Zero1 Awards Special: Best smartphones of the past decade

As the digital age accelerates, the once diminutive smartphone has become the cornerstone of technological progress and innovation. Over the years, we have rigorously tested and identified the creme de la creme of smartphones, celebrating their leaps in performance through Digit Zero1 Awards. 

Also read: Announcing Digit Zero1 Awards 2023 and Best Buys 2023

As we gear up for the 2023 edition of these prestigious awards, join us in a reflective journey through the best smartphones that have shaped the last decade. Check out the winners of Digit Zero1 Awards of the recent past for best performing smartphones…

Zero1 Winner 2013: Sony Xperia Z1

The Samsung Galaxy S4, the HTC One, the Sony Xperia Z1 – all led the performance charts at one point of time or the other circa 2013, according to the Digit archives. Powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 800 processor, the Xperia Z1 was by far the most powerful Android smartphone you could buy in India in 2013. 

Sony seemed to be building a design identity around its smartphones back then, much like Samsung has done over the years. Which is why, the Xperia Z1 followed pretty much the same design theme and materials seen in the Xperia Z and the Xperia Z Ultra. The Xperia Z1 was shadowed closely by the LG G2, which sported the same processor and a much better IPS display. But the Z1 was the undisputed leader in our benchmark tests.

Zero1 Winner 2014: Sony Xperia Z3

Sony probably didn’t have the numbers to prove in terms of market share, but there was no denying that it made some of the best smartphones in the market at the time in 2014, according to Digit’s archives. The Xperia Z series was the company’s real war cry for the Android market and it has never looked back. The Xperia Z3 is the best there was back then. It had a powerful Snapdragon 801 SoC along with Sony’s trademark 20.7 MP camera. It boasted of top class performance with the best camera and fluid Android performance. In fact, the Xperia Z3 went up to 48k on AnTuTu and had very good scores on graphics tests as well.

Zero1 Winner 2015: Apple iPhone 6s Plus

The iPhone 6S Plus may not be a major upgrade over its predecessor, but it won the Zero1 Awards battle for best performing smartphone fair and square in 2015. The phone had a top of the line camera that edged out the Galaxy Note 5 by just a little bit. Apple’s camera was better for the fact that it could create more true-to-source images. Beyond the iPhone 6s Plus’ camera, Apple’s A9 processor beat every other Android device in terms of performance.

As close as the next best device in this category was, when you took graphics into account, Apple was still miles ahead. In fact, the Cupertino based technology giant’s vertical integration between hardware and software is what won it the title that year. Simply put, the iPhone 6S Plus was the best performing smartphone of 2015.

Zero1 Winner 2016: Apple iPhone 7 Plus

The iPhone 7 Plus swooped in as the winner of the best performing smartphone of the premium segment of Zero1 Awards 2016. It had Apple’s first quad-core SoC for iPhones, the A10 Fusion. That, with 3GB of RAM and a 32GB memory on the basic model, made the iPhone 7 Plus the best performer. The iPhone 7 Plus was fast, fluid and powerful. Its AnTuTu scores were about 27% ahead of the Google Pixel XL, which was the best Android phone that year. The Google Pixel XL could match the iPhone’s number in many respects, but it couldn’t produce the real-world smoothness that Apple’s top product did. It was expensive, and most of us couldn’t afford it, but if you had the money, this was the phone to buy in 2016.

Zero1 Winner 2017: Apple iPhone X

Our Zero1 Awards have always been about performance and that’s where the iPhone X outshined its competitors in 2017. Apple called it the biggest change to the iPhone at the time and we agreed. For starters, the company’s A11 Bionic chipset (that’s A-eleven) was significantly faster than its Snapdragon and Exynos competitors. The iPhone X scored over 200,000 on AnTuTu’s benchmark tests. It was also the only phone to have crossed the 10,000 mark on Geekbench’s multi-core test back then. If that wasn’t enough, Apple combined this performance with a best-in-class display and a top-notch camera.

Zero1 Winner 2018: Apple iPhone XS Max

Zero1 Winner 2019: Apple iPhone 11 Pro

Zero1 Winner 2020: Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max

Zero1 Winner 2021: Apple iPhone 13 Pro

Zero1 Winner 2022: Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max

Can’t find the Zero1 Winner 2023 smartphone yet? That’s because we’re still busy testing all the latest smartphones launched recently and putting them through their paces. Who will win Zero1 Award 2023 for best performing smartphone of the year? You don’t have to wait much longer to find out.

Stay tuned and keep checking www.digit.in/zero1-awards for all the updates regarding Digit’s annual best products of the year awards.

Also read: 5 retro-tech gadgets that won Digit Zero1 Award over 20 years ago