The best phone of 2017 according to my views and usage testing a wide range of flagships, budgets and medium priced phones. 

The answer is not quite straight forward and here’s why.

The problem with the top end flagship is often design. Made with materials to make the phone look gorgeous but ultimately with poor grip meaning a case is a must have. The other problem is QHD or 4K screens and still with a 3,000mAh battery.  I have used the Lenovo P2 and recently the Asus Zenfone 3 Zoom both of which have 5,000mAh batteries or more. Once you have experienced a battery of this capacity that lasts 2 days, you realise how much you have become a victim to constant charging of your phone. 

Now if you have a big battery you need quick charging. Really fast charging if possible. Qi wireless charging is a bonus if included. But if you have a monster sized battery the need for wireless charging is negated. 

Cameras.  The best phone of 2017 needs the photo quality of shots from the iPhone 7 and Samsung S8.  Plus HDR quality of the Google Pixel. The phone camera needs ultra fast focusing of the Samsung S8. The microphones need to be as good as those from the S8 and have auto focusing front facing camera with OIS and one that can record QHD stereo. Then the camera needs the optical zoom and portrait mode of the iPhone 7 Plus, the monochrome lens from the Huawei P10 Plus and the wide angle lens of the LG G6.  In terms of the default camera app, this needs to be a cross of the Samsung S8 and Huawei P10 Plus. It needs to include all the manual controls at your fingertips but the simplicity of working every time perfectly in auto. The camera app needs to include the special light painting and wide exposure modes of the Huawei camera app. 

When it comes to audio the best phone of 2017 needs the quad dac from the LG G6 along with its Bluetooth stack and aptx HD. The headphone jack needs to remain. Stereo speakers with the minimum quality of the iPhone 7 Plus but ideally at the level of the HTC U 11. 

When it comes to screens this is a one horse race. The phone needs a panel from the Samsung S8. So than means a phone with a 6 inch screen with minimal bezels meaning it’s a big as 5 inch phone from several years ago. 

In terms of durability this needs to be at the level of the LG G6. IP68 dust and water resistant along with a MIL spec for drop resistance. 

Finally the crucial aspect of any phone is the software and processor. A phone needs the processor from the latest iPhone. Powerful yet efficient. In terms of software, it needs to run a merging of iOS and Google android. iOS needs the google assistant merged with Siri. The Apple cloud services replaced with the Google cloud including Google Photos. 

So summarising the best phone of 2017 will have 3 lenses, normal, wide and optical zoom, a 5,000 mah battery, stereo speakers, a headphone jack, 32 bit audio with a built in headphone amp, hi res Bluetooth, an amoled  screen with minimal bezels , running andriOS, a great camera app and be durable against dust, water and accidental drops. Not much to ask for is it 🙂

Improvements for 2018 that I would like to see is a phone that can have one camera lens that merges all 3 options and wireless charging that works without having to place the phone on a pad. 

So what would be your best phone ?