Smartphones might be the most personal tech you use in your life, but sometimes, it can be hard to make sense of what makes one right for you.
And that feels especially true this year, when some of the biggest players in the industry are trying to reshape your expectations of what a smartphone should look like and should be able to do.As someone who has spent a lot of time reviewing phones, I know what it's like to feel overwhelmed by all the things these devices can do - or claim to do.
For one, the entry-level iPhone 13 comes with 128 gigabyte of storage, or double what last year's basic iPhones came with. The notch cut into its screen is a little smaller, which is nice, but I'm waiting for Apple to do away with it the way other smartphone makers have. Speaking of screens, the iPhone 13's 6.1-inch display is the same size as last year's model, but it's a little brighter - that's made it noticeably easier to read when I took the phone on some long walks.
And what about the iPhone 13 Pro ? It shares many of the changes you'll find in the regular 13, plus some extra flourishes to justify the extra money. Its screen is brighter still, so outdoor use isn't a problem, and on-screen motion looks smoother because the display updates much faster. The iPhone 13 Pro's chassis is also made of stainless steel, which is certainly nice to look at, but - to me, at least - makes it feel much more slippery than the standard 13.
The new Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro have quickly become my favorite Android phones of the year - and that includes phones that fold in half like it's 2005. That's partly because both Pixel models are relatively cheap by fancy smartphone standards but also because Google has finally started treating its phones as more than just a side project.
Both the 6 and Pro also have batteries that lasted well into the next day if I didn't charge them the night before. But most important, both Pixel phones use Google's new Tensor processor, which lets Google flex its artificial intelligence muscle in ways you might not expect. With all that said, the Pixels aren't exactly perfect. Both have fingerprint scanners under their screen, and they don't always work correctly on the first try - for what it's worth, I've noticed this more from the standard Pixel 6. Beyond that, the size of the phones might be a dealbreaker for some people. The 6 Pro has a 6.7-inch screen and feels absolutely enormous in my hands; the 6's 6.4-inch screen makes it more manageable, but it's still a bit of a handful.
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