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Thursday, 3 March 2016

New Android phones to get excited about in 2016

OnePlus 3

OnePlus is one of the most exciting smartphone manufacturers right now. Two years in a row it has produced reasonably priced flagship phones that have been (almost) capable of going toe-to-toe with the major manufacturers. While OnePlus' "flagship killer" slogan may be a little hyperbolic, there's no doubt that its phones are of a high standard.

It's early days for the OnePlus 3, with little information available beyond some questionable leaked renders. We do know that the company wishes to ditch its invite-only purchase system at some point and co-founder Carl Pei has admitted that omitting NFC on the OnePlus 2 was a "misstep". This could give us some clue about the direction the OnePlus 3 will take.

We're sure to learn much more in the coming months. If there is one thing OnePlus knows well, it's how to build #hype.

Approximate release date: Q3 2016


Xiaomi Mi5

Xiaomi is the incredibly popular Chinese manufacturer edging its way towards the West. It's yet to release one of its flagships in the US, but that hasn't stopped Xiaomi becoming the fourth largest smartphone manufacturer (based on market share) in the world during 2015.

The Xiaomi Mi5 is the company's next flagship, and is set to be launched at MWC 2016 in Barcelona. There has been a ton of rumors about this device and all signs indicate it will be another powerful and full-featured smartphone and will undercut the price of Apple and Samsung flagships.

Xiaomi Vice President Hugo Barra announced the Mi5's presence at MWC with a tweet saying "it's everything you imagined, and more." Sounds good to us.

Approximate release date: March 24, 2016



Motorola Moto X (4th gen)

The Moto X range was split in 2015, with the Droid Maxx 2, known as the Moto X Play outside of the US, and the Moto X Pure Edition, also known as the Moto X Style. The former is a mid-range handset with a big battery, and the latter is a high-end flagship that we once described as a much better and only fractionally more expensive Nexus 5X.

Following comments at CES 2016 that Lenovo would be "phasing out" the Motorola brand name, the status of the Moto X was in question. However, it was quickly clarified that the Moto brand would live on.


The Moto X (2016) or Moto X (4th gen) is the new flagship, which may house a Snapdragon 820 processor and a huge camera sensor, or look much like the Moto X Pure, with slightly updated specs. The next round of rumors will hopefully clear this up.

Approximate release date: September 2016


Motorola Moto G (4th gen)

Motorola's G series made its name by producing low-cost handsets with good specs, but last year's Moto G (3rd gen) failed to strike the same price/performance balance as its predecessors. Will Motorola's fourth-generation Moto G reclaim the budget Android crown?

If that is indeed its aim, the Moto G (2016) might need to include a Full HD display. Sony released the expensive Xperia Z5 Compact with a 720p display only a short time ago, so it may still be too soon to expect this technology on a budget device like a Moto G, but if Motorola did manage to include such a screen on a low-priced device, the Moto G (4th gen) could be an awfully compelling handset.

Approximate release date: July 2016




Sony Xperia Z6

Sony is now approaching the sixth device in its Xperia Z series and like the HTC One M10 (see below), it could be a make or break device.


The Xperia Z devices are based around Sony’s OmniBalance principle: a water-resistant, dust-proof, aluminum and glass body. The devices have changed very little between each generation, but as the sixth iteration approaches, we wonder if it's time for a refresher.

We noted in our Xperia Z5 review that, despite the presence of a MicroSD card slot, fingerprint scanner and water-resistant design, the Z5 isn't superior in enough ways to justify its steep asking price (£549 or around US$850). The Z series is becoming less and less relevant and Sony needs to act quickly to turn things around with the Xperia Z6.

Approximate release date: Q2, 2016



HTC One M10

HTC hasn’t exactly been setting the world on fire recently. The HTC One A9 looks like an iPhone knock-off, and the company itself was valued as worthless by investors. Its profits have been in decline for years, and HTC badly needs to produce a big-selling phone. Will the HTC One M10 be it?

Little is known about the HTC One M10 yet, but we can only hope that HTC addresses some of the concerns of its predecessor. A device redesign may be in order, and we hope it drops the HTC bezel that has plagued the bottom of the display since the One M7.

HTC played it safe with the One M9 and it has been a relative failure. HTC's next handset may need to be something radical.

Approximate release date: April 2016



Nextbit Robin

The Nextbit Robin could really shake things up in the world of Android. It's made by a company comprising Google, HTC, Amazon and Apple employees, and is a bold new device that's looking to do things a little differently.

What we know so far about the Nextbit Robin
The design is an interesting one, with its round buttons and eggshell color, but the real originality lies in the cloud functionality. The Nextbit Robin's cloud-integration means it’s always backing up your data to keep space available on your device for the files you need most, archiving those you use least. This means that file transfer could become completely automated.

The Nextbit Robin is already taking pre-orders – find out more over at the Nextbit website.

Approximate release date: February 2016


Asus Zenfone 3

The Zenfone 2 was notable for a number of reasons. With 4 GB of RAM and a low price of admission (US$299), it was a cheap and powerful handset. The design was a tad boring, and the display could have been better, but with a 64-bit CPU and fast-charging, the Zenfone 2 was a great mid-range offering.

The Zenfone 2 was introduced at CES 2015, but its successor was missing from the 2016 show. The latest rumors suggest that two versions of the device are in the works, a smaller, higher-powered device, and a cheaper 5.9-inch device.

If Asus does include a 1080p display on one of the Zenfone 3 models, while keeping the price low, it could be a superb smartphone.

Approximate release date: Q2 2016


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