There are a great deal of smartphones on the market in the marketplace at present, and we right here at Android Authority endeavor to cowl all of them. However what concerning the telephones we truly use each day as our every day drivers? In spite of everything, it’s one factor to overview a telephone and name it one of the best you can buy, however one other factor solely to make use of one as your main machine.
We did a Workforce AA every day driver ballot back in 2018, in addition to another one last year. With some nice telephones already launched this 12 months, we thought now could be nearly as good a time as any to do a 2021 version of this ballot to see how issues have modified within the final twelve months.
21 Workforce AA members from all over the world contributed to those outcomes, whereas additionally giving their every day drivers a rating out of 10 and letting us know what they preferred/disliked about them.
What telephones do Android Authority crew members use? Let’s discover out!
The outcomes
We’ve charted the outcomes by telephone mannequin in addition to by telephone model. We’ll go into the small print additional down this text, however you may try the uncooked numbers under:
It’s a Samsung social gathering up in right here
Final 12 months’s ballot noticed Samsung main the pack by a really slim margin over Google’s telephones, however the South Korean producer has prolonged this hole in 2021. Again in 2020, virtually 1 / 4 of all Workforce AA members have been utilizing a Samsung machine as their every day driver, adopted by 21% of members with a Google machine. Now, a 3rd of all members are utilizing a Samsung telephone.
Breaking it down by mannequin, the Galaxy S20 (two) and Galaxy S10 Plus (two) have been the one telephones that had multiple Workforce AA member utilizing them. In any other case, no different telephone mannequin appeared twice in our ballot.
Samsung house owners usually praised the cameras, efficiency, battery life, and measurement (each large and small fashions). One standout grievance concerning Samsung telephones got here from social and website positioning professional Luka Mlinar and his Exynos Samsung Galaxy S20:
“You’ll anticipate a €1,000+ telephone to run COD Cell with out stuttering, and but it doesn’t.”
Virtually 1 / 4 of polled Android Authority members (5) use a Google Pixel telephone as their every day driver, and reward usually went in direction of the digicam, telephone measurement, and the software program expertise. Complaints have been leveled in opposition to the Pixel 5‘s getting old major digicam sensor although, whereas Sam Moore — editor at our sister website SoundGuys — lamented the dearth of an IP score and wi-fi charging on the Pixel 4a.
Rounding out the highest three manufacturers was OnePlus, with 4 AA members reporting that they use a OnePlus machine as their every day driver. Curiously sufficient, it additionally earned the best common score among the many high three producers (8.75/10 versus 8.1/10 for Samsung and eight/10 for Google).
Offers Editor Matt Horne additionally gave his OnePlus 8 full marks — the one good rating this day trip. Matt mentioned he preferred all the pieces concerning the telephone, noting it was his first machine with an in-display fingerprint sensor and that he additionally preferred the design. However he acknowledged that the reward may be attributable to his earlier telephones not being as much as scratch.
Apple Authority strikes once more
Credit score: David Imel / Android Authority
Consider it or not, however two members of our crew use iPhones as every day drivers. Resident reviewer Eric Zeman and Audio Editor Lily Katz selected the iPhone 12 Professional Max and iPhone 12 Mini, respectively.
Eric cited the digicam, battery life, efficiency, and app choice for selecting the iPhone. In the meantime, Lily most well-liked the Mini mannequin as she says she has small arms, carries a charger round, and doesn’t actively use her telephone fairly often anyway.
The iPhone house owners do have just a few criticisms although, with Eric decrying the iPhone 12 Professional Max’s measurement, the notch, and the dearth of a excessive refresh fee. Lily additionally criticized the iPhone 12 Mini for the dearth of a 3.5mm port and digicam lens flare.
Three outlier picks
Credit score: David Imel / Android Authority
What else did our AA members use as their every day drivers? Properly, Huawei, LG, and Xiaomi all made one look apiece.
Beginning with Huawei, I’m nonetheless utilizing the Mate 20 Pro as my every day driver. It’s nonetheless quick sufficient for my wants, the cameras are fairly versatile, I can recover from a day trip of the battery, and the quick charging continues to be fairly useful. Nevertheless, it undoubtedly appears like battery degradation has set in, and the dearth of a excessive refresh fee display and 4K at 60fps recording is a bit of disappointing when in comparison with newer gadgets.
In the meantime, Govt Editor Kris Carlon goes with a relatively uncommon choose within the LG Wing. He reckons the T-shaped telephone is LG “at its quirky greatest”:
“It’s removed from good but it surely’s one of the crucial attention-grabbing telephones I’ve utilized in years. The use instances are undoubtedly fairly area of interest however as soon as you discover those that be just right for you they really feel oddly indispensable. It’s additionally a reasonably stable ‘common telephone.’”
