10 best Smartphones in the World today (2015)

Competition among smartphones remains in the area of capability of the OS platform and processor speed, as well as quality and power of display – clarity and color range – although many other features such as storage capacity remains critical. Most phones in 2015, it appears will now employ Android 5.0 platform and above, and the norm could turn to usage of hexa and octa-core processors.

However, many companies will choose to remain innovative by adding rare features, thus straying from what we would call standard features. An example is companies trying to have their own OS, although Android remains the leader. However. gone are the days of small displays lesser than 5.0 inch and without support of total of 128GB storage memory, and 3GB OF RAM is becoming common. But still, some phones retain micro-SD card slots while others choose to abstain. Here are the best smartphones for 2015.

In addition to running on Android OS, v5.0.2 (Lollipop), Samsung has used the Quad-core 1.5 GHz Cortex-A53 and Quad-core 2.1 GHz Cortex-A57 processors. A lot more features have been improved compared to last year’s model and without compromising the talk time of the battery (the current one manages 17 h (3G)). It is only 6.8mm thick and has edged out the iPhone 6 at 6.9mm. The device beats many others in terms of weight at 138 g and measures 5.65 x 2.78 x 0.27 inches.

The exterior of the phone is no longer plastic; Samsung manages glitzy, shimmering appearance on the newest design; with both the front and rear having a Gorilla Glass 4 (TouchWiz overlay) on top of a colored metal. The phone comes with an improved rear camera of 16MP and the front camera is 5MP, with a wider f/1.9 aperture of the rear camera that makes it better in capturing moments exclusively. The resolution is also considerable at 1440 x 2560 pixels, although other models have managed a higher one. In respect to storage, the phone allows for addition of up to 128GB of internal storage (16GB and 64GB as other options) and has a 3 GB RAM. Its 5.1 inch QHD display is also unusually curved and regarded as sharpest in the market.

LG released their latest Smartphone (LG G4) April this year like the Samsung’s Galaxy 6. It is excellent because it runs on an Android 5.1, but more because it has a 1.8GHz hexa-core processor (hexa-core Snapdragon 808 processor). LG has already said that use of the hexa core processor will see increased battery life (25%) when compared to LG G3. It beats many other phones such as iPhone 6 and 6 plus in regard to quality of display, which LG argues that it has not been applied anywhere – it’s 5.5inch curved IPS screen with a resolution of 560 x 1440 pixels and density of 538ppi. It is brighter than many phones (25% brighter than LG G3) and has a wider color range (over 6 on both the metallic and leather designs). Although the phone is a little larger than its competitors such as Galaxy S6 and HTC, it is smaller than iPhone 6 Plus. It weighs 152g and is 5.86 x 3.00 x 0.39 inches in size. In regard to camera, the phone has a 16MP rear and 8MP front camera, which is not bad considering it can take brighter images at a better focus because of f/1.8 aperture and a 1/2.6-inch image sensor.

The design offers a wide range of colors to choose from: the real leather-on-a-plastic back also feels good and comfortable on hands. The metal version has a "dented" diamond pattern on the back. However, the look is not as good as is with many other models. It has an internal memory of 32GB and a 3GB of RAM. The microSD Card slot can allow memory extension upto 2TB.

Apple has managed one of the thinnest (6.9mm) and sleekest smartphones around. The design is a plastic but the back is sleek and the phone is flatter. It is 5.44 x 2.64 x 0.27 inches (38.1 x 67 x 6.9 mm in size). The battery life is not as good as the iPhone 6 Plus’ while its display is also smaller at 4.7-inch compared to 5.5-inch display of iPhone 6 Plus. Other features include a high resolution of 1,334x750 IPS, 1GB RAM, 16GB (with 64GB or 128 GB options) and memory capability to 128GB without a microSD slot. The phone runs on an Android 5.0 Lollipop, iOS 8 Operating System and uses the latest 1.39GHz Apple A8 processors. Apple have used the new 8-megapixel iSight camera (their best) with 1.5µ pixels and ƒ/2.2 aperture.

And with iPhone 6 giving LTE support, you can connect to the internet and download at ultrafast speeds ranging up to 150Mbps. The phone also supports Voice over LTE (VoLTE) meaning you can continue browsing while making a call and call transitions also work seamlessly from WiFi to VoLTE without any disturbance.

The device has a 2GHz octa-core Qualcomm Snapdragon 810 chipset, which is high compared to even the best models out there. Indeed, it allows a good play of demanding games and image editing software. The battery is also competitive at 2,840mAh, but not as good as LG G4’s. What’s worse? The battery is not removable. One of the powerful features about the HTC though, is the camera, which is 20 MP (rear) and a 4 MP UltraPixel front camera. The rear camera has a ƒ/2.2 sensor comparable to iPhone 6.

The HTC One M9 measures 5.69 x 2.74 x 0.37 inches, which is great compared to iPhone 6, LG G4 and 6 Plus. Unfortunately, it is much heavier at 157g, than LG G4, iPhone 6 and Galaxy S6. The all-metal body comes with a rounded back. The body is traversed with rounded and inset plastic lines at the bottom and below. It can allow memory extension upto 128 GB via microSD and has a 3GB of RAM. The internal memory is 32GB. The 5 inch display manages a 1,920x1,080 pixels resolution, better than the iPhone 6. HTC have used an Android 5.0 Lollipop platform which makes it compete with many devices out there.

