• 6 hours ago
Transcript
00:00Alright, what's up y'all, MKBHD here and welcome to the Smartphone Awards.
00:20So you already know, we usually spend the whole year gathering all the phones that come
00:23out during the course of the year and reviewing them, evaluating them, testing them, picking
00:28our favorites and recommending the ones that are really good.
00:30But it got me thinking, when we do that at the end of the year, is it really fair to
00:34have phones that are 8, 9, 10 months old stacked up against the newest phones with the newest
00:39hardware?
00:40Like tech moves fast, we gotta keep that all into account.
00:43So for the first time ever in MKBHD history, welcome to the Mid-Season Smartphone Awards.
00:47As you can see, of course, less phones have come out at this point during the year, but
00:52that's never stopped anybody, so let's get into it.
00:54Alright, so first up category is Best Design.
00:58And now there are a couple of interesting phones that have come out this year, some
01:01of them with interesting materials and different proportions.
01:03We do have some folding options, but I'm pretty confident with this one.
01:07My favorite design so far of a smartphone to come out this year is the Samsung Galaxy
01:12S23 Ultra.
01:14So this is a subjective award, of course, but I don't know, I kind of can't help it,
01:18the matte black, the clean understated look.
01:20I mean, this phone is packing so much stuff and yet at the front, it just looks like a
01:24big corner-to-corner display.
01:25They also did flatten the sides this year, which was huge for feel in the hand.
01:28I love it.
01:29So that's the design award.
01:30So next up, Best Battery.
01:33And now we already know, this is like best battery life, best battery experience, best
01:37overall battery in a smartphone.
01:39And we keep seeing the numbers go up and up, which is really exciting.
01:42And there have been some phones on this desk with great combinations of efficiency and
01:47battery, but the award for this one, I think it's actually pretty clear, is the S23 Ultra.
01:525,000 milliamp hour battery in this phone.
01:55It doesn't come with the charger in the box, but that's going to be a 45 watt peak charging.
01:59It also has wireless charging.
02:01It also has reverse wireless charging.
02:03And it's just a combination of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, plus like you can go 1080p, you can
02:08go 60 Hertz.
02:09Like this is the phone that can get you the two days if you really need it.
02:12I've used it a lot this year and actually achieved that, which is rare to say.
02:16So that's your battery award.
02:18Okay, next up, Best Big Phone.
02:21This is the phone, the award that just goes to the one that makes the best use of a lot
02:25of space.
02:26Now we know smartphones get bigger and bigger every year, so it's kind of rare to not have
02:29a big phone, but also like, I think we kind of know where we're going here.
02:33This has been a perennial top runner in this category, and that is the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
02:39Man, this phone.
02:40Got the huge, incredible screen like I talked about, big battery, 5,000 milliamp hours,
02:46and it also still has room for the S Pen.
02:48This is something we kind of forget if we don't use it, but it's the same gigantic battery
02:52as previous ones, but also with the S Pen inside.
02:55Like these phones are consistently around the top of this category for their software
02:58too, with the split screen stuff.
03:00This is the best use of a lot of space in your pocket.
03:03Best Big Phone.
03:04So, all right, next up, Best Small Phone.
03:08Best Compact Phone.
03:09I've sort of renamed it over the years, and it's more of a rare breed than ever.
03:13Like phones are getting bigger, but also like what is small?
03:17What is compact?
03:18I mean, think about it really.
03:20You've got a map of the world in your pocket, a GPS locator, satellite connectivity potentially,
03:26but also a gigantic battery, a world-class note-taking device, 10,000 songs in your pocket,
03:315G internet everywhere you go.
03:33Like there is a ton going on inside of a smartphone.
03:38So when you think about it, the best compact phone is just a good phone, right?
03:43So the award for Best Compact Phone goes to Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
03:53I mean, I know it sounds crazy, but think about everything that it does.
03:56Think about all the things, the songs, the GPS, and everything, and then shove it into
04:00this tiny package.
04:01Like this is compact.
04:03This is small.
04:04And it's got the pen.
04:05We are living in great times, I swear.
04:08Okay.
04:09It sounds like you guys do need a little bit of a break to maybe calm down.
04:12I think we're going to take a quick sponsor break.
04:14I'll be right back after the end.
04:17Hey, are you in the middle of an award show and your favorite phone didn't just win a
04:22design award, but the winner just looks like any other phone?
04:25Well, thankfully, you can make your phone look like something else.
04:30Matter of fact, that's what it's called.
04:33Something.
04:34This is the Something Skin from dbrand.
04:35You can get one for yourself at dbrand.com slash something, shown here on the phone that
04:40wins the new easiest phone to skin award.
04:43The very square, very generic Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra, distinctly designed and engineered
04:48to look like nothing before it.
04:50Back to you on stage.
04:51All right, we're back.
04:55Next category.
04:56Guys, pay attention.
04:57It's the best camera in a smartphone.
04:59This is one of the heavy hitting categories, and you already know the heavy hitters aren't
05:02out yet.
05:03Right?
05:04No iPhone yet.
05:05No Pixel yet.
05:06Those are the things that come out at the end of the year.
05:08The Apple Find X6 Pro is pretty good, but I'm going to go ahead and give this award
05:11to the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra.
05:14See, it's not just about the high megapixel count.
05:17It's also great software processing, great zoom range with a variety of focal lengths,
05:22and some pretty jaw dropping features like space zoom.
05:25Like if you ever wanted to zoom all the way in and get incredible photos and high resolution
05:30of a totally real moon using patented far out optical lens technology, this is clearly
05:36the phone you got to get.
05:38Okay, I'm going to riffle through the last couple of awards real quick.
05:40So most improved award over the last year version is going to be S23 Ultra.
05:48Also you're going to have bust of the year, the one you hate to give out, but yeah, what
05:53the heck?
05:54S23 Ultra.
05:55Also the MVP of all the smartphones, that's S23 Ultra.
05:58You already know where it's coming, but also best folding phone, a new category.
06:08Now this is a joke, obviously, as you could probably already tell, happy April fool's
06:22day.
06:23I hope I get to upload this on April 1st and not get it spoiled by all the March 31st jokes.
06:28But this is just pointing fun at the fact that a mid-season smartphone awards is kind
06:32of hilarious because most of the best phones come out in the fall, in the second half of
06:37the year.
06:38Matter of fact, if you want to know what my actual picks would be at this point in the
06:40year for each category, here they are.
06:43There's not that many options yet, but there's some good stuff in case you actually are wondering.
06:48But take this video as your annual reminder not to take any headlines you see for the
06:51next 24 hours or so too seriously, to double check any images you see on Twitter for extra
06:58fingers because AI is usually bad at hands, stuff like that.
07:01Just keep your thinking cap on.
07:03Anyway, the real awards will be in December as usual.
07:07Thanks for watching.
07:08Catch you in the next one.
07:09Peace.
07:10Peace.
07:11Peace.
07:12Peace.
07:13Peace.
07:14Peace.
07:15Peace.