Smartphone Awards 2023!

Summary

这是2023年的智能手机奖,视频中作者介绍了他认为2023年表现最突出和最差的几款手机。他从多个维度如大屏手机、小屏手机、照相机、性价比等角度评选了年度最佳手机。最后他认为Google Pixel 8是2023年最有价值手机。

Takeaways

• 🏆 评选了2023年最佳大屏智能手机、最佳小屏智能手机等多个奖项
• 📱 Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra获评2023年最佳大屏智能手机
• 📱 Asus Zenfone 10获评2023年最佳小屏智能手机
• 📷 iPhone 15 Pro获评2023年最佳智能手机摄像头
• 💰 Samsung Galaxy A54获评2023年最佳性价比智能手机
• 🔋 iPhone 15 Plus具有2023年最佳电池续航能力
• 🖥 OnePlus Open获评2023年最佳折叠屏智能手机
• 🏆 新增了2023年最佳折叠屏智能手机奖项
• 📱 Google Pixel 8获得2023年年度最佳智能手机
• ❌ Solana Saga被评为2023年最糟糕新款智能手机

Q & A

视频中评选了哪些奖项?

视频中评选了最佳大屏智能手机、最佳小屏智能手机、最佳摄像头、最佳性价比、最佳电池续航能力、最佳折叠屏手机等奖项。

三星Galaxy S23 Ultra获得了哪个奖项?

三星Galaxy S23 Ultra获得了2023年最佳大屏智能手机奖项。

Asus Zenfone 10的优点是什么?

Asus Zenfone 10旗舰级硬件配置,5.9寸一手操作屏幕,出色电池续航,获得2023年最佳小屏智能手机奖项。

iPhone 15 Pro摄像头有什么优势?

iPhone 15 Pro拍摄视频效果出色,在各种环境下表现稳定,获得2023年最佳智能手机摄像头奖项。

三星Galaxy A54有哪些特点?

三星Galaxy A54硬件配置全面,价格仅400美元,性价比很高,获得2023年最佳性价比智能手机奖项。

iPhone 15 Plus的电池表现如何?

iPhone 15 Plus电池容量大,续航时间长,获得2023年最佳电池续航能力奖项。

OnePlus Open有哪些优势?

OnePlus Open折叠后近8英寸屏幕,多窗口多任务效果好,获得2023年最佳折叠屏智能手机奖项。

视频新增了哪个奖项?

视频新增了2023年最佳折叠屏智能手机奖项,以评选当年最佳折叠屏手机。

Google Pixel 8有哪些升级?

Google Pixel 8提升到120Hz高刷屏,内存升级与Pro款相同,新增7年系统更新支持,获得2023年年度最佳智能手机。

Solana Saga的问题在哪里?

Solana Saga各方面表现均不佳,软硬件配置弱,获得2023年最糟糕新款智能手机称号。

Outlines

00:00

⚡视频介绍和分类说明段落

这一段介绍了视频的主题是2023年的智能手机评选,会按类别评出各个奖项,并会给获奖者颁发奖杯。分类包括最佳大屏手机、最佳小屏手机、最佳相机、最佳性价比、最佳电池、最佳设计、最佳折叠手机、最明显进步奖、年度手机等。

05:01

👍最佳大屏手机-三星Galaxy S23 Ultra

评委选择三星Galaxy S23 Ultra为2023年最佳大屏手机。这款手机配备6.8寸屏幕,五千毫安电池,顶级硬件配置,而且最大的卖点是强大的变焦镜头,在拍摄远距离题材时表现惊人。

10:02

📱最佳小屏手机-华硕Zenfone 10

评委选择华硕Zenfone 10为2023年最佳小屏手机。这是一款旗舰级小屏手机,配备5.9寸屏幕,性能强劲,电池续航惊人。如果你在寻找小屏高性能手机,这绝对是最佳选择。

