturers. The flagships are interesting in that they primarily implement technical innovations, which then migrate to cheaper devices. The price of flagships from the world's leading brands at the start of sales can exceed a thousand dollars. Those who are unable to pay that kind of money, but want to get their hands on a flagship smartphone, can either wait for the price reduction after a few months or buy last year's flagship, the price of which usually drops after a replacement enters the market.
This ranking presents the top 10 best flagship smartphones for December 2017. The rating is compiled according to technical characteristics, price-quality ratio and reviews in the Yandex-market (this rule does not apply to new items that have not yet received reviews). The rating includes the flagships of six of(American company Apple, South Korean Samsung and LG, Chinese Huawei and Xiaomi). The top ten world manufacturers also include Chinese brands Oppo, Vivo, TCL, Lenovo, ZTE, but the products of the first three are not represented in Russia. As for Lenovo, this company has focused in recent years on the budget segment, and produces flagship models under the subsidiary Motorola brand, which is focused mainly on the American market. ZTE has yet to release a truly striking flagship in 2017. Instead, the ranking includes the leading Taiwanese manufacturers ASUS and HTC, the Chinese brand OnePlus (which is a subsidiary of Oppo), as well as the longest-playing smartphone of 2017 from another Chinese brand Ulefone.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 4X 32Gb
Average price in Russia - 10 480 rubles. Buy Redmi Note 4X on Aliexpress you can for 8.4 thousand rubles(delivery to Russia is free). The flagship of the mega-popular Redmi Note family of the Chinese manufacturer Xiaomi, presented at the end of January 2017, scored 71% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market(cm. ). The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 85%.
Last year's flagship of this family, Redmi Note 3 Pro, became the most popular Android smartphone in the world, Russia, India and some other countries at the end of 2016 (see. ).
Technical Xiaomi characteristics Redmi Note 4X: 5.5 inch IPS screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, operating system Android 6.0, 32 GB of permanent and 3 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card up to 128 GB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). The main camera is 13 megapixels, the front one is 5 megapixels. Battery capacity 4100 mAh. 8-core processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953, 2000 MHz. Video processor Adreno 506. There is a fingerprint scanner. Metal case with plastic inserts on the top and bottom of the rear panel.
If we compare this model with last year's flagships of the family (winter Redmi Note 3 Pro and summer Redmi Note 4), then thanks to the new processor and graphics chip, Redmi Note 4X added autonomy and performance, and thanks to the new module Sony cameras IMX258 has noticeably improved the quality of shooting. Apparently, Redmi Note 4X will be one of the most popular models of 2017 (and the most popular phone in the Xiaomi catalog todayRedmi Note 4X has already become), which is facilitated by the excellent combination of "price-quality", which is what Xiaomi is famous for.
9th place.
Ulefone power 2
The average price in Russia is 11,100 rubles. Buy Ulefone Power 2 on AliExpress you can for 9.8 thousand rubles(delivery to Russia is free). New model from the Chinese brand, which appeared in the spring of 2017, received 75% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market. The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 60%.
Its main advantage is incredible powerful battery, the capacity of which is 6,050 mA * h. The manufacturer indicated the following battery life: talk time - 47.5 hours, standby time - 1 160 hours (48 days).
Here's what they write in the reviews:
"The battery lasted 6 days. Alarm clock + 2-3 calls for five minutes a day, 4G turned on, the whole setup and updates with the installation of 68 applications, the Yandex launcher with changeable themes for icons and widgets, reading and downloading about 2GB of traffic for these 6 days available from the beginning of use. This is all on one charge. Charging at an accelerated rate really charges from 20-30% to 100 hours in one and a half or two, this is not a lie. "
Other specifications: 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, operating Android system 7.0, 64 GB of permanent and 4 GB of RAM, with two SIM cards. Support for memory cards up to 256 GB. The main camera is 13 megapixels, the front camera is 8 megapixels. 8-core processor MediaTek MT6750. There is a fingerprint scanner.
Ulefone Power 2 is ranked # 1 in.
8th place.
LG G6 64GB
The average price in Russia is 32,900 rubles. You can buy LG G6 on AliExpress for 30 thousand rubles (official Russian guarantee, delivery from a warehouse in Russia from 2 days). The Korean flagship went on sale at the end of March 2017 and today received 73% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market. The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 85%.
Like Samsung, LG has revealed a heavily updated flagship to the world when compared to last year's G5. The South Korean company decided to abandon the modularity of the G5, which amazed everyone, while offering a new interesting solution: the screen in the LG G6 is the world's first IPS-display with a QHD + resolution (2880x1440) with a non-standard aspect ratio of 18: 9 (2: 1). The screen-to-body ratio here is pretty much the same as the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the LG G6's 5.7-inch body is smaller than last year's 5.3-inch G5. At the same time, LG did not remove the brand name from the front panel, it found a place for it. The buttons on the front, like in the Galaxy S8, are touch-sensitive rather than physical.
