The Best of 2014: Flagship Smartphones

Last year brought us a lot of great smartphones into the market from every brand, and we’ve already put a lot of them in this list. To compile everything as 2015 starts, here are the best smartphones of 2014 that you can buy.

Nokia Lumia 930 (Php23,800USD 406INR 34,381EUR 386CNY 2,954 – Php29,990USD 511INR 43,324EUR 487CNY 3,722)

The Nokia Lumia 930 is the fusion of all the company’s hardware & software, from the design to the specs, and it’s currently the best thing that they offer so far. If you’re down for Nokia & Microsoft’s craftsmanship, there is no other choice.

Noteworthy elements:

• Windows Phone 8.1
• 20 megapixel PureView camera

HTC One M8 (Php23,200USD 395INR 33,515EUR 377CNY 2,879 – Php31,100USD 530INR 44,927EUR 505CNY 3,860)

The company’s presence may no longer be felt here in the country, but this phone is still available for grabs. It may not have a QHD display and a high-resolution main camera, but it does almost everything well, not to mention it is wrapped in wonderful aluminum and it packs mind-blowing front-facing BoomSound speakers.

Noteworthy elements:

• Front-facing BoomSound speakers
• Premium metal build

Samsung Galaxy S5 (Php22,800USD 389INR 32,937EUR 370CNY 2,829 – Php34,000USD 579INR 49,116EUR 552CNY 4,219)

Water-resistance, a beautiful 1080p Super AMOLED display, a 16-megapixel camera, a heart rate monitor, and a fingerprint scanner – those are just a few things that the Galaxy S5 features, and we’re sure there are a lot more that a lot may like. However, not everyone is going to enjoy everything about the Galaxy S5 as well; the design being significantly one of them.

Noteworthy elements:

• Water-resistance
• Fingerprint scanner, heart rate monitor

Samsung Galaxy Note 4 (Php33,900USD 578INR 48,972EUR 550CNY 4,207 – Php34,500USD 588INR 49,839EUR 560CNY 4,281)

The Galaxy Note 4 is Samsung’s polishing of the Note line. It hasn’t changed much design-wise, but it does pack a metal casing now which adds a lot into the new premium feel. It also packs the latest hardware from the company which includes the heart rate monitor, the fingerprint scanner, the 16 megapixel camera, a QHD Super AMOLED display, and of course, the much improved stylus called the S-Pen.

Noteworthy elements:

• 5.7-inch 2560 x 1440 Super AMOLED display
• Improved pair of cameras
• S-Pen functionality
• Heart rate monitor, fingerprint scanner
• Better Samsung build

LG G3 (Php20,600USD 351INR 29,759EUR 334CNY 2,556 – Php33,990USD 579INR 49,102EUR 552CNY 4,218)

The LG G3 wows a lot of people from the QHD display to its other fast internals. It also has laser autofocus for the camera and this plastic design that aims for a metallic look & feel. The QHD display, however, seems to be holding back the performance of the phone at times, but other than that, this smartphone is still one to beat.

Noteworthy elements:

• 5.5-inch 2560 x 1440 display
• Laser autofocus

Apple iPhone 6 / iPhone 6 Plus (Php38,500USD 656INR 55,617EUR 625CNY 4,778 – Php84,500USD 1,440INR 122,069EUR 1,371CNY 10,486)

Apple has now given people what they have been wanting for a long time – larger screens, and it’s plural because the company had two phones for you last year, and both do great.

Noteworthy elements:

• Touch ID
• iOS
• Improved 8 megapixel iSight cameras

Sony Xperia Z3 (Php27,700USD 472INR 40,015EUR 450CNY 3,438 – Php27,800USD 474INR 40,160EUR 451CNY 3,450)

The Xperia Z3 will get you to enjoy PS4 Remote Play, and for the rest of the experience, you’ll be enjoying a better display outdoors, good battery life, waterproofing, a wider angle lens, higher ISOs for shooting in the dark and more.

Noteworthy elements:

• Waterproofing
• Improved 20.7 megapixel Exmor RS camera

Sony Xperia Z3 Compact (Php20,800USD 354INR 30,048EUR 338CNY 2,581 – Php21,000USD 358INR 30,337EUR 341CNY 2,606)

The Sony Xperia Z3 Compact packs a very capable 720p display, the same waterproof design, the same 20 megapixel camera used in the Xperia Z3, and it’s all in a smaller and much more manageable form factor.

Noteworthy elements:

• Waterproofing
• Improved 20.7 megapixel Exmor RS camera
• Compact construction

Blackberry Passport (Php32,000USD 545INR 46,227EUR 519CNY 3,971)

The BlackBerry Passport is unsurprisingly the only flagship smartphone with a QWERTY keyboard, for those that still want the BlackBerry experience.

Noteworthy elements:

• QWERTY keyboard
• BlackBerry OS

Starmobile Knight X (Php15,990USD 272INR 23,099EUR 260CNY 1,984)

Starmobile ended the year with the Knight X as their flagship phone with an octa-core CPU and a 1080p display.

Noteworthy elements:

• 3GB RAM compared to other local competitors

Cherry Mobile Omega Infinity (Php11,999USD 204INR 17,334EUR 195CNY 1,489)

The CM Omega Infinity remained as the company’s flagship phone until the end of 2014, packing a 5.5-inch 1080p display and an octa-core CPU.

Noteworthy elements:

• Most affordable compared to other local competitors

MyPhone Infinity (Php12,999USD 222INR 18,778EUR 211CNY 1,613)

MyPhone tops their own Iceberg phones with the Infinity, and as you’d expect, it packs a 1080p display with an octa-core CPU as well, having a decent balance of all things.

Huawei Ascend Mate 7 (Php27,890USD 475INR 40,290EUR 453CNY 3,461)

Huawei continues to push the limits of their own R&D by producing the HiSilicon Kirin 925 in the Ascend Mate 7.

This is also the first smartphone that is dual-SIM, dual-LTE capable in the market today.

Noteworthy elements:

• Dual-LTE capability
• Huge 4,100mAh RAM

Xiaomi Mi3 (Php10,599USD 181INR 15,311EUR 172CNY 1,315)

The most surprising flagship phone of the year making it to the Philippines is the Xiaomi Mi3. This is because it packs everything you’d expect from a flagship phone above Php20k with half the price of just around Php10k.

Noteworthy elements:

• Unbeatable package for its price