Best Smartphones of 2015

With 2015 coming to an end, I thought I'll sum up the year by choosing a couple of my favourite devices this year.

I will get right to it and start with the big one.

Best Phones this Year

Nexus 6P

If Android is your cup of tea, it doesn't get any better than the Nexus 6P. It presents a vanilla build of Android, in a hardware package that is as compelling as other flagship devices that costs just as much or more.

Software wise, you're getting not only a bloat-free, clean build of Android, but you're getting fast and consistent updates too throughout the life of the device. That means fast and smooth performance, as well as better security, since it gets monthly security patches too.

Hardware wise, you get a great build quality along with flagship level specifications. The camera is great, the speakers are great, and the 5.7" QHD AMOLED screen is beautiful to look at too. It packs a large 3,450 mAh battery, with a USB Type C port for faster charging. The fingerprint sensor on the back is the fastest in the market right now too. 

While you can probably find phones that beats the Nexus 6P in some categories, like speakers, screen, or camera, individually, you'll be hard-pressed to find one with as complete a software plus hardware package as the Nexus 6P. Especially at the asking price of just US$499 to begin with.

iPhone 6S

If iOS is your cup of tea, you really don't have much choice. The smaller 6S is my pick out of the 2 because it's a compact smartphone that still brings flagship level performance to the table.

Software wise, you get iOS 9, which is the best version of iOS yet. It performs well under most circumstances, and is the perfect example of software and hardware working together in perfect harmony. 

While hardware wise the phone might not seem too impressive on paper, there is more than meets the eye. Apple's A9 chipset absolutely screams on the iPhone 6S. UI performance is buttery smooth, and gaming performance is smoother than any Android flagship I have tried this year. While the iPhone 6S no longer has the best camera around, it is still one of the easiest camera to use to capture great looking shots. Battery capacity might not be much, but with optimisation it gets me through the day with ease too.

Other than that, the speaker might be at the bottom, but it is still quite decent. The screen might not be super high resolution, but it is still very accurate with great viewing experience. It has interesting hardware features like 3D Touch too, which is more of a gimmick now, but might becomes more useful as more developers take advantage of it.

Much like the Nexus 6P, this is at the top of my list because of how well-rounded it is as a smartphone, and how good the software plus hardware package is.

Galaxy Note 5

The Galaxy Note 5 is probably the most impressive device of the year to me. The phone has a really nice premium looking design which is a huge departure from their past devices. Samsung managed to put the best looking display yet on a phone. Not to mention that it is physically the smallest 5.7” screen phone I have used, which is mighty impressive.

Software wise, you get a somewhat de-bloated TouchWiz, which still isn’t my favourite, but performs well enough for day to day use. The UI and switching apps still isn’t as smooth or quick than the Nexus 6P despite a better processor and more RAM. On the flip side, TouchWiz does bring some genuinely useful features like multi-window, screen-off memo, scroll capture, pop-up video, etc.

Hardware wise, the Note 5 packs their own Exynos 7420 chipset which is a powerhouse, and better than Qualcomm’s showing this year in my opinion. It has 4GB of LPDDR4 RAMs, as well as UFS 2.0 storage too. The Note 5 has the best camera on any smartphone this year to me, taking great photos with the least amount of effort. The fingerprint sensor might not be the most reliable, but is still fast enough when it does work. The speaker while not the best, is still pretty loud and clear. Not to mention the very useful S-Pen which is rather nice to draw on as well.

The Note 5 could have been the one to top the list this year. The only reason it didn’t, is because of its software. Samsung still insist on shoving their apps and services down our throat, and the OS isn’t as well optimised. Despite better hardware (gaming performance is better on the Note 5), day to day performance is better on the Nexus 6P still.

Honourable Mention

BlackBerry Priv

The Priv gets a mention because it is BlackBerry’s first attempt at an Android phone, and it is a very nice first try. It brings something interesting to the Android market which we haven’t seen in a long while now, the slider form factor with a physical keyboard. The hardware is decent too, but the software could use a bit of work. However, the phone is way to expensive for what it is. The software could use a bit more polish too, but for BlackBerry’s first effort, it’s not bad at all.