Other Features: Android 7.0 s operating system proprietary shell LG UX 6.0, 64 GB of storage and 4 GB of RAM. There is a slot for memory cards with support for a fantastic volume - 2 TB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). Battery capacity - 3300 mAh. The processor is a quad-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 821. At first glance, it is surprising that the processor is not the newest, but it can handle any applications and games for Android available today without any problems, therefore, apparently, LG did not consider it necessary to reinvent the wheel and raise the price of your flagship with the latest processor. The fingerprint scanner is located on the back.
The LG G6 follows the trend of dual rear cameras, but offers perhaps the best solution out there. If usually the main cameras are not the same in quality, and the second main camera is needed only to simulate the program effect of a strong background blur (bokeh), then the LG G6 developers have abandoned this effect altogether. Here, both main cameras are of equal quality (13-megapixel Sony IMX258 sensor), but they have different lenses: one standard with a 71 ° field of view, and the other ultra-wide-angle with a 125 ° viewing angle and f / 2.4 aperture. Due to this, the lens is able to capture as much space as possible in the frame where it is needed. Switching between the two cameras is instant and lag-free. To do this, just click on the special icon in the viewfinder.
LG G6 took part in two blind camera tests conducted among readers of the hi-tech.mail.ru portal in 2017. In the April test, the Korean flagship came in third behind Huawei P10 and Samsung Galaxy S8. The editorial staff of the portal also gave the LG G6 bronze in a professional assessment, and the first two places were taken by Google Pixel and Samsung Galaxy S8. In the June blind test, the LG G6 finished third again, this time behind the Honor 8 Pro and Samsung Galaxy S8. The editors gave the first place to the Samsung Galaxy S8, while the LG G6 tied for the second place with the HTC U11 and Honor 8 Pro.
Front-camera at 5 megapixels also has an increased (up to 100 °) angle of view, due to which you can take selfies with a good capture of the surrounding space, even without using a selfie stick. It will also allow more friends to be captured in a group selfie.
The editors of the w3bsit3-dns.com portal awarded the LG G6 a victory in the "Best Look" nomination for excellent design and ergonomics, noting at the same time: "LG engineers managed to make one of the most user-friendly smartphones with a large display, which combines aesthetics and external influences construction ".
Xiaomi Mi 6 64GB
Average price in Russia - 27 190 rubles. Buy Mi 6 64Gb on AliExpressyou can for 22.1 thousand rubles(delivery to Russia is free). The official start of sales of the new Xiaomi flagship took place on July 4, 2017. For today Mi 6 64Gb on took 64% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market(cm. ) . The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 84%.
Specifications: IPS screen 5.15 inches with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 7.1 operating system, 64 GB of permanent and 6 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards. There is no support for an external memory card, although 64 GB is more than enough for the average smartphone user. Battery capacity 3350 mAh. Battery life in video viewing mode is 9.7 hours, in gaming mode - 7 hours. In terms of autonomy, Mi 6 is about one and a half times superior to flagships such as the iPhone 7 Plus or Huawei P10. 8-core Qualcomm processor Snapdragon 835 MSM8998 together with the already mentioned 6 GB of RAM give excellent performance: Mi 6 is the eighth most powerful Android smartphone in the world (and the fourth of the Chinese smartphones). There is a fingerprint scanner. There is protection against water.
Xiaomi smartphones have always had excellent technical characteristics, but they could not boast of a perfect camera. The camera of the new flagship in Xiaomi is positioned as a real alternative to the iPhone 7 Plus. The main camera of Mi 6 is equipped with two lenses, a wide-angle and a telephoto lens, both with a resolution of 12 MP, as well as a 4-axis optical stabilization system. Working in pairs, these cameras allow you to take beautiful and clear pictures in any conditions. Portrait mode allows you to take clear, high-quality photos. The Mi 6 has a 52mm portrait lens. The camera with 2x optical zoom captures stunning landscape shots, while the 10x digital zoom is able to capture even the smallest details from a distance. Mi 6 with 4-axis OIS technology captures clear images by capturing even the smallest vibrations. The built-in accelerometer and gyroscope stabilize the tilt and movement of the smartphone while shooting.
The front camera has received 8 megapixels and new firmware. The technology of beautiful filters Beautify 3.0 reacts differently to men and women - it changes the appearance of men a little less. For women, they reduce the cheeks, smoothen the skin and slightly enlarge the eyes to a greater extent.
The hi-tech.mail.ru portal in the June comparison of the cameras of the flagships of 2017 put the camera of the Xiaomi flagship as much as the Sony Xperia XZ Premium. At the same time, Mi 6 was able to bypass the flagship of ASUS - ZenFone 3 Zoom, which is positioned as a camera phone.
So, new flagship Xiaomi has a good camera and battery life as well as excellent performance. All this is at a price twice lower than that of the flagships of Samsung or Apple. At the same time, for fans of large screens this model will not work - the diagonal of the display is only 5.15 inches.
