The best Android phones of 2016, according to you
As you’re probably already aware, we’ve been keeping our best Android phones list updated throughout the year, adding new devices each month as we see fit. Since April 2016, we’ve been including a poll in our list, asking our readers what they this is the best Android phone out there. Of course, the list changes every month as devices are added and removed, which makes things interesting. So we thought it’d be a good idea to look back and see what you, our readers, thought were the best Android phones of the year.
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Below you’ll find a list of the top five Android phones of each month, according to our readers. We’ve only been holding our “best Android phones” poll since April, which is why data from January through March is missing.
Do note that the numbers next to each smartphone represents the number of votes each phone received that month. There are normally around ten phones included in the poll every month, but to save space, we’ve rounded up the data on the top five phones with the most votes for each month. Also, December’s poll is still open, so those numbers may fluctuate a bit depending on when you look at the table.
| 1st place | 2nd place | 3rd place | 4th place | 5th place | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
April | 1st place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 4,258 | 2nd place Nexus 6P - 3,093 | 3rd place Samsung Galaxy S7 - 1,616 | 4th place LG G5 - 1,022 | 5th place Motorola Moto X Pure Edition - 635 |
May | 1st place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 4,433 | 2nd place Nexus 6P - 2,463 | 3rd place HTC 10 - 1,996 | 4th place Samsung Galaxy S7 - 1,706 | 5th place LG G5 - 1,234 |
June | 1st place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 5,889 | 2nd place Nexus 6P - 3,730 | 3rd place HTC 10 - 2,212 | 4th place Samsung Galaxy S7 - 1,451 | 5th place LG G5 - 845 |
July | 1st place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 4,550 | 2nd place Nexus 6P - 2,455 | 3rd place HTC 10 - 1,322 | 4th place Samsung Galaxy S7 - 1,277 | 5th place LG G5 - 693 |
August | 1st place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 4,980 | 2nd place Nexus 6P - 1,386 | 3rd place Samsung Galaxy S7 - 1,147 | 4th place ZTE Axon 7 - 1,047 | 5th place Moto Z Force - 1,002 |
September | 1st place Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - 4,180 | 2nd place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 3,173 | 3rd place Nexus 6P - 1,883 | 4th place ZTE Axon 7 - 1,146 | 5th place Moto Z Force - 1,135 |
October | 1st place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 4,964 | 2nd place Samsung Galaxy Note 7 - 4,165 | 3rd place Nexus 6P - 2,297 | 4th place ZTE Axon 7 - 1,340 | 5th place HTC 10 - 1,338 |
November | 1st place Google Pixel XL - 4,105 | 2nd place Google Pixel - 2,505 | 3rd place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 2,379 | 4th place LG V20 - 1,409 | 5th place ZTE Axon 7 - 864 |
| 1st place Google Pixel XL - 4,177 | 2nd place Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge - 2,093 | 3rd place Google Pixel - 2,020 | 4th place LG V20 - 1,086 | 5th place ZTE Axon 7 - 701 |
As you can see from the chart above, one Android smartphone certainly stands out above the rest, reaching the top one or two spots every month since we’ve held these polls. That phone, of course, is the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. Keep in mind that the S7 Edge has been available since the beginning of the year, while others like the Google Pixel, Pixel XL and LG V20 have only just recently become available.
The Galaxy S7 Edge has been voted the best Android phone for most of 2016
So what phones have dethroned the S7 Edge this year? For the brief stint that the Galaxy Note 7 was on the market, according to our readers, it was the best Android phone in September. That is, until it started exploding and had to be removed from our best Android phones list. Then in October the S7 Edge overtook the Note 7 midway through the month, as this was the time the Note 7 was recalled.Lately, though, the Google Pixel XL has taken the top spot for the months of November and December, raking in a steady 4,100 votes each month. The Google Pixel also managed to achieve a top spot in recent months, receiving between 2,000 – 2,500 votes in November and December.
What about the other guys?
It’s clear that the Galaxy S7 Edge, Google Pixel XL and Note 7 (for a brief time) were the very best Android phones according to the majority of our readers, but what about the other guys? The HTC 10, LG G5, ZTE Axon 7 and a few others were good enough to make the list this year.
The Axon 7, HTC 10 and LG G5 made a few appearances, as well
While the Pixel XL, Pixel and S7 Edge took the top three spots in November and December, the LG V20 made the #4 spot both months. The ZTE Axon 7 wasn’t too far behind, either, coming in at fifth place. In fact, the Axon 7 managed to achieve the fourth and fifth place spots since it was added to our list in August. Pretty impressive for a phone that costs almost half the price as others on the list.Up until the Pixel and Pixel XL made the list, Google’s Nexus 6P was floating around the #2 and #3 spots from April through September, which is quite impressive considering it was released back in 2015.
Throughout the April-September timeframe, we also saw the HTC 10, LG G5, Moto Z Force and even the Moto X Pure Edition take up the third, fourth and fifth place spots.
So there you have it, the best Android phones of 2016, according to you. Do you agree that the Galaxy S7 Edge should have made the top of the list for the majority of 2016? Also, how long do you think the Pixel XL will remain at the top? Let us know your thoughts in the comments, and be sure to check out our best Android phones list to vote on your favorite device.
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