My thirst and curiosity for new smartphones has waned over the years — after reviewing my share of models and using a handful personally, I’ve gotten to a point where excitement has mostly left the room. Still, there are a few areas where the developments strike a spark in the heart of the otherwise emotionless reviewer – not enough to motivate a purchase, but just enough to keep it going.
For anyone wanting more, I’m still looking for the right foldable device to deliver the most tablet in the smallest amount of smartphone, and we’re getting closer to that goal. Despite the now-abandoned striving to master the craft, a still glowing fascination for photography now ensures that even unusual smartphone cameras are at least a little captivating. And finally there are the phones I buy to use, and this group has traditionally not overlapped with the previous two. Let’s try to make a list.
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Oppo Find N2
At around 40 grams lighter than the previous generation, the weight of the recently announced Find N2 is now on par with a normal large smartphone. This latest foldable package includes a small smartphone with a reasonable form factor on the front and a compact tablet once you spread open the flexion hinge. It’s a play on aspect ratios with these designs and the finds bring them closer Right than anyone else.
A common compromise with foldable devices is sacrificing the latest advances in imaging, simply because there isn’t room for the hardware in these necessarily slim cases. That’s obviously still the case with the Find N2, but this generation’s specs read a little less lackluster – larger sensor telephoto and ultrawide, plus AF on the latter – which put the Find’s viability as an all-rounder a notch above the N(1)’s .
All that’s missing now is an “international” firmware and official availability outside of China. All in good time I think.
Xiaomi 12S Ultra
The Xiaomi 12S Ultra finds itself in a similar limbo unavailable to westerners, but it still makes it onto this list – because it’s possibly the best overall camera phone out there. Unlike the Mi 11 Ultra, the 12S is tied to its Chinese home market and we Europeans will have to wait a little longer for a fully functional phone with a (fully usable) 1.0-inch camera sensor.
But it’s not just the main camera here – the ultra-wide and telephoto cameras, which might be reused from the previous generation, are also tough to compete and make a truly remarkable trio. Maybe Xiaomi will only give birth to the odd-numbered Ultras – one can only hope for a global 13 Ultra when the time comes.
ZTE Axon 40 Ultra
Which brings us to the ZTE Axon 40 Ultra. A solid phone in its entirety, it’s not here because it’s such a complete package – no, the reason is more specific. In a world of 24mm main cameras (equivalent), the Axon opts for a 35mm camera and makes a significant difference in the type of images captured. The changed perspective, the extra bokeh, the natural portraits – this one camera is a unique selling point.
A camera doesn’t make a phone, however, and despite its general ok, the Axon 40 Ultra may not be everyone’s phone in the way a Galaxy or an iPhone can. All that’s left now is for one of the big ones to make a 35mm (or so) large sensor camera – either as the ‘main’ camera or alongside a more conventional 24mm unit.
Techno Phantom X2 Pro
There is another outstanding one-trick pony Camera phone from 2022, and it’s the Tecno Phantom X2 Pro. As hard to swallow in terms of user interface as any other Tecno or Infinix (at least from this particular reviewer’s point of view) and not quite great in other respects, the Phantom X2 Pro has a unique pop-out 65mm portrait camera.
We’ve examined it in detail and found that it delivers unmatched results for smartphones of the day – for fairly specific tasks and strictly compared to smartphones, but they’re smartphones you carry in your pocket, not the 85/1.4 or what anyway for another optical monstrosity you dream of at night.
So yes, another entry in the “an intriguing single camera in a phone you ultimately wouldn’t get” category.
Google Pixel 7 Pro
What I got was the Pixel 7 Pro. A phone without a single particularly impressive camera, the slowest charging, network limitations where I live (since it’s not officially sold), and feature limitations where I live (see above), on top of a somewhat bland user interface.
These aren’t new… special features. But despite all of that (and a number of well-documented hardware issues over the years), the Pixel as a concept had a lasting appeal to me. I fondly remember the last one I had, the Pixel 3, size S – they don’t make them like they used to. Curiously, no intermediate model succeeded in taking that intangible appeal (inexplicable too, some colleagues would say) and make it a money-changing moment.
Well, this one did, and some discount can take some of the blame. But a lot of that hinges on the sum of this year’s Pixel 7 Pro goodness and that #teampixel appeal finally outweighing its flaws (which I’m not blind to and I accept). Admittedly an odd way to top a top 5 list, but hey, it is what is.
