best phone with lcd screen manufacturer

In addition to all the times we casually glance at our smartphones throughout the day, studies estimate that we spend more than an hour everyday staring into our handsets. That"s an hour spent watching videos, playing games, and checking out photos.

It"s no wonder why, then, smartphone manufacturers pour so much into display technology, and why screen size and brilliance are important to users when considering a high-end smartphone.

These days, stunning 1,080p and 1,440p displays can be found on many top-tier handsets. But CNET rounded up some of the best touchscreens that have come our way recently.

Though Samsung cranked up the resolution for its Korean Galaxy S5 variant (in fact, it has an envelope-pushing 576ppi), the company still improved on its original Galaxy S5"s 1080p screen. For one, it"s equipped with a useful display panel and accompanying technology, which helps it to adapt to different lighting environments. The over-saturated tones that often plague AMOLED screen have also been toned down, leaving colors more realistic, but still striking. Read the full review.

In our mind,Samsung is the best phone brand you can choose in 2022. It produces excellent phones across a range of prices and has even managed to improve its lackluster record of software updates.

Apple and Google are both hot on Samsung"s heels – the two tech giants each produce fantastic phone brands with the ubiquitous iPhone and the ever-evolving Google Pixel series. And while OnePlus and Motorola aren"t top choices for many, they represent excellent options — both flagship and budget — for those looking to branch out from the typical top three.

Of course, while individual phone models are important, picking the right phone brand will help you get a long-term insight into how your phone will be supported in the years to come.

Top 5 Mobile Phone Brands in the WorldSamsung – There’s a Samsung for everyone, from the bargain-basement M-series and the excellent mid-range A-series to the flagship S and Note series. It even makes folding phones

The smartphones market has never been more competitive, and all of the phone brands mentioned above have some fantastic (and not so fantastic) devices to choose between.

We also look at the best phone brand by budget. So whether you"re looking to spend less than $300 or three times that, we"ll help you find the perfect phone.

No phone brand is perfect, and each comes with a set of pros and cons. Samsung phones have great hardware, but sometimes have issues when it comes to Android and its own UI. Apple, by contrast, has fantastic integration between hardware and its own operating system, but its phones are notoriously expensive.

The Korean brand manages to produce brilliant phones across a range of prices – something few other companies can achieve. Whether you want to splurge on a wallet-busting Galaxy S22 Ultra, or scrimp on a Galaxy A53, or fold it up with the Galaxy Z Fold3, there’s something for everyone.

Arguably the best phone on the market at the moment, the S21 Ultra 5G is a true tour de forcewith class-leading hardware and Samsung"s typical “more-is-more” approach to features.

The S22 Ultra comes with a huge 6.8-inch AMOLED display with a 3088×1440 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate for super-smooth scrolling. The S22 Ultra"s screen even has curved edges to make it feel even smaller in your hand. What"s more, the S22 Ultra"s display is HDR10+ enabled and can manage a very impressive 1750 nits of brightness.

The S22 Ultra comes with the latest and super-powerful Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 processor. You can also choose between 8GB and 12GB of RAM — foregoing the unnecessary 16GB option of its predecessor.

The S22 Ultra comes with four rear cameras: a 10Mp periscope lens for up to 10x optical zoom, another 10Mp telephoto lens, a 12Mp ultrawide lens, and a crazy 108Mp main lens for remarkable levels of detail. You can also record up to 8K video at an admittedly sluggish 24fps. 4K videos, however, can be recorded at up to 60fos and you can record 240fps slow-mo videos at 1080p. Round the front, you get a 40Mp selfie camera that can record up to 4K resolution video at 60fps.

The Samsung A53 might not grab headlines in the same way that Samsung"s other phones do, but it is a very impressive phone from the South Korean company.

The A53 is no slouch, either, and is powered by the Samsung Exynos 1280 processor with 8GB or 12GB of RAM to choose from. It also comes with a 5000 mAh battery with 25W fast charging which should give you 50% battery life with just half an hour"s charging.

If you"re in the market for a foldable phone, you can"t do much better than the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3. It"s quite expensive, but it offers a unique experience and is widely considered one of the first foldable phones to really get it right.

Folded, the device offers a surprisingly respectable 6.2-inch OLED display with admittedly lackluster 2268×832 resolution. Unfolded, the Z Fold3 boasts a whopping 7.6-inch OLED display with the improved 2208×1768 resolution. Both offer 12oHz, which is always great for that smooth scrolling experience.

Naturally, the Galaxy Z Fold3 has some serious brawn to go with its brains. It uses Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 and a very healthy 12GB of RAM. It also has a large 5000 mAh battery and has 45W fast charging.

Despite the foldable design, you"re still getting the impressive cameras expected from Samsung, including another 108Mp main rear sensor and 10Mp periscope and telephoto options, along with the 12MP ultrawide lens. Around the front, you get a single 40Mp selfie camera.

The one you love to hate, or indeed, love to love. Apple stands out from the crowd, being the only manufacturer on this list not to use Android. Its phones are unashamedly expensive, although that doesn’t seem to put anyone off buying one.

The iPhone 13 Pro is the latest iteration of Apple"s popular device, adding a better chip, a better camera system, and a better display that should get you to buy another one.

The iPhone 13 Pro is equipped with Apple"s A15 Bionic chip, which has notably improved the experience on Apple devices. It promises, with good reason, to be the most powerful processor of any phone on sale. Its 5G-ready and is paired with 6GB of RAM, the most of any iPhone ever, for speedy performance.

It has a 6.1-inch OLED display with 2532×1170 resolution which supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision for excellent visuals. When it comes to cameras, the 13 Pro has three 12Mp rear lenses comprising on standard wide-angle lens, a telephoto lens, and an ultrawide unit. Round the front it gets a 12Mp depth sensing lens.

However, its battery isn"t the biggest at 3095 mAh. Apple doesn"t have the best reputation when it comes to battery life, so make sure to take that into consideration before paying the $999for this device.

This hefty device boasts a 6.7-inch OLED display with a 2532×1170 resolution — which you"ll likely recognize, as it"s the same as the iPhone 12, except for the size, of course. You also get access to the same A15 Bionic processor as iPhone 13 Pro users do.

Admittedly, the price can be a bit intimidating, particularly when you aren"t getting much more than a bigger screen. The iPhone 13 Pro Max still just has the three 12Mp rear cameras — an ultrawide, a telephoto, and a wide angle.

A nostalgia play that works great for people with small hands, the iPhone 13 Mini is reminiscent of much older devices, which were significantly smaller and more manageable as a handheld device. You miss out on some key features with that size though, as it only offers a dual camera system, 12MP wide and ultrawide options, as well as the 12MP selfie camera on the front.