15:04

📷最佳手机摄像头-iPhone 15 Pro

评委选择iPhone 15 Pro为2023年最佳手机摄像头。iPhone在各种拍摄环境下表现卓越,尤其是视频拍摄方面遥遥领先,这主要得益于旗舰级硬件和出色的优化。iPhone 15 Pro是摄影发烧友的不二之选。

20:04

💰最佳性价比手机-三星Galaxy A54

评委选择三星Galaxy A54为2023年最佳性价比手机。这款400美元的手机提供均衡的配置和体验,没有明显短板,也没有过于惊艳的卖点,是性价比之选。Pixel 7A和Moto G Play也由于优异的性价比获得褒奖。

25:05

🔋最佳电池手机-iPhone 15 Plus

评委选择iPhone 15 Plus为2023年最佳电池手机。这款手机拥有巨大电池,低刷屏幕,续航能力卓越。ROG Phone 7和Zenfone 10也因巨大电池容量和续航表现获得褒奖。

🎨最佳设计手机-荣耀Magic V2

评委选择荣耀Magic V2为2023年最佳设计手机。这款折叠手机超薄机身和充分利用空间的设计让评委印象深刻。它展示了折叠手机的巨大可能性。

📱最佳折叠手机-OnePlus Open

评委新增最佳折叠手机奖项,选择OnePlus Open为2023年最佳折叠手机。这款手机拥有宽阔的折叠内屏,强大的多窗口多任务功能,是评委会首选的日常折叠手机。

🚀最明显进步奖-Nothing Phone 2

评委选择Nothing Phone 2为2023年最明显进步奖。这款手机在外形设计上只有轻微变化,但在软件体验上有长足进步,值得升级换代。iPhone 15也由于转用Type-C接口获得褒奖。

👎年度炸弹手机-Solana Saga

评委选择Solana Saga为2023年度炸弹手机。这款加密手机在各方面表现糟糕,不值得购买。此外,许多发布但从未发售的概念手机也由于无法交付而获得不名誉的褒奖。

🏆年度手机大奖-Pixel 8

评委最终选择Pixel 8为2023年度手机大奖。这款手机在图像质量、性能、显示、软件功能各方面都有大幅提升,与更贵的Pro版旗舰旗鼓相当,是评委的年度最爱。

Keywords

💡智能手机

这是视频讨论的主题,指可以运行各种应用程序和软件的移动电话。视频评选了2023年最佳的各种类别智能手机。

💡旗舰手机

这是指配备顶级处理器、显示屏、摄像头等硬件的高端智能手机。例如三星Galaxy S23 Ultra就是一款旗舰手机。

💡摄像头

智能手机的一个重要功能和卖点。视频讨论了哪些手机在2023年有最佳的摄像头表现。

💡折叠屏

指可以折叠的灵活显示屏。折叠屏手机是一种新兴的智能手机形式。视频评选出了2023年最佳的折叠屏手机。

💡续航时间

指智能手机电池从充满到耗尽的使用时间。视频评比了在2023年哪款手机有最佳的续航表现。

💡快速充电

通过快速充电技术,可以在更短时间内为手机电池充电。这是评判手机电池性能的一个重要指标。

💡部分

视频以不同的智能手机类别来评选各类别的最佳手机,如大屏手机、超级手机、小屏手机等类别。

💡MVP

即Most Valuable Phone,评选出的2023年最具价值的智能手机。视频选出了Google Pixel 8为年度手机MVP。

💡敬酒不吃吃罚酒

视频开玩笑地提到在2023年最不值得购买的手机是Solana Saga加密手机,它被评为年度最失败的手机。

💡动态岛

iPhone 15 Pro的前置摄像头和Face ID组件所在的显示区域。这是iPhone的一个重要设计元素。

Highlights

欢迎来到2023年智能手机奖

今年有各种形状和尺寸的手机

Transcripts

(electro tempo music)

- All right, welcome to the Smartphone Awards 2023.

A lot of smartphones come out every year.