OnePlus X

The OnePlus X might be an odd choice considering its price tag. It isn’t a very powerful phone, and isn’t even the most modern when it comes to specifications. But it does provide a lot of phone for not a lot of money. The build quality is superb, performance is decent, and the design is actually pretty nice. Best of all, no invite system needed. The only downside to me would be its software, which is a double-edged sword. While Oxygen OS does bring a lot of useful customisation to stock Android, in its current form, it is still a little bit buggy though.

My Favourite Smartphone of the Year

Moto X Style

While this may not be the most powerful device, with the best specifications or best camera, the Moto X Style wins my overall by being sufficient.

Software wise, the Moto X Style runs a near stock build of Android with its own useful enhancements. Moto Display, double twist to launch camera, double chop for flashlight, etc. Those may not sound like much, but they are super convenient once you get the hang of it. A plus side of near stock Android would be fast updates too at least for now, since the phone is still new. It is one of the handful of devices that have gotten the Marshmallow update already.

The hardware of the phone is definitely flagship level. The processing package is one we are familiar with already, the Snapdragon 808 with 3GB of RAM. The screen is a 5.7” QHD display which isn’t the best in the market, but is still very nice to look at. It might even better than some more expensive flagship devices in the market still using FHD displays. The speakers are second only to HTC’s BoomSound speakers, and it sounds noticeably better than the Nexus 6P. The battery is a pretty decent 3,000mAh too, which keeps the device powered through the day.

In short, it does almost everything well, and almost nothing wrong.

With the addition of an SD card slot and Marshmallow’s integrated SD card feature, the Moto X Style just became one of the best phones to showcase Android Marshmallow. The only thing it is lacking is a fingerprint sensor, which isn’t a huge deal to me just yet.

The cherry on top is that for some countries, you can actually customise the phone’s colour to your liking with MotoMaker, something which I did for the very first Moto X. Sadly for us in Singapore, you can’t even buy the phone here.

If you managed to get one during the limited time discount on Amazon at US$349, it is the best phone you can buy for that kind of money. It is a phone that I would easily recommend to anyone at that price.

The Moto X Style is the phone that I wished the Nexus 5X could be. Even at US$449, the Moto X Style is still a worthy buy to me over the Nexus 5X. At the recent Amazon discount at US$349, it’s a no-brainer.

While I love to see innovative features, boundaries-pushing specifications, new software features, or new form factors, what I need as my daily driver is a little different. I just want something that works well, and I don’t need the highest end of specifications for that. The Moto X Style does just that. The combination of software, hardware, design, and price, makes the Moto X Style my favourite phone of 2015.

Nexus 5X vs Moto X Style vs Nexus 6P

I started out wanting to do a comparison between the Nexus 5X against the Moto X Style. But while the Moto X Style’s price tag might seem a tad closer to the Nexus 5X rather than the Nexus 6P, the Moto X Style’s built quality and size is actually better compared to the Nexus 6P’s more premium feel. So in the end, I decided on a three-way instead.

Build Quality: Nexus 6P

In terms of built, I would say that the Nexus 6P takes the cake, followed by the Moto X Style. That nicely machined, full metal body just screams premium. The Moto X Style takes a middle ground by having metal sides and a softer rubberised material on the back. BUT, do remember that there are options to go for leather or wood backs which will help make the Moto X Style feels a little bit more premium. With a simple and nondescript polycarbonate shell, the Nexus 5X unfortunately doesn’t feel as expensive as the other two. While it is still solidly built, it is just not as nicely built as the other two.

Screen: Nexus 6P

The 5.7” QHD AMOLED panel on the Nexus 6P is one of the best looking panels in the market, second only to a handful of smartphones. Being a Samsung panel, the quality is definitely up there. However, that is if you prefer AMOLED panels though. If LCD is more up your alley, you might prefer the Moto X Style’s 5.7” QHD LCD panel. The colours are decent, blacks are still relatively deep, and viewing angles are decent. The same can be said for the Nexus 5X’s screen too actually, which is decent, but just not as high in resolution at FHD only.

