Samsung Galaxy S6
For years, we've harped on Samsung to stop building its smartphones with creaky plastic and bloated software. The Galaxy series is Android's flagship brand, but Samsung has rarely offered the best Android experience. Now, in the Galaxy S6, change has finally come. Samsung has eased up on TouchWiz, creating a variant of Android 5 that's not as severe a break from Google's stock operating system. Gone are the cheap plastic covers and faux leather stitching of devices past. They've been replaced with Gorilla Glass, curved aluminum and a sturdy, chic hardiness.
The design echoes the iPhone 6, and that echo gives us pause. From a distance, the S6 is indistinguishable from the iPhone; up close, its biggest differentiators are the home button and camera bulge. Samsung has borrowed from Apple in the past, and in an industry already plagued by copycats, we'd like to have seen more innovation in design.
But we can't deny the results. With features like a 577 PPI display and a 64-bit octa-core processor, the Galaxy S6's hardware is definitively Samsung and undeniably impressive. However unoriginal its aesthetics, this is the fastest, most capable smartphone we've ever held, the muscle car of the mobile world.
HTC One M9
This year’s new HTC One M9 is a gorgeous phone, featuring a near-identical design to last year's M8 and equally superb build quality. Its internal components received a big boost, and right now it's arguably the best-specced phone you can buy. Its screen remains beautiful, its operating system is streamlined and the camera has finally been upgraded. Still, there's nothing revolutionary or terribly exciting here, and even with its improvements, the camera still falls flat. The HTC One M9 is a great phone. It's almost superb, but it's not quite there.
Apple iPhone 6
Apple is probably the only electronics company that can upset the smartphone status quo with a single announcement. When the iPhone 6 became official, longtime fans hammered the company's servers and stores for the privilege of being one of its first owners. Apple landed record sales, and now the iPhone 6 is out, along with its even-bigger sibling, the iPhone 6 Plus.
The iPhone 6 is, in short, amazing. Sure, there are still bugs in iOS 8 that need to be worked out. Despite making a valiant effort, the phone's 1810 mAh battery can't quite compete with the 3000+ mAh beasts you'll find in other flagships. And we really wish we could plug a microSD card in for extra storage space.
But those hang-ups haven't stopped us from loving this phone. It's unbelievably thin. Its screen is stunning. And Apple's A8 chip screams through benchmarks and makes easy work of the latest games on the App Store. Sure, it might not be perfect for everyone, but it's still a spectacular phone, which is why it's earned our Top Ten Reviews Bronze Award.
Apple iPhone 6 Plus
That Apple makes superlative smartphones is nothing new; the Cupertino-based company has set the gold standard for mobile design ever since it debuted the iPhone in 2007. But in the iPhone 6 Plus, Apple is walking a path it's never trodden before. This is the company's first phablet, a pocket-stretching smartphone/tablet hybrid that trades comfort for functionality and raw power. You get a very large screen and a beefy battery when you buy a phablet, but making phone calls can be awkward.
Whether you prefer phablets over smaller smartphones is a matter of personal preference, as both form factors having their advantages and drawbacks. If you're looking for a more discreet Apple device, there's always the iPhone 6. But we review phones on their own merits, and the iPhone 6 Plus is unquestionably meritorious. Its processor tore through our benchmarks, its battery lasts through two days of use, and its camera turns every photo into a set piece.
Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Over time, Samsung's Galaxy Note line has transformed from a curious also-ran to a flagship series every bit as respected as the company's Galaxy S smartphones. With screens that toe the line between phone and tablet – hence the "phablet" moniker – the Note series offers big viewing spaces and powerful components in a device you can still carry in a purse or coat pocket. The Galaxy Note 4 is the latest and greatest in Samsung's oversized series. It still struggles in some areas – its plastic housing, for example, continues to disappoint next to the aluminum chasses of the iPhone or HTC One – but it excels thoroughly in others.
Sony Xperia Z3
Sony's Xperia line of smartphones has gained popularity for its simple, yet striking, aluminum-and-glass construction. Just slightly thicker than the industry-leading iPhone 6, the new Xperia Z3 is a phablet with one chief selling point: water resistance. You can submerge the phone under 1.5 meters of water for up to 30 minutes and have it come out nary the worse for wear. It's a fun feature, and combined with the generally solid performance the device turns in everywhere else, it makes the Z3 a top smartphone worthy of consideration.
The Xperia Z3's design is understated, yet easily identifiable: Both the front and back of the phone are solid glass, while the sides are made of gently curved aluminum. The result is comfy in your hand, if rather large – at 5.75 inches tall, with a 5.2-inch screen, this is definitely a phone for people who don't mind bigger devices.
The screen itself is somewhat disappointing. You don't have to have a QHD display to be competitive these days, but you do need a bright, vivid screen with brilliant colors that's viewable from any angle. The Z3 screen is 1080p and uses IPS LCD technology, yet we were left underwhelmed by its performance. Viewing angles aren't as wide as you'll find on other devices, and sun glare makes outdoor use difficult. It's a fine screen, but it won't turn any heads.
The camera on the back of the phone is like its screen: perfectly acceptable, but by no means exceptional. An ƒ/2.3 aperture opens onto the phone's six-element, 20.7-megapixel sensor. It's large and impressive, but thanks to substandard image processing, it turns out photos that are noticeably overexposed and tend more toward warmer hues than other smartphones we've reviewed.
