2016 has been an year which did not disappoint us in the field of smartphones. All the mainstream smartphone manufacturers and even some new faces have stepped into the league and had come upto our expectations. If there was a phone which upset us, it would be Samsung Galaxy Note 7 because of it's issues of blasting. Let's have a look at the top 5 smartphones in this calendar year, 2016. These are in no specific order.
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Source: ee.co.uk
The S7 edge is more of a refinement from last year's S6 and S6 edge rather than a complete revail. To start off, this phone has a 5.5" screen with curved edges which gives a classy look to the handset. It's bigger and thinner than the S6 edge but one doesn't feel that because of the design. The front and back are made of glass and is an all metal frame. The camera is much better than the previous Galaxy phones and works really well in low lighting conditions. One of the main things which was lacking in S6 edge, the micro SD slot, has been put again in the S7 edge. The Edge Panel has two sets of apps instead of last year's one set which is much more useful now. To round it all off, the phone is much faster with the better processor and other specs.
Apple iPhone 7
Source: MacRumors
Even though it has nothing much to boast about any innovation in the design, Apple has definitely brought in new things in other areas which are capable of making the fans content. This new flagship features removal of headphone jack in order to favor stereo speakers, water proofing and better hidden antennas.
The other refinements from the iPhone 6S includes the new home button with Matte finish options, the faster and better performance and better quality camera. According to Tim Cook, this is the best iPhone so far by Apple. But this best is only slightly better than the iPhone 6S. iPhone 7 had also been in the list of the least innovative phones even though they tried for better features.
Full Review of iPhone 7: iPhone 7 Review
HTC 10
Source: HTC
The HTC One M9 have had so many unnecessary features which was less required than some other features they had not included as far as smartphones is concerned. HTC 10 was released primarily addressing those issues which One M9 faced. This phone has been the best till date from HTC with it raising to the high quality built one would expect from HTC. The phone packs a Snapdragon 820 chipset giving it great power, a 4GB RAM which contributes to the great performance and the presence of OIS on both the cameras contributing to the great camera performance. The software included is slick fast and is fuss-free.
OnePlus 3
Source: gsmarena
OnePlus 3 is the cheapest phone that has made it into this list. The 64 GB variant of this phone costs just around 23,000 and thus the value for money in this phone is next level. The specs included has so much in common with the phones with double or even triple of its price hence making it into the bucketlist of the middle class people. The display is fabulous and the all metal body gives the phone a premium look even though this phone doesn't have quad HD resolution. The success of this phone did not stop the company for more innovation on the same phone and has resulted in the release of the new OnePlus 3T with a bit more great features.
Google Pixel
Source: Droid Life
Google had entered into the mainstream of smartphone competitors by releasing Google Pixel and Google Pixel XL in the middle of this year. The only difference between these two phones is its screen size- Pixel with 5" Full HD display and the Pixel XL with 5.5" Quad HD display. The Pixel experience for its users have been smooth and fast with some exclusive google features available in the phone. If not for those exclusive features, one would say that it is a stereotype Android phone. The battery and the Camera are top notch. The price goes over 50,000 rupees but the features says why. Waterproofing and MicroSD slot are two things which is being lacked by the phone.
For Detailed Review: Google Pixel and Pixel XL