Google often seems to do its own thing when it comes to its smartphones — it doesn"t try to rival Samsung when it comes to packing as much hardware into its phones as possible and nor does it try to copy Apple in offering the most expensive phones on the market.

The Pixel 6 is Google"s current (but soon to be replaced) flagship. However, it isn"t that much more expensive than the 5a 5G, costing just $599. Admittedly, that isn"t a typical flagship price, but Google seems to be shying away from competing toe-to-toe with the big guns and instead focusing on offering better value.

The Pixel 6 has a 6.4-inch OLED display with a 2400×1080 resolution and a 90Hz refresh rate. It"s the first device powered by the Google Tensor chip, which definitely provides an improved experience with its already stellar software. It also comes in 8 GB of RAM.

For just $449you"ll get a 5G-ready phone with the zippy Snapdragon 765G processor and 6GB of RAM. You get two rear-facing cameras: a 12.2Mp main lens and a 16Mp ultrawide lens. Round the front, you get a single 8Mp punch hole camera.

The screen is a 6.34-inch OLED with a 2400×1080 resolution. There"s no high refresh rate here — at only 60 Hz — but, for less than $500, that isn"t too much of an issue.

Of course, the main draw is Google"s software. The camera smarts are fantastic, with brilliant low-light shots and remarkable post-shot editing. You"ll also get the fastest Android software updates and a completely unblemished experience.

OnePlus has grown from an upstart interloper in the smartphone world, making affordable yet potent devices, to convincingly challenging the biggest companies in the market for features — and for price.

The OnePlus 10 Pro is the consummate flagship phone for 2022. It has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a 3216×1440 resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate. It also is HDR10+ compatible and can reach a peak brightness of 1,300 nits.

It uses the latest Qualcomm SM8450 Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset, with 5G connectivity and 8GB of RAM. You also get a 5000 mAh battery and a choice of either 65W or 80W(!) fast charging which will give you 100% battery faster than most devices on this list.

Like the other phones on this list, the Nord N20 5G also gets three rear-facing cameras including a 64Mp main lens and 2Mp depth and macro sensors. For selfies, you get a 16Mp camera.

However, you do lose out on some build quality — the Nord N20 5G has a plastic back and plastic frame which will likely make it feel like cheaper than other phones on this list. But at the price, you can"t expect much more.

You might think of Motorola as a brand relegated to the smartphone cemetery, but you’d be wrong. The brand that gave us the iconic RAZR is still knocking out some incredible mid-range phones, which are well worth taking a look at.

The Edge is a solid phone from Motorola. It has a decent set of features and costs just under $900. Fortunately, the screen, which is sharp and comes with a staggering 144Hz refresh rate, did away with the sides that curve to almost 90-degrees on either side, which many felt made its predecessor difficult to use and hold.

The Motorola Moto G Stylus 5G offer a stylus experience at a low price, a difficult combination to come by in the smartphone world. At only $299, this phone offers a surprisingly impressive set of features, and doesn"t have any notably missing dealbreakers, which really is shocking at this price.

The 5000 mAh battery will last a long time, although the 10W charging is pretty disappointing, but expected for under $300. You"re getting a massive 6.8-inch OLED display at 2460×1080 resolution, and the MediaTek Helio G88 processor with 6GB of RAM.

Perhaps the biggest surprise phone of recent years is Motorola"s resurrection of the iconic 2000s flip phone as a high-tech new handset with a folding display, and the second-generation option is nothing to scoff at.

It is not nearly as expensive as its predecessor — prices start at $999. But you do get, arguably, the most interesting-looking phone on sale at the moment.

Its small outer screen is 2.7-inches and will let you get a glimpse of the time and any notifications you might have. The larger inner display stands at 6.2-inches tall and has a 2142 x 876 resolution. It uses the Snapdragon 765G processor with 8GB RAM.

For cameras, the RAZR gets a 48Mp wide-angle lens just below (or above) the smaller outer screen. Above the inner screen, you get a 20Mp wide-angle lens to help you take selfies. However, given the folding screen, you can also use the main camera as a selfie camera without opening the phone up. The RAZR also gets a pretty small battery — just 2800 mAh.

It’s safe to say that if you only have $300 to spend on a phone, you’re not going to be getting an iPhone. However, some brands offer great phones for budget-conscious buyers.

You should consider a phone from Motorola — the Moto G Stylus 5G would be perfect — or the OnePlus Nord N20 5G if you"re really looking to save money. Rather than looking to cut costs on the features and components, these companies produce phones that you could happily use every day. Some of the materials might not match those at the top of the market, but they have to save money somewhere.

For this budget, we’d struggle to look past the Google Pixel 5a 5G. It has strong performance, guaranteed software updates, and the best camera of any phone, at any price. If you"re not keen on a Google phone, you could look at a Samsung Galaxy A53, which is the mid-tier Samsung device that still packs a punch.

The $500-750 phone market doesn’t have the choice that you’d perhaps expect nowadays, with the market becoming polarized towards increasingly expensive or cheap phones – but that’s not to say you won’t find some good phones.

Again, in this price range, you’ll struggle to find a better phone than the Pixel 6. However, if you’ve currently got an iPhone and miss those smalls screen days, the iPhone Mini is always a great option.

Of course, we’re now really entering iPhone territory. The iPhone 13 Pro is a great phone, though we’re not sold on the iPhone 13 Pro Max. If you don’t fancy something from Apple, we’d go with Samsung. If you need incredible all-round capabilities, get the Samsung S22 Ultra.

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G has good performance and a sharp 1080p OLED screen with an in-display fingerprint reader, a feature that’s usually reserved for more expensive phones.

The OnePlus Nord N20 5G is more powerful than Samsung’s budget phones, and its 1080p OLED screen is sharper than those of other phones in this price range, which typically have lower-resolution LCDs with worse contrast. The N20 5G even offers an in-display fingerprint sensor, a rare feature on budget phones. Though it runs Android 11 out of the box, it’s slated to get Android 12, along with three years’ worth of security updates (through spring 2025). However, it doesn’t function on Verizon’s network.

The Galaxy A13 5G performs better than most phones in this price range, and Samsung offers an impressive four years’ worth of guaranteed software updates.

The Samsung Galaxy A13 5G has an understated design that won’t turn heads, but it’s faster and more responsive than you might expect for just $250. The screen picks up more fingerprints than those of phones that cost just a little more, but it’s big and bright, and the A13 5G runs Android 12. Samsung promises several more updates in the future, too, with an astonishing four years’ worth of update support (through early 2026). Most budget phones are lucky to see half that.

