Best Flagship Smartphone (Up to $1800) in 2022

scrimshaw on 18/05/2022 - 17:15
Last edited 17/06/2022 - 13:24

Moderators at OzBargain are now running yearly polls to decide the best products in popular categories that get asked repeatedly in the forum. Our aim is to have a central thread where users can vote on the items, suggest options and also change their vote throughout the year. For more information on how these polls work, or if you want to suggest a new poll that isn't covered already, please refer to our announcement thread here.

Moderators at OzBargain are now running yearly polls to decide the best products in popular categories that get asked repeatedly in the forum. Our aim is to have a central thread where users can vote on the items, suggest options and also change their vote throughout the year. For more information on how these polls work, or if you want to suggest a new poll that isn't covered already, please refer to our announcement thread here.

Question

What is your favourite flagship smartphone (up to $1800) in 2022?

A poll for whom money is no object, or when you just want a uber-expensive phone to claim your taxes on. Like before, we're capping it off at $1800 as the price ceiling.

The winner of Last year's poll was Samsung's best selling flagship: the Galaxy S21 Ultra (252 votes), then iPhone 12 Pro with 67 votes. The iPhone 12 Pro Max took 3rd place (34 votes), and the Google Pixel 6 Pro a distant 4th place with only 15 votes.

Remember: You can change your votes at anytime, and suggest more than 1 product over the course of the poll.

How do I suggest products to What Should I Buy polls?

If you have a product that you would like to suggest for the poll (that is currently not in the Poll Options), you'll need to make a top-level comment (i.e. not replying someone else's comment) and fill up "Suggestions" text box just above your comment:

Suggestion box

Do try to make a sensible suggestion (e.g make sure the phone is still available to purchase) and include a brief argument as to why you would recommend the product. You can only suggest 1 product at a time.

How do I suggest products/providers to What Should I Buy polls?

If you have a product that you would like to suggest for the poll (that is currently not in the Poll Options), you'll need to make a top-level comment (i.e. not replying someone else's comment) and type in the “Suggestions” text box just above your comment:

Do try to make a sensible suggestion and include a brief argument as to why you made this recommendation.

Poll Options expired

This is part of What Should I Buy poll for 2022. Check out other recommendations from the OzBargain community.
Mobile What Should I Buy

Comments

  • EnergicAU on 18/05/2022 - 17:44
    Suggested Samsung Galaxy Z Fold3 5G

    Samsung Fold 3 at 256gb falls under this budget. Camera isn't as good, but it's definitely unique

    • BewareOfThe Dog on 18/05/2022 - 18:34

      Most Amazing phone I've ever purchased. I used to wait 12 months before buying them, to get them at a good price.

  • jackary on 18/05/2022 - 18:23
    +1
    Suggested iPhone 13 Pro

    Great phone with a price tag that makes you go “oof”

    • Zippy7 on 21/05/2022 - 18:41
      +1

      iPhones in general are solid and work well.
      Apple provide software support for many years - this is good for handing down.
      They also have a great resale (in comparison to any Android)
      My son dropped my 2yr old iPhone 11 Pro and the glass screen was broken.
      I was still able to sell it for good money instead of repairing it.
      Of course, YMMV.

  • BuyoTheCat on 18/05/2022 - 20:20

    sony Xperia iii

  • bmxr on 18/05/2022 - 20:53
    Suggested Sony Xperia 1 III

    What was the most underrated smartphone of 2021?

    After just over 1,400 votes, it turns out that you think the Sony Xperia 1 III is the most underrated phone of 2021. Sony’s phone earned 35% of the votes, beating the next most popular pick by over 10%.

    https://www.androidauthority.com/underrated-smartphone-2021-…

    Note: doesn't have 5G in Australia

    • holoz0r on 18/05/2022 - 22:17

      I thought Sony pulled out of the Au phone market?

      • CrispyChrispy on 19/05/2022 - 08:33

        Is it LG you're thinking about? If so, they stopped producing smartphones completely.

      • bmxr on 19/05/2022 - 18:48

        They did pull out of the Australian market, that's why you can't get 5G as they won't provide the volume of handsets to warrant the telecommunications providers to spend the time certifying them.

        If you want it, you need to import it or buy from a retailer like MobileCiti. Plenty of information on WP if interested.

        • bmxr on 19/11/2022 - 18:50

          An update, 5G works on Optus and Vodafone and has for many months now.

  • Quantumcat on 18/05/2022 - 23:23
    +2

    Where do you ask about a $900 smartphone? "High end" ends at $800, "flagship" starts at $1000.

    • integral on 15/06/2022 - 18:26
      +1

      Good question. I was going to suggest the Realme GT2 Pro which I just bought for $870 from giztop but realised that I can't suggest it anywhere.

  • payless69 on 19/05/2022 - 09:32

    Flagships are more fluid than gender. Every day is a new day!

  • Depesh Khadka on 04/06/2022 - 20:37
    Suggested Sony Xperia 1 IV

    I know the phone isn't for everyone but those authentic zoom, no hole punch display with headphones jack port, easy removable sim tray, all the camera features,
    Only thing it lack is ability to process photo without our efforts. What I mean to say is other brands phone try processing good photo even if you are bad cameraman but with Sony's phone you need to know manual mode to get best out of the phone.

    • matt-ozb on 10/06/2022 - 18:25

      Are we all good with volte and 5g with a Sony?

  • matt-ozb on 10/06/2022 - 18:24
    +1

    Oppo Find X5 Pro ..

  • Mums Poop Sock on 12/06/2022 - 12:11
    +3

    Sold my Pixel 6 Pro after a week of use. Samsung really are the leaders for a reason.