And this year is no different.

We got all kinds of shapes and sizes,

and features, and budgets.

Just a ton of phones.

And so like clockwork, at the end of the year,

you can count on me to pick some favorites

in each of the categories that I break it down in.

So this is a summary of the best

and some of the worse phones of 2023.

And these are my picks.

I always know I'm gonna get some push back

on some of the categories.

I'm sure I'll hear in the comments, and I'm fine with that.

But these are my picks, so I'm sticking with them.

So the way this works is,

I'm gonna break this down into the usual categories.

Every single category is going to have one winner.

And then of course, there can be a runner-up,

and maybe some honorable mentions if we're feeling generous.

And every single category,

we've actually had custom trophies made

to give to the winners.

And lately the companies that win these

actually do request them,

and sometimes end up displaying them in their headquarters,

whatever they're into, which is super-cool

for the recognition.

So, we're doing it again.

So without any further ado,

let's get started with our first category.

Best Big Smartphone.

So this is a phone one,

because smartphones have been growing over the years,

and they've started to get bigger and bigger.

But at the point we're at now,

it does kind of feel like they've stopped growing.

Am I the only one who feels this way?

I feel like everyone sort of agreed that

we're not gonna go past seven inch screen size.

Everything over that is ridiculous.

And so all these big companies have their giant,

best smartphones pushing right up against

the seven inch screen size.

And trying to fit as much as possible in that phone.

So, there's a lot of competition in this

particular category.

And my winner for the Best Big Phone,

the best use of that space in 2023...

That's going to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.

Once again, the phone that comes out

at the beginning of the year, kind of a sleeper,

but it holds steady the entire year.

The design is obviously pretty understated,

which I think is why it goes under the radar these days.

But it has all the hardware you could possibly want.

It's got that corner-to-corner 6.8 display

that's super-bright, quad HD, LTPO, 120 hertz.

It's also got quad cameras on the back.

It's got a 5,000 milliamp power battery.

It's got the second latest generation snapdragon ship.

Again, it came out in January.

And, it also has room for a stylus inside,

without really sacrificing anything.

Yeah, this thing is full of hardware.

And, it's also gotten software updates all year,

with a bunch more promised.

It's hard to pick if there's one standout feature.

It might not be the huge 1440 P screen.

It might not be the 200 megapixel main camera.

But I actually think it's the massive zoom.

For anyone that cares about shooting subjects

really far away, this camera system

basically still feels unmatched.

It feels kind of boring.

But it does feel like that's a pretty clear pick

for me for Best Big Phone of 2023.

But I do have a runner-up.

And this one's not-so-obvious.

Because again, you kind of get to blur the lines a bit

with these new phones that have been coming out.

But, I'm giving my runner-up for Best Big Phone

to the One Plus Open.

It definitely deserves a mention because when it's open,

becomes almost an eight inch square display.

This phone, even this new folding form factor

has all the hardware you could possibly want.

And all the software features to match.

And I really enjoyed using this phone this year,

despite how gigantic it is.

But I do also wanna give honorable mentions

for Best Big Phone to Asus ROG Phone 7.

And Oppo Find S6 Pro.

Not these phones are lacking anything.

Again, the boring one won.

But maybe if this one had wireless charging,

or if this one had more zoom,

it could of been in contention.

But these are two also excellent giant phones

that came out this year.

So then, next up category, Best Compact Smartphone.

Best Small Phone.

This one, I swear the pickings get slimmer

every single year.

Because not only are smartphones getting bigger and bigger,

but also even the smallest phones are getting further

and further from small.

Like the smallest phones from the biggest companies

are still, do you wanna call a pixel 7A small?

That's a 6.1 inch screen.

Or maybe Galaxy S23, the baseline one,

that's also a 6.1 inch screen.

It's tough to find a truly small phone

that brings all the flagship features down.

But there's one that really did it.

And so, it definitely deserves this award.