Like Google’s past budget-phone options, the Google Pixel 6a has great software—but it adds more powerful hardware. The Pixel 6a beats the budget competition in almost every way, and that makes it a terrific choice, provided you can spend a little more money. For $450, the Pixel 6a offers one of the best cameras on any smartphone, including phones that cost more than twice as much. In addition, the software experience is smoother and more pleasant than what you can find on OnePlus or Samsung phones, and the Pixel 6a has the same powerful Tensor processor as the more expensive Pixel phones do. Google guarantees security updates until summer 2027, as well. However, the Pixel 6a falls short of our other picks in battery life, and it has no headphone jack.

At a mere $160, the Samsung Galaxy A03s is the cheapest phone in Samsung’s current lineup, but it doesn’t perform like a bargain-basement phone. The A03s is fast enough to browse the web, send messages, and play simple games. And despite the phone’s low price, Samsung isn’t skimping on updates: The A03s will receive updates through early 2026, a full four years’ worth of support from launch, unheard of for a phone this cheap. The build quality takes a step down in comparison with the Galaxy A13 5G, the camera isn’t very good, and this model has no 5G support, but the battery life is excellent.

The theme of this year"s smartphone releases seems to be iterative upgrades instead of wholesale changes. From the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra to the OnePlus 10 Pro to the Google Pixel 7 Pro, the flagships of 2022 so far seem to be very similar to their 2021 counterparts -- many of them even sport the same camera hardware. But look a bit deeper and we can see each phone has become even more polished and well-rounded than before. While this may sound unexciting, fine-tuning the little things to make for an even more enjoyable experience shouldn"t be overlooked. If you"re in the market for a new smartphone, we here at XDA have tested just about every phone, and these are our picks for the best in each category depending on your need or budget.

Considering that Samsung"s Galaxy S21 Ultra held this spot for almost all of 2021, Samsung didn"t need to do much for the Galaxy S22 Ultra to claim this spot immediately upon release. But Samsung didn"t rest on its laurels. It brought perhaps the most radical change to a Galaxy S phone yet by making it essentially the new Galaxy Note.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra brings back the awesome and versatile camera system of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but with superior software processing and computational photography smarts for an even better camera system: shots in low light are less noisy and better balanced, particularly with the main camera; videos are more stable, the zoom prowess even more epic. This is a phone that can grab super sharp and clean 10x zoom images, and even respectably decent 30x zoom images. And while the 100x shots are still not great, they have improved tremendously as well. The ultra-wide camera also offers one of the widest field-of-view around for sweeping landscape shots. Samsung"s portrait mode has improved by leaps and bounds over previous years too thanks to the combination of a strong 3X telephoto lens and excellent computational photography.

There"s a 2022 Qualcomm chip of course -- the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the US, China, and India; Exynos 2200 in Europe and many other regions -- along with a superior LTPO 2.0 screen that"s more energy-efficient, despite pushing out a higher maximum brightness than last year. The 5,000 mAh battery can go longer this year -- this is an all-day phone for all but the most extreme users. Though to be fair, because the phone is well over six months old, the chipset here aren"t the most powerful around anymore, as the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is even more capable. Still, don"t let this be a dealbreaker.

But it"s the addition of the S-Pen stylus that has changed things fundamentally. Unlike the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which supported an S-Pen that required a separate purchase and had no good place to stay, the Galaxy S22 Ultra"s S-Pen is included with the package and stored in a silo at the bottom of the device, just like the Galaxy Note. In fact, when you consider the design language of the Galaxy S22 Ultra and how it strays from the other two Galaxy S22 devices, it"s clear that this is a Galaxy S phone in name only. In spirit, this is a Galaxy Note.

Throw in Android 12 with four guaranteed years of Android updates and then another year of security updates, and great Samsung software features like Samsung DeX and you have a do-it-all, well-rounded flagship that offers more than what any other phone has to offer.

Granted, the Exynos 2200 has some minor performance issues in heavy gaming; the 45W wired charging has no practical time benefits over 25W charging; and the phone"s pointy corners aren"t the most comfortable shape to hold. But other than these gripes, the Galaxy S22 Ultra has no other real weakness. This is the so-called "kitchen sink" phone -- Samsung threw everything they had at it.

The Galaxy S22 Ultra is the absolute best slab phone right now and it should hold this spot for a long time, thanks to a beautiful screen, awesome cameras and the S-Pen!

If you find the Galaxy S22 Ultra"s $1,200 price just a tad too high, the Galaxy S22 Plus offers a lot of what made that phone great at a penny under $1,000. You won"t get the S-Pen stylus, nor the 10x Periscope zoom lens, but you still have a beautiful 120Hz OLED screen, an excellent 50MP main camera with a respectable sensor size, a good 12MP ultra-wide lens that can grab sweeping landscape shots; and an excellent 3x telephoto zoom lens. In other words, this is a phone that can still capture some very top-notch images, even if it can"t grab those insane zoom shots of its more Ultra sibling.

We"re also fans of the striking back design with the camera module that spills over the sides and blends into the aluminum chassis. The front and back glass are protected by Gorilla Glass, of course. The Galaxy S22 Plus is every bit as premium as the Ultra in terms of construction.

Another reason you may want to consider the Galaxy S22 Plus is it"s a bit smaller -- the screen is "just" 6.6-inches -- without the pointy corners of the Ultra, so it"s almost objectively a more comfortable phone to hold. That panel is still brilliant, a 120Hz Samsung AMOLED 2X panel that will be just about the best possible screen you can find anywhere. Measuring 157.4 x 75.8 x 7.6 mm and weighing 195g, the Galaxy S22 Plus can be considered the right size in 2022 -- it"s not huge, but not too small either. Some people may also like that it has a flat panel instead of a curved one.

On the software front, you still get Samsung"s excellent OneUI with all the bonuses that come with it including Samsung DeX; and you also get a 2022 flagship SoC (either Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 or Exynos 2200 depending on your region) too. The 4,500 mAh battery here, while not as large as the one in the Ultra, is still enough to power the phone all day, and it"s also rated IP68 for water and dust resistance.

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus may not pack all the bells and whistles of an Ultra, but it"s still a very capable flagship with great cameras, screen, and performance.

This category is tricky because the phone that tops this list isn"t usually the best phone per se in terms of having all the most premium features. But it"s the best phone for most people, the phone regular consumers should consider first because of the combination of performance, features, and value for money.

And starting at $599, the newly released Google Pixel 7 takes this category. Despite costing almost half of the typical flagship phone, there are several key flagship features in the Pixel 7, including Google"s second gen silicon Tensor G2 and a flagship 50MP main camera, that when paired with Google"s camera software prowess, makes for arguably the best main camera around. You also get a 6.3-inch OLED screen (slightly smaller than the Pixel 6"s 6.4-inch), IP68 water resistance, and a gorgeous, unique design with some very fun colors.

