Top 5 best smartphones in Australia

Top 5 best smartphones in Australia

Best smartphones in Australia at SoftMeter, we inspect almost every phone under the sun, putting those that matter through our vigorous testing process to make our in-depth mobile reviews.

However, with numerous to settle on from, we've spent hours whittling them right down to a top 5, taking under consideration power, specs, design and value for money. And we'll always point you within the direction of the newest handsets – in any case, nobody wants to be carting around a phone that does not get any updates during a year's time, right?

So whether it's one among the various slick Android handsets, the newest iPhone or one from a variety of other cool manufacturers, we've extensively tested all of them so you do not have to!

Here are our rankings for the simplest smartphones that are currently available in Australia in 2020. Simply click on the phone you read more about.

1. Samsung Galaxy S20 / S20 Plus

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Release date: March 2020 || Weight: 186g || Dimensions: 166.9 x 76 x 8.8mm || OS: Android 10 || Screen size: 6.7-inch || Resolution: 3200×1440 || CPU: Snapdragon 865 || RAM: 12GB || Storage: 128/512GB (up to 1TB with card) || Battery: 4,500mAh || Rear camera: 12MP + 64MP + 12MP || Front camera: 10MP

• Latest and greatest specs
• Great 30x zoom max
• 120Hz is smooth as silk
• Price bump is aggressive
• The in-screen fingerprint sensor is poor

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus is that the best phone on our list, though the S20 is so similar (and only slightly inferior) that we've lumped them together here. There are minute differences, but mostly in the price: the quality S20 starts at AU$1,349, while the S20 Plus starts at AU$1,499. That's a much bigger jump than last year, owing mostly to the S20's newly added 5G capabilities.

Of course, you furthermore may have the choice of learning Samsung's top-tier model within the range, the Galaxy S20 Ultra, though you'll want to think about whether it's questionable 100x zoom functionality and inconsistent 108MP camera are really well worth the much higher AU$1,999 starting price point.

Screen: The Infinity-O AMOLED displays on both phones - 6.2 inches for the S20, 6.7 inches for the S20 Plus - are gorgeous, with a maximum WQHD+ resolution of 3200 x 1440. Thankfully, the notches are both centralized just like the Note 10, and they are much smaller this point around, however, it's worth noting that the S20 Plus only features a single lens. The result: more screen.

Also new this year may be a 120Hz maximum refresh rate for silky-smooth media and gaming, though it's likely that you're going to mostly notice it while browsing. Admittedly, you'll to drop your display resolution right down to FHD+ to enjoy it, however, the trade is way less of a problem than you would possibly think – the S20's display still looks incredibly sharp outside of its full QHD+ setting.

Battery Life: The S20 packs a 4,000mAh battery, while the S20 Plus has 4,500mAh of capacity. That is, to place it lightly, a lot, and regularly got us through over each day without the necessity to recharge. confine mind that battery life estimate will dip down if you set the refresh rate at 120Hz, frequently use 5G connectivity or lend juice with the handset's Wireless PowerShare feature, so adapt accordingly if you are looking to stay your phone going longer.

Camera: The S20 and S20 Plus have truly spectacular cameras. No, not their 12MP main shooters, which are fine - it is the 64MP telephoto that basically shines. While it only has 3x optical zoom, it still manages to crop concentrate to a muddy 30x digital zoom - which suggests the interim intervals are still an honest deal more impressive than the competition. The 12MP ultra-wide performs adequately, while the 10MP front-facing camera works just fine.

Another first-time bonus: 8K 24fps video from the rear camera, allowing truly cinematic footage. Of course, few people actually own an 8K display this early within the tech's life-cycle, however, the upper resolution does allow video editors to crop in close without losing an entire lot of detail.

Mini verdict: While the Samsung Galaxy S20 is impressive enough, it is the S20 Plus that we vouch for because of the best phone immediately, albeit it's slightly costlier. the mixture of incredible cameras with top-tier specs and an excellent display makes it an unquestionable winner with more battery life than its smaller sibling.

2. Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus

Release date: August 2019 || Weight: 196g || Dimensions: 162.3 x 77.2 x 7.9mm || OS: Android 9 || Screen size: 6.8-inch || Resolution: 1440 x 3040 || CPU: Exynos 9825 || RAM: 12GB || Storage: 256GB/512GB || Battery: 4,300mAh || Rear camera: Dual 12MP + 12MP + 16MP + 3D ToF || Front camera: 10MP

• Powerhouse specs
• Industry-leading display
• Gorgeous design
• Lacks headphone jack
• Expensive

The ultimate refinement of Samsung’s Note line, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus brings a number of the Galaxy S10’s best features over to the productivity-focused handset, making it the right phone for both work and play. While a few of its design changes may irk long-time Note devotees, it’s still the simplest smartphone that Samsung has ever produced.

Screen & Design: Having gotten won't to the varied display notches and pinhole cutouts that smartphone manufacturers have experimented with over the last year, it’s easy to forget that 2018’s Galaxy Note 9 still had fairly sizeable bezels at the highest and bottom of its screen. By comparison, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus’ bezel-free design seems like a drastic intensify, with only a little, centred pinhole camera stealing any land faraway from its otherwise all-screen front.

And what a screen! The Galaxy Note 10 Plus sports the foremost gorgeous Super AMOLED display we’ve ever laid eyes on, with its QHD+ resolution offering brilliant detail in photos, videos and games. because of the inclusion of HDR10+, it also produces stunningly vibrant colours, deep blacks and exceptional brightness.

In terms of shape, size and layout, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus are sorts of almost like last year’s model, albeit with a couple of key differences. For one, there’s not a fanatical power button on the phone’s right edge. Instead, the Note 10 Plus is often powered on using the left-mounted Bixby button. the most important and most controversial change, however, is undoubtedly the shortage of a 3.5mm headphone jack – a feature that the Note series has long championed and delayed as a key selling. That’s easily remedied by switching to Bluetooth headphones or using the included USB-C earbuds, but we can’t say we’re happy to ascertain the three .5mm port go.

It's also worth noting that despite the Note 10 Plus' huge 6.8-inch screen size, the handset feels remarkably compact within the hand because of its almost nonexistent bezels. it is also Very light and well-balanced for its size.

Performance: Last year’s Note 9 had an enormous 4,000mAh battery – the most important Samsung had ever implemented during a device at the time. That’s since been topped by the Galaxy S10 5G’s enormous 4,500mAh battery, however, the Note 10 Plus’ 4,300mAh pack remains quite hefty, and will keep your handset juiced well until bedtime.

In terms of horsepower, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus sports Samsung’s latest Exynos 9825 chipset, offering fantastic gaming performance when combined with the handset’s Mali-G76 MP12 GPU and 12GB of RAM. We’ve spent countless hours playing the graphically-intensive Call of Duty: Mobile on the device with nary a hiccup. an equivalent is often said of navigating the Note 10’s Android 9-based One UI and Samsung DeX desktop mode – both of which are snappy and responsive in the least times.

Camera: just like the S10 5G, the Galaxy Note 10 Plus features a quad-camera setup on its rear, which incorporates normal (12MP), telephoto (12MP), ultra-wide (16MP), and depth-sensing (ToF) lenses. While the above-listed megapixel counts might not be the very best around, these particular cameras close to supply some truly excellent photos, especially when it involves night mode and ultra-wide shots.

Likewise, Note 10’s sole front-facing camera, despite lacking the S10’s depth-sensing lens. Surprisingly, it still has access to a set of Live Focus effects, like the power to blur or drain the color from the background of your selfies. Like last year’s Note, you'll also remotely snap selfies using the device’s Bluetooth-enabled S Pen.

Mini verdict: With its refined form factor, powerhouse specs and unrivalled display, the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus offers just about everything you’d want from a premium handset in 2020. If you’re a smartphone computer user, look no further than the Galaxy Note 10 Plus.

3. iPhone 11

Release date: September 2019 || Weight: 194g || Dimensions: 150.9 x 75.7 x 8.3mm || OS: iOS 13 || Screen size: 6.1-inch || Resolution: 828 x 1792 || CPU: A13 Bionic || RAM: 4GB || Storage: 64/128/256GB || Battery: 3,110mAh || Rear camera: 12MP+12MP || Front camera: 12MP

• Improved camera
• Snappy performance
• Great battery life
• Large camera bump
• Near just like iPhone XS

While the iPhone 11 isn't as technically advanced because the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max, its price certainly makes it the foremost approachable new Apple handset released in 2019. It also has most of the key features from this year’s Apple device lineup, sporting an equivalent A13 Bionic chip as its bigger brothers Basically, the entry-level iPhone 11 is that this year’s iPhone XR, making it the perfect choice for those that want the newest Apple features at rock bottom cost.