  • dealsucker on 24/06/2022 - 10:00
    +2

    S22 Ultra is hugely overrated phone especially the camera. The camera is barely good enough under very specific conditions and even then its not across all the lenses. For e.g. the telephoto's are pretty poor in mid to low light conditions, iPhone 13 Pro is much better, Pixel 6 Pro is the best and their camera's work as good in majority of scenario's. Then is the curved screen on a phone with supposedly a very useful stylus, an incredibly bad idea. Even the first party cases are hopeless. For e.g. try using the first party leather case and try and take the s-pen out.

    At 50% rrp which is often the case with Samsung sales (even they know what their device is worth), its a great phone but at full price, no way.

    • [Deactivated] on 24/06/2022 - 14:56

      coming from someone with a s22 ultra, iPhone 13 pro is the winner. I don't regret my decision of getting the s22 U but I wish I went for the 13 pro/pro max. im no longer 16 so I don't care about that android customisation or the unique features. FaceTime/iMessage is pulling me towards it but ill see how long I can resist : D

      • Techie4066 on 25/06/2022 - 00:16
        +1

        im no longer 16

        but youtube vanced. There are so many creature comforts in One UI I benefit from, it's blown me away.

  • Techie4066 on 25/06/2022 - 00:15
    Suggested Samsung Galaxy S22

    Best compact flagship in years. No corners cut, hopefully the battery life will be even better next year.

  • integral on 02/07/2022 - 15:04
    Suggested Realme GT2 Pro

    Bought the 8/128 version off Giztop for $870 but they didn't have stock of it, so they upgraded me to the 8/256 version for free.

    Pros

    • Good battery life thanks to LTPO2 screen (and some tweaks)
    • Very accurate and quick fingerprint scanner compared to my old Mi 9T which would only work half the time
    • Bootloader can be unlocked which allowed me to flash the global ROM with less bloatware
    • Dual speakers are nice, though I can't really comment on the quality coming from a single speaker phone
    • Haptics feel very nice

    Cons

    • SD 8G1 runs pretty warm but that can be fixed with limiting the core frequencies (root required) without sacrificing day to day performance
    • Stock Chinese ROM has a lot of bloatware, but most/all can be uninstalled

    Issues

    • For some reason my phone doesn't vibrate when receiving calls in vibrate mode causing me to miss them
    • Sometimes pressing the app switcher button doesn't bring up all the apps but stays on the current app. But when you click the app switcher button again, it goes to the previous app.
    • Had some issues with app permissions but that was fixed by hard resetting (wiping data in recovery)
  • vishhh on 10/07/2022 - 13:08
    Suggested Oppo Find x5 Pro
    • LTPO2
    • really amazing camera, prolly the best camera i have seen for normal day to day shooting, the zoom camera bit of a hit and miss tho.
    • ultra fast night mode camera, i really hated waiting for 4-5 seconds to take a single pic, this one prolly not the best of the best in terms of result, but its very quick and highly usable photo. (obviously i m no pro).
    • SD8plus1 - really responsive and quick processing
    • amazing battery life
    • reverse charging
    • fastest phone charging i have seen, really practical in every day use. Other day, i had 5%, and i was supposed to go out for dinner, and literally had 10-12 mins to go home change and off!, within that time, i managed to hit 50%+, really impressed.
    • screen looks impressive

    Some other thing to add is the camera focus is so good, i had the note 20 before, and half the times, i would be taking bloody 10 and 15 takes when my wifey wanted photos. This one! one photo and my wife is happy as its well focused. lol saves me a million mins a month, jkz.

    Whilst may not the best at everything, its still really good at everything!. had it for over a month and no regrets whatsoever! very practical!

  • Averell on 28/07/2022 - 20:55

    I got an S22U, voted for it, just because I could get it for $999 (256GB version). If I could get the iPhone Pro Max for that same price, I will vote for it :-P

  • ozizoy on 06/08/2022 - 23:20
    +1
    Suggested iPhone 13 Pro Max

    Where is pro max?

  • Ebisu on 15/09/2022 - 07:05

    iPhone 14 pro

  • iSauce on 16/09/2022 - 09:55
    Suggested iPhone 14 Pro

    I just got my hands on an iPhone 14 Pro Max today,
    The dynamic island is gimmicky,
    But wow, I have to say the AOD(Always on Display) is fantastic,
    48MP Main Camera upgrade with a larger sensor slaps every other smartphone in the face with the Apple algorithm.

    • Trishool on 16/09/2022 - 13:37
      +1

      The dynamic island is gimmicky

      I thought we werent allowed to say things like that out aloud?

  • mhc on 30/09/2022 - 17:56
    Suggested Samsung Galaxy Z Flip4 5G

    What about Z Flip. Its got better processor than S22 ultra

  • DarkSide on 03/10/2022 - 11:40

    is the s21 ultra ok to get if i dont want to get the 22

    • albert0pia on 10/10/2022 - 13:36

      Depends. How much are you getting it for?

  • Cisco123 on 24/10/2022 - 12:02
    Suggested iPhone 14 Pro Max

    new iphone?

  • Canberran on 07/11/2022 - 09:28
    Suggested Google Pixel 7 Pro

    Released in 2022. Whisky the HW isn't that amazing, the SW/Ai more than makes up for it.

  • jt14 on 14/11/2022 - 22:44
    Suggested OnePlus 10 Pro

    Amazing camera of OnePlus 10 Pro. But not first hand experience - brother has it

  • MassEffect on 19/11/2022 - 17:00

    Wonder why the Pixel 7 Pro is so low down the list. Its hands down the "smartest" of all smartphones out there.

    • scrimshaw on 19/11/2022 - 17:08
      +2

      It's because it only just got released and the poll was set up at the beginning of the year, so the older devices will still have the majority of the votes.

      The poll will expire in about a month or so and the order will change drastically on next year's poll

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