Top of the line specs don’t instantly mean it’s the best phone. We prioritized the experience, and Xiaomi, for us, didn’t cut it this year. We love their lower-end phones, though.

Both phones you mentioned are handicapped by their software. I’m personally not a fan of Huawei’s Android skin, and the Xperia XZ would have had better camera quality if not for its poor software utilization. This isn’t to say they aren’t good phones, however; they just aren’t complete enough to stand against the best listed above.

Please read the article. It’s mentioned near the start.

Another great phone on its own, but we’re also taking innovation and consumer impact into consideration. The HTC 10 would have won the “Best smartphone no one really bought outside of Taiwan” award had we created that honorable mention.

Good phone, but it doesn’t offer great value for its price. You can find more powerful phones for much less.

The weak battery life, lack of functionality for the second screen, and overbearing Android skin bog it down. You can read more about them in our review.

burn

Hi there. We can confirm that the V5 has a gyroscope built-in.

Have you used a Pixel extensively? No doubt it’s an excellent phone all around, but we don’t feel it belongs with the top smartphones we listed. It’s not as affordable as the OnePlus 3, not as gorgeous in person as the Galaxy S7 pair, and not as refined as the iPhone 7 and 7 Plus.

Yes, it does. :)