Best Smartphones for Processor Performance (2024)

The Xiaomi 14 screen measures 3 inches.

The display of the phone is a 6.36-inch 120 Hz OLED, similar to last year, but now you get a higher resolution LTPO technology and Gorilla Glass Victus protection.

The higher resolution amounts to 460 PPI, which is sharper than what we got on the Xiaomi 13's 1080p display.

You now get support for 12-bit color depth. Other premium features, such as HDR10 Plus and Dolby Vision, are back.

The most noticeable change is the larger camera bump, which protrudes more from the back.

Completely revamped camera hardware.

Additionally, because this panel is LTPO, the 120 Hz refresh rate is extra adaptive. We observed it dialing down to as low as 10 Hz to save energy.

The software installed here isn't too surprising. You've got Android 14, of course, but then you've also got Xiaomi's fresh-out-of-the-oven new Hyper OS launcher slapped on top of that.

Xiaomi still loves to dump tons of unnecessary apps and excess bits onto its smartphones.

Xiaomi has finally taken software updates much more seriously, so you can expect several years of upgrades and security patches.

One of the major reasons to choose the S23 Plus over the S23 is its larger display. It features a 6.6-inch screen compared to the 6.1-inch display of the S23. Additionally, it has a dynamic AMOLED display with a 1080p resolution and a 120 hertz refresh rate.

This display looks great; it's sharp and contrasty, and the color accuracy is spot on. You also get HDR 10 Plus support.

However, like the rest of the Galaxy lineup, there's no support for 10-bit color here.

The main camera captures flagship-grade 12-megapixel photos. The level of detail is great, and so is the dynamic range, and you get vibrant colors in typical Samsung fashion.

The telephoto cam captures impressive photos; they're sharp and detailed, even though they're upscaled from 10 megapixels to 12.

The ultra-wide cam does a decent job. There's a reasonable level of detail for this sort of camera, and the colors also match the other two cameras well.

The selfie camera is actually very different. Unlike the previous 10-megapixel lens, this is now a 12-megapixel selfie lens, and you can shoot 4K at 60 frames per second with it.

The S23 Plus has a slightly larger battery than last year; it's gone from 4500 milliamp hours to 4700.

The S23 Plus achieved an impressive endurance rating of 111 hours in our proprietary tests.

The charging speed is rated the same as last year at 45 watts, and again, there's no adapter included in the box.

The interface of the S23 Plus is Samsung's One UI 5.1 on top of Android 13.

It's a highly customizable UI that is also quite fluid and snappy, thanks to version 5's behind-the-scenes optimizations.

Version 5.1 on the new Galaxy phones adds a couple of extra tweaks: there's a new battery widget and an improved weather widget.

The star of the show is the large, foldable inner screen, which is as big as a mini tablet.

Samsung claims that this display is brighter now. When put to the test, we measured nearly 800 nits maximum with the manual slider, which could boost to 1100 nits in auto mode.

The inner display is also basically the same as before. It's a 7.6-inch foldable OLED panel with a 120 hertz refresh rate and a 5:6 aspect ratio.

The cameras of the Z-Fold 5 are carried over from the Z-Fold 4.

The main camera saves 12-megapixel photos by default, and they're quite likable. They have good detail and sharpness.

In low light conditions, the auto night shot processing works well on the telephoto camera. The photos are bright, with lively colors, good contrast, a wide enough dynamic range, and low noise.

The Z-Fold 5 has the same battery capacity as last year, at 4,400 milliamp hours.

The battery life is virtually unchanged, with the Z-Fold 5 earning an endurance rating of 95 hours.

The Galaxy Z45 supports up to 25-watt wired charging, just like the previous model, and there's no charger included, even at this price.

The interface of the Z-Fold 5 is Samsung's One UI 5.1.1 on top of Android 13.

A big focus of the software is multitasking. It's quite easy to drag and drop app icons into split-screen mode, with up to three apps running at once.

Last but definitely not least, the Z-Fold 5 will receive extensive software support from Samsung, including four generations of OS upgrades and five years of security patches.

The display of the phone is a 6.78-inch LTPO OLED with a 1080p resolution, a 144 Hz refresh rate, and Gorilla Glass Victus 2 protection.

The brightness here is impressive; we measured a maximum of 830 nits with a manual slider.

The screen is a 144 Hz LTPO AMOLED display, which means it can go all the way down to 1 Hz if there's nothing on the screen that requires a rapid refresh rate.

The Zenphone 11 Ultra has a smooth matte glass back. You also get a subtle geometric pattern to spice things up and a square black camera island.

There's a crack in my camera lens because it protrudes so much that it's one of the easiest parts to hit the ground when the camera falls.

If it increases battery life, that's great. Speaking of the battery, the battery in this phone is 5.

Of course, there's a bit of Android 14 action here, and Asus is guaranteeing 4 years of security updates with this device, but sadly, only two guaranteed OS updates.

Sadly, this past fortnight, I have also experienced a considerable amount of issues, mostly connectivity-related shenanigans.

The display of the Xiaomi 14 Ultra is a 6.73-inch LTPO OLED with a 1440p resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate.

Xiaomi has replaced the Gorilla Glass Victus of the predecessor with their in-house Xiaomi Shield Glass, which is meant to offer ten times better drop resistance.

For gestures, you have to use the very edges of the screen, which end up being on the curve for Xiaomi, so they don't register quite as reliably.

