My Top Phones in 2023

For the recent run-down of my collections, I used varying methods. Prior to 2022, I just pick the phone I like the least and place them on lower ranks. There was no specific rule, except that I should prioritize usability and novelty.

In 2022, I made some rules. But still considering usability and novelty.

1. Every week, I have to use (if usable) or display a phone on my table for a week.
2. The sequence depends on the sequence I acquire the phone. That is, the first phone I acquired (Nokia 1100) should be the first one to be used or displayed.
3. Rank the phones along the previous used or displayed phones. For instance, on first week, there could only be one on the "list". On the second week, the phone 2 should be ranked with phone 1 - if 2 is better than 1, then phone 2 is ranked 1 and phone 1 is ranked 2. Otherwise, phone 1 will be at #1, while phone 2 will be at #2. So, at the end of week 10, I am going to compare phone 10 to each phones - 1 to 9 and rank it accordingly.

And so I came out with this, last year -

My Top Preferred Phones in 2022

This 2023, I came up with a bit more difficult, yet realistic ranking. It was also made to challenge myself to use less phones every week. So, what was the algorithm?

1. Before the week starts, I have to choose 3 of the weakest phones on my collection. I asked myself some questions when choosing. Like, which phones am I willing to let go?
2. Those 3 phones will be used within the week.
3. The weakest or less preferred phone among the three will be eliminated and be ranked lower. Rank 38 being the least, in 2023.
4. The eliminated phone will not be used until the entire ranking is complete (i.e. I can use them now, since we already have the result). This is where the "realistic" and "challenging" part is. It made me think more before "eliminating" a phone.
5. Repeat from step 1 until I only have 2 phones remaining (which will leave me comparing only 2 phones, obviously).

So, here are the contenders -

Despite being lost, I still include these 5 phones. And my bases are... the memories I had with them.

38. Firefly Mobile Aurii Secret 4G

37. Asus Zenfone 5

36. Cloudfone Thrill Plus

35. Nokia X2 Dual SIM

34. Nokia 1600

Some of the next phones are unusable while some are still working, but needs workaround or they already have limited functions.

33.  Alcatel OT-C552

32. Nokia N70 (b)

31. Nokia 1100

30. Nokia N70 (a)

29. Sony Ericsson Satio

28. HTC Desire 200

27. Nokia N9

26. Nokia N8 (a)

25.  Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (b)

24. Sony Xperia Z1 Compact (a)

23. Sony Xperia Z

22. Sony Xperia Z3 Dual

21. HTC Windows Phone 8X

20. Lenovo E156

19. Sony Xperia miro

18.  Sony Ericsson W980

17. Asus Fonepad Note FHD6

16. Sony Xperia SP

These next devices are still usable. Some with issues but are not deal-breakers. I can still use them and would not be surprised if some people are still using them at their fullest.

15. Sony Xperia Z Ultra

14. LG G4

13. Sony Xperia XZ Premium

12. Sony Xperia Z5 Premium Dual

11.  Sony Xperia Z2 Tablet

Then, here are the phones I am confident to recommend, depending on how a person uses a phone. I assume that this set will satisfy any type of user.

10. LG G8 ThinQ

9. Honor Magic3 Zhen Edition

8. Sony Xperia XZ2 Compact

7. Nokia Asha 202

6. Sony Xperia Z2

Finally, here are the phones that I considered the best. I considered my different use cases these phones provide as I go along with the run-down. This was also the part where I thought it was impossible for me to use less phones. I even thought of breaking my own rules and use these 5 phones until I get to the sole best phone.

But first, here is a short video of my top 5 phones in 2023 -

5. LG V50s ThinQ 5G

4. LG Wing

3. Nokia N8 (b)

2. Nokia Lumia 1020

1. Sony Xperia 1 II

Was it impossible, though? No, but it was difficult, especially when I have to stop using my other phone lines. But, in the end, I thought to myself - Ay, pwede pala. But being someone who generates personal joy out of this things (despite, some people claiming - di nabibili ang kaligayahan), it is fun time again since I can toss them on my bed and reminisce the memories they brought.

What is next? Reviews! Aside from the phone I acquired earlier, this year, I sense that my wallet will give me a signal, sooner or later. 😂 So, more reviews! And I am also thinking of improving my presentation with modified images and videos - at least for battery score card. Then, maybe some reviews focusing on benchmarks. Hopefully, I can still shoot for this year's #blindphotochallenge over facebook!

See you around, then!

My Work Phone through the Years (and the unintended switch to iOS)

[Sony Xperia Z3 (2016-2017), Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (2017-2020), Sony Xperia 1 II (2020-2023), Apple iPhone 11 Pro (2023-?)]

In 2016, I was encouraged by my previous employer to have a dedicated work phone. The intention was to set a boundary between work and personal life. It was beneficial to both me and the company since it made me focused on communication and other tasks related to my work when I am at work and close such communication line outside work. We were allowed to bring our personal phone, but there was a window hour when we can use it.

[Sony Xperia miro]

Before having my dedicated work phone, I used Sony Xperia miro as my main phone – for work and personal purposes. It was a weak phone when it comes to tasks I need to carry out. The camera quality is not ideal, especially for digitizing reports for archives. It was also slow for accessing online files, downloading e-mail attachments, editing them on phone, uploading and sending them back. It was also a challenge to use its small display. So, I had an idea what to get as my first dedicated work phone – an xperia with a large display and more capable chipset.