The Best Small Phone, you saw this coming already.

It's the Asus Zenfone 10.

This is the flagship that packs everything you need

and more, in an actually one handable phone,

with a 5.9 inch display.

So, it deserves to be the winner.

And I'm so glad that this phone exists.

When I reviewed the Zenfone 9 last year,

I said it was pretty close to perfect.

It was just missing a couple of things.

It had a couple of small nitpicks.

When I reviewed the Zenfone 10 this year,

they fixed those nitpicks, they added wireless charging.

They made the back of the phone more durable,

some software tweaks.

It's literally nearly perfect.

If you are thinking about buying a small phone,

honestly it feels like this may be

one of the last good ones you ever get to buy.

If you're in the age of wanting a mini phone,

speak now, or forever hold your cash.

'Cause they're going away.

The only other phone that I think could technically qualify

for this, would be some of the folding phones.

Or flipping phones, I should say.

Chief among them being Samsung's Z Flip 5.

Now when you open up the phone,

you're still getting a pretty big screen.

It's as 6.7 inch screen,

when you actually use a Z Flip 5.

But, as many of you have pointed out,

you can fold it down and stow it in a much smaller

form factor than the others.

So even though it's not the most one handable thing

in the world,

it's smaller.

So, shout out to the Z Flip 5, Honorable Mention.

So next category the Best Camera in a smartphone in 2023.

And this one I have a soft spot for,

just 'cause I like cameras,

and you guys already knew that.

But there has been a lot of really interesting stuff

pushing the boundaries for smartphone cameras.

In the past year, especially.

A lot of it optically with really cool hardware.

A lot of it with software,

with processing, with AI, with all the stuff...

I mean, I might end up making an entire video

on just how crazy it's gotten,

because there's been some really interesting stuff lately.

But, my pick for best camera for 2023,

ruffles feathers every time for some reason,

but I really believe in this one.

You already know, it's iPhone 15 Pro.

This is my camera king.

And I have absolutely no regrets about it.

Now, it's a simple fact that many people love to point out

is yes, there are some smartphones,

even ones on this table that can produce better photos

than the iPhone in certain situations.

Especially zoom.

But when it comes to just the totality of performance

across the biggest variety of situations,

and ease of use for photos and videos,

the iPhone is still king.

Especially with a video.

I feel like it's still not particularly close.

See iPhone takes the best, most consistent usable videos

in the biggest variety of situations of any smartphone

by a long way.

They also added log recording to the Pro iPhones this year.

They can also record directly to an external SSD.

There was an Apple keynote earlier this year

that turned out to be shot completely on the iPhone,

and it looked incredible.

But some of you may already remember,

and I've pointed this out,

that's not the first time that's happened already.

Samsung years ago did a keynote that was live,

that was actually already shot.

And they announced it on the phone.

But you could tell,

like it wasn't nearly as good.

You really could tell.

So this thing has been producing incredible results.

Basically if you told me I could only have

one smartphone camera for the next five years,

I think I would pretty quickly just go "All right.

"Let's just send it with the iPhone 15 Pro."

I do also wanna give an honorable mention, though.

To the Galaxy S23 Ultra.

This thing, especially because of how well it does

with the zoom, has been an awesome stills camera

for a long time.

Really good.

It also, I did a whole video on it, reviewing it.

The 200 megapixel thing,

didn't turn out to be a big of a difference

versus the 100 megapixels as you might of though.

But in general, really good.

And then, a shout out to the winners

of our scientific blind smartphone camera test

that we ran online again this year.

We collected data from 20 smartphones that came out in 2023

and the overall most popular winner

for the standard photo was the Pixel 7A.

Then the winner for low light photos was the iPhone 15 Pro.

And the winner for portrait photos was the Pixel 8 Pro.

So next category, next winner is Best Value.

Sort of shifted over the years.

It used to be Best Budget Phone.

But I sort of expanded it, Best Value Option here.

