I will go beyond 5 picking one from each OEM but in no particular order since the best phone is subjective and based on preferential needs from a user. I will not include the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 as it belongs in the phablet category with the likes of the Xperia Z Ultra, HTC One Max, etc. I will include the Xperia Z1 and Oppo Find 5 even if they are quite tall phones. I will include OEM's like Xiaomi and Huawei that isn't particularly familiar with the US consumer.
HTC One
LG G2
LG/Google Nexus 5
Samsung Galaxy S4
Sony Xperia Z1
Motorola Moto X
Apple iPhone 5s
Nokia Lumia 928
Xiaomi Mi3
Meizu MX3
Oppo Find 5
BlackBerry Z10
Huawei Ascend P6
I included Xiaomi and Huawei because they have a bigger global marketshare than HTC, Motorola, and BlackBerry. The Xiaomi basically has the same SoC as the Galaxy S4 at half the price. If the Nexus 5 can be included, so can the Mi3 which has better sales overall. Meizu MX3 is also a solid phone, well-reviewed, and at a good price. I actually prefer the Huawei Ascend Mate over P6 but the former belongs in the phablet category and the latter is one of the most gorgeous Android phones ever even if Huawei took cues from Apple.
I didn't include Lenovo as their 2013 flagships (K900) was phablet territory. And I didn't Asus which had mostly phone/tablet combos. There is alot of OEM's like Acer and Sharp that I didn't include. Last year was a banner year for smartphones esp for Android. I had about 13-14 phones on my watchlist including midrangers and lower priced phones like the Xperia ZR, Moto G, Asus Fonepad, and a Philippine branded phone called the Starmobile Knight. Whatever successor of last year's models will likely be among one of the best phones for 2014. You couldn't really go wrong with any of them.
HTC One
LG G2
LG/Google Nexus 5
Samsung Galaxy S4
Sony Xperia Z1
Motorola Moto X
Apple iPhone 5s
Nokia Lumia 928
Xiaomi Mi3
Meizu MX3
Oppo Find 5
BlackBerry Z10
Huawei Ascend P6
I included Xiaomi and Huawei because they have a bigger global marketshare than HTC, Motorola, and BlackBerry. The Xiaomi basically has the same SoC as the Galaxy S4 at half the price. If the Nexus 5 can be included, so can the Mi3 which has better sales overall. Meizu MX3 is also a solid phone, well-reviewed, and at a good price. I actually prefer the Huawei Ascend Mate over P6 but the former belongs in the phablet category and the latter is one of the most gorgeous Android phones ever even if Huawei took cues from Apple.
I didn't include Lenovo as their 2013 flagships (K900) was phablet territory. And I didn't Asus which had mostly phone/tablet combos. There is alot of OEM's like Acer and Sharp that I didn't include. Last year was a banner year for smartphones esp for Android. I had about 13-14 phones on my watchlist including midrangers and lower priced phones like the Xperia ZR, Moto G, Asus Fonepad, and a Philippine branded phone called the Starmobile Knight. Whatever successor of last year's models will likely be among one of the best phones for 2014. You couldn't really go wrong with any of them.