[Sony Xperia Z3 (2016-2017)]

My first dedicated work phone is Sony Xperia Z3 that I acquired in 2016. It has relatively bigger and higher pixel density display that is ideal for work. Viewing and scrutinizing images and documents are easy on it. Checking out video presentation is also nice, especially if it involves audio as it has front firing stereo speakers. It is also seamless to collaborate as I can send and receive files via bluetooth and other connectivity solutions – online or not. I can recall how I managed to create presentations and project them wirelessly on external display.

[Sony Xperia Z5 Premium (2017-2020)]

Then, in 2017, I bought Sony Xperia Z5 Premium. My one year experience on Z3 made Z5 Premium a logical choice. But, honestly, my Z3 is not due for an upgrade. We were not encouraged to have updated security patches by then. However, I did not regret upgrading to Z5 Premium. All advantages I have on Z3 is even better on Z5 Premium. I can view at better resolution and that my screenshots are sharper than before to the point that I do not need to zoom in on web pages to get a good screenshot. I just crop in when needed and the image is still decently sharp.

[Sony Xperia 1 II (2020-2023)]

Three years later, in 2020, I bought Sony Xperia 1 II. I could say, even when I am using the same brand, that my experience is significantly different. I never experience any delay that I experienced on Z5 Premium from time to time. Thermals is also significantly better on 1 II over Z5 Premium even when I am using data connectivity outside office. Multitasking is also easier on it, including handling as it is slimmer than my Z5 Premium. I am more than satisfied with its performance. My initial plan to upgrade to 1 V even gets blurry as I do not see it being lacking in every aspect as per things I used it for. On the other hand, my screenshots were not as sharp as before. Likewise, the security patch update already ended last year, 2022. At work, it is not required to have our phones updated, but it is repeatedly recommended. It was also for our own good, but I really have not heard anyone whose data were compromised at work. So, I am still undecided to look for my next work phone.

[Apple iPhone 11 Pro (2023-?)]

But, after three years, in 2023, I was given an Apple iPhone 11 Pro – a phone that was released months before Xperia 1 II’s released. As an appreciation, I have to use it. At first, I was torn between using it as a personal phone or work phone. But being not into iOS, it would not be a good idea to use it as a personal phone. And since it still receives security updates, maybe until 2025, it is ideal for work phone.

So, how was it as my new work phone? Well, it receives calls and messages. Most apps I needed for work are available. For some, I need to do workarounds. It takes good photos. The display is good for viewing images and documents, except that it has a large notch. But, it is safe for now since the longest image I view on it for work purpose is still in 16:9. Audio is good. Most things are actually good.

But being used to android, especially for work, there are some issues I have to face.

1. Offline collaboration is problematic with non-apple devices. At work, we used to share documents via bluetooth – or NFC for a quick tap share android beam, nearby share for multiple devices, etc. Out of the box, there is no way I can do this. Even some apps for sharing documents ran into some issues with other phones. My ultimate solution up to now is to have online collaboration. I set up my google photos and google drive to accommodate documents from my team mates. This means, I have to be online – as well as my team mates whenever I need some documents.
2. Company apps are in android. There is a web-based version which is not that intuitive. I guess, I have to live this way for the next 2 years or so.
3. Control center works differently from android quick toggles. For instance, turning off wifi and bluetooth from the control center will not totally turn them off. They usually turn on and connect the next day and worse randomly, automatically. Workaround? I need to open the settings app and turn them off from there. Better workaround? I now use shortcuts to turn them off at once. But, I now have an icon on the homescreen for that instead of having them on quick toggles or control center.
4. Settings menu of all apps are on settings app. It means I have to open another app just to change settings on the app I am working on. Though, this is quite easy to get used to unlike some other system designs on iOS.
5. Apparently slower animations. It is good to have a balance of appealing animation and faster switching or transition between apps. But, on a work phone, I prioritize faster transition. Yes, I also prefer to have animations during transitions but I just find iOS slower than the 1x animation on my Xperia 1 II. Maybe I should consider iOS animations as “entertainment” by now.
6. The “ostrich approach” for unresponsive apps. I got this idea from IT people where I work. On android, you will be prompted when an app is unresponsive. You have a choice whether to kill the app, wait until the system resolves the issues and even send the error code to google. iOS, particularly iOS15 and iOS16 on my iPhone 11 Pro, works differently. It just would not respond. I can switch to other apps just fine, but when I get back, the frozen app remains frozen until I remove it from the opened apps.

[Using shortcuts to turn-off bluetooth and wifi]

[Individual apps have their settings on Settings app]

Some issues were due to shifting from android to iOS. But, I find some issues unintuitive and somehow frustrating as I expected iOS to be more intuitive than android, especially android 10-12, where I am comfortable working on. I am hoping that some of this concerns be addressed on the next updates. Somehow, I am expecting some of these to be resolved as iOS is turning into android, update after update – widgets, ability to remove app icons on homescreen by implementing dedicated app drawer, starting to work seamlessly with windows pc through pc link (though a seamless connectivity with android is greatly appreciated), a rumor about sideloading apps (how about virtual machine for apk?), etc.

So far, iPhone 11 Pro is generally fine as a work phone. It is ideal as a work phone with its longer security updates. However, this is the hardest shift I did among my work phones as the platform is different. It is just that changing my work phone before is a breeze – being from xperia to xperia.

So that is about my work phone journey up to this moment. Watch out for my next blog about my current work phone – Apple iPhone 11 Pro, which is a usual review I did for all my phone collections – charging test, battery usage test, and impressions for music playback, web browsing, casual gaming, photo shoot, video recording and video playback.

Thanks for reading!

By the way, here are the drafts I made for the header photo - :))

So, which one I should have used instead of the timeline version? 😆