GSMArena smartphone shopping guide: December 2013

€500 and above

Call this the "money's no object" category, where only the best of the best will do. This category consists solely of flagships that were launched in the second half of 2013 - you'd be surprised how much of a difference even half a year can make in the tech world.

Phones here didn't make the cut by virtue of their value for money ratio, but rather phones that are exemplary in some category. This is the category that saw the least movement - other than a few phones dropping in the lower price bracket, it's the same old faces.

The Nokia Lumia 1020 is the true successor of the Nokia 808 PureView and has the most amazing camera ever found on a mobile phone. A huge 1/1.5" sensor with a whopping 41MP resolution creates amazing shots and with supersampling to 5MP, sharing is easy. Nokia is creating a ton of proprietary camera features like lossless digital zoom, manual controls and the Refocus app. Oh, and the 1020 is the only phone with a powerful xenon flash. The audio recording for videos is top notch too.

You do have to deal with the protruding camera hump on a phone that's not slender to begin with, and Windows Phone 8 could be a plus or a minus, depending on your preferences. It has a decent 4.5" WXGA AMOLED screen and dual-core Krait chipset, but Androids are wholly unimpressed. The 2,000mAh sealed battery is also not great, but you can get the grip accessory for an extra 1,020mAh and a more comfortable hold on the phone (albeit with added bulk).

This phone is all about the camera as it takes pictures like no other phone. Point-and-shoot cameras have a tough time competing, too. But if not for the camera, we can't justify double the price over the Lumia 920.

Nokia Lumia 1020	Pros	Cons
	The best camera on the market 41MP 1/1.5" sensor, OIS, ZEISS lens, xenon flash Cool proprietary camera apps 4.5" WXGA AMOLED, 332ppi Windows Phone 8 Free offline global SatNav Free Office suite	Bulky device with hump on the back Slow shot-to-shot time Dated chipset Non-expandable memory
	Review

The LG G2 could have made the cut earlier, but we left it for this category because of LG's Apple-like pricing strategy - the 16GB version is too limited by storage, but the 32GB costs €100 more. We wouldn't recommend 16GB storage as those HD videos (especially 1080p @ 60fps) and advanced 3D games will devour it in no time. And if not for the video or games, the beautiful screen, powerful chipset and 13MP OIS camera will go to waste.

And the LG G2 does have an amazing 5.2" screen with 1080p resolution that fits in the footprint of the Galaxy S4 and HTC One. It also packs a Snapdragon 800, which trumps the S4 (at least until the S4 LTE comes out), a 13MP camera with optical image stabilization and a lasting 3,000mAh battery.

The design might not be to everyone's tastes, and the volume rocker on the back is especially unusual (the tap to wake option has its detractors too). It's also plastic, which isn't up to par with the HTC One or Xperia Z1. Make no mistake though, the LG G2 is one of the best Android smartphones available at the moment.

LG G2 (32GB)	Pros	Cons
	Compact design with minimal bezels 5.2" 1080p screen, 424ppi Snapdragon 800 Android 4.2 13MP camera with OIS	Plastic body Non-expandable storage
	Review

We've finally reached the Apple iPhone 5s price point. Don't get us wrong, it's an amazing smartphone but the pricing gets harder to swallow each passing year, especially when you can have good Androids and WP8 phones at half the cost.

It's a gorgeous device no doubt, with a thin and light aluminum body and people really seem to enjoy the new gold color option.

The 8MP camera shows improvements over the 5s, but we can't shake the feeling that that it falls behind the curve. The new Apple A7 chipset is a modest beast (don't be fooled by core count and clock speed, it's a new architecture) and iOS 7 brought some much needed improvements. The TouchID fingerprint sensor is not a novel feature, but it's the best implementation on a smartphone yet.

However, as is usually the case with iPhone's, we come back to the problem of storage - 16GB just isn't enough these days (unless you don't store multimedia, don't play a lot of games and don't shoot a lot of video). Consider that: the 16GB 5s costs €100 more than three Moto Gs with the same storage. And Apple asks another €100 for the 32GB version, which makes things even more ridiculous from a pricing standpoint - that money buys you a Galaxy Note 3 (32GB plus microSD card slot) and either a Galaxy S III (16GB plus microSD card slot) or Nexus 7 32GB (2013).

Apple iPhone 5s	Pros	Cons
	Beautiful 7.6mm aluminum body iOS 7 4" Retina screen, 326ppi Stellar performance TouchID fingerprint sensor	Insanely expensive Non-expandable storage Small screen Camera falling behind the curve Too reliant on iTunes Proprietary connector
	Review

Microsoft shed the screen resolution and chipset limits with WP8 GRD3 and Nokia took advantage with the Lumia 1520. It's a 6" phablet with a 1080p, a Snapdragon 800 chipset and a 3,400mAh battery - basically, as good as any Android flagship. Anyway, the camera received almost as much attention as the Lumia 1020 camera.

It's a smaller sensor (1/2.5") with half the resolution, but it still has quality ZEISS optics and optical image stabilization. No xenon flash, but the lossless digital zoom is on board (due to the lower sensor resolution, it's not as long as that on the 1020) and so are the quality microphones for best-in-class audio capture for the 1080p videos.

It's not an exaggeration to say that the Lumia 1520 is the best device Nokia has made. But it's big and heavy - not the biggest phablet around, but perhaps too big for a general device. At least it's not solely dependent on its camera for success like the Lumia 1020.

Nokia Lumia 1520	Pros	Cons
	6" 1080p screen, 367ppi Windows Phone 8 Quad-core Krait 400 20MP 1/2.5" sensor, OIS, ZEISS lens Cool proprietary camera apps LTE Free offline global SatNav Free Office suite	Big and heavy, even for a phablet
	Preview

Before we wrap this up, we thought we should present a bundle - the Asus Padfone Infinity 2 with the 10.1" tablet dock. The price is pretty high, but if you add up the price for a flagship smartphone with a 5" 1080p screen and Snapdragon 800 chipset and a 10.1" WXGA tablet, also with Snapdragon 800, you'll find out that the bundle actually saves money.

It's very pricey though so it's only a worthy purchase for specific usage scenarios - if you're okay with a 7" or even an 8.3" Snapdragon 600 tablet, there are cheaper options out there. Also, keep in mind that only one device can be used at any time - you can't be on the phone while someone uses the tablet as the Padfone Infinity 2 is the heart of the tablet. If you're the only one that will use the two devices, however, it makes little sense to pay for a Snapdragon 800 chipset twice.

Asus Padfone Infinity 2 + 10.1" tablet dock	Pros	Cons
	Flagship tablet in tow Top notch design and build for phone and tablet 5" 1080p IPS screen, 441ppi Quad-core Krait 400 Android 4.2 13MP video camera with 1080p video capture LTE 5,000mAh battery in the tablet for extra battery life	Only one can be used at any time No Android 4.4 plans yet Cheaper options if you don't need a flagship tablet

By the way, if you're interested in tablets, we have a tablet shopping guide too.

Happy shopping everyone!