It’s not all good although, as Kris dislikes the Wing’s software program. Nonetheless, he admits it was higher than he first anticipated.
There was just one Xiaomi telephone getting used as a every day driver on this ballot, and that’s Gary Sims’ Mi 9T Pro. He praised the efficiency, quantity of storage (128GB), in-display fingerprint sensor, and MIUI updates. However he additionally had particular reward for the battery, noting that he seldom went to mattress with lower than 50% juice. Nevertheless, Gary did lament the front-facing digicam as being too extensive, saying it distorts selfies because of this.
Different takeaways
- Just one Workforce AA member mentioned they wouldn’t advocate their telephone to readers, and that’s Managing Editor Ollie Cragg and his Pixel 4 XL. He hates the 64GB of fastened storage and known as the telephone’s battery atrocious. Within the case of the latter, he mentioned it barely will get him to 6PM proper now. He nonetheless gave it a excessive score of 8/10, although. That’s a sophisticated love-hate relationship proper there.
- There was a considerable amount of carry-over from final 12 months’s ballot, with eight fashions seeing a return in 2021. These have been the Google Pixel 4 XL, Huawei Mate 20 Professional, Samsung Galaxy Observe 10, Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus, OnePlus 7, OnePlus 7T, OnePlus 7T Professional, and Xiaomi Mi 9T Professional.
- There’s just one Huawei telephone on this checklist, in comparison with 5 members toting a Huawei machine a 12 months in the past. The dearth of Google Cell Providers means that many Workforce AA members are steering away from the Chinese language model’s telephones for now. I do know I’d improve to a Mate 40 Professional in a heartbeat if it had Google assist.
- That is our first every day drivers ballot that options an all-OLED lineup, because the 2020 ballot included LCD-toting telephones just like the Huawei P20, Huawei Mate 9, and older, cheaper iPhones. And with even mid-rangers getting excessive refresh fee OLED screens in 2021, we’re guessing this development will proceed subsequent 12 months.
- Just below 24% of our every day drivers provided 3.5mm ports. These have been the Pixel 4a 5G, Pixel 4a, Mi 9T Professional, and Galaxy S10 Plus. That traces up with final 12 months’s ballot, for higher or worse.
- Just one telephone (Pixel 4 XL) packed a standard brow, whereas three provided a pop-up selfie digicam. The remainder have a notch or punch-hole cutout.
- The typical battery measurement works out to three,861mAh, with the iPhone 12 Mini and Google Pixel 4a bringing that common down large time.
- The oldest telephone on the checklist is the Mate 20 Professional, launched in late 2018. I feel it’s time for me to get an improve…
- Solely six telephones out of the 21 picks (28.5%) have been made by Chinese language manufacturers. In the meantime, South Korean manufacturers accounted for eight picks (38.1%), whereas US manufacturers accounted for seven gadgets (33.3%).
- Oppo was ranked fifth for shipments in 2020, in accordance with Counterpoint Research, but it surely’s lacking fully on this 12 months’s ballot. It isn’t the one high 10 world participant lacking on this ballot although, as Vivo (ranked sixth), Realme (seventh), and Lenovo/Motorola (eighth) have been all absent.
Our subsequent telephones
We additionally requested the crew if there have been any introduced or rumored telephones they’d their eyes on subsequent, and by far the largest possibility was “nothing.” Seven crew members have been pleased sufficient with their present telephones that they’d no intention of upgrading anytime quickly — up from 5 a 12 months in the past.
By way of the most well-liked model, 5 crew members mentioned they needed to improve to a Samsung telephone. Two Android Authority members mentioned they needed a 2021 Samsung foldable whereas three others needed the Galaxy S21, Galaxy Observe 21, and Galaxy S22. The second-most widespread producer was Google, as two crew members have been eyeing the Pixel 6 and one was contemplating the Pixel 5a.
We additionally noticed two manufacturers make the minimize that didn’t seem in our every day driver ballot, as Kris selected the Asus ROG Phone 5 and Ollie selected the Oppo Find X3 Pro. Lastly, we additionally noticed two picks that weren’t truly brand-specific, as e-newsletter editor Tristan Rayner merely needed a Snapdragon 888-powered telephone whereas equipment guru Ankit Banerjee is just eyeing a telephone with an under-display selfie digicam.
What’s your every day driver proper now? Do you’ve gotten any likes or dislikes to share? Tell us by leaving a remark under.