And this is actually I think the hardest one

for me to pick.

Believe it or not, which I think is a good thing,

and a bad thing.

It's a good thing,

because it means there's some competition

in the high value options.

But it's also not that good of a thing,

just because a lot of phones

have gotten price hikes this year.

There have been base prices going up.

Things that used to win budget awards

are more expensive now.

So I gotta make that decision on what qualifies

as best value.

Like we all think a $1,000 phone

should not win Best Value, right?

Even if it's a great phone.

But, how high is too high?

But after much deliberation,

I eventually landed on what feels like a sweet spot.

A phone with basically no stand out features,

but also basically nothing wrong with it.

The phone can be found consistently for well under $400.

It's the Samsung Galaxy A54.

It's everything you need, and nothing you don't.

Like you could go more premium and get more features,

and feel like you're enjoying the phone more.

But you could also go a little cheaper,

and start to notice a little bit more corner-cutting.

But this does a really good job of striking the balance

right in the middle.

You know how when someone asks you like how your day's been

and you just kind go, "Oh, it was fine."

"Nothing really happened,

"it was all right, nothing notable."

That's this phone. Cameras are fine.

Battery, it's fine.

The screen, it's fine.

The design is fine.

Everything is fine.

So, for $400 bucks, you'll be just fine.

I also wanna give an honorable mention, though.

Because there is a phone that dipped way down below

what I thought a really good phone could be.

And that is the Moto G Play.

I reviewed this phone as it came out at $169.

And to be honest, I was very impressed with it.

And kind of evaluating the whole idea

of how a phone could be decent at this price.

90 hertz and everything.

But also give a shout out to the Pixel 7A.

As you probably remember, the price went up this year,

all the way up to 500 bucks.

But it did gain some stuff.

It has a 90 hertz display now.

It has better specs, and it still does

all the stuff that you expect from a Pixel.

So, it deserves a shout out for being a good phone

at that price.

So then, next up.

Best Battery.

Best Battery overall in a smartphone.

This doesn't necessarily go to the one

that just has the highest battery capacity.

I'm more giving Best Overall Battery Experience award.

Ideally, you also have some decently fast-charging,

or wireless charging.

Or, it's just convenient that it lasts for so long.

It might not actually be the biggest sell.

I don't know that anyone's actually buying a phone

just because it has the absolute best battery life.

But if you do live that life,

that no worries away from a charger life,

you'll probably care about the winners of this category.

So my winner, who's getting a trophy

for best battery this year is iPhone 15 Plus, specifically.

This thing just goes and goes, and goes.

The bigger battery, in general, has a lot to do with it.

The 60 hertz display, also has a lot to do with it.

But, if you want a risk-free no-brainer

great battery life, that's definitely

gonna get it done for you.

I'm also gonna give a shout out to the ROG phone 7.

It doesn't have wireless charging,

but it does have pretty fast charging.

And it has the biggest battery capacity

of any phone I've used this year.

6,000 milliamp powers.

And if you drop it down to 60 hertz,

it will also just go, and go, and go.

And also, another Asus phone, which is the Zenfone 10.

This one kind of feels like wizard-like.

I don't know how, because it's not the biggest battery.

It is pretty aggressive at killing background apps,

and it's probably missing some bands in the U.S.

So, that might have something to do with it.

But this phone, this small 5.9 inch display phone,

it's killer battery life.

It can be a two day phone.

And you can drop it down to 60 hertz, as well.

So, whatever Asus is doing over there, keep it up.

Because battery life is great.

I recently talked about this in my hot takes video

about how phones are getting more and more powerful.

But generally the average battery life hasn't

really changed that much.

It's just been all day is good.

So it's good to see some phone actually pushing

that envelope, and they deserve to get rewarded for it.

So then, Best Design.

This one is so tough every time.

Best Design.

Because first of all, design is subjective.

Like something I find pretty, you might find ugly. Fine.

