The Google Pixel 7 Professional is Android Authority’s decide for greatest telephone of 2022

Each once in a while a yr passes within the cellular world the place a transparent, overarching theme emerges. In 2022, that theme was consolidation. Whereas there have been a handful of exceptions — be it brash upstart OEMs or established names attempting to face out from the pack — many of the trade’s heaviest hitters and acquainted names spent the final 12 months iterating on earlier successes. With the truth of worldwide inflation resulting in rising prices for manufacturers and customers, it’s not laborious to see why many manufacturers caught with a tried and examined formulation in an try and climate the storm.

The knock-on impact was a calendar yr of telephones that, on the entire, regarded so much just like the earlier yr’s crop of contenders. The margins that separate good telephones from great ones have develop into thinner than ever, however there are however some clear highlights to be discovered from the category of 2022.

However what was the perfect telephone of 2022? You’ve had your say in our Reader’s Selection award, however now it’s time to crown Android Authority‘s Editor’s Selection winner for the very best telephone of 2022 (in addition to our prime 5), as chosen by our editorial and opinions groups.

“Greatest” is a loaded descriptor. How do you determine what’s the “greatest” at something, particularly when speaking about issues as advanced as smartphones? In any case, these are gadgets we feature with us for nearly each minute of the waking day; we’re all certain to have our personal biases. Telephones may also be assessed in myriad methods — from their uncooked specs to their perceived worth for cash, their goal benchmark numbers to private preferences for a way a specific UI appears and operates.

It is a dilemma we always grapple with as our consultants deal with all the greatest shopper tech releases every yr. Stamping the authority into Android Authority is vital to us. The tons of, if not 1000’s of hours we pour into testing and analyzing the more and more refined adjustments between rival telephones, or from technology to technology, provides us a rigorous baseline of expectation when anointing a specific system as the best possible any given yr has to supply. And it’s not simply {hardware} testing both, we’re all the time certain to issue within the extra intangible metrics like long-term software program assist guarantees and observe data, value and worth (two very various things!), market availability, and far, way more.

Our course of for choosing the Editor’s Selection for telephone of the yr dials all of this as much as the max. Our shortlist combines probably the most prestigious and highest-reviewed telephones of the yr, with due diligence paid to make sure that each main model is represented throughout a number of value segments. This contains gadgets bought solely within the US, in addition to globally. From there, our skilled management crew and our trusted product reviewers every assign votes to their alternative for the highest 5 telephones, rating them from fifth to first as a part of a point-scoring system. The telephone with probably the most factors wins.

Now, let’s get to the winner (and our runners-up!).

For the second yr working, a Google Pixel flagship claims our grandest prize — however this time, it’s not only a Pixel flagship, it’s the Google flagship. In 2021, we discovered the vanilla Pixel 6’s delicate steadiness of specs, general high quality, and reasonably priced pricing to be an undeniable combo. However in 2022, our hearts — and yours, it turns out! — have been with the Big G’s “Pro” offering.

And it’s not laborious to see why whenever you run by all the Pixel 7 Pro‘s greatest qualities. All of it begins with the refined design, which improves on the Pixel 6 sequence’ instantly iconic digital camera bar by making use of an aluminum casing and chic cutouts for every shooter. That focus to element extends to the ever-excellent digital camera suite, as Google’s computational pictures smarts mix with expanded zoom capabilities, in addition to new pictures methods like Photo Unblur. The latter is only one of many perks offered by Google’s second shot at its personal customized silicon, the Tensor G2 — a machine learning-focused chipset that eschews CPU and GPU energy for brainpower, but nonetheless manages to impress with its sustained efficiency capabilities.

In 2022, Google regarded to develop its horizons with a brand-new portfolio of gadgets to tackle Apple’s dominance because the go-to ecosystem. To even get the ball rolling, nonetheless, it wanted to ship a top-class telephone to carry its ambitions to life. The telephone was the Pixel 7 Professional, and what a telephone it turned out to be.

The Pixel 7 Professional was the runaway winner, amassing simply over 1 / 4 of the entire factors in our vote from a shortlist of 20 telephones. However that doesn’t imply we forgot about its smaller, flatter, and much more reasonably priced sibling.

Matching its predecessor’s sub-$600 price ticket — a feat that also appears too good to be true — makes the Pixel 7 maybe the easiest phone to recommend of any handset that hit cabinets in 2022. It lacks the bells and whistles of the Pixel 7 Professional, and the lacking telephoto lens, lower-res, 90Hz-capped show, and even slower charging (critically, Google, kind this out in 2023), however the Pixel 7 in any other case packs in the very best of the up to date Pixel expertise, all whereas saving you a hefty $300. You may’t argue with that.

What occurs when probably the most profitable smartphone maker on the planet combines two of its elite gadgets into one? That’ll be the Galaxy S22 Ultra — a Galaxy Observe/Galaxy S Extremely-hybrid that regarded and felt instantly acquainted, however in one of the best ways potential. If the Galaxy S21 Extremely was “peak smartphone,” the Galaxy S22 Extremely is the celebratory flag planted on prime of that peak.

But, regardless of reigning because the best camera phone, providing all the extra functionality of the S Pen, and having the perfect software program assist exterior of Cupertino, the indomitable Galaxy S22 Extremely however fell in need of Google’s extra fairly priced options in our voting. Nonetheless, for these with no limits to their price range, Samsung’s powerhouse is still a clear winner.

The Plus member of every Galaxy S technology faces a tough conundrum: How can it strike the appropriate steadiness between the Extremely’s overkill spec sheet and the entry mannequin’s cheaper price ticket to supply one thing of real worth? Too typically, the reply has been “it doesn’t,” with the Plus variant changing into the awkward center little one. This yr, although, the Galaxy S22 Plus was a true all-rounder that made that balancing act look easy.

It took an additional yr for Oppo to crack our prime 5 once more after riding high in fourth again in 2020, however the Discover X5 Professional deserves its place within the higher echelons of 2022’s smartphone corridor of fame. With an beautiful, flowing design, bonkers-fast charging (each wired and wirelessly), and a world-class show, the Discover X5 Professional wasn’t probably the most polished handset of 2022, but it surely was one of many telephones with the most personality.

From a bumper record of 32 telephones, the Pixel 7 Professional emerged victorious. Congrats to the Mountain View big which not solely takes house our Editor’s Selection award, but additionally your Reader’s Selection award for the very best telephone of 2022.

Try our Reader’s Choice rundown for an summary of how the Pixel 7 Professional’s hotly-contested battle in opposition to a sure Samsung telephone performed out over a number of rounds of voting and over 17,000 responses. It was nearer than you would possibly anticipate!

Whereas our telephone of the yr is all wrapped up, make sure you hold it locked to Android Authority all through the vacation season as we’ll have tons extra 2022 retrospective content material, enjoyable end-of-year items, and much more articles wanting ahead to 2023 as we think about what lies forward within the tech world.

Till then, from our households to yours, have a very completely happy holidays!