Screen & Design: The iPhone 11 sports an equivalent 6.1-inch Liquid Retina IPS LCD display as last year’s iPhone XR, placing it right in between the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max in terms of size. that creates it an appealing choice for those that need a large screen, but not absolutely the largest.

Sure, it doesn’t offer an equivalent deep blacks and infinite contrast found within the OLED displays on both Pro models, but the likelihood is that you won’t notice the difference as this is often a stunning display regardless. That said, the iPhone 11 still sports an equivalent enormous notch that’s been present on every Apple handset since the iPhone X.

Performance: You’ll be pleased to listen to that the iPhone 11 can easily deliver all-day battery life. We’ve even found it to be an improvement on last year’s iPhone XR battery, which was already very impressive. Admittedly, the iPhone 11 Pro models boast larger batteries, and it’s a touch disappointing to ascertain that the iPhone 11 doesn't accompany a quick charger within the box like its bigger siblings.

That said, general performance is completely stellar on the iPhone 11, with the new A13 Bionic chip providing incredibly snappy navigation within the latest iOS 13 update, alongside exceptional gaming prowess.

Camera: this is often on the brink of the simplest iPhone camera, boast a dual-lens 12MP + 12MP setup that has a replacement ultra-wide camera that creates photos appear larger than life. Sure, it's missing the zoom lens that’s included on the professional models, but you are still getting the 2 best cameras from that specific combination, and it’s also got an extended exposure night mode which will automatically brighten up dark shots.

Mini verdict: The iPhone 11 isn’t technically the foremost advanced Apple handset to be released this year, but because of its cheaper price point, it’s bound to be the foremost popular.

4. iPhone 11 Pro / 11 Pro Max

Release date: September 2019 || Weight: 226g || Dimensions: 158 x 77.8 x 8.1mm || OS: iOS 13 || Screen size: 6.5-inch || Resolution: 1242 x 2688 || CPU: A13 Bionic || RAM: 4GB TBC || Storage: 64/256/512GB || Battery: 3,500mAh TBC || Rear camera: 12MP + 12MP + 12MP || Front camera: 12MP

• Night mode really shines
• Lots of power
• Design isn't updated
• Super expensive

The iPhone 11 Pro is Apple's latest iPhone that has people asking us "What's really changed?" it is a fair question because it's very almost like last year's iPhone. But use the new cameras for a couple of minutes and both that question and inquisitive looks from doubters quickly fade.

Screen & Design: Even with the unchanged 5.8-inch screen size, the iPhone 11 Pro display has been re-worked to be brighter, and it's noticeable when viewing the phone outdoors in sunny conditions. Its maximum brightness reaches 800 nits with normal content onscreen.

Meanwhile, Apple's 6.5-inch OLED screen on the iPhone 11 Pro Max really grabbed our attention – it's fantastic for video streaming and gaming, albeit it's set to 60Hz while other phones are pushing 90Hz and even 120Hz refresh rates.

That's taken to a different level when viewing HDR video content, with Apple claiming a max brightness of 1200 nits. Its returning support for Dolby Vision and HDR10 video is best viewed at 100% brightness.

In terms of design, the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max aren't all that different from last year's models; they appear nearly just like the iPhone XS before it and therefore the iPhone X before that, which is somewhat lazy on Apple's part.

There is, however, a more refined-looking frosted matte finish on the back, which offers a minimum of a subtle change from the clean glass backs we've become familiar with on latest phones. As another bonus, the matte finish makes it easier to grip the phone and conceal smudges. While it's extremely familiar in most regards, it's still the best-looking iPhone we've tested so far.

Camera: Its rear camera trifecta offers wide, 2x optically zoomed and all-encompassing ultra-wide perspectives, the latter being a primary for the iPhone. We found the iPhone 11 Pro cameras tout incredible versatility.

Of course, there's also a replacement Night Mode this year, which could be the absolute best reason to upgrade to the iPhone 11 Pro or its siblings. It's baked into Apple's main photo mode, not a separate mode like we see on Android rivals, which makes the feature wholly more useful.

