There simply wasn’t a more heavily contested category in 2011 than smartphones, with a new “better” model seemingly every week. But which phone was the absolute best? You’ve voted, and the winner is…
Reader’s Choice: Samsung Galaxy S II
The Galaxy S II was the clear popular favourite; throughout the voting process it never had anything less than 40 per cent of the vote. It ended up with a hefty 44.17 per cent share of the votes. It ended up a two-horse race, with the iPhone 4S taking 33.41 per cent. That left everything else in the single digits; the bronze goes to the Google Nexus S with 4.04 per cent.
More: Samsung Galaxy S II vs iPhone 4S: Fight To The Death!
Editor’s Choice: Samsung Galaxy S II
Despite the clear voting, there were a number of phones I considered for the Editor’s Choice gong; the iPhone 4S continued a run of generally excellent iOS phones, Nokia’s N9 showed what could have been with Meego… and so on. But I to came to the same conclusion as the readership. Despite the extraordinary number of phones released this year, there were really only a few genuine standout candidates, and none stood out more than the Samsung Galaxy S II, a well deserving reader and editor’s choice double award winner.
Also: This Is the Samsung Galaxy Nexus, Google’s New Official Android Phone
Dan
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:12 PMGreat phone, well deserved.
Sam
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:14 PMAgreed. I was all but sure that the iPhone 4s would win…
light487
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:12 PMYup.. I love my SGSII.. My fiancee` has a iPhone 4 (not 4S) and whenever I pick it up these days I realise how small it is and without the dedicated menu and back buttons, I feel limited in how I interact with the device. I used to love her iPhone 4 before I got my SGSII..
typedmillepede
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:33 PMhow do you feel about the direction android is going then without any hardware buttons?
light487
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:44 PMAs far as I undertand it, the dedicated buttons will still be there, just that they will be software based instead of hardware, so the bulk of the phone could possibly be reduced a little. The main point I was making there is that it has the ability to hit the menu and/or back buttons, which are always in teh same place and always available on every screen etc That is, dedicated.
Sam
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:01 PMSo far the Galaxy Nexus is the only phone (that I’m aware of) to have onscreen buttons. Even the rumoured HTC Ville is looking like it’s going to have seperate capacitive buttons below the screen.
In having said that though, while I’m sure that the onscreen keys will offer additional functionality (skinning, auto rotation, self hiding on full screen video, etc); Android isn’t just going to ditch these commands, Google wouldn’t be stupid enough to render a whole heap of phones existing buttons non-fuctional because of it.
Steve
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:07 PMICS is designed to use software buttons, just as 720 is now their native resolution. Neither of these are the ‘norm’ for Android phones yet, but it doesn’t mean previous devices are now non-functional if they lack either. Hardware buttons will still serve the same 3-button purpose they do in the Galaxy Nexus, they just won’t have the benefit of auto-rotation etc.
Sam
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 8:57 AMThe same “3″ button purpose? …and here I was thinking my Nexus S had 4…
Steve
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 12:38 PMThe 4th button is still going to work, it just also has a software key in the UI that does the exact same thing. Superfluous? Sure, but it doesn’t mean Android devices that lack the Galaxy Nexus form factor will be excluded from ICS goodness.
Steve
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:59 PMBasically exactly the same. The button row at the bottom are now software and extend the screen. They disappear with fullscreen apps like youtube and video so the display gets bigger.
Rick
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:26 PMI switched from an iPhone 4 (having owned every iPhone up to and including that one) to a Galaxy S II last week. Absolutely love it.
Lord Crumplebottom
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:35 PMEither SGS2 or iPhone 4S would do me. But since I’ve been using an Android tablet I thought it best to stick with the SGS2 so I could download any apps I’d purchased.
Both are dead sexy though.
JW
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:36 PMHaha… are you kidding…? all of the Androids in our office end up in a pile in the corner labelled “pain in the ass”…!
Lord Crumplebottom
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:38 PMI think that says more about the intellect levels in your office than the platform :)
James
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:20 PM+1
dingo
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 7:23 PM+2
Epicaricacy
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:44 PMYou must be Baristas then….