Of course, there are areas of compromise to get this phone down to this price range: the display only refreshes up to 90Hz (but Google"s UI optimization is so good that animations feel smoother than that anyway), there"s no dedicated zoom lens, and relatively slow wired and wireless charging. But these compromises are very easy to accept for those who want a phone that looks and feels like a flagship but costs half the price.

But let"s get back to that camera: the Pixel 6 brought much needed camera hardware improvements to the Pixel series, and the 7 brings back the same 50MP GN1 sensor that has better synergy with Google"s Tensor-powered computational photography smarts. Whether it"s day or night, expect jaw dropping images that produces lively colors, accurate white balance, and plenty of details. This is a phone that you can point and shoot and get a great shot almost every time. The ultra-wide camera is also excellent, and despite not having a zoom lens, the Pixel 7 can pull off above average looking 8x digital zoom thanks to Google"s "Super Res" zoom that uses in-sensor cropping and computational photography trickery.

All that and we haven"t even talked about another major Pixel selling point: this is a pure Google phone, so you can expect to get exclusive Android-Pixel features and the fastest software updates too. And with Android 12 getting one of the biggest visual overhauls in years, now is the best time to have first dibs on all things Android 12. Simply put, the Pixel 7 is the best overall value on this list and the best phone for most people.

The Google Pixel 6a brings many of the strengths of the Pixel 6 (and even the Pixel 7), including the unique back design, Google"s own silicon, and that useful and awesome Pixel software. But it is more affordable than those other phones.

Up until this point, I would argue most of the above "shortcomings" don"t matter much unless you happen to drop your phone often or like to take your phone into the swimming pool. Otherwise, for most casual consumers, the difference between 60Hz and 90Hz isn"t a dealbreaker, IP57 is more than enough protection against rain and accidental dunks in toilets, and 6GB RAM is fine.

Where the Pixel 6a does lose out to the Pixel 6 is in the main camera sensor: the 6a uses the older 12.2MP Sony IMX sensor while the Pixel 6 uses the newer GN1 sensor with a larger image sensor. Now while Google"s computational photography is so good that the Pixel 6a can still produce beautiful-looking images, the Pixel 6 is just a bit more capable with the larger sensor. You get more depth of field in shots, and there"s just more light information for Tensor to play with.

We must stress again: the Pixel 6a"s cameras are still really good and easily the best in this price range. But if we are to compare it against the Pixel 6, the noticeable difference comes in the camera sensor. And of course it"s falling short to the Pixel 7 too.

If you"re in the market for a phone and you really do not want to pay more than $400, the Pixel 6a is probably the best choice. If you"re not hampered by that budget? Then sure, the Pixel 7, or any other phone listed earlier, are more capable devices.

The Google Pixel 6a is the best mid-range phone right now, particularly in North America. But we"d argue even globally, Google"s computational photography is enough to push it to the top spot too.

Every Android flagship offers a 120Hz refresh rate these days, but OxygenOS" (and ColorOS") animations just zip around noticeably faster and smoother than, say, Samsung"s OneUI, which sees dropped frames from time to time. Google"s Pixel UI has pretty smooth animations, and a case can be made for that software taking this spot, but OxygenOS is just a bit more customizable, with a better Always-On Display and more useful shortcut gestures.

The OnePlus 10 Pro itself is a fine phone too, running on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, with a visually striking design that sees the camera module spill over the sides and blend into the chassis, and a very good "Hasselblad" camera system headlined by a 48MP, f/1.8, 1/1.43" main camera plus a 50MP ultra-wide shooter and an 8MP 3.3x telephoto zoom lens. Photos captured by the OnePlus 10 Pro are vibrant with punchy colors and excellent dynamic range. If we must nitpick, it"s in the ultra-wide sensor, the image sensor is smaller than last year"s OnePlus 9 Pro, so you get ultra-wide shots that are actually softer on details.

OnePlus" camera app is still arguably the best in Android -- one of the few Android camera apps that can actually switch between lenses without the herky-jerky animations that you"d see when doing the same action in a Samsung or Sony phone. The OnePlus 10 Pro is still a very, very fast phone all around, from the camera app all the way to charging speeds.

The OnePlus 10 Pro ships with an 80W fast charging brick (65W in the US) that can top up the phone from 0-100% in around 27 minutes, and the phone also supports wireless charging up to 50W, which can pump the phone from empty to full battery in 43 minutes. You will need the official OnePlus wireless charger to get those speeds, however.

OnePlus is a brand that"s always been about speed, and the OnePlus 10 Pro definitely delivers if you"re looking for animations that appear buttery smooth and seem to zip around as fast as you swipe your fingers. The thing is, the other bits of the phone, from screen to cameras to processors, are all top-notch too.

The first three Google Pixel phones were hands-down the best still camera phones around, mostly because Google"s computational photography was so far ahead of the game at the time. In the years since, other phone brands have stepped up their computational photography game. Add in the fact that Google didn"t bother upgrading its camera hardware for the Pixel 4 and 5, that meant the Pixel was no longer the undisputed best camera phone around by 2019 or so.

Google regained the crown last year with the Pixel 6 Pro (at least in this category of best point-and-shoot) because it finally upgraded camera hardware to keep up with the competition. This year"s Pixel 7 Pro brings further refinement to that Pixel 6 Pro system.

The main camera of the Pixel 7 Pro is identical to the 6 Pro in terms of hardware -- a 50MP Samsung GN1 sensor with a 1/1.31-inch image sensor and fast aperture. But the Pixel 7 Pro"s new silicon the Tensor G2 improves performance, particularly in low light scene where the Pixel 7 Pro no longer takes a long time to snap a night shot.

While the Pixel 7 Pro still lacks the awesome video capabilities of an iPhone 14 Pro, or the huge sensor magic of the Xiaomi 12S Ultra, it"s arguably the best phone for people who just want to point their phone, tap shutter button, and then get a shot they can post to social media immediately without tweaks or edits. The reason for this is software. Google"s software smarts -- aka computational photography -- make taking photos a joy, in that you don"t really stress too much, just point and shoot and you"re going to get a shot that"s almost always perfectly balanced, with just the right amount of boosted colors and contrast (without going overboard like Samsung), accurate white balance, and enough sharpness. Even if you didn"t frame properly and accidentally captured some unwanted people, Google"s "Magic Eraser" trick can help you fix that in post with a couple of taps. Real-time dials to adjust the lighting in both subject and background are also huge bonuses. There"s no minor shutter lag like you"d get in a Galaxy S22 Ultra, or that slightly artificial over-processed look from a Huawei and, surprisingly, the iPhone 14 Pro. This is a camera that just works.

But there"s more to a phone than just the camera, so you can rest assured that the Pixel 7 Pro offers top-tier performance in all the other bits too. The 6.7-inch, 120Hz display looks great, and because it"s an LTPO panel, it has a variable refresh rate to conserve battery. All of us at XDA are also fans of the unique design of the device, particularly that striking visor and the bold colors.

