Best Smartphones of 2015

With 2015 coming to an end, I thought I'll sum up the year by choosing a couple of my favourite devices this year.

I will get right to it and start with the big one.

Best Phones this Year

Nexus 6P

If Android is your cup of tea, it doesn't get any better than the Nexus 6P. It presents a vanilla build of Android, in a hardware package that is as compelling as other flagship devices that costs just as much or more.

Software wise, you're getting not only a bloat-free, clean build of Android, but you're getting fast and consistent updates too throughout the life of the device. That means fast and smooth performance, as well as better security, since it gets monthly security patches too.

Hardware wise, you get a great build quality along with flagship level specifications. The camera is great, the speakers are great, and the 5.7" QHD AMOLED screen is beautiful to look at too. It packs a large 3,450 mAh battery, with a USB Type C port for faster charging. The fingerprint sensor on the back is the fastest in the market right now too. 

While you can probably find phones that beats the Nexus 6P in some categories, like speakers, screen, or camera, individually, you'll be hard-pressed to find one with as complete a software plus hardware package as the Nexus 6P. Especially at the asking price of just US$499 to begin with.

iPhone 6S

If iOS is your cup of tea, you really don't have much choice. The smaller 6S is my pick out of the 2 because it's a compact smartphone that still brings flagship level performance to the table.

Software wise, you get iOS 9, which is the best version of iOS yet. It performs well under most circumstances, and is the perfect example of software and hardware working together in perfect harmony. 

While hardware wise the phone might not seem too impressive on paper, there is more than meets the eye. Apple's A9 chipset absolutely screams on the iPhone 6S. UI performance is buttery smooth, and gaming performance is smoother than any Android flagship I have tried this year. While the iPhone 6S no longer has the best camera around, it is still one of the easiest camera to use to capture great looking shots. Battery capacity might not be much, but with optimisation it gets me through the day with ease too.

Other than that, the speaker might be at the bottom, but it is still quite decent. The screen might not be super high resolution, but it is still very accurate with great viewing experience. It has interesting hardware features like 3D Touch too, which is more of a gimmick now, but might becomes more useful as more developers take advantage of it.

Much like the Nexus 6P, this is at the top of my list because of how well-rounded it is as a smartphone, and how good the software plus hardware package is.

Galaxy Note 5

The Galaxy Note 5 is probably the most impressive device of the year to me. The phone has a really nice premium looking design which is a huge departure from their past devices. Samsung managed to put the best looking display yet on a phone. Not to mention that it is physically the smallest 5.7” screen phone I have used, which is mighty impressive.

Software wise, you get a somewhat de-bloated TouchWiz, which still isn’t my favourite, but performs well enough for day to day use. The UI and switching apps still isn’t as smooth or quick than the Nexus 6P despite a better processor and more RAM. On the flip side, TouchWiz does bring some genuinely useful features like multi-window, screen-off memo, scroll capture, pop-up video, etc.

Hardware wise, the Note 5 packs their own Exynos 7420 chipset which is a powerhouse, and better than Qualcomm’s showing this year in my opinion. It has 4GB of LPDDR4 RAMs, as well as UFS 2.0 storage too. The Note 5 has the best camera on any smartphone this year to me, taking great photos with the least amount of effort. The fingerprint sensor might not be the most reliable, but is still fast enough when it does work. The speaker while not the best, is still pretty loud and clear. Not to mention the very useful S-Pen which is rather nice to draw on as well.

The Note 5 could have been the one to top the list this year. The only reason it didn’t, is because of its software. Samsung still insist on shoving their apps and services down our throat, and the OS isn’t as well optimised. Despite better hardware (gaming performance is better on the Note 5), day to day performance is better on the Nexus 6P still.

Honourable Mention

BlackBerry Priv

The Priv gets a mention because it is BlackBerry’s first attempt at an Android phone, and it is a very nice first try. It brings something interesting to the Android market which we haven’t seen in a long while now, the slider form factor with a physical keyboard. The hardware is decent too, but the software could use a bit of work. However, the phone is way to expensive for what it is. The software could use a bit more polish too, but for BlackBerry’s first effort, it’s not bad at all.

OnePlus X

The OnePlus X might be an odd choice considering its price tag. It isn’t a very powerful phone, and isn’t even the most modern when it comes to specifications. But it does provide a lot of phone for not a lot of money. The build quality is superb, performance is decent, and the design is actually pretty nice. Best of all, no invite system needed. The only downside to me would be its software, which is a double-edged sword. While Oxygen OS does bring a lot of useful customisation to stock Android, in its current form, it is still a little bit buggy though.

My Favourite Smartphone of the Year

Moto X Style

While this may not be the most powerful device, with the best specifications or best camera, the Moto X Style wins my overall by being sufficient.

Software wise, the Moto X Style runs a near stock build of Android with its own useful enhancements. Moto Display, double twist to launch camera, double chop for flashlight, etc. Those may not sound like much, but they are super convenient once you get the hang of it. A plus side of near stock Android would be fast updates too at least for now, since the phone is still new. It is one of the handful of devices that have gotten the Marshmallow update already.

The hardware of the phone is definitely flagship level. The processing package is one we are familiar with already, the Snapdragon 808 with 3GB of RAM. The screen is a 5.7” QHD display which isn’t the best in the market, but is still very nice to look at. It might even better than some more expensive flagship devices in the market still using FHD displays. The speakers are second only to HTC’s BoomSound speakers, and it sounds noticeably better than the Nexus 6P. The battery is a pretty decent 3,000mAh too, which keeps the device powered through the day.

In short, it does almost everything well, and almost nothing wrong.

With the addition of an SD card slot and Marshmallow’s integrated SD card feature, the Moto X Style just became one of the best phones to showcase Android Marshmallow. The only thing it is lacking is a fingerprint sensor, which isn’t a huge deal to me just yet.

The cherry on top is that for some countries, you can actually customise the phone’s colour to your liking with MotoMaker, something which I did for the very first Moto X. Sadly for us in Singapore, you can’t even buy the phone here.

If you managed to get one during the limited time discount on Amazon at US$349, it is the best phone you can buy for that kind of money. It is a phone that I would easily recommend to anyone at that price.

The Moto X Style is the phone that I wished the Nexus 5X could be. Even at US$449, the Moto X Style is still a worthy buy to me over the Nexus 5X. At the recent Amazon discount at US$349, it’s a no-brainer.

While I love to see innovative features, boundaries-pushing specifications, new software features, or new form factors, what I need as my daily driver is a little different. I just want something that works well, and I don’t need the highest end of specifications for that. The Moto X Style does just that. The combination of software, hardware, design, and price, makes the Moto X Style my favourite phone of 2015.