The 5 best smartphones of 2018

All significant smartphone launches have now passed and as we approach the end of the year, the ten best shake out after more extended usage of each. All ten phones are excellent and certain aspects make each a possible contender for the top spot. 1:SAMSUNG GALAXY NOTE 9 The Galaxy Note 9 is the best phone for business and continues to be my favorite phone of 2018. I've been using one now for several months and despite trying out some great new phones like the iPhone XS Max and Google Pixel 3 XL, none of these can replace the Note 9 and everything Samsung includes in this stunning device. This is especially true for use in the enterprise space.

The Galaxy Note 9 improves upon the Note 8 with aBluetooth S Pen, more internal capacity and RAM, a massive 4,000 mAh battery, better dual rear cameras with some software intelligence, enhanced audio capability, and new placement of the rear fingerprint scanner.

Also: Samsung Galaxy Note 9: Everything you need to know

The new Bluetooth S Pen is an excellent innovation that is sure to please all Note fans with the additional remote control functionality. Later this year a SDK will be released so that third parties can add support for the Bluetooth S Pen.

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 continues to have all of the excellent Galaxy Foundation aspects such as a high level of water resistance, fast wireless charging, a stunning Super AMOLED screen, expandable microSD storage, a 3.5mm headset jack, and much more. In addition, extending it to an external monitor with Samsung DeX is quick and easy, while also providing a full functioning desktop experience. Samsung just released a Linux on DeX beta this week that continues to show how capable the Galaxy Note 9 is for business.

Since it has been out now for a few months, you can find great deals on the Note 9. T-Mobile sells it for $900 ($100 less than launch price) while a SIM-unlocked one from Samsung will only be $800 during its Black Friday sale. With a large capacity microSD card you could actually have more than 1TB in the palm of your hand. 2:Huawei 20 pro and it brings together all of the greatness of Huawei into a single device that is tough to beat. The Mate 20 Pro includes the first Android 7nm process chipset with the Kirin 980 (Apple's A12 Bionic also uses the 7nm process), two Neural Processing Units, a fourth-generation image signal processor, and a LTE Cat.21 modem.

The triple rear camera capability from the Huawei P20 Pro is brought to the Mate 20 Pro, but in a different central two-by-two arrangement with one change made to one of the three lenses. The three rear cameras have 40MP, 20MP, and 8MP resolution with a 24MP front-facing shooter and artificial intelligence to help you capture great shots. The monochrome lens has been replaced with a wide-angle lens so that you now have telephoto, wide-angle, and standard camera functionality.

Also: Huawei Mate 20 Pro is outrageously A large 6.39 inch OLED is on the front with cool Midnight Blue, Emerald Green, Black, Pink Gold, and Twilight color options for the device. Android 9.0 Pie powers things while EMUI has been updated to version 9.0.

One interesting move from Huawei is the inclusion of an external storage card slot using its own new nano memory card rather than standard microSD cards. We also see one of the first fingerprint scanners embedded right into the display. Huawei is known for very long battery life and massive batteries so the 4,200 mAh battery is no real surprise, but much appreciated. 3:Google Pixel 3 XL and Pixel 3 While the Galaxy Note 9 offers just about everything you want, software updates are not its specialty. If you want an Android phone that will always have the latest firmware and security updates, while also offering a fairly stock experience, then nothing beats the new Google Pixel 3 and 3 XL. These two phones are the exact same except for the overall size and battery capacity. The Google Pixel 3 XL has a large 6.3-inch 18:9 display, Snapdragon 845 processor, 4GB of RAM, 64GB and 128GB integrated storage, single rear 12.2 megapixel camera, dual front-facing cameras, IP68 dust and water resistance, a 3430 mAh battery, and dual front stereo speakers. The smaller Pixel 3 has a 5.5 inch display and smaller 2,915 mAh battery while the rest of the specs are the same as the XL model. Thankfully, wireless charging is included this year, along with a set of wired Pixel Buds in the retail package.

The larger Pixel 3 XL has a display with a notch while the smaller model forgoes this design approach so often seen today. They both help you shoot stunning photos so if photography means more to you than other functions and features you may want to consider the Pixel 3 or 3 XL over other smartphones in this list. You can check out my weekend with the Pixel 3 XL where I captured some great shots while on vacation.

In addition to software being a focus for Google, the camera is another reason to buy the Pixel 3 or 3 XL over other better smartphone hardware. Google just released its Night Sight mode for the camera and it is truly magic. The smaller Pixel 3 starts at $799 while the Pixel 3 XL starts at $899 for the 64GB model. They are both powered by Android 9.0 Pie and will receive OS upgrades for three years. Google's newest Assistant features are present along with some other Google software advances. 4:Apple iPhone XS Max/XS Apple pushed the entry-level price of a flagship up to $1,000 last year with the iPhone X and raised the bar again this year with the most expensive flagship available in the iPhone XS Max. ZDNet's Jason Cipriani awarded the iPhone XS Max an impressive near-perfect score of 9.6/10 so I'm pretty sure Jason would give the top spot to this phone.

I ordered my own iPhone XS Max to replace my iPhone X, using the T-Mobile Jump On Demand program, but after two weeks I sent it back as I found the small size of the iPhone X was one of the primary reasons it still earned a place in my pocket.

The Apple iPhone XS Max has been shown to best all other phones in benchmarking testing and the Apple A12 Bionic chipset certainly blazes new trails. It has a fabulous OLED screen, good sized battery, and new camera software to make it a very compelling flagship. The iPhone XS Max starts at $1,099 for a minimal storage 64GB model and runs up to $1,449 for the 512GB model. I may eventually go back to the iPhone XS Max, but there are no Plus-sized optimizations so it is tough for me to personally justify such a big device without something special. 5:OnePlus 6T ![image]( launched the new OnePlus 6T at the end of October and for the first time ever it launched on a US wireless carrier. I picked up my Mirror Black model at a local T-Mobile store, after visiting several stores that were sold out, and took advantage of the $300 launch trade-in option.

OnePlus earns a top five spot on my list because of the high end specifications, reasonable price that is hundreds less than other flagships, extremely responsive performance, and use of new technology.

If I had an affordable smartphone list, then the OnePlus 6T would be number one with prices ranging from $549 to $629. The lowest cost one still has 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage while the $629 model has 8GB of RAM and 256GB of internal storage. You will not find another phone with these great specs for these prices.The OnePlus 6T is composed of two pieces of Gorilla Glass 6 with a metal frame. No other phone available today uses Gorilla Glass 6. The design is elegant and the build quality is excellent. It has a lovely AMOLED 6.41 inch display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 845 processor, dual rear cameras (they are a bit underutilized compared to the high end flagships), ample RAM and internal storage options, some level of dust and water resistance, a large 3700 mAh battery and quick charge capability, with excellent radio support for GSM networks.

The display has a very small notch, similar to what we saw on the Essential Phone, and also runs the latest version of OxygenOS with an extremely responsive software experience. You can even enable an all touch interface, similar to the iPhone X. The in-screen fingerprint sensor works well while the face unlock option is handy for less secure daily unlocking of your phone.