Xiaomi Mi 6 ranks third in .
see also
6th place.
Honor 9 4GB / 64GB
The average price in Russia is 23,500 rubles. You can buy Honor 9 on AliExpress for 20 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free).
The new flagship of the Huawei sub-brand went on sale on July 6, 2017 and today has scored 67% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market. The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 77%.
Specifications of the model: 5.15-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 7.0 operating system, 64 GB of permanent and 4 GB of RAM, support for two SIM cards, a slot for a second SIM card is combined with a slot for a memory card up to 256 GB. Battery capacity 3200 mAh. Self-developed eight-core Kirin 960 processor with Mali-G71 MP8 graphics accelerator. Fingerprint scanner on the front. Case made of 15 layers of tempered glass.
Cameras are practically the same as those of the flagship of the main brand Huawei P10 (which has the best camera among Chinese smartphones and one of the best in the world): a color dual camera module with a 12MP sensor and an aperture of f / 2.2 cooperates with a 20MP black and white , 2x zoom without loss of quality. The only difference is that there is no optical stabilization. The software stabilization remained, but it handles shaking during video recording and taking photos on the go worse. At the same time, when shooting under normal conditions, you will not notice any difference in the quality of the shooting, so there is no particular point in overpaying 4.5 thousand for optical stabilization, as well as the logos of Huawei and Leica (which helped develop the camera for the Huawei P10) on the body. The front camera, like the Huawei P10, has an 8 megapixel sensor.
In comparison with the summer Chinese flagships of 2017, Honor 9 and Xiaomi Mi 6 received the same average score from the editors of hi-tech.mail.ru, but in our rating we will put Honor 9 higher, because about this phone better reviews buyers, it is 2 thousand cheaper on AliExpress (in Russia the price is the same), it supports a memory card, and it also has a better camera.
HTC U11 128Gb- the flagship with the best reviews
The average price is 41,460 rubles. New flagship from Taiwanese manufacturer went on sale in June 2017 and today received 86% of fives in reviews in Yandex-Market. The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 95%.These are the best results (both in terms of reviews and recommendations) among the flagship smartphones of 2017.
Already at the start of sales, it is obvious that, unexpectedly for everyone, HTC released the brightest flagship of the first half of 2017, which surpassed the competitors in camera quality and performance. The excellent camera quality of the HTC U11 was expected, given that last year's flagship HTC 10 was in the title of owner for almost the entire year best camera 2016, only giving way to Google Pixel in October. After the release of HTC U11, it topped the rating of the photographic resource Dxomark and was ousted only in the fall with the releases of new iPhones, Samsung Galaxy Note 8 and Google Pixel 2.
The main module has a 12-megapixel UltraPixel 3 sensor with a pixel size of 1.4 microns, optics with an f / 1.7 aperture and optical stabilization. The UltraSpeed Autofocus system is responsible for focusing, in which every pixel is involved.
The review on the hi-tech.mail.ru portal says about the camera of this model:
"The U11 locks onto its target instantly, without missing, even in low light.
I was impressed by the work of the software. You do 10 frames in a row - and all 10 will be the same. That is, the settings for exposure, shutter speed, ISO do not get lost at the slightest movement of the phone, and the built-in algorithms do not recognize this as a change in composition. This is often found in Chinese smartphones, and even in some flagships, such as the Google Pixel or LG G6. There, the two photos can differ in brightness or graininess - as the automation wishes.
When shooting against the sun or bright skies, HDR Boost "stretches" details even in the darkest areas. Dynamic range as wide as the Google Pixel shots. There is some logic in this: the companies collaborated on the development of the Pixel. Perhaps HTC has lent the capacity of its factories, and in return Google has shared secret HDR + algorithms. "
The front camera has an incredible 16 megapixel resolution, f2.0 aperture, video is recorded in 1080p.
In a blind test of comparison between cameras of flagship smartphones and Canon 5D Mark II DSLRs, conducted among readers of hi-tech.mail.ru, HTC U11 took the penultimate place, gaining 1 point less than a DSLR. The editors of the portal explained it this way: "HTC U11 fell into the same trap as the camera: excellent detail, correct exposure, but looks too simple against the background of bright competitors." In this case, not the final sample was used in the test, but the test one, which could affect the quality of the shooting.
Other specifications: Android 7.1 OS, 5.5-inch Super LCD screen with 2560x1440 resolution, 128GB of permanent memory and 6GB of RAM. Supports external memory card up to 2 TB. Support for two SIM cards. The battery capacity is 3000 mAh. Talk time - 24.5 hours, standby - 14 days. There is a fingerprint scanner on the front. HTC U11 has pressure-sensitive edges, which means that by simply squeezing the smartphone in your hand, you can take a photo with the camera, launch applications, and turn on the flashlight.
HTC U11 is IP67 protected and can be immersed in water up to 1 meter for 30 minutes and sprinkled with sand.
