Unofficial Smartphone Awards 2016

Friday, 16 December 2016

Unofficial Smartphone Awards 2016

I don't normally sit around and think of goofy awards to give to inanimate objects like phones, but a slow month is a slow month. Fortunately for us, the new year is right around the corner, which means now is the perfect opportunity to reflect on all of the smartphones we've seen in 2016, for better or for worse.

With that being said, on this particular day I did end up sitting around assigning made-up awards to smartphones released throughout 2016. In no particular order, here's what I ended up settling on:

Best Looking: Xiaomi Mi Mix

Arguably the most subjective award, I opted to give the Mi Mix the "Best Looking" award because it's the phone that I find I'm most fascinated with in terms of its looks. I honestly can't tell if it's actually a great looking phone or if it's just bizarre not to see a top bezel. I've decided to be optimistic and go with "great-looking phone". If nothing else, it's at least unique.

Underdog: HTC 10

One of my articles earlier this year reflected on what exactly happened to the HTC 10 to make it so forgettable. I deduced that it was an unfortunate instance where HTC did a perfectly fine job with the phone, but didn't innovate, screw up, or price cut the device enough to warrant much coverage of it. Despite all of that, the HTC 10 is a perfectly good flagship that just happened to fly under just about everyone's radar.

Honorable Mention: Apple iPhone SE

I don’t think the iPhone SE was ever meant to be anything more than a way to keep people who still value smaller smartphones happy, but I still think it was a great addition to Apple’s lineup and definitely an underdog when compared to the iPhone 7.

Highest Potential: Samsung Galaxy Note 7

This one is pretty obvious. The potential is no longer there (like, at all) but for a brief couple of weeks, the Note 7 was on track to be one of the greats. Unfortunately, some Note 7s exploded, and even Samsung's quick reaction time couldn't save the Note 7 as the replacement Note 7s caused similar issues, and its reputation went up in flames with its potential.

Honorable Mention: LG G5

The modular design of the G5 was pretty cool in theory. I’m not sure whether it was LG’s execution of the idea that made it so wishy-washy or if modular smartphones simply don’t have a place in the industry yet (if ever). However, in the wake of Project Ara’s cancellation, I am happy that at least one company attempted something with modularity.

Most Likely To Succeed: Google Pixel

I will admit that I am somewhat bitter about Google ditching the Nexus brand in favor of the Pixel. I actually like Pixel and think that it has a lot of potential – hence the award I so graciously gave it – but I also think Nexus still had a place in the world as well. Regardless, Google's efforts to market the heck out of Pixel aren't going unnoticed, and I think that their rampant advertisement campaign (along with inevitable improvements that will occur past this first generation) will make Pixel a much bigger name in the following years.

Just Happy To Be Here: Apple iPhone 7

Honestly, I wasn't really sure where to put the iPhone. It ended up here because I think one of the biggest reasons that people didn't actually end up caring about the missing headphone jack is because everyone was too distracted with the Note 7 fireworks show, and Apple was effectively off the hook because of it, allowing the iPhone 7 to proceed with sales relatively unscathed. Leave it to Samsung to remind us about what's truly worth caring about in smartphones.

Most Improved: Samsung Galaxy S7

As much crap as the Note 7 gets, let's not forget the things that the company did right. Last year's Galaxy S6 was highly regarded when it came to its design overhaul, but it wasn’t so great in other aspects. Removing the microSD card and removable battery (both of which were “features” Samsung had notoriously held onto when everybody else moved away from them) was a pretty big deal. The Galaxy S6 also took away water resistance, which was another step backward from the S5. Really, the best thing about the S6 was its unique design. The S7, on the other hand, brought back microSD support and water resistance, mostly stuck with the same design, and incorporated a number of software improvements as well which, making it one of the most improved smartphones in 2016.

Honorable Mention: HTC 10

I know I already mention HTC 10, but I also think it fits here as well. The HTC M9, the 10’s predecessor, received a lot of flak for its issues. The 10 pretty much fixed everything that people didn’t like about the M9, which is why it’s such a shame that the HTC 10 didn’t receive more recognition than it did.

That’s pretty much all I had. Since these fictional awards are completely subjective, I would like to ask you, dear reader, what “awards” you think the various smartphones in 2016’s lineup deserve? Let us know what you think in the comments below!