LG chose to retain most of the features on this phone on their latest LG G4 probably because they still come in handy for a modern phone. For instance, the 5.5 inch screen is still 2560 x 1440 pixels at 538 ppi in resolution, although LG now uses the IPS display not QHD. The phone even beats LG G4 and HTC One M9 in weight at 149 grams. It is 5.76 x 2.94 x 0.35 in size and offers Gold, Black and White color ranges. Customers can choose the 2GB internal RAM or 3GB and external memory can be extended to 128GB via microSD slot. The metallic body built device incorporates a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm Quad-core Snapdragon 801 processor. The camera is 13MP on the rear and 2.1 MP in front.

In comparison, the phone is shorter and narrower than the iPhone 6 plus, but thicker. It measures 153.5 x 78.6 x 8.5mm and weighs 176 g. It carries a 5.7inch Super AMOLED screen that manages 2,560 x 1,440 pixels (515 ppi), which is competitive in comparison to many devices out there.

It has a 16MP rear camera (with f/2.2 and LED flash), 3.7MP front camera, and a more powerful battery (3220mAh battery) compared to devices like LG G4 and Galaxy S6. Like most of the devices, the memory can be extended to 128 GB, in addition to the 32 GB internal memory. The phone uses an Android 4.4.4, TouchWiz UI and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 or the Samsung Exynos 5433.

Samsung uses a 16-megapixel camera on the rear and 3.7MP on the front. The latter has a f/1.9 lens. Although the camera is not one of the best offerings in the market, it is powerful with a Senior Selfie Editor so those who like taking a lot of selfies can choose the phone. In comparison to the Note 4, the Edge adds 160 rows of pixels on the 5.6-inch Quad-HD+ display - that is what the plus sign means here. The resolution of the screen is 1600 x 2560 pixels. The 3GB of RAM offers better multitasking on a quad-core Snapdragon 805 processor and the battery (3,000mAh cell) life manages under 10 hours of video looping. It comes with two choices in regard to internal memory (64GB or 32GB) and has a micro-SD extension. It uses the Android 4.4.4 KitKat, measures 5.96 x 3.24 x 0.33 inches and weighs 174 g which is lesser compared to the Note 4 but more than LG G4 and One M9.

Motorola uses an Android 4.4 platform. The phone has a 4.5inch 720p IPS display. Customers can choose between 8GB or 16GB internal memory while no extension of memory via microSD is available. The phone affords 4G connectivity, is 5.57 x 2.78 x 0.43 inches in size and weighs 143g. The phone uses a 1.2GHz Qualcomm Quad-core Snapdragon 400 processor, which is slower compared to many phones. The resolution is 1,280x720 pixel, and the device has a 5MP rear camera. Motorola G Owners could avail 50GB extra Google Drive Storage for 2 years over the standard available 15GB Google Drive Storage Volume under a promotion that ended in December last year.

Samsung Galaxy S5 compares favorably with Galaxy S6 in size since it is 5.59 x 2.85 x 0.32 in, although it is way much heavier at 145g than many other phones out there. It has a 5.1-inch, 1920 x 1080 pixels (432 ppi), Super AMOLED panel and thus the resolution is lower than that of S6 and LG G4, even G3. When considering other models, the Galaxy S5 competes fairly with a 2.5GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 801 chipset. However, it compromises on the RAM (has a 2 GB RAM). It comes with a plastic waterproof casing that appears like leather. It has a TouchWiz UI overlay, and offers wider color range in design (Shimmer White, Charcoal Black, Electric Blue, and Copper Gold ).

The rear camera is comparable to that of LG G4 at 16MP, but the front camera is only 2MP, which is only comparable to LG G3. However, it has a F2.2 sensor. The Samsung Galaxy S6 will manage better color and sharper clearer image than this phone, and will be more faster on camera. The battery is 2,800mAh (manages 10 hours of video playback), RAM is 2GB, internal memory is 32GB or 16GB, which can be extended to 128GB via slot. It can also monitor the heart rate and fingerprints or gesture through its Sensor. It also has a f/2.2 aperture and 1/2.6-inch image sensor.

The phone comes with a curved edge water-dust resistant and translucent plastic chassis, but the 4.6in display is a let down. The Triluminos LCD with 16.7 million colors manages a resolution of 720 x 1,280 pixels, which is much lower compared to many devices out there, but it gives sharp images like the iPhone 6’S 327 ppi, thanks to the 319 ppi density. The phone can stay for 30 minutes in 1 meter depth of water. It runs on a quad-core 2.5GHz Qualcomm Quad-core Snapdragon 801. The front has a "shatterproof glass" while the back has a glossy flat appearance.

The phone weighs only 129g and competes fairly with many other smartphones, being a bit smaller in size than the iPhone 6. It also allows an extension of memory to 128GB and comes with a 2GB of RAM (which is a bit lower than many other phones out there) and has a 16GB of internal storage. The battery unit is 2,600mAh compared to 3000MAh for LG G3. This makes it stand for about 24 hours of mixed use. In addition to the 1/2.3in sensor, the 20.7MP rear camera has a 1/8th speed slow-motion mode like the iPhone 6. It runs on an Android 5.0 Lollipop.