Also worth noting is the beautiful glossy body.
HTC U11 currently ranks third in performance among Android smartphones in the AnTuTu study, behind only OnePlus 5 and Samsung Galaxy Note 8.
ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom ZE553KL 64Gb - the flagship with the most powerful battery
The average price in Russia is 27,600 rubles. You can buy ZenFone 3 Zoom ZE553KL on AliExpress for 24.3 thousand rubles (shipping to Russia is free). The new flagship in the ZenFone 3 line of the leading Taiwanese manufacturer went on sale in March 2017 and today has received 59% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market (see). The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 57%.
Specifications: 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 1920x1080 pixels, Android 6.0 operating system, 64 GB of constant and 4 GB of RAM, there is a slot for a memory card up to 2 TB (combined with a slot for a second SIM card). The battery capacity is 5000 mAh. Talk time in 3G networks up to 48 hours, when browsing websites on Wi-Fi networks up to 25 hours, standby time up to 42 days. ZenFone 3 Zoom supports fast charging technology (10 minutes of charging is enough for an additional 5 hours of talk time). 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 MSM8953 processor. There is a fingerprint scanner.
ZenFone 3 Zoom is equipped with two high-quality main cameras at once. The first based on the latest Sony IMX362 sensor with large pixels (1.4 microns) has a wide-angle lens with a large aperture (f / 1.7) and a 12 megapixel sensor with ASUS SuperPixel technology. It is designed for everyday scenes including low light. SuperPixel technology achieves a 2.5x light sensitivity advantage over iPhone 7 Plus. In addition, the camera supports optical and electronic image stabilization to minimize blur in photos and videos, uses a color correction sensor to improve color reproduction, and can record videos in 4K / Ultra-HD. The second of the main cameras - with the same 12 megapixel resolution and 2.3x optical zoom - is used to obtain high-quality images close-up... In addition to optical zoom, you can use the digital zoom function, which gives an overall image magnification of 12 times. Switching between cameras is instant, and the combination of the two delivers stunning depth of field - and professional-looking photos. In the mode manual setting ZenFone 3 Zoom allows you to customize many different photo parameters such as white balance, exposure number, focal length, ISO level and shutter speed.
ZenFone 3 Zoom features ASUS TriTech + triple AF technology, which includes DSLR-like dual-pixel phase-detection AF technology. Phase sensors for focusing are contained in each pixel of the image sensor, which ensures the fastest and most accurate focusing, even for moving objects. In addition, the ASUS TriTech + system includes tracking autofocus (for both photos and video) and laser autofocus, which fires in just 0.03 seconds.
On its official website, ASUS has posted comparative photos of ZenFone 3 Zoom and iPhone 7 Plus, which show that ZenFone 3 Zoom demonstrates better panorama shooting, better color reproduction, better copes with night shooting and macro photography.
In a blind test of comparison of cameras of flagship smartphones and Canon 5D Mark II DSLRs, conducted in June 2017 among readers of hi-tech.mail.ru, ASUS ZenFone 3 Zoom took 4th place, and bypassed a DSLR camera, as well as the best in the world ( according to the authoritative resource Dxomark) the HTC U11 smartphone camera. The editors of hi-tech.mail.ru commented on it this way: "ZenFone 3 Zoom surprised. The smartphone does not belong to the premium category, but readers liked its vivid photos."
ZenFone 3 Zoom features a high-quality front camera with a 13MP Sony IMX214 sensor and ASUS SuperPixel technology that doubles the light sensitivity even further. When shooting in low light conditions, the smartphone screen turns bright white, acting as a flash. Combined with software features such as Portrait Enhancement and 140-degree Panoramic Selfies, this camera allows you to capture self-portraits in great detail, great quality - and with all your friends in the frame.
When you listen to music with ZenFone 3 Zoom, you are immersed in a world of sounds that regular smartphones simply cannot reproduce - because only ZenFone 3 Zoom supports SonicMaster 3 technology and is certified for high-resolution audio playback.
As we can see, this smartphone has no weak points at all. Usually, flagships have a very average battery, while the powerful ZenFone 3 Zoom battery allows you to work twice as long on a single charge as an iPhone 7 or Samsung Galaxy S8, while its price is half the price.
ZenFone 3 Zoom is ranked third in.
OnePlus 5 64GB is the world's most powerful Android smartphone
The average price in Russia is 34,800 rubles. Buy OnePlus 5 on Aliexpress you can for 33.1 thousand rubles(delivery to Russia is free).
Unveiled by the Chinese manufacturer on June 20, 2017, this model replaces the highly successful OnePlus 3T last year. The replacement turned out to be very successful: suffice it to say that the new OnePlus 5 received a very good feedback in Yandex-Market - 85% of fives.The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is also 85%.