I know we just waxed poetically about the Google Pixel 6"s camera prowess, but the best overall camera goes to the Vivo X80 Pro in my opinion because it has a more well-rounded system.

The X80 Pro"s 50MP main camera is only a hair behind the Pixel 6 Pro"s in terms of consistency and shutter speed, but the X80 Pro"s 48MP ultra-wide camera produces superior ultra-wide shots than the same lens in the Pixel 6 (or iPhone 13 Pro or Galaxy S22 Ultra, for that matter). Then there are the two zoom lenses: the Vivo X80 Pro has a 12MP 2x optical zoom lens along with an 8MP 5x Periscope zoom lens. While we think the Galaxy S21 Ultra"s 3x and 10x are better dual-focal length setups, Vivo"s 2x and 5x still beats the Pixel 6 Pro"s sole 4x zoom lens in terms of focal length versatility, and there"s a new cinematic mode that produces somewhat convincing artificial bokeh in video.

But the best part about the Vivo X80 Pro"s cameras is perhaps Vivo"s self-developed ISP inside the V1+ chip, which allows the X80 Pro to produce uncanny HDR photos that almost never blow out any light source. Trust me -- I have pitted the X80 Pro against several top smartphones and if we are just going by still photos, the X80 Pro beats everyone.

Elsewhere, the Vivo X80 also packs a Snapdragon 8 Gen 1, with 12GB of RAM, and a vibrant, 120Hz 6.8-inch OLED screen. This panel doesn"t get as bright as the absolute best screens on the market, but it"s still very, very good and likely better than 99% of screens you have at your home or office.

If there is a complaint to be had, it"d be software. FunTouchOS is far from perfect, as it has jankier animations compared to, say, OxygenOS, and its multi-tasking system is oddly limited, in that some apps like Chrome can"t open in a resizable floating window (even though Chrome can open this way in Oppo or Samsung"s UI). There"s also some third party bloatware in the European and Asia units of the phone but they can be deleted.

The only downside to the Vivo X80 Pro is that the phone is not on sale officially in the US, which means many readers can"t buy this officially. Still, we cover smartphones on a global scale -- we can"t just pretend a phone doesn"t exist just because it doesn"t sell in North America -- and the Vivo X80 Pro has arguably the best overall camera system that deserves a spot here.

2021"s ASUS ROG Phone 5 Ultimate was our pick for gaming phone of the year, and its 2022 update is even better -- thus making it an easy favorite for the best gaming phone of the year so far.

So what makes the ROG Phone 6 Pro a gaming beast? Let"s start with the 165Hz display, which can run at the highest refresh rate full time without micro-stutters. Do note the panel isn"t an LTPO panel, however, but it"s not a big deal for a game-centric phone. The screen is also entirely uninterrupted because the selfie camera is situated in the thin bezel above. The display also has a touch sampling rate of 720Hz, which means it scans for input every 1.4ms, and Asus says that thanks to the increased touch sampling rate, the Asus ROG Phone 6 Pro has a touch latency of 23ms.

Throw in a massive 6,000 mAh battery to handle that variable refresh rate, which means you won"t have to worry about finding a charger mid-day. In our testing, this phone can last a day and a half easily if used as a "normal smartphone," and even if you do game on it, unless you"re pulling marathon sessions, it can last you through a day on one charge.

Because this is a gaming phone, the ROG Phone 6 Pro offers functional shoulder buttons named "AirTriggers" that give extra control to first-person shooters in ways most normal smartphones cannot. There"s also a rear display, named "ROG Vision," which allows you to display graphics on it for some flair.

On the camera front, you have the main system consisting of a 50MP IMX766 main sensor, 13MP ultrawide (f/2.4) and 2MP macro setup, and a 12MP selfie camera. Photos captured by this phone are sharp, punchy, and overall good, but video recording isn"t the greatest, as footage suffered from poor stabilization and dealing with sudden shifts in lighting.

First, Samsung shaved a few millimeters off the hinge"s bulkiness, so it does not protrude from the side of the phone as much as before. Samsung then gave that extra bit of space to the outer display, so the screen is ever so slightly wider. This is a good thing as the Fold series" outside screen has always been a bit elongated and cramped.

Then, Samsung improved the camera hardware. The Fold 3"s trio of 12MP shooters were decent at best, but this year, the Fold 4 gains a 50MP image sensor with a larger 1/1.53-inch image sensor size. The 10MP zoom lens has also been improved to a 3X telephoto lens. The ultra-wide remains the same, however, at 12MP, but Samsung"s superior computational photography has improved performance a bit.

Samsung also fine-tuned the software to further take advantage of the larger display. One of our favorite new features is the taskbar, which is a bar that runs along the bottom of the phone listing your most used or last used apps. From this bar, you can quickly cycle through apps without ever jumping back out to the homescreen. You can, of course, get rid of this bar if you don"t need it or don"t want the distraction.

Samsung also further worked with third-party app developers to take advantage of the Fold 4"s larger display. For example, Spotify and Google Meet will open with a layout specifically designed for the Fold"s larger screen.

With a 4,400 mAh battery, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has enough juice to power the device through a whole day, and for those of us at XDA who owns one, the device has had no trouble making it through an entire day on a single charge. If you want to top up, the phone can be charged wired or wirelessly. There"s also reverse wireless charging to charge, say, the Galaxy Buds.

If you want a phone that can be both a tablet and a smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is hard to beat right now. If you find it a bit too big, however, then Samsung has a smaller option for you too -- see below.

If you have ever lamented the escalating size of smartphones and want something that won"t create a bulge in your pocket, then the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is worth considering. Unlike the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which is a tablet that folds into a phone, the Flip 4 is a normal-sized smartphone that folds into a compact square, about the dimensions of a coaster, or a makeup compactor (dimensions: 84.9 x 71.9 x 17.1 mm). Samsung didn"t change much in terms of overall hardware and design from the outside, but last year"s Flip 3 was universally acclaimed for its beautiful and functional design. This means you still have a 6.7-inch 120Hz main screen and a 1.9-inch outside cover screen.

Samsung improved the usability of the outside screen by allowing it to display any app you choose now. While some apps will look absolutely ridiculous on the tiny display, for the most part, it"s good news that you"re not limited to just seeing widgets on the outside screen. This means you can use the Flip a bit more when it"s closed.

Inside you"ll find a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 with 8GB of RAM and a larger 3,700 mAh battery. That battery size sounds small, but the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is a highly efficient chip. We can"t guarantee the Flip 4 will be an all-day phone for you, but at least battery life won"t be terrible like in previous Flips. The hinge is sturdier than ever, and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, like the Galaxy Z Flip 3, also features IPX8 water resistance.

