- #5 Nextbit
-The Nextbit Robin is truly a unique device and ideology all wrapped into its strikingly beautiful angular design. With 100gb of free Amazon cloud storage and 32gb of internal storage, one can enjoy the mobile experience in a way no one else offers. The nearly stock Android experience is flawless, and the integration of the cloud features is surprisingly just as flawless. Apps that aren’t used for a period of time as well as all the app data stored automatically gets uploaded to the cloud. This will be apparent by the fashionable led backlit cloud symbol on the back. Which will light up when uploading. You can manually upload things to the cloud as well. You’ll notice in the app drawer apps that have been uploaded to the cloud as having a slightly greyed out look. Click on the app and it quickly downloads along with all the data associated thereof. The stunning design of the hardware is equal in scope to the new take on cloud ideology.
- #4 Hp
-The HP Elite X3 is the latest Windows 10 phone to hit the market. HP, an unlikely manufacturer for a smartphone has produced a beautiful highly advanced device with a couple of tricks up its sleeve. This might be a sort of Phoenix for Windows mobile rising up from the ashes of a broken platform. Besides the high end specs worthy of any 2016 flagship, this phone offers something no other can. True there have been other continuum devices but none as spec’d out as this,..allowing for a more “PC” like experience. You might be wondering what continuum is. The dock (as pictured above) allows for your phone to be a Windows 10 type brain on the go. Attach a mouse, monitor (TV) and keyboard to the dock and poof you’ve got a makeshift PC experience. Word, PowerPoint, Excel, and other Microsoft software along with third party programs makes this a unique experience. There is also a laptop experience with a separate purchase of coarse. This phone along with others on this list, is bold and daring unafraid of taking risks.
- #3 ZTE
-Here is a company that in recent years past has made a name for itself in the low end entry level market. With it’s high end specs at mid range prices the ZTE Axon 7 pictured above hopes to transform that name into a more premium player. In my humble opinion after playing with this phone, it delivers. It’s all aluminum build, curved back, dual front facing stereo speakers, and QuadHD AMOLED panel give it that premium feel in hand. Not to mention it’s identical Galaxy S7 innards making it blazingly fast and responsive. Bonus points for rear mounted fingerprint sensor. This phone is unlocked for all carriers. This phone comes in at just under 400$. For that price you are getting a true flagship killer.
- #2 OPPO
-In October 2012 the world received an uninspired debut phone from the Chinese company known as Oppo. The R817 with it’s plastic removable back and thick design was the beginning of what would later become a unique smartphone designer. From the highly praised Oppo Find 5 to the quirky swivel camera of the Oppo N1 to the at the time the worlds thinnest smartphone the R5, which was also an elegantly built phone (pictured in the top image). This company isn’t afraid to experiment. The Oppo F1 and F1 plus, pictured in the bottom image, bring a simplistic beauty to this camera centric smartphone. This thing has a 13 megapixel selfie shooter, very impressive indeed. All aluminum design, and 4gb of RAM paired with that amazing rear and front camera and under 300$! The midrange market is completely shaking up the industry. One wonders how the 700-900$ market survives with phones like these for considerably less, without sacrificing much if anything.
- #1 Huawei
-Ahh Huawei, the infamous Huawei, the manufacturer no one can pronounce. That is until they designed and manufactured the Nexus 6p for Google last year. They practically became a household name amongst enthusiasts and geeks alike. They currently have several different lines out. They have the startling beauty of the Honor series, The Mate series, and the P9. This is a company that came out of nowhere with interesting and gorgeous designs and they dare to do things differently. One of the few OEM’S to provide dual SIM functionality. The Mate 9 (the latest in the mate series) possibly brings a dual Leica camera setup, providing amazing optics and quality pictures. Shown above, the 5.9″ 1080p smartphone is the phablet to beat. This has 64gb of on board storage with expandability, a monstrous 4gb of RAM an ir blaster up top (rare in this day and age) 7.0 Nougat, and a 4000 mAh battery to boot!! The rear camera has a unique setup. With a 20 megapixel monochrome camera and a 12 megapixel camera with optical image stabilization or ois. The P9 has a similar camera setup with dual 12 megapixel camera with one being a monochrome black and white shooter. With the various amount of phones they are releasing, this makes them PhabletGuru’s number one most unknown phone manufacturers.
Until next time this has been another edition of the PhabletGuru Tech 5. Join us next time as we explore the depths of the oceans in search of the mystical Kraken.
We are PhabletGuru 