Best Smartphones of the Year 2020

As we all know, 2020 was a rough year, but the tech industry had a blast this year. We improved a lot than in previous years and saw some significant hits. Something similar happened in the Nepali smartphone market too. We saw competitive pricing, entry of some new brands in the county, and re-entry of ever known brands like Motorola and POCO. So, today we will be looking at the best smartphones in 2020. We will be having different categories and the best device under those categories.

Let’s get started with the list of Best Smartphones of the Year 2020 from Gadgets in Nepal without further delay. 

Best Budget Smartphone of the Year 

POCO M2

We tried to fit the smartphone under this category, which provided the best bang for the buck at the lower tier. This device provided some of the best specs at a price, with excellent battery life and a decent camera setup. Keeping up the crown for the cheapest device with 6GB RAM, we have POCO M2 as the best budget smartphone for the year 2020.  

POCO M2 with Media-Tek Helio G80 SoC and Mali-G52 MC2 and 6GB RAM and 64 or 128GB ROM, we think is the best performing device in this category. Talking about the camera, it has a Quad-camera setup with 13MP f/2.2 primary and 8MP f/2.2 Ultra-wide, which did provide decent images with appreciable quality at this range. With the battery front, 5000mAh capacity with 18W fast-charging was always a plus point for the device. Overall, we think POCO M2 fits perfectly for the best budget smartphone for the year 2020.  

Best Mid-Range Smartphone of the Year 

POCO X3 NFC & Samsung Galaxy M51

This is the heated segment not only in Nepal but around the globe. Cheap phones are getting better, and better phones are getting cheaper. This year we have two best Mid-range smartphones in Nepal. Both the devices were launched around the end of the year and yet could not impress up to be on the list. 

Poco X3 NFC

The first one is the last smartphone to be launched in Nepal for 2020, but better late than never. Ever since the announcement and price reveal of this device, the market was shaken up a bit. We are talking about none other than POCO X3 NFC.  

POCO X3 NFC provided a smooth high refresh rate 120Hz display at the front with 240Hz touch sampling. Not only that, under-the-hood, we got a Snapdragon 732 SoC with Adreno 618 GPU. This, along with 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, made it a complete package for those who are looking for a powerful device without pain in their pocket. And to top it all, we got a 64MP quad-camera setup at the back and a 5160mAh battery with 33W fast charging, while all this cost just Rs.31,999. So, these are the reasons why we picked POCO X3 NFC as the best mid-range smartphone for the year 2020. While the next one is:

Samsung Galaxy M51

While POCO X3 NFC seemed an easy pick, it had given a tough competition to Samsung’s latest mid-range in the M-series, Samsung Galaxy M51. Towards the end of the year, Samsung came up with its monstrous Galaxy M51. It has a 7000mAh mammoth battery with 25W fast-charging, Snapdragon 730G SoC, up at the front we have a 60Hz Super AMOLED display. Talking about the camera we got, 64MP quad-camera setup, and a 32MP selfie too. So, there were times when Samsung Galaxy M51 had a plus point over the POCO. 

At last, it comes to a personal preference among these two. If you want a better quality display and are happy with a 60Hz, better camera, and a bigger battery, you can go with Samsung Galaxy M51 but if you want to experience that 120Hz smoothness and don’t want to spend 40K on your next device, go with POCO X3 NFC. 

Flagship Killer of the Year 

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE

This is the category where we had dominance of devices from brands like OnePlus and Xiaomi. To fit into this category, you have to come up with a device that provides all the necessary flagship features and performance without costing as much as them. We all know flagship-killers don’t excel in all the smartphones pillar, but what they do the best is to provide the best price to performance ratio and flagship experience for not so flagship price. This year, it was done by none other than Samsung Galaxy S20 FE. 

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE packed, the same flagship SoC from Note 20 and S20 series. It had a flagship-grade 120Hz Super AMOLED display at the front. It had a great triple camera setup, a mat-finish back, though it was plastic. The device is packed with the 32MP f/2.2 selfie shooter, dual-speaker stereo speakers, 45000mAh battery, support for wireless charging, and much more. Let’s not forget the fast UFS 3.1 storage and ONE UI experience. Overall, it was a complete package and was priced well in Nepal, starting at Rs.69,999 via Daraz exclusive launch. There you go, the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, the Flagship Killer of the Year 2020. 

