Now that all major smartphone launches of 2018 are done and dusted, it’s time to recap how the industry fared. Looking back, we see a plethora of interesting launches that ushered in pop-up cameras, cool in-display fingerprint sensors, amazing 7nm chipsets, displays that literally pushed boundaries, and even the comeback of slider phones.
All through the year, we have shared our reviews on what we liked and what failed to impress us. Now, its time for us to hear what matters to you. After all, its only consumers who get to decide the “best” way forward. So express your views by voting for your personal favorites in our latest People’s Choice Awards 2018.
Before we reveal more details, let us first walk you through our Lucky Winner give away process.
Winners Announcement [Update]
We have now announced winners of the Smartprix People’s Choice Awards 2018. You can check more details here.
Best Affordable Phone of 2018 (Under Rs 18,000)
This is the most hard-fought segment where brands are willing to bleed just to outdo each other. In this segment, brands like Realme and Asus have taken an aggressive stance and are taking the leaders head-on. Millennials are the target audience as they take the numbers more seriously, and this year they were surely spoilt for choice. Nominee’s for the best affordable phone of the year are:
- Realme 2 Pro / Realme U1
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 5 Pro / Note 6 Pro
- Asus Zenfone Max Pro M1
- Xiaomi Mi A2
- Nokia 6.1 Plus
- Samsung Galaxy On8 2018
- Vivo V9 Pro
- Infinix Note 5 Stylus
- Oppo F9
Winner: Vivo V9 Pro
- 1st Runner-up: Realme 2 Pro
- 2nd Runner-up: Redmi Note 5 Pro/ Note 6 Pro
Best Mid-range Phone of 2018 (Under Rs 30,000)
It’s a category where people aspire for a complete experience – good design, reliable performance, and reasonable cameras. In an attempt to take the market by storm, 2018 saw brands like Xiaomi and Asus offering hardware similar to OnePlus 6 while undercutting the latter. Poco F1 became the most affordable Snapdragon 845 phone, Nokia went for more premium looks and pure Android experience, Samsung introduced a triple rear camera phone, while Vivo brought its in-display fingerprint to V-series for the first time. Nominees for the best mid-range phone of 2018 Under Rs 30,000 are:
- Poco F1
- Vivo V11 Pro
- Nokia 7 Plus
- Oppo F9 Pro
- Asus Zenfone 5Z
- Samsung Galaxy A7 (2018)
Winner: Poco F1
- 1st Runner-up: Vivo V11 Pro
- 2nd Runner-up: Asus Zenfone 5Z
Best Economical Flagship Phones of 2018 (Under Rs 50,000)
Since flagships have grown extremely pricey, a new sub-flagship segment has emerged. In 2018, this segment saw several emerging and established brands pushing boundaries just to gain acceptance as Industry leaders. From Vivo’s pop up camera Nex to Samsung’s quad-camera Galaxy A9 (2018), we saw a number of interesting phones. Nominees for the best economical flagship phone of 2018 are:
- OnePlus 6/6T
- Vivo Nex
- Samsung Galaxy A9 (2018)
- Honor 10
- LG G7+ ThinQ
- Nokia 8 Sirocco
Winner: OnePlus 6T
- 1st Runner-up: Vivo Nex
- 2nd Runner-up: Oppo Find X
Phone of the Year (2018)
The biggest of them all! This one belongs to that one perfect phone that does everything right. While the existing tier-one brands like Apple, Samsung and Google expectedly worked their magic, products like ROG Phone and Mate 20 Pro also managed to charm us with the amazing experience they offered. Nominees for the best phone of 2018 are:
- Apple iPhone XS / XS Max
- Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- Samsung Galaxy S9+
- Google Pixel 3/ 3XL
- Asus ROG Phone
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Winner: iPhone XS/ iPhone XS Plus
- 1st Runner-up: Huawei Mate 20 Pro
- 2nd Runner-up: Pixel 3
Best Budget Phone Of 2018 (Under 10,000)
This is one challenging segment were brands need to find the right mix of trends, value, and durability. To make that perfect phone for just under 10K is no easy task for sure. For this award, we are nominating following phones from under Rs 10,000 bracket:
- Redmi 6
- Realme C1
- Infinix Note 5
- Honor 9N
- Nokia 2.1 Plus
- Asus Zenfone Max M1
Winner: Honor 9N
- 1st Runner-up: Realme C1
- 2nd Runner-up: Redmi 6
Best Camera Phone of the Year