Specifications: Android 7.1 OS, Optic AMOLED screen 5.5 inches with a resolution of 1920x1080, support for two SIM cards and 4G LTE, 8-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 835 processor. There is a fingerprint scanner. 64 GB of permanent memory and 6 GB of RAM. There is also a more expensive variant with 128GB of storage and 8GB of RAM. AnTuTu resource analyzing performance data various devices, in November 2017 named OnePlus 5 the most powerful Android smartphone in the world.
OnePlus 5 received a 3300 mAh battery. Experts of the resource fonearena.com tested the autonomy of this model and the numbers turned out to be as follows: autonomous talk time - 25 hours 7 minutes (HTC U11, Huawei P10, Xiaomi Mi 6 also work around 25 hours), when surfing the web in 3G networks - 6 hours 19 minutes (which is slightly more than the LG G6 and slightly less than the Samsung Galaxy S8), while working on Wi-Fi - 8 hours 26 minutes (this is noticeably better than the Korean flagships and at the level of the Huawei P10 ), video playback time - 14 hours 16 minutes (this is at the level of Galaxy S8 and better than Xiaomi Mi 6, HTC U11, LG G6, Huawei P10), standby time - 52 days (like Galaxy S8). Thanks to Dash Charger technology (5V / 4A), it takes 1 hour and 11 minutes to fully charge OnePlus 5, which is faster than other flagships. For comparison, the runner-up Galaxy S8 has 1 hour 22 minutes, while the third-place LG G6 has 1 hour 24 minutes.
The OnePlus 3T only had one main camera. In the new model, the manufacturer followed the new trend and introduced a dual main camera module. The first Sony IMX 398 16MP sensor. The second Sony IMX 350 sensor is 20 megapixels. In camera functionality, the OnePlus 5 follows the iPhone 7. The first camera captures more light and detail, the second has a higher resolution. Why is this needed? To get closer to the picture without loss of quality. The maximum optical zoom of the 16-megapixel camera brings objects up to 1.6 times. Having reached a crop of 1.6, the module switches to a 20 megapixel camera and uses digital zoom. There is digital image stabilization (EIS) when recording 4K video. Front camera 16 megapixels. Dxomark gave the camera of the 5th OnePlus 87 points, as did the Huawei P10. At the same time, OnePlus 5 is ahead of such models as the LG G6 and the 7th iPhone. V OnePlus 5 is in 9th place.
Sample pictures OnePlus 5 and a comparison with digital camera shots can be viewed in.
The OnePlus 3T was very durable. The new OnePlus is no exception. The well-known YouTube blogger Zach Nilsson scratched the metal case with keys, but traces from them are then easily removed with a finger. If you try to bend the phone, the OnePlus 5 lends itself a little to bending, and the screen separates from the case, but then returns to its place without any problems.
The resource hi-tech.mail.ru held in August comparative test three Chinese flagships: Xiaomi Mi6, Honor 9 and OnePlus 5. The editors awarded the first place to OnePlus 5, noting its superiority over competitors in terms of practicality (the aluminum case is not as slippery as the glass cases of Mi6 and Honor 9; does not collect prints and heat under load dissipates much better), a better display (OnePlus 5 has an AMOLED panel, competitors have an IPS panel), the best of the trio is a front camera (the main cameras received equal points), better performance and autonomy. The superiority of OnePlus 5 is obvious from customer reviews: OnePlus 5 has 95% fives, Honor 9 - 72%, Mi 6 - 61%.
Apple iPhone X 64GB
The average price in Russia is 78,400 rubles. The tenth iPhone (X in this case is the Roman numeral 10) went on sale on November 3, 2017, and today it has gained 55% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market. The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 43%.
In that year iPhone celebrates its 10th anniversary: the first iPhone went on sale on June 29, 2007. Apple, which in recent years offered customers the same eggs, only in profile, decided to finally launch something fundamentally new on the market, and it succeeded, however, a significant part of the innovations was simply repeated for Android manufacturers, and the rest turned out to be ambiguous. Firstly, the iPhone X received a frameless screen, and even with an OLED matrix. However, this is a novelty only for iPhones, since the bezel-less display first appeared in the spring of the Samsung Galaxy S8, and the Galaxy Note 8, which went on sale in September, also has it. As for the OLED display, it is not original, but produced by Samsung, and, apparently, Samsung left its models best displays, a Apple sold worse because after the release of the iPhone X, users began to complain about screen flickering when the brightness was lowered. In the design of the front panel, the spirit of Samsung hovered over Apple, tk. if you arrange everything in the best possible way, you get an exact copy of Samsung's flagships. Apparently, for this reason, a strange blotting into the screen appeared on the top of the front panel, which users called "codpiece", "beard" or "monobrow", and it is not convenient to view content in all applications. the monobrow sometimes crawls over him. But now it is very easy to distinguish the iPhone X from all other smartphones.
