The overall best smartphone of 2020

"WEBVTTKind: captionsLanguage: enthe best smartphone of 2020 is the apple iphone 12. so let's talk about that we test a lot of phones here at cnet i reached out to our reviewers to find out which was the best smartphone of the year and they said it's the iphone 12. now i was a bit surprised by this i know that samsung google and oneplus makes some great phones as well so how did the iphone 12 come out on top let's look at the iphone 12 then it's got a new design from the previous generation and like always it has apple's fit and finish meaning it's a very premium device it has a bit of a throwback design it looks like the iphone 4 or 5 a little bit but design is not everything just because something is beautiful does not mean much so inside we've got 5g this is the first iphone with 5g that's great we've got this super fast wireless network being built out in the us and 5g is great when you go out for groceries i guess we've got an oled screen great other phones have oled this is not a new thing so let's talk about the camera to no one's surprise apple put another great camera on the iphone 12. this has been an area where apple has had a huge lead for years over android devices google and samsung have made big steps over the past few years to bridge the gap between apple's cameras and their own but here's the thing cnet's patrick holland says the iphone 12 and 12 pro have the best camera system you can buy on a phone right now you might be wondering what does holland know about cameras and i'll say i'll thank you to change your tone and this guy has been testing phones and their cameras for years if he says the 12 has the best camera system the iphone 12 has the best camera system the iphone 12 also starts at 830 dollars if you buy it without a carrier it costs 7.99 if you get it with a carrier so maybe now is a good time to talk about the competition what about the samsung galaxy s20 that's a great phone like the iphone 12 it's got an excellent camera 5g and an oled screen then you start looking at that price tag 999. if you want the more premium s20 ultra you're looking at 1400 also in jessica dahlcourt's review of the s20 she called it thick heavy and unrefined jess has had a long career reviewing phones and if jess says it's thick heavy and unrefined that's the truth those three words almost never describe an apple product though what about the samsung z-fold 2 is it the best phone of the year i think it might be one of the more innovative devices out there but i agree with my colleagues that it is more of a fringe device it's kind of difficult to suggest the fold 2 to an average user well what about the google pixel 5 it's the most iphone like of the android phones google makes the hardware and it makes the software it also has 5g oled and a great camera system oh and it's pretty inexpensive at 6.99 what holds the pixel 5 back the android competition you can get more power from a oneplus 8 if you want expandable storage on the pixel 5 that's not happening buddy what about ak video recording well on the pixel 5 now note the iphone 12 maxes out at 4k video recording what about my personal favorite the galaxy note 20 ultra i love the camera i love the performance i love writing on the screen it's a beast of a machine and it is pricey it's an investment if you don't write on the screen there is almost no reason to pick it over the s20 line if you're not invested in either ecosystem apple or android the iphone 12 beats out a lot of the competition on price alone but what about performance as we all know apple knows a thing or two about building fast chips the company is so confident about its ships its own apple m1 is powering its new lineup of computers in performance benchmarks the iphone 12 and 12 pro recorded the highest scores of any phones cnet has tested that's crazy there's also the biggest invention of all time magsafe stick a puck on the iphone now if you're buying phone because of a magnetic charger i question a lot about your buying decisions all right putting the whole picture together we've got an iphone 12 with great specs great fit and finish and pretty much great everything on the android side we've got an underpowered pixel an unrefined s20 a pricing note a wacky z-fold 2. looking at that landscape the iphone 12 looks pretty good this year will i be switching to an iphone 12 over my note 20 ultra no just because something is the best overall does not mean it's the best for everyone i've been the best eye as actor and i'll see you onlinethe best smartphone of 2020 is the apple iphone 12. so let's talk about that we test a lot of phones here at cnet i reached out to our reviewers to find out which was the best smartphone of the year and they said it's the iphone 12. now i was a bit surprised by this i know that samsung google and oneplus makes some great phones as well so how did the iphone 12 come out on top let's look at the iphone 12 then it's got a new design from the previous generation and like always it has apple's fit and finish meaning it's a very premium device it has a bit of a throwback design it looks like the iphone 4 or 5 a little bit but design is not everything just because something is beautiful does not mean much so inside we've got 5g this is the first iphone with 5g that's great we've got this super fast wireless network being built out in the us and 5g is great when you go out for groceries i guess we've got an oled screen great other phones have oled this is not a new thing so let's talk about the camera to no one's surprise apple put another great camera on the iphone 12. this has been an area where apple has had a huge lead for years over android devices google and samsung have made big steps over the past few years to bridge the gap between apple's cameras and their own but here's the thing cnet's patrick holland says the iphone 12 and 12 pro have the best camera system you can buy on a phone right now you might be wondering what does holland know about cameras and i'll say i'll thank you to change your tone and this guy has been testing phones and their cameras for years if he says the 12 has the best camera system the iphone 12 has the best camera system the iphone 12 also starts at 830 dollars if you buy it without a carrier it costs 7.99 if you get it with a carrier so maybe now is a good time to talk about the competition what about the samsung galaxy s20 that's a great phone like the iphone 12 it's got an excellent camera 5g and an oled screen then you start looking at that price tag 999. if you want the more premium s20 ultra you're looking at 1400 also in jessica dahlcourt's review of the s20 she called it thick heavy and unrefined jess has had a long career reviewing phones and if jess says it's thick heavy and unrefined that's the truth those three words almost never describe an apple product though what about the samsung z-fold 2 is it the best phone of the year i think it might be one of the more innovative devices out there but i agree with my colleagues that it is more of a fringe device it's kind of difficult to suggest the fold 2 to an average user well what about the google pixel 5 it's the most iphone like of the android phones google makes the hardware and it makes the software it also has 5g oled and a great camera system oh and it's pretty inexpensive at 6.99 what holds the pixel 5 back the android competition you can get more power from a oneplus 8 if you want expandable storage on the pixel 5 that's not happening buddy what about ak video recording well on the pixel 5 now note the iphone 12 maxes out at 4k video recording what about my personal favorite the galaxy note 20 ultra i love the camera i love the performance i love writing on the screen it's a beast of a machine and it is pricey it's an investment if you don't write on the screen there is almost no reason to pick it over the s20 line if you're not invested in either ecosystem apple or android the iphone 12 beats out a lot of the competition on price alone but what about performance as we all know apple knows a thing or two about building fast chips the company is so confident about its ships its own apple m1 is powering its new lineup of computers in performance benchmarks the iphone 12 and 12 pro recorded the highest scores of any phones cnet has tested that's crazy there's also the biggest invention of all time magsafe stick a puck on the iphone now if you're buying phone because of a magnetic charger i question a lot about your buying decisions all right putting the whole picture together we've got an iphone 12 with great specs great fit and finish and pretty much great everything on the android side we've got an underpowered pixel an unrefined s20 a pricing note a wacky z-fold 2. looking at that landscape the iphone 12 looks pretty good this year will i be switching to an iphone 12 over my note 20 ultra no just because something is the best overall does not mean it's the best for everyone i've been the best eye as actor and i'll see you online\n"