Smartphone Cameras are what define flagships and one primary reason that justifies their high cost. In general, cameras on 2018 flagships progressed by leaps and bounds and were truly amazing. Nominees for the best camera phone of 2018 are:
- Apple iPhone XS / XS Max
- Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- Google Pixel 3/ 3XL
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro
- LG G7+ ThingQ
- OnePlus 6T
Winner: Pixel 3
- 1st Runner-up: OnePlus 6T
- 2nd Runner-up: iPhone XS/ XS Max
Best Budget Camera phone of the Year (Under Rs 18,000)
Cameras on affordable phones still make grave compromises, but they did see a healthy growth in 2018. Brands are now innovatively adding smart software and multiple sensors to work around photography constraints, and the quality of images as significantly improved compared to what we had last year. Our nominees for the best budget camera phone of 2018 are:
- Honor 8X
- Xiaomi Mi A2
- Xiaomi Redmi Note 6 Pro
- Nokia 6.1 Plus
- Samsung Galaxy On8 2018
- Vivo V9 Pro
Winner: Mi A2
- 1st Runner-up: Vivo V9 Pro
- 2nd Runner-up: Redmi Note 6 Pro
Best looking phone of 2018
Well, how can we miss out the design? Well, the design is more of how it feels and works than how it actually looks. This year we saw a major shift to full-view screens of varied aspect ratios and a big surge in glass body phones across all price ranges. Flagships, however, still manage to stand out! Here are the nominees for the best looking phone of 2018:
- Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- Apple iPhone XS/ XS Max
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro
- Asus ROG phone
- OnePlus 6T
- Vivo Nex
- Oppo Find X
Winner: Vivo Nex
- 1st Runner-up: Samsung Galaxy Note 9
- 2nd Runner-up: Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Best Gaming Phone of 2018
2017 was the year of Pokemon Go and this year PUBG was what kept most of us hooked to our mobile screens for hours at a stretch. Gaming on smartphones has emerged as a major trend and most brands have acknowledged the need by switching to more powerful chipsets throughout their portfolios. Many OEMs even introduced high-end devices dedicated to gaming. These are the nominees of the best gaming phone of 2018:
- Asus ROG
- Samsung Note 9
- OnePlus 6T
- Apple iPhone XS Max
- Huawei Mate 20 Pro
Winner: Asus ROG Phone
- 1st Runner-up: OnePlus 6T
- 2nd Runner-up: Samsung Galaxy Note 9
Most Innovative Brand of The Year
From In-display fingerprint to quad rear cameras and from ‘Call Screen’ to Pop-up cameras – This year we saw many industry-first innovations. Many brands aggressively reworked their strategy, while others just swam with the tide. Pick the brand that impressed you the most!
- Asus
- Apple
- Samsung
- Vivo
- Oppo
- Xiaomi
- Huawei
Winner: Vivo
- 1st Runner-up: Samsung
- 2nd Runner-up: Oppo
Most Disruptive Brand of The Year
In 2018, we saw offline brands jumping the online bandwagon and online-exclusive ones enter online. To cater to the new markets, these brands took an aggressive approach, disrupting the natural order of things. Tell us which brand was most aggressive in its approach in your personal opinion.
- Asus
- Realme
- Vivo
- Xiaomi
Winner: Realme
- 1st Runner-up: Vivo
- 2nd Runner-up: Asus
Best Custom UI on Android Phones
The software running on a phone is equally important as the hardware (or even more). The interface of your phone is what you live with and actually interact with, and this is one part that most OEMs struggle with. The choice of ‘best’ interface is subjective and you should be the one to decide. Pick one:
- Hauwei’s EMUI 9.0
- Oppo’s Funtouch OS 5.0
- OnePlus’ Oxygen OS 9.0
- Vivo’s Color OS 5.0
- Samsung’s Experience UX 9.5
- Xiaomi’s MIUI 10
- Asus’ ZenUI 5.0
- Google’s Pixel UI
Winner: Oxygen OS
- 1st Runner-up: Pixel UI
- 2nd Runner-up: MIUI10
Paytm Cashback Winners [Update]
As our token of appreciation, we are also awarding Paytm Cashback to four lucky winners from among people who voted. Here are the Four lucky winners:
Ankit
199***arma.an***@Gmail.com
Guru
kumarpr******548@gmail.com
Ritika
mis****1@gmail.com
Aijaz syed
aijaz*****86@gmail.com
We will contact winners on their Email ID that they mentioned while leaving comments on this article.
World best phone in 2018 is Samsung galaxy note 9