The hinge"s ability to stay halfway folded in place -- which Samsung calls "Flex Mode" adds a whole slew of new use cases to the Galaxy Z Flip 4. For example, you can fold it in an L-shape, place it on a tabletop, and have a hands-free video calling or watching machine. Likewise, you can shoot time-lapses or long-exposure shots without needing a tripod or hold the phone up yourself.

And with a starting price of $999, the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is still the most affordable foldable phone that"s sold worldwide. The Galaxy Z Flip 3 was a huge hit and became semi-mainstream in wealthier, high-spending countries like the US, South Korea, and Singapore. The Galaxy Z Flip 4 should continue that trend.

Okay, so the Google Pixel 7 technically isn"t "stock" Android, because stock Android is the bare bones open-source Android (AOSP) usually seen in a few entry-level budget phones from obscure brands. Instead, the Pixel 7 runs a Google-modified version of Android 13, but because this is Android the way Google sees it, in our opinion, this makes this Pixel-ified experience is a far more important signifier of "how Android should be" than plain old stock Android.

And if you want that true Google Android experience, the Pixel 7 series are the phones to get. We listed the standard Pixel 7 here because we still think it"s the best Pixel phone for most people. The Pixel experience with the 7 series isn"t going to feel radically different for those who have already used the Pixel 6 series -- Android 13 with Material You is a refinement year than a major overhaul year.

The so-called "Material You" is Google"s way of making the Pixel Android experience feel more personal -- with your homescreen wallpaper and create a palette to color the system interface. Throughout the UI, there are whimsical Google touches, such as buttons of varying sizes and shapes.

Other than the excellent software, you"re getting an excellent phone too with the Pixel 7. The 6.4-inch, 1080 x 2400 OLED screen refreshes at 90Hz and looks great most of the time. The camera system here is among the very best point-and-shoot cameras around. On the Pixel 7, the 50MP sensor is backed by Google"s epic photo-processing algorithms that will find proper balance and dynamic range in every situation.

The Pixel 7 may not be the absolute most powerful phone around -- the Tensor G2 scores lower than the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 in many benchmarks -- but the software is smart and understands context better than any other phone. Add in a unique two-tone finish, and a really attractive price, and it"s hard to name anything else in this spot if you want the best phone running Google"s vision of Android. Of course, the Pixel 7 Pro and Pixel 6a will fit that need the same.

The Oppo Find X5 Pro is a highly polished premium flagship that can go toe to toe with the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra in almost every area except two: its zoom lens isn"t nearly as good, and it lacks a stylus. Otherwise, in all other areas, the OPPO Find X5 Pro either at least matches the Galaxy S22 Ultra or beats it. Let"s start with the display, the Find X5 Pro"s 6.7-inch, WQHD+ OLED panel is every bit as good as the Galaxy S22 Ultra"s screens: it uses the same LTPO 2.0 technology, it gets virtually as bright to the human eye, and color reproduction and viewing angles are all a virtual tie. Then there"s the processor, the Find X5 Pro packs the same Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip that"s powering the Galaxy S22 Ultra"s US/China/India versions; and the Find X5 Pro"s 50MP main camera can trade blows with the S22 Ultra"s main cameras in any condition.

As for areas in which the Find X5 Pro wins, there are objective wins like the Find X5 Pro having a noticeably superior ultra-wide camera. This is due to the fact that Oppo used the exact same Sony IMX sensor for both the wide and ultra-wide camera, and while there"s still a big of quality dropoff between the wide and ultra-wide lens, it is much smaller than in other phones. The Find X5 Pro also has a ceramic unibody design that many of us find very premium and comfortable to hold.

If you know that you don"t care about the stylus or being able to grab clean 10x zoom photos, and you either live somewhere in which this phone sells officially, the Find X5 Pro is an excellent alternative to the Galaxy S22 Ultra.

The Find X5 Pro can go toe-to-toe with the Galaxy S22 Ultra in almost every area, so if this phone is available in your region, it"s a great alternative to Samsung"s flagship.

If productivity is paramount, then two screens are obviously better than one, and right now the only dual-screen phone on the market that isn"t running on outdated hardware is the Microsoft Surface Duo 2. Bringing back the premise of the original, the Surface Duo 2 is essentially two screens attached by a very well-built 360-degree hinge. While the first model had a very mediocre single-camera setup, an outdated SoC (even at the time of shipping), and a small battery, the Surface Duo 2 improves on all three of these areas.

First, there"s a proper camera now, consisting of a 12MP, f/1.7 main, 16MP ultrawide, and a 12MP 2x telephoto zoom lens. Unfortunately, this also means the machine has a camera protrusion now, so the two screens cannot flip backward and stay flat as before.

Next, Microsoft put the Snapdragon 888 into the Surface Duo 2, which is still today the best SoC in Android. The original Duo shipped with Snapdragon 855 at a time when the 865 was already out. The battery capacity has also been increased to 4,449 mAh, which despite the two screens, can power the machine for a full 12-, 13-hour day on a single charge. The bezels around the screen have also shrunk a bit -- though they"re still sizable -- and the screen refresh rate has been bumped up to 90Hz. So in terms of hardware, the Surface Duo 2 is an improvement in every way.

When the Surface Duo 2 works as intended, this thing is a multitasker"s dream: run two apps at the same time on separate screens, or stretch one app across two screens to see more content. Or fold the phone halfway and watch videos or take video calls hands-free. Another usage I enjoy is holding the phone "sideways," and using the bottom screen to display a keyboard while the top screen is showing Google Docs or WhatsApp. It reminds me of old-school clam-shell PDAs. The possibilities aren"t quite endless -- but there are many of them.

However, the Surface Duo 2 still suffers from some of the software bugs that plagued the first Duo, including slow reactions to switching orientations or one screen freezing a bit while the other screen remains active. The bugs don"t happen as frequently as on the original Duo, but it"s still noticeable at least once or twice a day if it is your main phone. There"s no sugar-coating this: the Microsoft Surface Duo 2 is a bit rough around the edges. But still, if multitasking on a mobile device is your number one goal, it"s hard to top what this phone can do.

The Microsoft Surface Duo 2 brings much improved hardware and slightly improved software over the first generation. The result is a dual-screen phone that can more than most phones.

If we must pick the best overall phone here, it"d be the Galaxy S22 Ultra. But the Google Pixel 7 being several hundred dollars cheaper makes it very, very appealing. For those who don"t mind importing, the OPPO Find X5 Pro rivals the Galaxy S22 Ultra in many areas (and wins in some). But ultimately, if you have money to spend though, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is still the ultimate do-it-all device.