Speakers: Moto X Style

While both the Moto X Style and the Nexus 6P has dual front firing stereo speakers, the Moto X Style wins convincingly by having better sounding speakers. To me they sounded fuller, and clearer. Which is a pretty impressive feat by Motorola, squeezing in better speakers in a smaller sized device compared to Huawei’s Nexus 6P. I don’t even want to talk about the Nexus 5X’s single front firing speaker here, which sounds unremarkable in every way.

Performance: Nexus 6P

With the most powerful processor of the lot, it’s pretty much cakewalk for the Nexus 6P’s Snapdragon 810, so I won’t go too much into it. Things become a bit more interesting with the Nexus 5X versus the Moto X Style though. While both uses the Snapdragon 808 processing package, the Nexus 5X only has 2GB of RAM compared to the Moto X Style’s 3GB. In day to day usage, the Nexus 5X feels a tad smoother with transitions, but when it comes to loading apps, and playing games, the Moto X Style feels smoother actually. I’ll still give 2nd place to the Moto X Style though, for having a bit more breathing room when it comes to RAM.

Software Experience: Moto X Style

This might not sit too well with Nexus fans, but for now, the Moto X Style wins it for me. Sometimes stock Android is a tad too bare bones. While it does get the fastest updates, the Moto X Style provides a better experience with its enhancement to stock Android out of the box. Moto Display still works WAY better than Ambient Display. Double twist to launch camera is a bit more convenient than needing to double press a specific button too. Double chop to launch flashlight actually comes in handier than one might think.

There is an exception though. A year or 2 down the road, the Nexus will almost certainly be ahead. Being a Nexus device, it will most certainly get fast updates next year, even with a newer Nexus. The same can’t be said for the Moto X Style though. Next year when there is a newer Moto X, the Moto X Style will almost certainly get updates a bit slower. Also it lacks hardware feature like a fingerprint sensor, which might not be as important now, but will become increasingly so as more app developers leverages on Marshmallow’s new fingerprint sensor APIs.

In the end, I am writing this in 2015 though, so I gave it to the Moto X Style for being better right now at this point in time.

Battery: Moto X Style

Keeping in mind the battery capacity for the Nexus 5X is 2,700 mAh, the Moto X Style at 3,000 mAh, and the Nexus 6P at 3,450 mAh, it is easy to automatically assume the Nexus 6P is the winner. But to me it’s not. To me all 3 phones lasted a day of moderate use pretty easily, but none of them would last me more than a day. While the Nexus 6P was able to last longer overall, in terms of average screen on time, the Moto X Style gave more consistent results actually. So overall, it's sort of a tie here to me.

(Nexus 5X)

(Moto X Style)

(Nexus 6P)

The tie breaker is that charging is a lot more convenient on the Moto X Style at this point in time too. Using a micro USB port, finding a charger at work or outside is super easy. But if you have either Nexus devices, you’re going to have to bring your own cable with you everywhere you go just in case. However, the table will turn 1 to 2 years later when the Type C standard becomes more prevalent. But then again, by that point in time you probably would have upgraded to another smartphone already. At this point in time, my ancient iMac still only has USB A ports, and the cables lying around my house are all USB A to micro USB.

Camera: Nexus 6P

This part is going pretty easy, the Nexus 6P has a really good camera in both good and dim lighting conditions. The 12MP shooter can be a bit slow to process HDR+ shots, but it’s worth the wait. Images in daylight is a little too saturated for my liking though. The camera is then followed by the Nexus 5X, which uses the same module, just a little slower at processing. The Moto X Style while in the last place, is actually still plenty good. In daylight, images shows nice details, albeit with a hint of over processing. Capture speeds were fast too, and auto HDR mode works really well. In low light, capture speeds were still fast, but shots doesn’t have as much brightness or details to them unlike on the Nexus 6P and 5X. It is still a perfectly capable shooter though, one I would rate just a bit behind the Nexus duo.