Samsung has introduced three types of unlocking in its new flagships: a familiar fingerprint scanner, a face scan and an iris scan. Apple took a more radical approach, removed the fingerprint scanner and left only the face scanner, which creates a three-dimensional model of the face and then learns to recognize its owner in new images. But this feature has two drawbacks. First, the system does not understand the fact of growing up in children and one day it will stop recognizing them. Therefore, Apple does not recommend using the tenth iPhone for children under 13. Secondly, face recognition will not be able to distinguish between twins, so the tenth iPhone is also not recommended for those who have twin brothers or sisters. And also to those who have children similar to them. YouTube has video where 10 year old boy unlocked his mom's iPhone just by looking at it.
The bezel-less display leaves no room for physical buttons. Samsung has simply made the buttons touch sensitive. Apple, instead of following a successful example, chose an uncomfortable option: gesture control. As a result, it became impossible to use the phone with one hand in many situations.
When you look at the back panel, you can also immediately distinguish the 10th iPhone from all the others, tk. the camera block is located not horizontally, but vertically. At the same time, the block protrudes so much that the phone cannot lie flat on the table. The problem is solved only by purchasing a cover. Now about the cameras themselves: they are almost the same as in the iPhone 8 Plus: a dual primary at 12 megapixels and a front one at 7 megapixels. At the same time, the aperture was improved from f / 2.8 to f / 2.4, double stabilization was introduced and a portrait mode was added when shooting selfies. Resource Dxomark gave the iPhone 8 Plus camera 94 points, the same was received by the Samsung Galaxy Note 8, and the iPhone X received 97 points, while still not becoming the leader in shooting quality, because it was outstripped by the Google Pixel 2.
Other characteristics: a 5.8-inch screen (actually smaller, because the black notch eats up part of the screen space) with a resolution of 2436x1125 pixels, the operating system iOS 11, 64 GB of permanent memory and 3 GB of RAM, support for one SIM card. The smartphone does not support an external memory card, however, Google provides unlimited storage for photos and videos taken on Pixel for free (until 2021). Battery capacity 2716 mAh. 6-core Apple processor A11 Bionic. Case material - glass. As in others latest iPhones, no standard headphone jack, no support for memory card and second sim card.
Summing up, we can say that the iPhone X is a technologically advanced phone that cannot be confused with any other, but some innovations are such only for Apple (since they already exist on Android), while others are ambiguous and do not always lead to user friendliness. The high price also does not add attractiveness, and the reviews about this model are the worst in our rating. Therefore, at first place iPhone X clearly does not pull.
Samsung Galaxy Note 8 64GB - the flagship with the largest screen and also with a stylus
The average price in Russia is 62,000 rubles. Buy Galaxy Note 8 on AliExpress it is possible for 55.5 thousand rubles (delivery to Russia is free).
The autumn flagship of Samsung went on sale on September 15, 2017 and today has scored 69% of the top fives in reviews in Yandex-Market. The number of recommendations in Yandex-Market is 71%.
Samsung has made it a rule to release two flagships a year: in the spring of the flagship of the Galaxy S family, and closer to the fall of the more advanced flagship of the Galaxy Note family with a stylus. However, last year the Galaxy Note 7 was discontinued shortly after its launch due to battery issues, so the new flagship Galaxy The Note 8 is actually the first in its class in two years.
Samsung in its new flagship follows the trend of recent times on large screens while staying one step ahead of the competition. While Apple in the 10th iPhone came to the need to increase the diagonal to 5.8 inches (as in the spring Galaxy S8), the Galaxy Note 8 received a fantastic 6.3 inches (the resolution is also impressive: 2960x1440). It has become slightly larger in body dimensions than the Galaxy S8: 7.5 cm wide versus 6.8 cm, 16.2 cm high versus 14.9 cm tall, but due to the competent use of the screen area (it is frameless, as in the Galaxy S8) dimensions and the weight of the glass-metal body is comparable to the classic 5.5-inch models of competitors. For example, the 5.5-inch Apple iPhone 8 Plus is 0.3 cm wider and 7 grams heavier than the Galaxy Note 8, although the latter is 0.4 cm longer. claims the Galaxy Note 8 has "the most innovative and high-performance screen the site has ever tested."
If the front of the Galaxy Note 8 differs from the Galaxy S8 only in the size of the case, then when you look at the rear panel, these models are definitely not confused. Samsung in the new flagship followed another trend: for the first time it used a dual main camera (the Galaxy S8 still had one main camera). The first camera is wide-angle, with a focal length of 26 mm and an aperture of f / 1.7. The second is a narrow 52mm tele-camera. This corresponds roughly to the angle of view of the human eye, so it is also suitable for portraits without distorting perspective. Both modules with a resolution of 12 megapixels. Both modules have optical stabilization (the same technique was later repeated by the iPhone X). Now you can shoot smooth videos and sharp photos not only in normal mode, but also with 2x optical zoom. Dxomark named Galaxy Note 8 the best smartphone for zoom (enlarge the image when shooting). For example, according to this indicator, he received 66 points against 58 for the iPhone X. Under the second Samsung camera added "dynamic focus" function. When enabled, you can adjust the amount of background blur before and after the shutter is released. In this case, the smartphone saves photos from both cameras. Frontal Galaxy camera Note 8 in terms of aperture as the main one - f / 1.7, resolution 8 megapixels.
