TOP 10 BEST READS 2017 PRO
TOP 10 BEST READS 2017 BLUETOOTH
TOP 10 BEST READS 2017 PLUS

ItвЂ™s certainly a proficient, fast and powerful handset with a slick design and impressive camera вЂ“ helped along by those AI smarts which automatically adjust settings when the snapper recognizes what youвЂ™re photographing.

TOP 10 BEST READS 2017 PRO

The 6in-screened Mate 10 Pro arrived with claims of strong AI capabilities and boasts from the Chinese company that its processing power was way more than the iPhone X. ItвЂ™s a phone that should have done better, but at least it means that the price has dropped considerably, making it an even better buy now. Or the fact that some features, such as playing back 4K content natively was held back by the fact that compatible content was pretty limited. Perhaps itвЂ™s the design, which, though elegant enough, seems increasingly defined by the large spaces above and below the display. But somehow, the phones havenвЂ™t taken off. Sony has often pioneered new features on its handsets вЂ“ they were routinely waterproof before rivals caught up and the camera pixel count has almost always outranked the competition. So, why didnвЂ™t it attract more attention than it did? It even has a highly convenient, side-mounted fingerprint sensor and strong battery life. The first phone with a 4K HDR display, capable of slow motion at a remarkable 960 frames per second and a brilliant 19-megapixel camera. This, make no mistake, is a dazzling phone. For what itвЂ™s worth, I never experienced this problem and there were several times when the battery went completely flat. Recent reports about Note8 handsets not recharging after the battery has gone entirely flat are so far restricted to tiny numbers. But unlike AppleвЂ™s phones, here you can also adjust exactly how blurry you want the background to be вЂ“ a choice you can make as you shoot or in retrospect.

TOP 10 BEST READS 2017 PLUS

This is a dual-lens 12-megapixel model which, like the iPhone 8 Plus, provides an effective 2x optical zoom, and lets you shoot both cameras at once to create a depth-of-field bokeh effect, again like the iPhone 8 Plus and indeed iPhone X. Incidentally, if you think youвЂ™re not a stylus type, then you could save money and opt for the S8+ which has a similar size screen and is almost as good but for the fingerprint sensor placing and the camera.ДЄh yes, the camera.

This being a Note, it comes with a stylus which is useful, even if many owners donвЂ™t use it much. Although itвЂ™s still alongside the camera, itвЂ™s further away, which is a bit better.

The fingerprint sensor has been usefully repositioned. The sloping edges, though steeper than on the S8, also helped with the fit. The Note8 squeezed a 6.3in display into a remarkably small shell, meaning that like the S8 and the larger S8+, it was surprisingly comfortable in the hand. David PhelanД®verything you would like in the S8 was found in the splendid Note8, released in late summer by a Samsung which was clearly, and justifiably, confident again. Samsung Galaxy Note8 with its edge-to-edge display. This was easily SamsungвЂ™s best phone to date. Like the S8+ and Note8, the S8 screen had sloping edges, contributing to the way the 5.8in display fitted the hand easily. The new 18:9 ratio screen was the first fullscreen display on a Samsung phone, and it delivered plenty of wow factor.

TOP 10 BEST READS 2017 BLUETOOTH

The phone even came with Bluetooth 5 which made an innovation called Bluetooth Dual Audio possible, so two people could listen to music from the same phone on separate wireless headphones. Of course, the iris scanner and face recognition options meant I could choose those ways to unlock the phone, but I never found them as reliable вЂ“ something that made me worry about face recognition for the iPhone X when it was announced.Д«ut this was the only real issue. It took some time, literally several weeks, to routinely find this sensor without looking and while I never really saw smudged photos as a result of erroneously pressing the lens, it was a concern. The exception, of course, is the fingerprint sensor slap-bang next to the camera lens. The S8 worked just fine and, with one exception, was pretty successful in every way. Well, you can breathe easy, Samsung execs. You could almost hear the Samsung top brass holding their breath as the phone was released.

After the unfortunate issues of some Galaxy Note 7 phones catching fire, it was no surprise that the Galaxy S8 took a more cautious path.

Top 10 best reads 2017