If you're a gamer who owns a PlayStation 4, the Z3 offers a unique feature among smartphones: the ability to play PS4 games right on your phone. There are a few limitations – you have to be on the same Wi-Fi network as your home console, and you'll need to buy an attachment that will let you use your PS4 controller with the device – but if you want to play top-tier console games while away from the couch, it's a possibility.
LG G3
Last year saw the release of the LG G2, the company's first truly competitive flagship. The G2 was an exceptionally powerful smartphone plagued by poor usability: LG had a heavy hand when it came to skinning the Android operating system, and the results were sometimes maddening. This year, LG's self-proclaimed "simple is the new smart" design theory has held them back from making too many changes to Android Kit Kat, and the result is a stunning smartphone. The LG G3's phenomenal specs, top-notch screen and clean, usable interface combine to make an appreciably great phablet. It earns our Top Ten Reviews Silver Award.
Samsung Galaxy S5
Every smartphone buyer in America has at least heard of the Samsung Galaxy S line. With almost as much brand recognition as Apple's iPhone, the Galaxys have long since built a reputation – and a devout following – for flagship-level performance and crazy-fun features. Granted, those features aren't always home runs, and from tilt scrolling to air gestures, there might be more misses than hits in the bag. But underneath all the glitzy flash rests a champion phone with the display, the camera, the processor and the battery life to take on any competitor. Regardless of whether its all-plastic design is our cup of tea (spoiler: it's not), we can't deny the sheer capability of the Galaxy S5.
Motorola Droid Turbo
A lot of folks love the Motorola Droid Turbo, and for good reason: The Verizon exclusive is among the most powerful smartphones ever made. Its battery lasts through two full days of use, and – using Motorola's aptly named Turbo charger – you can bring it up to about half capacity in a mere 15 minutes. Its processor performed better in our benchmarks than any other Android phone we've tested, and its QHD display is stunning. It's arguably the best smartphone Motorola has ever produced, but it's not perfect – especially if you buy the model with the nylon weave rear cover.
The Droid Turbo comes in two basic variants. The backplate on one is the same Kevlar weave we've come to expect from Droid devices, in that it looks like patterned, hardened plastic, but is incredibly durable because it's made of the same material you'll find in bulletproof vests. The second variant – the one we tested – has a nylon weave over the Kevlar, which bulks up the size of the phone a bit and gives it a pleasing texture against your fingers.
We can't speak for the straight Kevlar variant, but that nylon weave absorbs and retains heat like a blanket. We had to significantly slow our benchmark process with the Droid Turbo, since the device kept overheating and skewing our results. In the end, we managed to draw numbers out of it that put every other Android device we've reviewed to shame; it is a seriously powerful smartphone, second only to Apple's 64-bit iPhones. But the number of times it overheated during testing was almost maddening.
Granted, benchmark testing and real-world use are very different things, and unless you're a heavy gamer, you'll only really notice a slight warmth to the Turbo from day to day. The rest of the phone performs admirably, even offering up a decent, though not extraordinary, 21-megapixel camera. Its 2560-by-1440 screen is sharper than you'll ever need, and Turbo charging is the forgetful man's dream come true. A ton of next-generation features are missing, though: There's no barometer, no USB 3.0 connectivity, no Bluetooth aptX for audiophiles, and you don't even get a pair of cheap headphones in the box. But for raw power and longevity, you won't be complaining anytime soon.
Motorola Moto X (2014)
Motorola has three primary smartphone lines: its ultra-budget Moto E series, midtier Moto G series and flagship Moto X series. Sporting a wide variety of back plates, including wood and leather, and allowing you to pick accent colors and add customized engraving, the 2014 Moto X is all about personalization. Inside, it features an unsullied copy of Android 4.4.4, upgradable to Android 5.0 on most carriers.
It is, put simply, what the majority of users would seem to want in their top smartphones: beauty on the outside, cleanliness on the inside. And sure enough, if you were a fan of the Nexus 5 and crave a pure Android experience, there's no better phone out there for you. But however close it comes to being the best smartphone, it's not quite there, thanks primarily to its weak battery.
The Moto X's battery has a capacity of 2300 mAh. That's the same size found in the Nexus 5, which was released in October 2013. Every single Android flagship since has sported longer life. In fact, the only smaller battery in our top 10 belongs to the iPhone 6, the one great flaw of a handset that is, in every other way, close to perfect.
Thanks to Qualcomm's Quick Charge 2.0 standard – a feature that lets you charge a dead battery up over halfway in 15 or 20 minutes – having to refuel your Moto X sometime during the day isn't a huge problem. After all, most of us will be near an outlet at some point, whether it's at our desks or in our cars. But when the majority of Android users don't have to worry about their batteries so long as they plug in at night, the Moto X's limitation is a tiresome oversight.
Nor is it the only missing feature. Without expandable storage, you definitely want to invest in one Motorola's larger capacity models, lest the starter version's mere 16GB leave you scrambling for photo space. A removable battery would have helped alleviate our concerns about longevity, but despite the phone's plastic build and customizable back plates, you can't actually remove the plates to access the innards. Fun extras such as FM radio or an IR blaster are absent – they're never necessities, but they can still give a phone that extra pang of capability.
Yet we still love the Moto X. Its camera takes gorgeous pictures, can shoot 4K video and even has a dual-LED ring flash. It supports Bluetooth aptX for your inner audiophile and is water resistant, so you can splash it without worry. The device even performed admirably in our benchmark tests, beating out Samsung's Galaxy S5, LG's G3 and Sony's Xperia Z3 in a barrage of synthetic and real-world CPU and GPU trials.
