Features
Best Premium Smartphones (February 2017 Edition)
If you’re looking for the very best high-end smartphones available, you’ve come to the right place! Every month, GadgetMatch updates this list with the finest devices money can buy, no matter how much they cost.
As the first edition in the series, the premium smartphones found here feature the cream of the crop released since last year, but don’t include those launching later this month at Mobile World Congress 2017 (MWC) just yet. Are some possibly old? Yes, but they’re as powerful as the day they were rolled out.
Here they are in no particular order:
Google Pixel
While the Pixel has its shortcomings — the lack of serious water resistance and oddly plain design spring to mind — you can’t find a more optimized Android smartphone right now. Everything about it is snappy, from the incredible camera to its witty Google Assistant. It’s also got the most up-to-date operating system, and unlimited storage for all your photos.
REVIEW: Google Pixel (3 months later)
OnePlus 3T
OnePlus’ flagship killer is truly living up to its name. The 3T is near the top of the charts in terms of raw performance to this day, has one of our favorite implementations of Android, and feels absolutely solid in our hands. Best of all, it’s the most affordable premium smartphone in this compilation — what’s not to love?
Apple iPhone 7 Plus
You can’t complete a selection like this without including Apple’s latest handset. And it’s not because an iPhone has to be included; the iPhone 7 Plus is so fast and so smooth, there’s no way we could ignore it. It also gets the nod over the regular iPhone 7 thanks to its far more impressive dual-camera setup.
REVIEW: Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus
Huawei Mate 9
If you’re out for a larger-than-usual screen size, the Mate 9 is your best bet in the premium segment. And yet, Huawei’s 5.9-inch smartphone isn’t that massive when you get a hold of it. Factor in its equally generous battery life, sleek Android interface, and pair of Leica-branded cameras at the back, and you have the most capable phablet in the market.
SEE ALSO: Huawei Mate 9 has two rear cameras, gets better the more you use it
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
Despite being nearly a year old, nothing feels outdated when it comes to the Galaxy S7 Edge. Samsung’s best still runs well against everything else on this list, and it’s arguably one of the most attractive phones ever made. Several manufacturers have been attempting to imitate Its perfectly curved display, but nothing comes close to the original.
HANDS-ON: Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge
SEE ALSO: Best Budget Smartphones (February 2017 Edition)
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Hands-On
Apple iPhone 18 Pro Series Hands-on
And everything announced during Apple’s September 2026 Event
The latest Apple event isn’t just about the shiny new Apple Duo. There’s a lot to talk about!
In this video, we break down everything Apple has announced during their September 2026 keynote.
First, there’s the updated iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max. That’s alongside their design and color changes, battery and performance improvements. Even that massive camera upgrade.
There’s even the ANC-infused AirPods 5 alongside the newer Apple Watch Series 12 and Apple Watch Ultra 4. Plus, the latest software updates coming to both these wearables.
So, are these worth the upgrade?
TV technology is changing in a way you can’t see. And it starts with how color itself is made.
Hisense’s new RGB MiniLED technology could change the way we see TVs.
Here’s our spotlight on their latest Hisense UR8 offering.
Check out the Hisense UR8 TV: https://bit.ly/4cxo6xl
Features
How did new CEO John Ternus do for his first Apple event?
Is a new golden age coming for Apple?
For a brief moment, I thought Tim Cook was refusing to step down as Apple’s CEO.
Apple’s “Surprise and shine” event, which heralded the coming of the foldable iPhone Duo, started bombastically with a montage of cinematic moments spanning different genres. The main point was: “what’s the best way to start an opening scene?”
After what felt like an age, the all-too-familiar voice of Tim Cook came on, perhaps for the very last time. But rather than overstaying his exit as the former CEO, he describes that the perfect opener should be classic, as a car that is, quite symbolically, riding off into the sunset. He then explains that he’s not the main character anymore.
“That’s your guy,” he said, before pointing to John Ternus, who steps into frame without an introduction or even a name card. It’s hard to image that this guy is the new face of Apple.
It’s the perfect end to Tim Cook’s tenure and as perfect a start for John Ternus’s.
