The best Android phones of 2016

The best Android phones of 2016

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 edge

A couple months into their life, the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge remain the best overall Android smartphone you can buy. Launched at Mobile world Congress, the Galaxy S7 and S7 edge are a one-two punch combination. The "standard" GS7 keeps the 5.1-inch screen size, but gets a tad thicker for more battery and a curved glass back that's easier to hold. The Galaxy S7 edge goes up to 5.5-inches, bumps the battery a bit more and of course has the beautiful dual-curved edge screen.

Nexus 6P

We've usually had to recommend a Nexus phone with a rather large caveat — and that's usually had to do with the camera. Not so with the Nexus 6P, manufactured by Huawei.

It's got a camera that doesn't make us want to carry around a second shooter, just in case. It's got the design and build quality that stands up against any other phone. And perhaps most important is that it's going to always be updated to the latest version of Android, and that goes for the monthly security updates, too.

HTC 10

Welcome back, HTC. It's been a good long while since the Taiwanese manufacturer had a flagship smartphone that truly excited us. The HTC 10 certainly outdoes its predecessor — the M9 — and may well be the company's best phone since 2013's M7. We're looking at a solid (and damned near stunning) build quality, with lovely chamfered edges that contrast nicely with the milled aluminum. HTC has pared back its Sense user interface (but also soiled things a bit with its unnecessary "Boost+" app), giving us a nice mix of custom and stock.

Sound quality also is impressive in this phone, with 24-bit audio for those of you pumping things directly into your ear holes. And the on-phone speaker has changed things from a pair of front-facing stereo speakers to separate speakers for high and low sounds — with the result being an above-average smartphone speaker.

Samsung Galaxy Note 5

Samsung did the big screen thing first with the Note line, and now in its fifth iteration the Note 5 is just average sized at 5.7 inches. In fact, Samsung has shrunk down the bezels around the Note 5 so much that it's actually smaller than the Note 4 even with the same screen size. It's got a beefy processor, an ample 4GB of RAM and a high-resolution QHD display. It's running Android 5.1 Lollipop, with an update to Android Marshmallow on the way eventually, and comes with a 3,000 mAh battery.

The addition of optical image stabilization (OIS) on the 16-megapixel camera makes it one of the better low-light shooters available. And Samsung Pay is an excellent contactless payment option. Plus, the Note 5 has Samsung's excellent pen input features, which nobody else has even bothered to attempt to replicate. It's that good.