Christopher
Sunday, January 1, 2012 at 4:23 PM+1
Ozoneocean
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:38 PMI doubt it could be a truly “well deserved” award, rather it reflects the broad ownership of the device- most of the people nominating and voting for it (or whatever) did so because they owned it.
mike
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:51 PMDoes your brain think backwards?
Ever through that lots of people own it because its good? Not that its good because lots of people own it.
Sam
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:57 PMHaving a large customer base isn’t reflective of the quality of a certain product, it’s just reflective of a sucessful marketing and pricing strategy.
Steve
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:00 PMIt works either way. Argumentum ad populum. The majority doesn’t necessarily correlate with quality, but I think in either of these cases, the IP4S and SII are both great phones. Obviously they tend to skew a certain way, the iPhone targets the lowest common denominator and hand-holds you, while the S II is more popular among power users (who incidentally read tech blogs like Gizmodo)
Lord Crumplebottom
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 4:58 PMI’m pretty sure it’s been stated plenty of times that iPhone is the biggest selling smart phone in the world.
By that reasoning it would mean people that own iPhones voted for the SGS2 then.
o_O
Richard
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 11:13 PMNo. It means the people who read Gizmodo Australia voted for it. No more, no less. Some of those voters may or may not have been iPhone owners, but you cant assume that. It’s highly possible that a site such as Gizmodo is prone to have a high number of Android users, just as how a few years ago tech sites were far more likely to have a high number of users that weren’t IE users.
Steve
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:03 PMWhat do you think the Editor’s Choice is then? Especially when the Giz AU office handles plenty of phones and can make a more informed choice than most. Plus, it’s not difficult to get some quality playtime these days with multiple devices, with stalls in every store and friends/family.
And I’m amused at this double standard. The IP4 sweeped the board last year for precisely the same reason, there were far more sold iPhones than anything else and people voted it in droves. If there’s anything to take from this year’s results, it’s that there’s a massive shift in the number of power users (and even casual fans) considering alternatives to Apple. Who knows what it might show this time next year.
Richard
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 11:18 PMThe interesting thing to me is that In the past 12 months, software wise Android is pretty much where it was back then. 2.3 wasn’t a huge end user update, not to the extent 2.2 was. I find it curious that the mantle swung Androids way despite the fact iOS has arguably had the larger jump in that time.
And because I know some people will pick up on this, ICS is a huge update and I acknowledge that. It doesn’t really factor into the voting as its release is too late in the timeline.
Anyhow, I find it interesting, especially given I feel software is more important than hardware. Will be interesting to see where things are in a further 12 months.
Steve
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 12:36 PMSince it’s a poll for best mobile (singular), I think it’s more a hardware choice than software. A year ago, the best Android phones were still probably the Desire, Evo 4G etc, which were still great phones that lacked the polish of later Android releases like the Galaxy S II or the Sensation, that could go toe-to-toe with the iPhone 4. In that same time, the 4S jump was relatively minor.
Regarding OS, iOS5 was a significant jump for Apple, but it only really brought the software featureset in line with Android’s, with notifications bar, wireless syncing and out-of-the-box, PC-less set up. Probably the most significant addition there was iMessage. Compared to 2.3, IOS still leads in terms of polish and accessibility, but again who knows what it’ll be a year from now with ICS making huge leaps in that field.
Hamish
Monday, November 28, 2011 at 5:23 PMI voted for it. I own an HTC Desire. It’s a bloody great phone, deserves the win.
Ash
Tuesday, January 3, 2012 at 11:42 AMI think owners of the device should be the ones to vote. Just because they have one doesnt mean theyre more likely to vote in favour of it if they dont “get along” with the device. Everyone who votes for a device but has never owned it is a douche.
Nate
Tuesday, November 29, 2011 at 2:07 AMIphone’s are good. But these days are more centered around easy-to-use rather than being the best phone on the market. Apple knows they do not have the best phone on the market. They know when they release the iphone 5 it will be surpassed in a month with all the android phones coming out once a month. I see it as this Android = for people who want the most out of their phone. Apple = for simplicity.