In recent years, smartphone displays have developed far more acronyms than ever before with each different one featuring a different kind of technology. AMOLED, LCD, LED, IPS, TFT, PLS, LTPS, LTPO...the list continues to grow.

As if the different available technologies weren"t enough, component and smartphone manufacturers adopt more and more glorified names like "Super Retina XDR" and "Dynamic AMOLED", which end up increasing the potential for confusion among consumers. So let"s take a look at some of these terms used in smartphone specification sheets and decipher them.

There are many display types used in smartphones: LCD, OLED, AMOLED, Super AMOLED, TFT, IPS and a few others that are less frequently found on smartphones nowadays, like TFT-LCD. One of the most frequently found on mid-to-high range phones now is IPS-LCD. But what do these all mean?

LCD means Liquid Crystal Display, and its name refers to the array of liquid crystals illuminated by a backlight, and their ubiquity and relatively low cost make them a popular choice for smartphones and many other devices.

LCDs also tend to perform quite well in direct sunlight, as the entire display is illuminated from behind, but does suffer from potentially less accurate colour representation than displays that don"t require a backlight.

Within smartphones, you have both TFT and IPS displays. TFT stands for Thin Film Transistor, an advanced version of LCD that uses an active matrix (like the AM in AMOLED). Active matrix means that each pixel is attached to a transistor and capacitor individually.

The main advantage of TFT is its relatively low production cost and increased contrast when compared to traditional LCDs. The disadvantage of TFT LCDs is higher energy demands than some other LCDs, less impressive viewing angles and colour reproduction. It"s for these reasons, and falling costs of alternative options, that TFTs are not commonly used in smartphones anymore.Affiliate offer

IPS technology (In-Plane Switching) solves the problem that the first generation of LCD displays experience, which adopts the TN (Twisted Nematic) technique: where colour distortion occurs when you view the display from the side - an effect that continues to crop up on cheaper smartphones and tablets.

The PLS (Plane to Line Switching) standard uses an acronym that is very similar to that of IPS, and is it any wonder that its basic operation is also similar in nature? The technology, developed by Samsung Display, has the same characteristics as IPS displays - good colour reproduction and viewing angles, but a lower contrast level compared to OLED and LCD/VA displays.

This is a very common question after "LED" TVs were launched, with the short answer simply being LCD. The technology used in a LED display is liquid crystal, the difference being LEDs generating the backlight.

One of the highlights from TV makers at the CES 2021 tradeshow, mini-LED technology seemed far removed from mobile devices until Apple announced the 2021 iPad Pro. As the name implies, the technique is based on the miniaturization of the LEDs that form the backlight of the screen — which still uses an LCD panel.

Despite the improvement in terms of contrast (and potentially brightness) over traditional LCD/LED displays, LCD/mini-LEDs still divide the screen into brightness zones — over 2,500 in the case of the iPad and 2021 "QNED" TVs from LG — compared to dozens or hundreds of zones in previous-generation FALD (full-array local dimming) displays, on which the LEDs are behind the LCD panel instead of the edges.

However, for even greater contrast control, done individually at each point on the screen, it is necessary to go to panels equipped with microLED technologies – still cost-prohibitive in 2021 – or OLED, which until recently were manufactured on a large scale only in sizes for smartphones or televisions.Affiliate offer

AMOLED stands for Active Matrix Organic Light-Emitting Diode. While this may sound complicated it actually isn"t. We already encountered the active matrix in TFT LCD technology, and OLED is simply a term for another thin-film display technology.

OLED is an organic material that, as the name implies, emits light when a current is passed through it. As opposed to LCD panels, which are back-lit, OLED displays are "always off" unless the individual pixels are electrified.

This means that OLED displays have much purer blacks and consume less energy when black or darker colours are displayed on-screen. However, lighter-coloured themes on AMOLED screens use considerably more power than an LCD using the same theme. OLED screens are also more expensive to produce than LCDs.

Because the black pixels are "off" in an OLED display, the contrast ratios are also higher compared to LCD screens. AMOLED displays have a very fast refresh rate too, but on the downside are not quite as visible in direct sunlight as backlit LCDs. Screen burn-in and diode degradation (because they are organic) are other factors to consider.Affiliate offer

OLED stands for Organic Light Emitting Diode. An OLED display is comprised of thin sheets of electroluminescent material, the main benefit of which is they produce their own light, and so don"t require a backlight, cutting down on energy requirements. OLED displays are more commonly referred to as AMOLED displays when used on smartphones or TVs.

As we"ve already covered, the AM part of AMOLED stands for Active Matrix, which is different from a Passive Matrix OLED (P-OLED), though these are less common in smartphones.

Super AMOLED is the name given by Samsung to its displays that used to only be found in high-end models but have now trickled down to more modestly specced devices. Like IPS LCDs, Super AMOLED improves upon the basic AMOLED premise by integrating the touch response layer into the display itself, rather than as an extra layer on top.

As a result, Super AMOLED displays handle sunlight better than AMOLED displays and also require less power. As the name implies, Super AMOLED is simply a better version of AMOLED. It"s not all just marketing bluster either: Samsung"s displays are regularly reviewed as some of the best around.

The latest evolution of the technology has been christened "Dynamic AMOLED". Samsung didn"t go into detail about what the term means, but highlighted that panels with such identification include HDR10+ certification that supports a wider range of contrast and colours, as well as blue light reduction for improved visual comfort.

In the same vein, the term "Fluid AMOLED" used by OnePlus on its most advanced devices basically highlights the high refresh rates employed, which results in more fluid animations on the screen.Affiliate offer

The technology debuted with the obscure Royole FlexPai, equipped with an OLED panel supplied by China"s BOE, and was then used in the Huawei Mate X (pictured above) and the Motorola Razr (2019), where both also sport BOE"s panel - and the Galaxy Flip and Fold lines, using the component supplied by Samsung Display.Affiliate offer

Resolution describes the number of individual pixels (or points) displayed on the screen and is usually presented for phones by the number of horizontal pixels — vertical when referring to TVs and monitors. More pixels on the same display allow for more detailed images and clearer text.

To make it easier to compare different models, brands usually adopt the same naming scheme made popular by the TV market with terms like HD, FullHD and UltraHD. But with phones adopting a wide range of different screen proportions, just knowing that is not enough to know the total pixels displayed on the screen.Common phone resolutions

Speaking of pixel density, this was one of Apple"s highlights back in 2010 during the launch of the iPhone 4. The company christened the LCD screen (LED, TFT, and IPS) used in the smartphone as "Retina Display", thanks to the high resolution of the panel used (960 by 640 pixels back then) in its 3.5-inch display.

The name coined by Apple"s marketing department is applied to screens which, according to the company, the human eye is unable to discern the individual pixels from a normal viewing distance. In the case of iPhones, the term was applied to displays with a pixel density that is greater than 300 ppi (dots per inch).