But also just in general, it feels like every phone has

some flaw, some reason why,

and I can't give it to that one.

Like think about it, if you're in my shoes,

you gotta give a design award, right?

First of all, a lot of phones look pretty similar

to the way they did the previous year, right?

So I can't give it to one

that looks exactly the same as last year.

But also, I can't give it to one that has

some fatal flow, if it's missing a camera it should of had,

or if it's missing, it has a crazy bezel.

I can't give it to the one with the biggest notch,

or dynamic island, can I?

I can't give it to the one that's made of plastic,

or the one that has a curved display on the edges.

Like what is an actually flawless,

maybe it's the most boring design.

But, you don't wanna give the design award

to the most boring design.

This is a hard one.

And then it hit me.

There was a phone this year that basically made headlines

just for its design.

In a good way, and I agreed with them.

And it absolutely deserves a trophy for design this year.

It's the Honor Magic V2.

This thing right here.

This phone legitimately shifted the way I think

about phone hardware.

It was like a gear shift in the world of foldable phones.

A think a lot of us didn't even realize

that you could make a phone like this.

That has, first of all, it's under 10 millimeters thick,

when it's closed.

Which is the same thickness as plenty of regular phones.

It has a full-sized screen on the outside.

It has a corner-to-corner foldable display on the inside.

It somehow also fits a 5,000 million power total battery.

Which I think is the biggest I've seen in any foldable.

Toss in 60 plus watt charging, a triple camera setup,

a terabyte of internal storage.

I think a lot of us didn't realize this was possible.

So even though the rest of the phone

might be a little questionable,

maybe some weird software that I wouldn't wanna use,

the one thing that nobody could question is the design.

Everyone I've shown it to universally is impressed

in some way by it.

But that actually brings us to our first new category ad

in a long time in the Smartphone Awards,

and that is Best Foldable Phone.

So this is the first time genuinely separating out,

and considering all of the folding phones

that came out during the year.

And the reason it's getting its own category this year

is because there's genuinely a large variety

of shapes and sizes and versions of foldable phones,

and flippable phones that we can choose from.

So I think in general,

I made a video talking about this already.

But folding phones are quite on the doorstep yet.

Like, they're close,

but they're still mostly thicker and more expensive

than normal phones.

But, I do wanna reward the ones

that are pushing the boundaries in some way

towards that revolution.

So, winner for best foldable phone in 2023,

yeah, that's the OnePlus Open.

Man, this phone is good.

When I was thinking about what I would personally

daily drive from the folding phones bunch,

this is the one that bubbled to the top.

This is folding phone I would be most likely to use.

When it's closed, it feels the most like a normal phone.

Mostly because the aspect ratio on the size of the screen

is normal phone-ish, flat sides.

But then you open it up,

and it's a nearly eight inch, almost perfectly square

folding screen with a very minimal crease.

Awesome specs, really good software,

and a lot of fun features to back it up.

I think my favorite part is just the way

you can move around multiple windows

and keep them full-size.

And have them overlap sort of the edge of the screen.

It's a fun and unique, like actually new way

of multi-tasking on a phone.

And it actually works.

This was the best phone with a folding screen

that was released during 2023.

No doubt about that.

It's also basically the exact same hardware

as the Oppo Find End Three Fold.

So, shout out to that one, as well.

But I also wanna give an honorable mention here.

I'm gonna actually say it's the runner-up

in this category of best foldable.

To the Pixel Fold.

And that's just because this one specifically

is my favorite foldable to use closed.

Because the outside screen is so good.

The outside screen is nice and compact.

It's the most reachable, it's the smallest, also.

But it's wide, it's big, it's super useful to use closed.

And for whatever reason, I love that about it.

I don't know if that's a good thing or a bad thing,

that I opened it way less.

But it's the best to use closed.

And, I'm gonna give an honorable mention as well

to Samsung's Z Flip 5.

I mentioned it earlier in this video.

But, a couple of things about this.