Best Flagship of the Year

OnePlus 8 Pro & iPhone 12 Pro Max

Yes, this was a tough choice, and here we are with two smartphones for the best flagship smartphone of the year 2020. These devices provide the best performance regardless of their pricing. Though we have both the devices running on a different platform, one comes with Android 10 and oxygen OS on top, whereas the iPhone has its iOS side. 

OnePlus 8 Pro

Talking about the OnePlus 8 Pro, it has an A+ grade 6.78-inch curved Fluid AMOLED QHD+ 120Hz display with 1B colors and HDR10+ certified. Powering OnePlus 8 Pro, we have the flagship SoC for Android, Snapdragon 865, and Adreno 650 GPU. With UFS 3.0 storage and LPDDR5 RAM along with 5G, all this results in smooth flagship performance on the OnePlus 8 Pro.

We have a Quad-Camera setup with a 48MP f/1.8 IMX 689 Primary shooter, an 8MP Telephoto, a 48MP ultra-wide, and a 5 MP color filter camera. OnePlus tossed a 4510mAh battery inside with 30W Dash Charging and 30W wireless charging too. All these offerings and the starting price of  Rs. 1,10,000, made the OnePlus 8 Pro, the best flagship of the year along with the iPhone. 

iPhone 12 Pro Max

Now let’s have a look at iPhone 12 Pro Max. iPhone 12 Pro Max brought some severe improvements in camera comparing it with the previous generation models. It has the same notch, which might not look as cool as the recent android flagships. Still, the inclusion of 5G, Dolby Vision HDR recording, Super Retina XDR display, Ceramic shield glass with a flat body, and top of them all, the most powerful mobile SoC, the A14 Bionic, without any doubt iPhone 12 Pro Max is the best flagship of the year 2020 along with the OnePlus 8 Pro. 

Best Gaming Phone of the Year 

Black Shark 3 

In the year 2020, we didn’t see many launches of Gaming smartphones in Nepal. Though flagship phones are suitable for gaming, Gaming phones pack those extra feels and punch with support for accessories and gaming-oriented features. Doing so in Nepal was Black Shark 3. 

Black Shark 3 was powered by Snapdragon 865 SoC clocked at 2.84 GHz along with Adreno 650 GPU and 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM. We also get 256 GB of fast UFS 3.0 storage. Talking about the build, the device came with an Aluminum body with a green Shark logo that gives a gamer look to the device. At the front, we get 6.67 inches FHD+ AMOLED display with a 90 Hz refresh rate and support for HDR10+ technology.

The Display supported a touch sampling rate of 270Hz, which makes the gaming experience much better and smooth. We had a front-firing dual speaker setup, 4720mAh battery, and 65W fast charging to make the experience. All these features make Black Shark 3 the best Gaming Phone of the Year 2020. 

Best Innovative Smartphone of the Year

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 

Folding is going to be the future, and this is the new form factor that is attracting both the consumers and OEM’s. Samsung has already reached the second generation of their folding devices, and the result of that is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2, and we are crowning it as the best innovative Smartphone of the year 2020. 

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 brought some serious improvement than the previous fold. It had a better and more usable 6.23-inch cover display at the front with a punch hole at the top. Inside we had a large 7.6-inch QHD+ Super AMOLED Display with 120Hz refresh rate and a small circular cut-out instead of a large notch. It also brought improvement in its hinge mechanism and overall design. We had the powerful Snapdragon 865+ with 12GB of LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage under the hood. Specs-wise it was a beast too.

We saw three different camera setups with a 10MP selfie shooter in the cover display and the more prominent display, while at the back, we got a 12MP triple camera setup. All these features made the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 the best innovative Smartphone of the year 2020. 

So, there were our picks for the Best Smartphones of the Year 2020. Let us know your favorite device under the comment section below, and follow us across our social media handles to stay updated with everything in the tech community.