That time of year has arrived. The one in which, except for surprises, practically everything is on the table. At techopiniones we have analyzed the top high-end phones from each of the manufacturers, and we highlight that It has been a year of refinement rather than revolution.
On a personal note, after having tried them all, it is clear to me What model would you have in your pocket?. I can already tell you that, curiously, it is not the one with the best specifications nor the most spectacular. But it is, in my opinion, the most balanced on a day-to-day basis.
Specifically, this year I have been able to analyze these high-end Android phones:
In this article I am not going to make a comparison of technical specifications or go into depth about each of them, for that we have published the corresponding analyzes. Here, on a personal basis, I am going to share with you which mobile phone has seemed the most balanced to me throughout the year.
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This year, the techopiniones award for best mobile phone of the year was won by the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. I couldn’t agree more. There are several key points why it seems to me to be the most balanced, despite the fact that at the spec level it does not seem the most attractive.
The matte screen. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra remains the only high-end on the market with anti-glare screen. As I mentioned in the review, this marks a before and after. It is true that there are rivals with higher brightness, especially the Pixel, but the matte treatment changes the experience completely.
Once you try a phone with this feature, it’s pretty difficult to go back to one that doesn’t have it. If we add to this that it is one of the few flat panels of the high-end Android -only the Pixel is still 100% flat-, it is the screen that I have enjoyed the most this year.
The second best software. For me, there is nothing better than Android Stock. But discarding the Pixel for its performance – it’s not poor, but I don’t consider it enough to be my alternative of choice in the highest range – Samsung still has the best software on Android. It is not my favorite ROM, but it is certainly superior to HyperOS, ColorOS either Magic OS.
It is a system with personality, but very adapted to the UI demands that we have in Europe. Few visual stridencies, mode DeX by connecting it to monitors, many quality apps, a real ecosystem along with other brand products, etc.
A performance – battery with a brutal balance. The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra does not have a 6,000mAh battery but, curiously, it is not that far behind its direct rivals. It doesn’t reach the more than 10 hours of screen time that I have achieved with the Realme and the OPPO, but it lasts a day and a half – or two days in light use – with more than eight hours of screen time.
Furthermore, although it is not the most powerful, the software-hardware duo is highly optimized, and I can assure you that no user would be able to distinguish the performance between their processor –Snapdragon 8 Gen 3– and the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
Very consistent cameras. I’m not crazy about the S24 Ultra’s cameras, in fact, the big comparison was won by the Xiaomi 14 Ultra. However, there is one point that I especially highlighted in the comparison: consistency.
Many of its rivals manage to surpass it in various situations, but for me the S24 Ultra is still “the iPhone of Android” when it comes to cameras, I mean. One of the points that I value most in mobile photography is being able to predict how my phone is going to take the photo. Let there be no surprises with the processing.
The S24 Ultra almost never shoots perfectly, but it is very consistent at shooting. If we add to this that the camera interface is one of the friendliest, that it is one of the few that shoots in raw RAW at 50 megapixels, and how well integrated the Gemini is when making edits, the photographic experience is excellent .
A consistent mobile, without stridency. The Pixel is a great phone, but its processor isn’t up to par. The Xiaomi is great, but HyperOS is not for me. Something similar happens to me with Honor, and even more so with Huawei without Google services. OPPO and Realme are ahead in hardware, but the ROM is behind.
The S24 Ultra is not the best in any aspect, but it is the most balanced at the moment. It shines in screen, camera, performance, battery, and at the support level it is above all its rivals, saving Google.
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In techopiniones | Best mobile phones for less than 200 euros (2024). The opinion of techopiniones experts