One is, it feels like it's leading the pack

for the flipping phones.

I think it's better than the Razer,

I think it's better than some of the other flipping ones.

But also as far as build quality, and just quality control,

Samsung in general, is at the top of the heap.

Basically every other folding phone

has had some level of quality control issues

at some point and some rate.

And Samsung ironically, the ones that had

the biggest issues at the beginning,

have ironed it out the most over time.

So that's their reward for jumping in early.

Also, I have to give that honorable mention

to the Honor Magic E2, just purely for the design.

I still can't believe they made this phone.

Super-impressive.

So, next award, Most Improved.

The Most Improved Award.

Hmm.

It's interesting because again,

lots of phones play it safe.

Lots of phones are just a slight evolution from last year.

They're a slight spec bump.

And I can't get mad at that if they're already a good phone.

Like Zenfone, for example.

I'm happy they kept a lot of things the same.

But then, that makes the Most Improved Award

a little more of a quirky pick.

Maybe not the most obvious pick in the world.

But I'm gonna go with the Nothing Phone 2.

Most Improved Phone 2023.

So this is part hardware story,

and part a software story.

So obviously, they didn't change the hardware

a ton from the first Nothing Phone.

Because they're literally brand new,

so they're just getting their identity set.

So yeah, there's a newer, higher resolution LED pattern

on the back.

There is a slightly curved glass now

to feel a little better in the hand.

But generally, it still looks like a nothing phone.

But they also did a lot with the software,

specifically moving to Nothing OS 2.0 and then 2.5.

Which now on Android 14.

Which gets a lot of new stuff with this phone.

There's a focus on efficiency and smoothness,

and then adding all these features.

And there's also been fantastic.

So you combine that with the new specs,

the slightly bumped design,

and then a bunch of the new features that unfortunately

the Phone 1.0 isn't getting,

like the better glif controls, and clone app feature,

and monochrome theme and stuff.

It just adds up to a pretty big improvement.

To the point where in this world

with most people just being able to buy last year's phone

and be totally fine.

With this phone, I would actually say,

don't buy last year's phone.

You should just get the Phone 2, over the Phone 1.

Plus you can send blue bubbles to,

oh, wait, sorry never mind, you can't do that.

But still, Phone 2, much improved.

It's probably gonna steady out after this.

And this was nice to put them on the map.

But now, they'll have to stabilize

and become a real company.

And you know what? Honorable Mention.

Just because I don't know if anyone else can say

they technically made this big of a change in their phone

as much as switching the iPhone 15 to USB type C.

So, Honorable Mention to the iPhone.

All right, next up.

Bust of the Year.

The award you don't really wanna have to give,

but one of these phones on this desk

is gonna win Worse New Phone of 2023.

Look, I do have to preface this basically every time

by saying, it is actually genuinely hard now

to get a bad phone.

Like most phones, no matter what price point you're at

are either gonna be really good for the money,

or okay for the money.

It's hard to get a bad phone.

But there was one bad phone this year.

And so, it's gonna win a trophy for it.

And that would be Solama Saga Cryto Phone.

Bust of the year.

There is actually no price that I would recommend

anyone buys this phone.

Buying this phone is like buying a timeshare.

It might seem like a good idea for two seconds.

But the second you actually do it,

you realize how horrible of an idea it was.

And, this is just a bad phone.

The one redeeming quality is actually

it does have this nice build quality.

It's got ceramic, and it's nice and weighty and heavy.

But yeah, that was wasted on this phone.

You could tell because of the story behind it.

That it wasn't going to go well.

I'll leave a link below to the full video

I did about it, if you have any itch

to just hear about something horrible.

But that's a pretty clear one for bust of the year.

I'm also gonna give an honorable mention

to all of the concept phones that were announced this year

and never came out.

And never will.

You know who you are.

So that brings us to the biggest trophy of the night,

well, it's the same size as the other trophies,

but it's the most important, it's the best one.