Performance: Apple's A13 Bionic chipset makes unsurprising gains, offering performance you will not find on Android phones. Every new phone is snappy within the beginning, sure, but we found video editing and exporting to be noticeably faster on the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max.

We did notice some slowdown in booting up the camera app – although it might be an iOS 13 problem quite a problem with the A13's performance. Our Geekbench 5 benchmarking score tells us that it is the fastest phone around alongside the iPhone 11 Pro Max, with a multi-core score of three, 431.

Mini verdict: because of some nifty camera and battery upgrades, we will wholeheartedly recommend the iPhone 11 Pro and Pro Max – even for those that already own last year's iPhone XS. That said, we wish Apple had done more to differentiate its iPhones this point around.

5. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra

Release date: March 2020 || Weight: 166g || Dimensions: 166.9 x 76 x 8.8mm || OS: Android 10 || Screen size: 6.9-inch || Resolution: 3200 x 1440 || CPU: Snapdragon 865 || RAM: 12/16GB || Storage: 128/512GB || Battery: 5,000mAh || Rear camera: 108MP+48MP+12MP || Front camera: 40MP

• Best specs of 2020
• 108MP camera
• Enormous 6.9-inch display
• Very expensive
• Extras not worth price bump
• Space Zoom dubious worth

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is, indeed, ultra – billed because of the ultimate Samsung phone because of top-of-the-line specs on paper. It's an evolution of the max-specced Samsung Galaxy S10 5G from last year, though the Ultra's execution is not the best – particularly when it involves the device's chunky frame and massive camera bump, resulting in a way of overkill on Samsung's part.

Screen & Design: The 6.9-inch Infinity-O AMOLED screen is that the sharpest we have seen, coming in at a whopping 3200 x 1440 resolution (WQHD+) given the model's slim bezels and therefore the narrowest punch-hole we've ever seen. We love that its maximum refresh rate has been bumped up to 120Hz, though it is a shame the resolution must be lowered to FHD+ so as to use it. That said, it's hard to fault the S20 Ultra's 240Hz touch sensor upgrade, resulting in incredibly fast touch response times. once more, the phone retains an in-screen fingerprint sensor, leaving the phone's back unblemished.

In terms of its design, the S20 Ultra is somewhat of a preference. Following on from last year's sleek and lovely Note 10 Plus, the S20 Ultra feels quite bulky within the hand – especially once you place it within the included silicone clear case. Its camera bump is additionally so large that the phone will rock slightly when placed on its back. Another thing worth mentioning: the S20 Ultra almost completely does away with the curved glass screen that's been a mainstay in Samsung's flagship phone range since the Galaxy S6 Edge, leading to a way flatter display. This design decision will likely please some people but is certain to disappoint others.

Battery life: The Galaxy S20 Ultra features a massive 5,000mAh battery, which should help with the drains from the phone's 120Hz and 5G connectivity, alongside whatever Wireless PowerSharing and mundane binging or gaming you're doing. It should last you each day or more, though we still haven't hit the two-day battery life threshold yet.

Camera: the huge 108MP main shooter allows you to crop into photos after the very fact without the maximum amount distortion. However, the appeal is restricted. Serious creatives with time on their hands may get used out of this feature quite most of the people. While there's a 16MP ultra-wide lens roughly like that from last year's phone, it is the zoom capabilities that take the cake. The 100x 'Space Zoom' is usually for bragging rights, as photos at that zoom are muddied - but scan it back bent 30x zoom and it'll blow other phones out of the water, especially since the competition typically maxes out at 10x. Here, see our massive S20 Ultra camera test for a deep dive.

Mini verdict: The S20 Ultra is actually cutting-edge, with up to 16GB of RAM, 5G capabilities, 8K video and compatibility with both mmWave and sub-6 networks. But you'll pay a premium for the privilege: the phone starts at AU$1,999, and while its camera's specs sound remarkable in writing, just like the 108MP sensor, it doesn't always get exposure or autofocus right. Meanwhile, the phone's much-touted 100x 'Space Zoom' proves to be a totally unnecessary extravagance that only adds to its overall price (and the phone's thickness), leading us to recommend the S20 Plus over the S20 Ultra.

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