Now about the stylus that comes with the kit and distinguishes the Galaxy Note 8 from other flagships. What is it for? Draw, write down reminders, take notes on photos. You don't even need to unlock the screen to write and edit notes. In addition, by pressing with the stylus, you can translate words in a foreign language text. Of course, most people will rarely need a stylus, but for creative people it will be a real find.
Galaxy Note 8 has 64 GB of internal memory, as well as support for an external memory card up to 256 GB (iPhone X does not support memory cards), but you have to choose what to insert into the tray: a second SIM card or a memory card. 8-core Samsung processor The Exynos 9 8895, coupled with 6GB of RAM, make the Note 8 the world's second most powerful Android smartphone (on the first OnePlus 5).
After the battery failure of the Galaxy Note 7 in the new flagship, Samsung decided not to experiment with this component and supplied the phone with a standard 3300 mAh battery, which allows the Note 8 to work 22 hours of talk time and 74 hours of listening to music. There is a function fast charging... Half an hour at the outlet, and the battery will last for 3-4 hours. It will take 1 hour 41 minutes to charge from 0 to 100%.
There are three types of unlocking: the usual fingerprint scanner, face scan and iris scan. In this case, the fingerprint scanner located on the back panel will be more convenient for men, because women will not be too comfortable to reach it because of the size of the case.
Obviously, even after the release of the iPhone X, the Galaxy Note 8 remains the best smartphone in the world. Much has already been said about the technical differences, now let's compare the reviews, recommendations and prices for the two main flagships of the fall: Galaxy Note 8 is gaining 69% of the fives in the Yandex Market against 55% of the iPhone, the number of recommendations in the Yandex-Market is even more in favor of Samsung: 71% versus 43%, while the price of the Galaxy Note 8 is 16.4 thousand rubles less than the iPhone X.
Almost all manufacturers flood counters with new models in the first half of the year in order to release budget smartphones and reduce prices for flagships. But there are exceptions, so if you don't like the new products of the first half of 2017, expect smarter smartphones from June to December. We will tell you which models you should pay attention to first.
Oneplus 5
Today it is very fashionable to idolize Chinese manufacturers and nod that they will soon "bury" the well-known brands that have become stuck. Just in case, no one specifies exactly when this will happen - so as not to goofy in the forecasts.
Because "china phones" are cheap, either because the manufacturer's hands are growing in the wrong place, and he learns to produce smartphones for the money of buyers of "crooked" products (let's not point fingers at Vkworld and other UMIs), or the brand makes money online -services in China, about which Russians with smartphones with "empty" firmware do not even suspect, as is the case with Xiaomi. Exceptions are rare, but OnePlus is such a case.
From the very first model, OnePlus presented itself as a very serious "Chinese" - the highest quality in the competence that the guys from the Middle Kingdom can afford. That is, yes - smartphones have never had a flawlessly tuned camera, as in Samsung, or displays with a reference color rendering, but OnePlus One "breathed in the back" twice as expensive flagships, in OnePlus 3 with the same data it bypassed pedigree smartphones in performance.
From what is already known about the smartphone, the OnePlus 5 will be made in the same spirit as its predecessors - lightweight Android variant(Nougat), openness to flashing and the most powerful processor available for android phones (this time Snapdragon 835). And no extremes in screen or size - 5.5 inches, Full HD.
The main innovation is a dual camera, in the latest fashion. The difference between OnePlus and the "Chinese buckets" with the same dual cameras will be that the smartphone will take high-quality photos and videos. The main intrigue is the appearance of the novelty. Either OnePlus 5 will retain the old faceted metal design (which will be exotic in the season of glossy flagships), or the Chinese will take a chance and roll out something peculiar. It is still known about the price that it will probably amount to $ 449 (25 thousand rubles) for the basic version, and taking into account the "broth" of dealers and the excitement, we should expect a price of 30 thousand rubles on Aliexpress.
In any case, for everyone who did not like the compact Xiaomi Mi 6, and the Huawei P10 seems unreasonably expensive and too "fenced off" from user intervention, OnePlus is the best fit.
Xiaomi Mi6C
It's hard to be a “crisis-free” smartphone manufacturer in China - Xiaomi is going from one extreme to another, and mid-range smartphones (like ASUS ZenFone 3, Huawei nova, Samsung Galaxy A5 2017) the company simply does not have. Either you buy Redmi Note 4 in an inexpensive case, without fast charging and with dull cameras, or you are waiting for the Mi5 / Mi6 to fall in price. The only model that claims to be the "golden mean" among the new Xiaomi models is the Mi6C.