Worth: Moto X Style

Looking at the 32GB variant across the board, Nexus 5X at US$429, Moto X Style at US$449, and the Nexus 6P at US$499. While the Nexus 5X might seem cheaper, considering the comparisons above, the Moto X Style seems like the better buy to me. Keeping in mind that you can actually buy the 16GB Moto X Style too since you have the ability to add in a micro SD card, and integrate it into the internal memory (thanks to Marshmallow). For just a little bit more money, you are talking about a lot of plus points over the Nexus 5X. The only few things the Nexus 5X has over the Moto X Style would be faster software updates, fingerprint sensor, and a slightly better camera.

Comparing with the 6P which is only US$50 more, it is a little harder to choose between the 2. Build quality to me is pretty close, with the difference being down to preference. You are paying pretty much for the better screen, fingerprint sensor, faster updates, better camera, and better performance package. Which seems like the Nexus 6P should win this round, but let me explain why it didn’t. The Moto X Style has been around a little bit longer, which means that the actual value these days might be lower. For example, on the 17th December, Amazon sold the 32GB Moto X Pure Edition for only US$349, which is way cheaper than the Nexus 6P. Locally in Singapore the cheapest Nexus 6P you can get is the 64GB version at around US$549, which is US$200 more.

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Conclusion

The Nexus 5X is simply not worth buying if you ask me. It may be better than the Moto X Style by having a fingerprint sensor, a slightly better camera, as well as faster updates. But, the Nexus 6P is all of those things too and then some. Not to mention that with the recent discount for the Moto X Style at US$349, the Moto X Style is cheaper than the Nexus 5X but better in many more ways (see above). There is very little reason to go for the 5X.

When it comes to the Nexus 6P versus the Moto X Style, it’s a harder choice to make. At its original price, US$449 versus US$499 isn’t much difference. With faster updates, a fingerprint sensor, a better camera, a subjectively better build quality, better performance, and a better screen, the Nexus 6P is more worth it to me. It is one of the best Android phones this year for a reason.

But if you consider the discount that the Moto X Style had earlier at US$349, it makes the Moto X Style a lot more compelling for people who doesn’t really need all the bells and whistles that the Nexus 6P offers. At that price, the Moto X Style would be my choice.

Motorola Moto X Style (Pure Edition) - BLTN

The 3rd generation Moto X, or Style, or Pure Edition, didn’t really pique my interest when it was announced. It didn’t have any new innovative features like past Moto X series of devices, and from what I can tell, it is meant to be a bang for the buck phone with good, but not great specifications. Which is part of the reason why it took so long for me to get hold of the phone to try out.


Despite being a fan of the company, and its products, the company’s recent actions has left a bad taste in my mouth. The slow update to Lollipop for the Droid Turbo and Moto X 1st Gen that I had didn’t exactly inspire confidence in the company’s ability to do fast updates properly. Then there is the Moto X Play, which felt more like a Lenovo phone rather than a Motorola phone (not a praise).

It just so happen that I chance upon a set for sale a while back, and bought it on impulse. With the Marshmallow update already out for the phone, this could be a pretty relevant BLTN (better late than never) review of the Moto X Pure Edition with Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

Big, but not too big

Like a growing kid through puberty, the screen size of the Moto X has gotten bigger and bigger with each passing year. From the petite one-handed goodness of the OG Moto X at 4.7”, to the still manageable 5.2” of the 2nd generation Moto X. This year, we have a finger-stretching 5.7” phablet (hopefully it won’t be 6.2” next year).

Thankfully Motorola has done a pretty decent job at keeping the physical size of the device as small as possible. The phone feels smaller than the screen size hints at. The built quality is excellent too with a solid metal built around the sides, and a soft touch plastic back with a textured design. You could go for the wood and leather backs too if you feel like it on MotoMaker.

The Motorola dimple is now housed together with the camera and the dual tone flash on a metal strip. Which is a pretty nice touch if you ask me. The buttons on the sides have a nice tactile feel to them, albeit feeling just a little thin and wobbly. The power button is nicely textured too. The metal accent continues with the top and bottom speaker grills as well, which not only gives it a nice design touch, but helps elevate the phone a little so the screen doesn’t touch the surface when placed face down.

