what's up guys lon here from Android
authority and we're a little over
halfway through the year and we've seen
a lot of really great Android phones hit
the market within the last six months or
so and that's only going to continue
it's bones like the note 8 the pixel 2
and the LG V 30 but until that happens
let's take a look back at the first half
of the year and see what phones are the
best Android phones of 2017 so far now
before we get started this list is in no
particular order but something to keep
in mind with this best Android phones of
2017 list is that will be hitting the
high end middle and low end so it's not
limited to just flagship
naturally flagships will make up a
pretty big chunk of this list but we'll
be hitting a wide variety of price
ranges as we go through this list with
that being said kicking things off at
number one is the Samsung Galaxy s8 / s8
plus after the note 7 debacle it was
important for Samsung to get things
right not only for themselves as one of
the largest smartphone brands but also
to restore trust in consumers the
Samsung Galaxy s8 and s8 + brought all
the latest and greatest specs that you
would expect from a flagship but what
really made it stand out is its screen
and design Samsung has really refined
their use of glass and metal and the way
the curved glass integrates into the
metal frame feels completely smooth and
seamless not only does it look great but
it feels extremely comfortable to hold
the screen is also incredible to look at
and arguably the best screen on a
smartphone right now the new aspect
ratio combined with these super thin
bezels on all sides makes screen
standout and of course being an AMOLED
screen you get those beautiful vibrant
colors and deep dark blacks not only is
it a beautiful looking phone with a
great screen it also has an excellent
camera good performance and comes with a
lot of extra features like expandable
storage while it's charging and ip68
water and dust resistance making it one
of the most well rounded smartphones of
2017 next up on the list is the LG G 6
and the g 6 really shows what the
difference a year can really make the g5
was a failed experimental with the g6 LG
returned to a formula that works and it
certainly paid off it was the first
major phone of 2017 that featured this
new 18 by 9 aspect ratio within
bezels and while it may not look quite
as flashy sitting next to the SI the
screen is still fantastic LG did a great
job of taking advantage of this taller
and narrow screen with their software
which also saw a lot of improvement in
terms of being a cleaner and easier to
use experience it may not have shipped
with the latest nap during 8:35 but the
performance has held up quite well and
it offers some pretty excellent battery
life depending on your region you'll
also get other nice features like a quad
DAC or wireless charging but the other
main attraction to the g6 is the dual
cameras on the back it takes fantastic
photos and the wide-angle lens is a ton
of fun to use it makes it a lot easier
to fit more into the frame and you can
take some pretty breathtaking landscape
shots our next phone comes from HTC what
the U 11 after the HTC u ultra
ultimately turned out to be a flop
HTC really needed to hit one out of the
park and they totally did that with the
U 11 they didn't follow in the footsteps
of Samsung and LG with the tall narrow
and practically bezel of screens but
this is still one gorgeous looking phone
and comes in some very eye-catching
colors and finishes it was a phone that
ultimately checked all the right boxes
it has fast performance a clean software
experience exceptional battery life and
a camera that can go toe-to-toe with
Samsung and LG it may not have a
headphone jack but the audio experience
on the U 11 is one of the best that
you'll find on a smart phone right now
the external speakers are extremely
crisp and loud and the you Sonic earbuds
with active noise cancellation sound
pretty incredible for a pair of earbuds
every smartphone of course has at least
one gimmick or defining feature and a
standout feature here with the U 11 is
edge sense
this is HTC's phone squeezing technology
and squeezing your phone to launch an
app or a specific function may sound
weird at first but once you wrap your
head around it it feels surprisingly
intuitive the U 11 is a phone that you
definitely shouldn't overlook if you're
on the lookout for a new smart phone
another company attempting to make a
comeback is blackberry with the
BlackBerry key one and the key one is
arguably their keystone to mountain that
comeback and restoring their image as a
legitimate smartphone brand with the
help of TCL what the key one blackberry
went back to what essentially makes a
blackberry a blackberry it has a full
a physical QWERTY keyboard which we
don't see on a lot of smartphones
anymore and aside from providing a
physical typing experience the keyboard
also has a lot of extra functions you
can use it as a trackpad of sorts to
swipe around or scroll through web pages
and assign a wide variety of long and
short press shortcuts this makes it
really great for getting in and out of
things quickly and for productivity and
with BlackBerry's best-in-class security
you won't have to worry about any
sensitive information you have stored on
this phone
it may not be the fastest phone on the
block but with the snapdragon 625 paired
with a pretty hefty battery this allows
for some pretty long lasting battery
life which is definitely a must-have for
a phone that is meant for getting work
done it's not a phone made for everyone
especially if you're more into consuming
media but blackberry did a great job of
creating a phone that appeals to old
BlackBerry fans while also having the
potential to bring in some new ones if
you're looking for a mid-range phone
that is geared towards a wider audience
the Moto Z to play might be right up
your alley
this phone may have gone up in price but
it's still a great mid-range phone and
you can get it for a much better deal on
Verizon both in terms of a lower price
and a modem OTT included for free while
the deal lasts it continues to do all
the things that made the original Z play
so great it has great build quality a
slimmer design a long-lasting battery a
near stock Android experience and the
Moto mod is still one of the sleekest
and elegant ways of making your phone
more fun and functional what if you're
looking for a super cheap budget phone
well it doesn't get any more budget than
Motorola's other option the Moto e for
Motorola has always done a great job
with balancing performance and price and
with this phone being so cheap it's
almost a steal it's $70 if you buy it
from Verizon and as an unlocked phone
that price does go up to 130 bucks so
that's still ridiculously affordable for
the money you're getting a pretty decent
phone with a quad-core processor 2 gigs
of RAM a 5 inch 720p display Android
7.1.1 nougat in 8 megapixel rear camera
a fairly hefty 2800 million power
battery a water-repellent body and it
even comes with a fingerprint sensor
it's not exactly a phone that's going to
blow your socks off but it's a solid
package overall
and with a price tag that isn't going to
break the bank it's hard to really
complain rounding out this list we have
the 1 plus 5 and even though the price
of the 1 plus has increased over time
it's still the best bang for the buck
smart phone you can buy the release of
the 1 plus 5 certainly wasn't without
its controversy and some of the
criticisms are well deserved but that
doesn't mean the 1 plus 5 is a great
phone you'd be hard-pressed to find
another phone that offers a better price
to performance ratio and you definitely
get a lot of performance with the 8
gigabytes of RAM and Snapdragon 835
being offered at a lower price than most
flagships does mean that this phone has
a few shortcomings but overall it
competes really well it has a great
metal design dual cameras a clean stock
like Android experience with oxygen OS
and charges insanely quickly with 1
pluses - charging technology it may not
be the same impulse buy that it once was
but it's still the best flagship you can
buy for a not-so flagship price and that
completes our list of the best Android
phones of 2017 so far there's still a
lot left in the year and plenty of great
Android phones to be released and we'll
certainly update this list as that time
comes but what do you guys think of this
list do you agree or disagree are there
any other phones that you think should
have made the cut let us know down in
the comments section below and as always
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