Here Are the Best Smartphones from the First Half of 2019

Reno 10x zoom is currently the most popular Oppo flagship and it is the first phone to come with the revolutionary 10x hybrid zoom, an amazing proprietary technology showcased for the first time a few months ago. The phone is equipped with a periscopic sensor which is able to zoom up to 10x with minimal loss in detail. The 10x hybrid zoom technology combines 5x optical zoom and digital zoom in order to obtain the satisfying results that we all have seen in Oppo Reno 10x zoom’s camera samples. The handset is also equipped with a wide 6.6-inch display, a huge 4065 mAh, and the best chipset by Qualcomm: the octa-core Snapdragon 855 running at a max frequency of 2.84 GHz. Last but not least, it has a revolutionary bezel-less design with a shark fin pop-up camera.

With the P30 Pro, Huawei totally reinvented the world of photography on mobile devices. This flagship is not only equipped with a quad camera setup, but it totally redefines the RGB paradigm by replacing the green color with yellow (RYYB). Thanks to this solution, the P30 Pro is able to capture a huge amount of light in order to shoot incredibly bright photos even in very low light conditions. Just in case it was not enough, Huawei P30 Pro also features 5x optical zoom which pushes the digital zoom up to 50x. Another advantage of the Huawei P30 Pro is the huge 4200 mAh battery which even supports reverse wireless charging (it can be used as a power bank to charge other devices).

The Galaxy S10 5G is the first Samsung’s device to support 5G connectivity, but it is also one of the most powerful beasts in today’s market. It has a huge 6.7-inch display with stunning quality, in my opinion, the best display you can see on a phone in terms of image quality. It comes with a 5G modem (a multi-mode modem in the European version, supporting 4G too) and one of the biggest battery you can find on a flagship phone (4500 mAh) with the support for reverse wireless charging. Alongside all these beautiful things, there is also an amazing camera department with the most amazing selfie camera I personally have ever seen on a mobile phone and a variable focal aperture for the rear camera which helps to capture good photos in low light.

Another device which deserves a honourable mention in this list is the Galaxy S10e: it is not the most expensive flagship from Samsung, but it is the only real compact flagship from this year (it is powered by either Snapdragon 855 or Exynos 9820 depending on the market), and its price is relatively affordable considering its specs sheet and features. It even supports some innovative features of its costlier siblings Galaxy S10 and S10+, such as reverse wireless charging and it comes with a very nice punch-hole design, especially in the Canary Yellow color variant.

With the OnePlus 7 Pro, the Chinese company OnePlus stopped releasing just affordable flagship and moved to the top-tier segment. This flagship comes with features that take on top-tier smartphones at a cheaper price segment. It is one of the fastest handsets in the market thanks to the Snapdragon 855 chipset paired with up to 12GB of RAM and a very smooth user interface. It has one of the most stunning displays with a QHD resolution and a 90 Hz refresh ratio, as well as the HDR10+ standard and a wide 6.67-inch diagonal. Even its camera is amazing with a bright f/1.6 aperture and OIS.

Asus Zenfone 6 is another camera innovator, but not mainly for its camera quality. It is the first smartphone with a flip-up camera and it allows the user to adjust the position of the rear cameras to click photos comfortably at any angle. Asus Zenfone 6 is also the latest-gen flagship with the biggest battery: it is equipped with a mammoth 5000mAh unit which lasts up to three days with moderate use and supports reverse charging (non-wireless). Despite coming with a Snapdragon 855, a great camera department and a huge battery, it still carries an affordable price tag.

• Read More: ASUS Zenfone 6 teardown reveals the flip camera design from the inside

Launched in the European market as the Xiaomi Mi 9T Pro, the Redmi K20 Pro could become the most loved affordable flagship of the year due to its amazing price tag and its perfect specs sheet. It has almost everything an advanced user needs while still being cheaper as compared to the other flagships. You get an HDR display, an elegant design, a pop-up camera, the Snapdragon 855 SoC and even a big battery at a ridiculous price.

Last but not least, even the camera setup is amazing, with a triple sensor and very fast and accurate autofocus. As for now, if we had to recommend an affordable flagship for its value for money, we would surely go for the Redmi K20 Pro.

Honor is Huawei’s sub-brand that focuses on quality-price ratio, but the Honor 20 Pro is a bit more than a simple affordable flagship. On its rear side, it sports one of the most advanced camera department we have ever seen, including four sensors with a dedicated macro camera, OIS and 3x optical zoom. There is obviously a flagship-class hardware side with the Kirin 980 chipset and 8 GB of RAM, as well as a big 4000 mAh battery. The Honor 20 Pro also comes with a punch-hole display minimizing the bezels without the need of a notch or a pop-up slider.

Overall, the first half of 2019 was a really good year for the smartphone industry. From punch hole displays to pop-up cameras, smartphone manufacturers have worked hard to minimize the bezels around the display and offer maximum screen real estate.

Do you think we missed an amazing smartphone in this list? Let us know down below!