A minor gripe on the design would be the slightly sunken-in camera lens. While I understand it would protect the lens from scratches, it also traps a lot of dust and pocket lint.

Looking and sounding good

Comparing it to the Samsung Galaxy Note 5 with a 5.7” screen as well, it has similar dimensions, albeit being a little chunkier and heavier. I think it’s amazing how Motorola was able to fit front facing stereo speakers as good as these on this phone size. I would probably rate it just behind HTC’s BoomSound speakers. For comparison, the Nexus 6P is a larger phone physically with the same screen size, yet the stereo speakers aren’t as good as the Moto X’s.

With a large screen and a really good pair of speakers, I have found myself enjoying media content more often on the Moto X. Especially when the screen on the Moto X is actually pretty good too. While I am very disappointed that it is no longer an AMOLED display, it is a decent looking LCD panel. Colours look decent, and I didn’t have much issues using the phone under sunlight too.

With the use of LCD though, it does ruin the Moto Display feature a little for me though. The discreet notifications that use to conserve battery life by only lighting up the necessary pixels now lights up the entire panel, because that’s just how LCD works. Which isn’t a huge issue in daylight since the panel has pretty deep blacks still, but becomes really obvious in a darker room.

Smooth, but not the fastest

The phone is powered by a Snapdragon 808 with 3GB of RAM, which really isn’t even near the top performers in the market. It seems to have been properly optimised to play nice though. Performance is still really decent, and playing games like Need For Speed: No Limits felt okay on the device too.

Day to day operation is pretty smooth too except for the occasion stutter, and dropped frames in the animations. Though I’m pretty sure this is more towards software optimisation rather than a lacking hardware.

Like with other Snapdragon powered devices this year, we have to talk about heat. It does get warm when setting up the device. In day to day operation though, it only gets a little bit warm from time to time, and definitely nothing worth concerning about.

A quick mention on the network support, while the Pure Edition supports all local LTE bands, I wasn’t expecting it to support Cat 6 LTE here since it’s a US phone. I did a couple of speed tests, and surprisingly it is able to support the faster speeds, which is definitely a huge plus for those considering importing it.

Stock Android, or at least near it

Like Moto devices in recent years, one of the draw of the devices are that it runs near stock Android. Those already familiar with the Moto X devices would already know some of the very useful enhancements Motorola has included. The good news is that they are still on board, and the bad news is that after a year, there hasn’t really been any new features, just minor improvements.

Maybe I was just hoping too much from the company. For the uninitiated, some of the very useful feature includes:

(Double twist to launch camera)

(Double chop to turn on flash light)

(Waking the phone up with voice commands, though this is now pretty common. Even the lifting the phone to ear to activate the voice assistant for more discreet commands has been on iOS for some time now)

(Moto Display is still around, and now includes support for more actions. Wave to wake phone is still around, and still very useful. Though the use of LCD makes the feature look a bit weird in darker conditions.)

Marshmallow

I personally prefer Motorola’s approach to customsing their software, as it results in a lean system which allows for easier, and faster updating of software. Which is why the Motorola is one of the few devices that have already been updated to Android 6.0 Marshmallow.

That means that it come with some very useful features that I’ve covered in my Nexus 5X/6P review. Most notably, the ability to customise individual app permissions, “Doze” for better standby battery life, and unlike the Nexus which doesn’t have SD card expandability, the ability to integrate an SD card as internal storage.

It’s a feature that I think will be very useful for people looking for more storage at a bargain. Though do take note to use an SD card with good performance though. I tried an older SDHC card, and it immediately prompted me that the card is slow, and might adversely affect performance if I install apps on the SD cards. While this feature might not be that useful for a phone already with 32GB of memory, it will come in really handy for lower end devices, often with limited internal storage.