It's the one you wanna win, the MVP.

The Most Valuable Phone.

Well, not actually valuable value-wise,

but it's really just my favorite phone of the year.

At the end of the day, it's come down to like,

there are really good phones.

They are the ones that have the biggest impact

on the industry.

They're the ones that are the most fun, the most unique,

the most innovative,

the ones that have the best features.

And this one sort of just combines all of that

into one trophy of recognition for the MVP,

the Phone of the Year for 2023.

So, what's it gonna be?

I mean, there's been some really interesting stories.

There's been some disruptive phones.

There's some great phones that I've enjoyed using.

My winner for MVP, for Phone of the Year 2023,

is going to the Pixel 8.

Well-deserved, big shout out to the Pixel 8.

It has stepped it up over last year.

So there's a bunch of things about this phone

that are genuinely different from last year.

But the headlining one, the one that matters the most

is it's a $100 more expensive than the Pixel 7,

so it's really gotta deliver and be a great phone

to be worthy of that.

And it does.

This phone has a great camera.

Not miles ahead of the rest like previous years,

but still and incredible stills photo camera.

It has a dramatically better display.

It's stepped up to a 120 hertz.

It's got this flagship class, 2000 knits.

Super-bright.

It also has the same tensored G3 chip as the Pro Phone,

which is several hundred dollars more,

and also a flagship.

And then, just a ridiculous amount of software features.

Again, matching the more expensive Pro Phone,

which makes it harder and harder to justify the Pro Phone,

which I use daily and love.

But still, for the hundreds of dollars less,

this is the way you should probably go.

And, it's promising now seven years of software updates.

Seven years of software updates,

which is pretty incredible for a phone.

So just among all the things that came out this year,

as far as a well-rounded package for impact,

for price, for stepping it up,

and being a really good phone, Pixel 8.

Now, I do have a runner up.

I really again, super-love this phone this year.

And it's not gonna be a popular phone, either.

But I love it anyway.

It's the Asus Zenphone 10.

Some of you already know,

because of what it did last year,

how good these phones are.

And it does it again in this weird physics-defying package

of basically being nearly perfect.

Small, compact, reachable,

surprisingly-good cameras.

Excellent performance,

shockingly good battery life.

Just, I don't have a lot of bad things to say

about this phone.

Zenphone 10, it's really good.

You should watch the full review.

And, I'm also gonna give an honorable mention

to iPhone 15 Pro.

Specifically for basically now feeling

like we've reached peak iPhone.

I know you could of said this about

a lot of previous iPhones.

But, now that it is USB type C,

and now that the notch has been gone for a bit,

and is a dynamic island.

This just feels like a finished phone.

There's not a whole lot of other things

that I'm expecting to land with a bang on the iPhone.

Maybe a fingerprint reader, or fast-charging.

Maybe that's about it.

But, this is the best iPhone ever, clearly.

And I feel like it's finally hit that stride of

"All right, you've done it."

Two other quick mentions.

I do have to give a shout out,

an honorable mention to the ultra-boring S23 Ultra.

Just because this is that phone that is,

it doesn't have any flaws,

it's just a rock-solid phone all around.

And it consistently gets buried

when you think about the December videos.

The phone that came out 12 months ago, but I have to.

This is a really good phone.

And, I wanna give a shout out to the One Plus Open

for being the foldable phone that I think

I could actually recommend to real people.

Not that most people are gonna spend 1800 bucks

on a foldable phone, anyway.

But if you're going to for one of them,

this is the phone that I would daily,

if you had to tell me to pick a folding phone today.

So shout out to the One Plus Open.

And, that's it.

That's my Smartphone Awards for 2023.

So let me know how all of you are feeling.

I know there's gonna be comments down below,

and I can't wait to hang out and see which ones

you would of picked for your awards.

Maybe other people will make their own awards, too.

But, I'm pretty happy with my list.

So, until the next one, catch you guys later.

Peace. (lively music)