Xiaomi has such a tradition every year to go to the bathhouse to release a "tuned" version of the flagship (Mi5S) and a "discounted" version (Mi5C), and S-ka enters the scene when interest with just the Mi-flagship fades away, and an inexpensive version with such a framework not limited.
Rumor has it that this time Mi6C will be released before the fall of 2017. About intermediate Xiaomi versions Mi6 was reported for a long time, but at the beginning of the year rumors said that the smartphone will receive a MediaTek Helio X30 ten-core processor and will debut simultaneously with Mi 6. Fortunately, everything turned out more successfully - Mi6C will receive Snapdragon 660 at its disposal (last year's flagship Snapdragon 820 minus 50% performance video accelerator) and as much as 6 GB of RAM.
At the same time, the smartphone will be cheap (something in between the base Mi6 and Redmi Note 4X, some 17-20 thousand rubles) and compact (5.15 inches). Taking into account that the camera in it will not be budgetary, we get a good alternative to the worn-out "me to take pictures quickly" Honor 8.
AlcatelIdol 5 S (6060 C)
Let's be honest - Alcatel smartphones in Russia they buy not from a good life, but from the principle "anything but basement China!" In terms of the degree of despondency, Alcatel smartphones are somewhere between the inhuman state employees HTC / LG and the cool inexpensive Meizu / Xiaomi. But Idol is the exception to the rule.
Last year's Idol 4, even with a "glucodrome" in the first firmware and so-so autonomy, were almost ideal smartphones for those who are not excited by the numbers in the benchmarks. Is the sound loud? Loud! Are the displays bright? Highly! Is the case beautiful? Even more beautiful than the iPhone and Galaxy S7. And a huge number of entertainment whistles, from the "boom" key on the body to glasses virtual reality and headphones included. At the price of a middle-class Samsung, but with a subsequent reduction in price to an adequate level because they did not buy.
Another question is that the owners of Alcatel, the Chinese from TCL Corporation, know the expense of money (that's why they bought themselves Palm, and they also make smartphones for BlackBerry) and are not going to raise the level of filling of Alcatel flagships to the level of the same Xiaomi Mi6C.
Therefore, in the new generation, expect MediaTek processors Helio P20 or Qualcomm Snapdragon 625 (economical octa-cores for messengers and the Internet, in games - so-so) with 3 GB of RAM and a Full HD display of 5.2 inches. Compared to Snapdragon 617 and 652 in older models, the melancholy is green, except that heating and economy will benefit. But there is a fingerprint scanner! Don't laugh - it was not in expensive Alcatel before.
But there will be good cameras (especially the front camera), good stereo speakers, slim body, Android 7.1 and Chinese luxury brands have a good bundle. An adequate option for those for whom sound-screen-design is more important than processor speed and the availability of custom firmware.
Honor 9
Huawei P10 is good, but its less pretentious alternative without Leica nameplates and advertising costs with stars is better! Huawei's proprietary tactics with gluing slightly different nameplates and bodies under different brands works no worse than the distinction between Toyota / Lexus, Nissan / Infiniti, Renault / Dacia in the car market.
The difference, of course, lies not only in nameplates, but also in pricing - in China Honor it is customary to buy strictly from online stores so that the price is minimal. In Russia, it is important for most buyers to feel that the smartphone “does not creak, does not play, lies stylishly in the hand” in cellular saloons, hence such a mess with the Huawei model line.
Last year the Honor 8 became a brighter and less expensive clone of the Huawei P9, this year the Honor 9 will just as well cite the Huawei P10 in a constructive way. And this, in fact, is good, because inexpensive Chinese phones with a good camera are vanishingly few, and in terms of photo and video quality, the P10 is very close to the Galaxy S7, for example.
A compact flagship with a 5.15-inch Full HD display, a flagship processor (Kirin 960 or 965), an abyss of RAM (4-6 GB) and the best cameras among Chinese phones in China will be sold for $ 335 (19 thousand rubles), and even if the price in Russian stores rises to 25-28 thousand, it will be a contender for the title of the best inexpensive flagship of the year. Only an amputated 3.5 mm headphone jack can spoil his reputation.
SamsungGalaxyNote 8
After a break of a year, we have already forgotten that Galaxy Note is not only "broads", but also:
- The only modern flagship with a stylus
- The most advanced Samsung smartphone, sometimes even cooler than the Galaxy S of the same generation
And in the current generation it will also be the first flagship Samsung with a dual camera (the very first "two-eyed Samsung" will be a mid-range model for the Chinese) and the first Galaxy Note with a display with a diagonal of over 6 inches. More precisely, a 6.3-inch AMOLED matrix is expected, but not in the case from a soap dish, like.
It is also expected that Samsung will nevertheless introduce a fingerprint scanner into the display, "finish off" the resolution of this display itself to 4K (in the older version) and install a super-fast Exynos 9210 processor inside the smartphone. apart from the stretched display, so the Note 8 has the potential to truly make Samsung famous in 2017.