The Xiaomi 14 Ultra's main camera has a newer 1-inch sensor and a truly variable aperture.

The zoom cameras are able to focus closely to take macro shots.

These cameras have become so large, so deep, and so heavy that it feels like they've started to invade the core phone experience.

This also has a 90 W charging capability.

The grip has a built-in 1500 mAh battery and a USB-C port, which adds some longevity to the whole ensemble.

Everything about Xiaomi's battery experience suggests that it should be better.

It has their NextGen Hyper OS operating system.

Hyper OS is ultra-lightweight.

You might almost assume that, given Hyper OS is meant to be Xiaomi's big breakaway from MIUI and its advert-filled reputation, it would be the opposite and not have built-in adverts.

The display of the Rog Phone 7 Ultimate is a 6.78-inch AMOLED with a 1080p resolution, Gorilla Glass Victus protection, and a whopping 165Hz refresh rate.

The maximum brightness is a nice improvement from last year's model. We measured up to 520 nits with the manual slider, and this can boost to 1100 nits in auto mode when in bright conditions.

The rear cameras of the Rog Phone 7 haven't changed from the previous generation. You get a 50-megapixel main camera, a 13-megapixel ultra-wide camera, and a 5-megapixel macro cam.

The camera quality of the Rog 7 Series is decent, but it won't blow anyone away. The focus here is gaming, not cameras.

The Rog Phone 7 Ultimate scored an endurance rating of 131 hours in our proprietary tests.

The phone comes with 65-watt fast charging, and with the bundled adapter, we were able to charge it from 0% to 68% in half an hour.

The phone's interface is Rog UI on top of Android 13.

Additionally, Asus is promising two major OS updates and four years of security updates for the Rog 7 generation.

The Z Flip has evolved from a tiny 1.9-inch slot to a full, square 3.4-inch 720P cover screen called the Flex Window.

Having this display paired alongside the 6.7-inch inner display is what makes this phone so exciting to me.

One of the things I love most about this inner display is that it's narrower than conventional smartphones.

Jumping into the cameras, we have a dual-lens setup. Here, we have our standard lens in addition to a wide-angle lens.

The added functionality of being able to use the cover screen as a viewfinder for other people you're taking a picture of is just so nice.

I only got about five hours of screen-on time.

The other half of a great chip, though, is efficiency.

And it even has a five-year window of security updates.

I have thoroughly enjoyed this outdoor display over the past couple of days.

It becomes much brighter.

Many of you will probably love that this new screen supports high PWM dimming.

Consider factors such as glare, light fall-off, and drop test durability.

It has two more megapixels.

The HDR effect looks fine, but it falls apart a little too quickly as soon as there are adverse conditions.

Then, switch to portrait mode.

It's now a 5, and you better believe they've kept their trademarked Super Fast Charging as well.

It can charge at 80 watts when wired.

This is expected to be a 50-watt wireless charger. This device will charge wirelessly faster than most phones.

I don't know why, but perhaps the biggest legitimate downside of this phone, when compared to other flagships it's competing against, is its promised fewer years of software update support.

By a proper box, I mean it is mostly a waste of space since the entire insert on top is just filled with booklet after booklet, as if we're still in 2002. However, underneath the phone, there is not just a USB-C cable but also a top-of-the-line 100 W charging brick, which does sweeten the deal. Oh, and the phone also comes with a pre-applied screen protector.

The display of the Galaxy S23 is once again a 6.1-inch Dynamic AMOLED with a 1080p resolution and a 120 Hz refresh rate.

The major difference in the new model is the maximum brightness, which can boost to an impressive 1200 nits in auto mode.

This panel is also quite sharp, with over 420 PPI, and the color accuracy is consistently great.

The S23 features the same three cameras on the back as last year's model: a 50 MP main camera, a 10 MP three-times telephoto, and a 12 MP ultra-wide camera.

The main camera saves 12-megapixel photos by default, and the performance is solid and consistent.

The ultra-wide camera also does an impressive job, but we were hoping it would get autofocus this year for macro shooting.

The battery capacity is 200 mAh larger, at 3900 mAh, and together with a more power-efficient chipset, this results in better battery life.

The S23 earned an endurance rating of 101 hours in our proprietary test.

The S23 supports 25W charging, although you don't get an adapter in the box.

The interface of the S23 is Samsung's new One UI 5.1, which is based on Android 13.

One UI 5 offers enhanced optimization and feels much faster and more fluid.

The 0.1 update for the S23 series adds a few features here and there, such as a new battery widget.

Xiaomi is going with a superb screen that is flat but has some very curved edges. The bezels are not the smallest you would have seen out there, but it's 120 Hz, very fluid, very smooth, with no problems with any lag.

What about the brightness? Well, they claim you can make it out in direct sunlight.

Finally, we have 4K capability with the front-facing camera, which is 32 megapixels. It can shoot in 4K at 30 fps and 4K at 60 fps, which is well overdue.

We have three 50-megapixel cameras on the rear. The variable aperture, which I showed in the Hands-On video I did first, is really good to have. It ranges from a very bright F1.4 up to a 4.0 aperture, mechanically adjustable with various stages. We also have laser autofocus assist.

This is really good because it's a fast, powerful 120W charger that is nice, compact, and small. It can fully charge this phone in approximately 20 minutes.

The thing that's missing is Android Auto support. We're not going to get it because of the Chinese ROM. There's something that Android Auto needs, and it will be in the global version.