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Choosing the right smartphone can be mind-boggling. You need to consider a range of factors such as operating system, size, features, functions and price – and that's before you even get started navigating the complexities of a mobile phone plan.
We test and review smartphones, ranging in price from top end to rock bottom, to help you choose the best phone for:
Your filters
List of brands we tested in this review.
Recommended retail at time of purchase.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 129 and 2049
We recommend smartphones with an overall score of 80% and above.
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Small is up to 4.5 inches, medium is between 4.5 and 5.5 inches and large is over 5.5 inches.
Internal memory is the storage on the phone itself which will be used to contain both the Operating System (OS) as well as any other stuff you want to keep on your phone such as photos, video, apps etc.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 8 and 256
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 5 and 40
A memory card is a good expandable memory option to store photos, video and music.
A phone with a 3.5mm jack will let you use a standard set of headphones to listen to music. USB-C and Lightning connections forces you to use special headphones that are often expensive and of variable quality.
We assess the size of the display as well as quality of the image with regard to sharpness and colour clarity.
enter value/s in increments of 1 between 0 and 0
We assess how well the phone performs as a digital camera.
We drop the phone from a table or out of a shirt pocket up to 25 times; store the phones in hot, damp conditions; and carry out a rain test.
How easy it is to start the browser, navigate to sites, enter addresses and use favourites and bookmarks? We also do a practical test on content downloads and award extra points for Wi-Fi connectivity.
A Similar model is identical in most aspects except for a few. This means that a majority of its test results are identical so you can reasonably expect to get the same results from the model we tested, but for those aspects which aren't identical, we'll note these as "Not Tested" in the Compare tables.
A Tested model refers to a model that is still current and available in the Australian market. You should be able to order this model through your local retailer, or find it online.
These models can't be found in retailers or online or are no longer manufactured. You may still find these models on second hand websites, or in second hand dealers. Test methods may change over time, so criteria which can't be directly compared will contain an N/A.
An Identical model is exactly that. Performance characteristics will be identical and the only difference will be something trivial such as colour, which won't have an impact on performance.
These are models we haven't yet tested but that are available.
