Hot Five: The Best Smartphones of Summer 2018

If you look closer, then Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite will be the European twin brother of the smartphone Xiaomi Redmi 6 Pro 32 GB / 3 GB . The main difference between them is the “pure” Android in A2 Lite instead of the usual MIUI shell for Xiaomi. In fact, this means that you will receive updates in a timely manner, and the smartphone itself will work more smoothly, since the system will not have dozens of unnecessary applications that the manufacturer has sewn.

The Mi A2 Lite has a 5.84-inch IPS display with Full HD resolution (2280x1080 pixels). The aspect ratio is now fashionable 19:9 with the already familiar notch on top. The screen is "frameless" and occupies most of the facade of the smartphone, covering the plastic sides and back. Xiaomi decided to abandon the aluminium case.

The performance of the Mi A2 Lite is powered by the older but still powerful Snapdragon 625 processor that Xiaomi likes to use in its entry/mid-range smartphones. This is still a good option in terms of price-quality ratio, and it allowed to reduce the final price of the device. Helping the "dragon" 4 GB of RAM and a 64 GB flash drive.

One of the strongest points of the smartphone is its 4000 mAh battery. For comparison, even the older model Xiaomi Mi A2 64 GB / 4 GB costs a 3010 mAh battery.

According to Xiaomi, this capacity is enough for 6 hours of Full HD video viewing or 6 hours of gaming. However, these figures should not be taken literally, as they depend on both graphic settings and screen brightness. As a nice bonus — support for fast charging Quick Charge 3.0.

The fact that Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite is designed for the mass user, its equipment speaks loudest of all. For example, there is a good old 3.5 mm headphone output, which Apple is persistently trying to get rid of. The smartphone itself works with microUSB, not USB-C, which is now fashionable. There is no NFC chip either, so Xiaomi Mi A2 Lite is not the best option, if you plan to use a smartphone for contactless payments, pay attention to the new state employee Huawei Y6 Prime 2018 or the once flagship LG G3.

Asus has only 1% of the smartphone market and is not very successful in this business. Zenfone Max Pro M1 may not be a breakthrough, but it will definitely take its place in the sun. The main reason for its success is the combination of the Snapdragon 636 octa-core processor and the Adreno 509 graphics core.

Usually, 8 cores are a luxury for inexpensive smartphones, and such a combination with a GPU is rarely seen in new smartphones under $300. What can I say if the same iron is in the recent Zenfone 5, which is in a different weight category.

Another strong point of the smartphone is a capacious 5000 mAh battery, which, according to the manufacturer, is enough for 200 hours of music and 25 hours of Full HD video viewing. We will not undertake to confirm these figures, but the battery is really powerful. Most smartphones in this category are equipped with 3000 mAh batteries.

Despite this, the case turned out to be quite thin and light — only 8.5 mm thick with 180 grams of weight. But the appearance turned out to be somewhat old-fashioned. Perhaps we are too accustomed to smartphones with notches? Almost the entire “face” of the Zenfone Max Pro M1 is occupied by a 6-inch display with an aspect ratio of 18:9 and a resolution of Full HD + (2160x1080 pixels). As for the screen, there are not enough stars from the sky: the brightness margin is good, the colour reproduction is not perfect, but by the standards of the low-cost class it is quite good.

The screen is covered with a protective glass with a 2.5D effect. The design can hardly be called “frameless”, since the frames are rather plump at the top and bottom. Moreover, there are no buttons or a fingerprint scanner on the bottom panel, and it is not used at all.

ZenFone Max Pro M1 is equipped with a standard bundle of microUSB port and 3.5mm audio output. There is NFC for contactless payments, which greatly expands the functionality of the smartphone. In general, if you love mobile games and are looking for the best price-performance ratio, then be sure to consider the Max Pro M1 candidacy — there is a chance that it will become a "people's" smartphone.

Huawei's Nova series is an attempt to build bridges between a flagship smartphone Huawei P20 64 GB and almost a flagship Honor 10 64 GB / 4 GB . A kind of Tottenham among smartphones. The Nova 3i is built from glass and metal, knows a couple of tricks from its older brothers, and features two AI-enabled dual cameras. And at the same time it costs 2 times less than the top Huawei P20 64 GB .

Like all new Huawei smartphones, Nova 3i is based on the proprietary Kirin 710 processor. Its feature is a separate “smart” image processing unit that helps to better recognize the scene for photography and set the optimal shooting parameters.

In terms of power, Kirin 710 is a direct competitor to the processor of the new near-top Snapdragon 710 and shows similar results in synthetic tests. Kirin 710 includes four powerful cores at 2.2GHz and four smaller cores at 1.7GHz. The power reserve, though not the maximum, but more than serious.