Since then, other manufacturers have followed suit, adopting panels with increasingly higher resolutions. While the iPhone 12 mini offers 476 dpi, models like Sony Xperia 1 boast a whopping 643 dpi.

With the iPhone 11 Pro, another term was introduced to the equation: "Super Retina XDR". Still using an OLED panel (that is supplied by Samsung Display or LG Display), the smartphone brings even higher specs in terms of contrast - with a 2,000,000:1 ratio and brightness level of 1,200 nits, which have been specially optimized for displaying content in HDR format.

As a kind of consolation prize for iPhone XR and iPhone 11 buyers, who continued relying on LCD panels, Apple classified the display used in the smartphones with a new term, "Liquid Retina". This was later applied also to the iPad Pro and iPad Air models, with the name defining screens that boast a high range and colour accuracy, at least based on the company"s standards.

Nit, or candela per square meter in the international system (cd/m²), is a unit of measurement of luminance, i.e. the intensity of light emitted. In the case of smartphone screens and monitors in general, such a value defines just how bright the display is - the higher the value, the more intense the light emitted by the screen.

The result is smoother animations on the phone, both during regular use and in games, compared to screens that have a 60 Hz refresh rate which remains the standard rate in the market when it comes to displays.

Originally touted to be a "gimmick" in 2017, with the launch of the Razer Phone, the feature gained more and more momentum in due time, even with a corresponding decrease in battery life. In order to make the most of this feature, manufacturers began to adopt screens with variable refresh rates, which can be adjusted according to the content displayed - which is 24 fps in most movies, 30 or 60 fps in home video recordings, and so forth.

The same unit of measurement is used for the sampling rate. Although similar, the value here represents the number of times per second the screen is able to register touches. The higher the sample rate, the faster the smartphone registers such touches, which results in a faster response time.

To further muddy the alphabet soup that we"ve come across, you will also run into other less common terms that are often highlighted in promotional materials for smartphones.

TFT(Thin Film Transistor) - a type of LCD display that adopts a thin semiconductor layer deposited on the panel, which allows for active control of the colour intensity in each pixel, featuring a similar concept as that of active-matrix (AM) used in AMOLED displays. It is used in TN, IPS/PLS, VA/PVA/MVA panels, etc.

LTPS(Low Temperature PolySilicon) - a variation of the TFT that offers higher resolutions and lower power consumption compared to traditional TFT screens, based on a-Si (amorphous silicon) technology.

IGZO(Indium Gallium Zinc Oxide) - a semiconductor material used in TFT films, which also allows higher resolutions and lower power consumption, and sees action in different types of LCD screens (TN, IPS, VA) and OLED displays

LTPO(Low Temperature Polycrystaline Oxide) - a technology developed by Apple that can be used in both OLED and LCD displays, as it combines LTPS and IGZO techniques. The result? Lower power consumption. It has been used in the Apple Watch 4 and the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

LTPO allows the display to adjust its refresh rate, adapting dynamically to the content shown. Scrolling pages can trigger the fastest mode for a fluid viewing, while displaying a static image allows the phone to use a lower refresh rate, saving the battery.

In 2022, flagship phones started using the so-called LTPO 2.0 tech, whose main advantage is being able to go down to a 1 Hz refresh rate, instead of the 10 Hz available in first-generation LTPO panels. Found in phones like the OnePlus 10 Pro and the Galaxy S22 Ultra, LTPO 2.0 promises even further energy savings.

Among televisions, the long-standing featured technology has always been miniLED - which consists of increasing the number of lighting zones in the backlight while still using an LCD panel. There are whispers going around that smartphones and smartwatches will be looking at incorporating microLED technology in their devices soon, with it being radically different from LCD/LED displays as it sports similar image characteristics to that of OLEDs.

A microLED display has one light-emitting diode for each subpixel of the screen - usually a set of red, green, and blue diodes for each dot. Chances are it will use a kind of inorganic material such as gallium nitride (GaN).

By adopting a self-emitting light technology, microLED displays do not require the use of a backlight, with each pixel being "turned off" individually. The result is impressive: your eyes see the same level of contrast as OLED displays, without suffering from the risk of image retention or burn-in of organic diodes.

This is one of the reasons that explain the adoption of such technology to date remains rather limited in scope. You will see them mainly in large screens of 75 to 150 inches only, which enable 4K resolution (3,840 x 2,160 resolution, which is close to 8.3 million pixels or 24.8 million RGB subpixels). This is a huge number of pixels to look at!

Each technology has its own advantages and disadvantages but in recent years, OLED screens have gained prominence, especially with the adoption of the component in high-end flagship smartphones. It gained an even greater degree of popularity after the launch of the iPhone X, which cemented the position of OLED panels in the premium segment.

As previously stated, OLED/AMOLED screens have the advantage of a varied contrast level, resulting from individual brightness control for the pixels. Another result of this is the more realistic reproduction of black, as well as low power consumption when the screen shows off dark images - which has also helped to popularize dark modes on smartphones.

In addition, the organic diodes that give OLED screens their name can lose their ability to change their properties over time, and this happens when the same image is displayed for a long period of time. This problem is known as "burn-in", tends to manifest itself when higher brightness settings are applied for long periods of time.

While that is a very real possibility, it is not something that affects most users, who often confuse burn-in with a similar problem - image retention, which is temporary and usually resolves itself after a few minutes.

In the case of LCD displays, the main advantage lies in the low manufacturing cost, with dozens of players in the market offering competitive pricing and a high production volume. Some brands have taken advantage of this feature to prioritize certain features - such as a higher refresh rate - instead of adopting an OLED panel, such as the Xiaomi Mi 10T.

In recent years OLED technology has emerged as the leading smartphone display technology, and the world"s most popular phone vendors are all shipping AMOLED smartphones.

In 2018, over 500 million AMOLED screens were produced - mostly to satisfy demand from mobile phones vendors. The smartphone OLED 2018 market was led by Samsung, whohas been using AMOLEDs in its high-end phones for many years, followed by Apple, LG, Xiaomi, Huawei and others. Samsung is branding its smartphone OLED displays as Super AMOLED display.

Most premium phones today adopt flexible OLED displays. Apple for example is using a flexible 5.8" 1125x2436 OLED (made by SDC) in its 2018 iPhone XS (the iPhone XS Max sports a larger 6.5" 1242x2688 flexible AMOLED). Display experts say that the iPhone XS Display is the world"s best smartphone display.

Most display experts and consumers agree that OLED displays are the world"s best smartphone displays. The best smartphone OLED displays are the Super AMOLED displays produced by Samsung Display, but other OLED producers (such as LG and BOE Display) are also producing high quality OLEDs.