To backtrack a little to talk about performance, it has been largely pleasant on Marshmallow. In fact it felt like the Moto X Pure performed a little smoother than the Nexus 5X. Which gives me hope for the Moto X Play when it gets the Marshmallow update. Hopefully that will fix the performance issues on the device and make it a better phone.

Relatively fast updates… for now

As mentioned earlier, part of the appeal of a near stock Android experience is fast updates. While it is certainly true for the current generation flagship devices for Motorola, it might not stay that way when a newer flagship phone becomes available the following year. The priority for updates will always go to the latest devices.

Having been an owner of the Droid Turbo and OG Moto X, I know how long it took to get Lollipop (at least for the Moto X). While that might be a one-off due to a custom chipset, a good indication would be to see when the Moto X 2014 will get its Marshmallow update globally.

If you really want super fast updates consistently, the Moto series is not for you. The only phones you can buy are pretty much going to be Nexus or iPhones only. Just thought it’s important to clarify this.

Decent battery performance, but not great

Battery life has been decent for me, but not amazing. Having only a 3,000mAh, a processor not known to be particularly frugal, and a QHD LCD display, battery life isn’t going to be great. But it lasts me a day of solid use easily, which is pretty much the most one can ask for these days. Doze does help a little, but I don’t leave the phone lying around enough to reap the benefits.

The phone does comes with fast charging built in, and thankfully unlike other manufacturers like LG (G4), BlackBerry (Priv), and Sony (Z5), they included a fast charger. The downside is that the charger is pretty huge, and the cable is NOT detachable, making it a chore to carry around.

A decent camera, but not the best

The Moto X uses a 21MP camera which Motorola called “best in class” when it was launched. Which I guess was true back then, but not anymore now that the Nexus 5X is around. The camera is actually pretty decent, but it's just not “great” like some of the more expensive phones are.

In daylight, the camera performs well. The details are well-preserved, and colours look natural. The image processing can be a bit heavy for some, but only when you pixel peep. HDR works great too by not going over the top with the processing, and auto HDR works remarkably well at detecting when to activate HDR.

As the light goes down though, the image quality starts to drop fast. While shots generally still look decent, they tend to be a bit muddy due to the image processing. That said, the image quality is actually still plenty decent.

Capture speeds are great in both daylight and lowlight conditions. However I think the shutter speed could have been a bit better in daylight. At times when taking a shot in a less stable position, I can still see some camera shake in the image. Having OIS would have really helped here.

The camera app is pretty bare bones though, and the “drag to focus” mechanism isn't as intuitive as “tap to focus”, but it's a minor gripe as you could always install another camera app.

Overall this is a solid camera for the price. It's a camera that most people would probably be satisfied with as their daily shooter. Calling it “best in class” would probably be true at the time that it was released, but we now have the Nexus 5X, which offers a better camera for a slightly cheaper price.

Full resolution images can be found here: Moto X Pure, Moto X Play, Nexus 5X, Note 5, Xperia Z5, LG G4, One M9

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Conclusion

By this point you have probably realised the common theme with this phone. This is a really nice phone, but it's just not the best in the market. It is however still one of the best phone money can buy for its price though.

It has a really nice build quality along with customisability. The OS is smooth and is near stock Android with actually useful enhancements. The camera while not the best, is still a strong performer. The specifications are actually pretty good too, plus you have an SD card slot which comes in really handy with Android 6.0. And yeah, it runs Android 6.0 already.

There are things I do not like about the device though. The lack of fingerprint sensor might not be a huge deal now, but might be when more developers make use of Android 6.0’s fingerprint APIs. The use of LCD display rather than an AMOLED is a little disappointing considering the power saving trait while using Moto Display feature. While the camera as it is, is sufficient for my needs, having OIS will definitely boost its capabilities.

Overall, this is still a phone that I actually really enjoy using. It may not be the most cutting edge, but it does what I need it to do well, and it does so at a cheaper price. While phones in this price bracket with these type of specifications are a dime in a dozen, Motorola gets one thing right, and that is user experience.

While the Moto X Play made me a little worried about Motorola’s future, the Moto X Pure Edition gave me a little hope again.