The Nova 3i really kicks ass when it comes to gaming. Huawei claims that the power of the Mali-G51 GPU has increased by 130% compared to the 2017 models. At the same time, an additional 50% of the power is promised by GPU Turbo technology, which optimizes graphics processing using AI. This is definitely worth paying attention to fans of "tanks" and other heavy toys.

As for the screen, the Nova 3i has a large 6.3-inch display (2340x1080 pixels), which can be a barrier for those who don't like too big smartphones. From previous models of Huawei (and, of course, Apple iPhone X 64 GB ), the smartphone got a notch cutout.

And don't forget the dual cameras. The main and front cameras have two modules each. The first camera consists of a 16 MP main module and a 2 MP secondary module for blurring the background. The front camera is also dual at 24 MP + 2 MP, which is a rarity for smartphones of this class. When it comes to selfies, the Nova 3i performs very well.

The 6.1 Plus is Nokia's new bezel-less smartphone and is part of the growing Android One programme. His philosophy is to clean up Android from unnecessary applications and settings stuffed with proprietary smartphone shells. This approach fits in perfectly with Nokia's current philosophy of fast updates and a strict approach to security.

The Nokia 6.1 Plus features a 5.8-inch Full HD+ (2280x1080 pixels) display with a 19:9 aspect ratio. The screen is covered with 2.5D Gorilla Glass 3, which gives the smartphone a soft, streamlined shape. There is also a fingerprint scanner on the rear glass panel. Like most devices with a monobrow, Nokia 6.1 Plus is frameless according to the passport.

The eight-core Snapdragon 636 is responsible for the speed of the smartphone, which, according to Qualcomm's idea, will play the role of a processor for "Pro versions" in low-cost smartphones. Together with the Adreno 509 GPU, they make up a fairly performant bunch, which is enough for most everyday tasks and games.

From other hardware 6.1 Plus is equipped with 4 GB of RAM and 32 GB of internal storage. Supports microSD cards up to 400 GB. The card slot is hybrid — that is, either SIM + SD card, or 2 SIM cards.

The Nokia 6.1 Plus has a standard 3060 mAh battery that supports fast charging. Via USB With half of the battery charge is gained in approximately 30-40 minutes. The only issue with equipping the smartphone is the lack of NFC, which can hardly be called an overkill for a $300 smartphone.

The Galaxy Note9 is the most powerful and expensive smartphone among Samsung's gigantic range of smartphones. He is the first who was not afraid to throw a glove in the direction of the iPhone and one of the few who are gradually winning back the popularity of the "apple".

In the case of the “nine”, Samsung did not break what works, but simply finalized and improved the previous model. As in the "eight", the back side of the glass is neatly rounded at the edges and crashes into the metal frame with almost no gap. And the screen tends to take up almost all the free space: according to official figures, it occupies almost 85% of the front panel.

The S-AMOLED class screen migrated here from recent flagships Samsung Galaxy S9 64 GB / 4 GB . Compared to Note8, it has grown a little — up to 6.4". The standard screen resolution is 2960x1440 pixels, but recently Samsung has taken the step unprecedented for smartphones and allowed to change it in the settings. For example, the maximum resolution looks great when working with the DeX dock, and the low one, in which case, saves battery power.

Traditionally, a fingerprint scanner is hidden on the back of the case near the camera. Alternatively, there is an unlock feature using an iris scanner. The process is more complicated and takes longer as the scanner needs to "see" the eyes, but generally works fine.

One of the main reasons for pride is the brand new Exynos 9810 processor with support for artificial intelligence (AI). It consists of four cores at 2.7 GHz, four more at 1.8 GHz, as well as an ARM Mali-G72 MP18 GPU. In synthetic tests, it shows results approximately on par with Snapdragon 845. Simply put, this is one of the most powerful processors on the market, and it’s even hard to say how many years it will stop pulling games and heavy applications. And although infinity is not the limit, 8 GB of RAM will also be enough for many years to come.

When a new flagship of the Galaxy series enters the market, it almost always sets records in terms of camera performance. So it was with Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus 64 GB , which scored 99 on Dxomark's authority rating. History repeats itself with the Note9, which got the Galaxy S9 camera with new features like Dual Aperture and Super Slow-Mo, but with a number of technical improvements.

If you often use a stylus on duty, then we have great news: the proprietary S Pen has been updated beyond recognition and has learned to play the role of a Bluetooth controller. For example, control the shutter timer and music playback.