Moving from an age of crisis to a golden age
After a decade and a half of being the face of the brand, Tim Cook stepped down from his tenure as CEO. He leaves the company in a much better state than when he took over. Thanks to him, the iPhone is now a household item. It’s a ubiquitous phone that draws millions of fans every time a new one comes out every year.
But his tenure didn’t start on a bed of roses. When he took over in 2011, it was in response to Steve Jobs’s failing health, who passed away soon after. He inherited a company constantly threatened by competitors trying to eat into Apple’s slice of the pie.
Indeed, Cook’s tenure was peppered with crises. He had to navigate Trump’s first reign, destructive as it was towards relationships in China. He had to figure out survival during the tempestuous pandemic years. Finally, he had to carefully build a strategy for the dawn of AI.
Cook is, first and foremost, a businessman. While the Jobs era was typified by innovation after innovation, Cook built upwards, turning Apple into a trillion-dollar company. Although we didn’t see a lot of new exciting segments introduced, the company built on what it was already good at, delivering a premium and refined experience.
John Ternus comes at an opportune time. Though the brand will always have a healthy share of diehard fans, Apple must now find the next big thing and rediscover the spice of years past.
A time for AI?
After his nonchalant introduction, Ternus immediately goes on the offensive and describes his vision for Apple Intelligence. Rather than dwell on NPUs, TOPS, and other metrics that a regular user can’t make heads or tails of, he described Apple Intelligence and Siri AI as a personal assistant. Usage versus performance, in other words.
If you’re an AI enthusiast, the renewed push towards Apple Intelligence should give you hope that the iPhone won’t just be a receptacle for other AI software. Rather, it’s building its own. Wherever the AI industry is going, Apple looks like it can keep up.
Now, if you don’t like AI at all, that’s fine, too. Ternus isn’t there just for the AI.
Unlike Jobs or Cook, Ternus comes from a strictly engineering background. In today’s world, hardware complements AI. The software must use NPUs after all. But, when the AI bubble finally pops, Ternus isn’t out of a job. In fact, if his track record is any indication, it’s just getting started.
Or a time for new hardware?
This year is absolutely monumental for Apple. Earlier this year, the company launched the MacBook Neo, its first budget-friendly notebook built for everyone. If you were looking to get into the MacBook lifestyle, now is the perfect time to buy in. A lot of users felt a subtle changing of the guard.
From there, you can feel Ternus’s influence already seeping in. And if it wasn’t obvious back then, it’s more than apparent now.
In his first ever “One More Thing,” Ternus started his tenure strong with the introduction of the iPhone Duo. Almost twelve hours since the phone’s announcement, I’ve never seen a more visceral reaction to the launch of a new iPhone.
Whereas most of their annual releases reveled in more incremental improvements that primarily tickled already dedicated fan, the iPhone Duo is something new. Everyone’s talking about it. It’s gotten so crazy that even Samsung, often more nonchalant with its prodding, openly attacked the foldable after teasing the brand to go foldable last year.
Though it’s technically not a new segment, the iPhone Duo is patching up the mistakes of past foldables. Rather than just pasting two screens together, Apple’s take feels like a unified whole, emphasized by an interface that seamlessly changes from folded to unfolded.
Where Tim Cook failed to illicit more than a modest ripple with the Vision Pro, Ternus flew to new heights with the iPhone Duo’s announcement. And the phone isn’t even out yet.
Now, there’s still a chance that the Duo won’t be a hit with sales, especially because of the price. But this is still a strong opener for Ternus.
Who is the main character?
“That’s your guy,” Tim Cook pointed.
I don’t think he was pointing in the right direction. Though the camera cut to Ternus himself, his first outing clearly states that the main character is no longer whoever is handling the reins. His decision to skip an official introduction feels intentional. The main character, after all, is the hardware itself: the iPhone 18 Pro, the iPhone Duo.
The entire event started with a bold declaration that everything was shot with an iPhone. It ended, in fact, with the same declaration. Channeling their inner Marshall McLuhan, Ternus’s Apple wants you to believe in the iPhone again.
Even as someone who doesn’t use Apple products mainly, I’m stoked to see what the new era will bring to the table. This is an exciting time for Apple. We might be in the first year of a new golden age.
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