The best phone of 2019 in UAE: Top smartphones tested and ranked

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We're comfortably into 2019, and we've seen a huge number of smartphone launches, which means our best smartphone list is likely to have plenty of new entrants over the coming weeks (if not months). 

Phone like the Nokia 9 Pureview, Samsung Galaxy S10, Galaxy S10e, Galaxy Fold, LG G8 ThinQ, LG V50 ThinQ, Huawei Mate X and Xiaomi Mi 9 having all been announced and we'll make sure they're all thoroughly tested.

However, if your smartphone replacement simply can't wait you'll be asking, what are the best smartphones available in the UAE, Saudi and the rest of the Middle East right now? Read on to find out.

We know that it's not all about the high-cost, super spec phones all the time so we've made you a handy list of all the top smartphones that you can get on the market right now, assessing what really matters to you, the buyer.

We test these phones rigorously, making sure that we check every angle and feature - but most importantly, considering whether they've got a decent battery, great screen, strong design and a cracking camera.

On top of that, they can't be too exorbitant in price either - not everyone wants or can afford a supercar of a handset, so we've made sure there are plenty of options for you there.

If you do want to focus on the cheaper side of things, then check out our list of the best budget phones of 2018 for some great ideas. 

Still here? Still thinking about which phone to go for? Don't worry... there are 15 excellent options to choose from.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is still the best smartphone available right now.

It's a big phone that's designed for big hands - and it takes the very best of what's on the smartphone market and puts it together in a compelling package that we've loved testing.

Screen: The Super AMOLED 6.4-inch display has been measured as the very best around, with super colours, great dynamic range and, essentially, the very best viewing experience you can have on a mobile phone. 

Plus, there's a fingerprint scanner embedded in the display.

Battery life: The battery life on the Galaxy S10 Plus is and improvement over the S9 Plus, thanks to the larger 4,100mAh battery inside. It'll easily reach bedtime with double digits still left in the tank.

The S10 Plus also offers Samsung's new Wireless PowerShare, allowing you to wirelessly charge other devices on the rear of the handset.

Camera: The trio of cameras on the Galaxy S10 Plus are among the best on the market, building on the excellent setup on the S9 series by offering more features, shooting modes and overall clarity. 

Mini verdict: The Galaxy S10 Plus is packed full of the best Samsung has to offer, and it comes together to give you the best smartphone experience around right now.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus review

The Huawei Mate 20 Pro is the best phone from the Chinese firm to date, offering up a heady mix of design, power and performance with a few party pieces thrown in too.

It builds on the excellent P20 and P20 Pro, offering up even more screen, enhanced triple rear cameras and an in-display fingerprint scanner.

Screen: The Mate 20 Pro packs a huge 6.39-inch display giving you a huge amount of space for gaming and movies, and its QHD resolution and HDR10 support ensures everything looks great. There is a wide notch at the top of the display though.

Battery life: You'll get great battery life from the Mate 20 Pro, and we regularly achieved a day and a half of usage from a single charge during our review time with the handset.

Camera: The Mate 20 Pro comes with three cameras on the rear, nabbing the excellent 40MP wide-angle and 8MP telephoto lenses from the P20 Pro - but the third sensor is new. It's an ultra-wide 16MP snapper allowing you to cram even more of your surroundings into each shot.

Mini verdict: The Mate 20 Pro is a full-featured phone for a full-featured price - it even has a few tricks you won’t see elsewhere, and more powerful specs than most of its competitors.

Read more: Huawei Mate 20 Pro review

Pronounced ten S (like tennis), the iPhone XS and XS Max are the incremental upgrades to Apple's game-changing iPhone X from 2017.

They build on the all-screen, notch-laden, almost bezel-free design with more power under the hood, improved cameras, a new storage option and, in the case of the XS Max, a huge screen and even huger price tag.

Screen: The 5.8-inch OLED screen on the iPhone XS is the same as the one you'll find on the iPhone X, so it's the 6.5-inch offering on the XS Max which has really grabbed our attention - fantastic for video streaming and gaming.

Battery life: It's has improved a little on both handsets over the iPhone X, but you'll still find yourself plugging both of these phones in each night to ensure you'll get through a whole day in the morning.

Camera: The dual camera setup on both the iPhone XS and iPhone XS Max is fantastic. The Smart HDR mode makes images even clearer, brighter and more detailed, and Apple's famously intuitive interface makes snapping great shots a breeze.

Mini verdict: If you're after the latest and greatest iPhone, look no further. And if your hands are as big as your bank balance, the iPhone XS Max takes Apple's smartphone to a whole new level with plenty of additional screen space.

Read more: iPhone XS review | iPhone XS Max review

The Samsung Galaxy Note 9 is one of the best phones we've ever tested - and also one of the most expensive. However, for that money you're getting an extraordinary spec list, including the first mainstream phone to offer 1TB of storage and an incredible screen.

Screen: Let's get right to that screen: it's beautiful. Yes, it's a bit narrow if you're coming from the Note 5 or similar, but the way it wraps around the frame, the smaller bezels and the impressive color reproduction and brightness make it a real favourite.

Battery life: With 4,000mAh under the hood, the Note 9 has one of the biggest batteries Samsung has ever thrust into a device, meaning it can easily last through the day (plus it has new cooling tech to help it last longer in gaming sessions, although we've not seen much proof of that). You can also charge over wireless easily, and fast charging boots in 17% battery in 15 mins.

Camera: The cameras on Samsung phones are part of the reason they rank so highly in our list - the sheer capability and low light performance is impressive. Photos are definitely more on the colourful side, but there are more AI smarts in the mix to help you get the right shot at the right time.

Mini verdict: It's hard to wrap the Samsung Galaxy Note 9 into a mini verdict - it does so much and we've not even touched on the new, camera-remote-enabled Bluetooth S Pen. The expansive, quality screen, the battery life and the camera all combine to make this a stunning smartphone... if you can afford it.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy Note 9 review

The iPhone XR (pronounced 'ten R') is a cheaper smartphone from Apple aimed at opening up its mobile range to more consumers, with a range of colors, premium design and still a decent slug of power under the hood.

While it doesn't cost as much as the XS or XS Max, the iPhone XR isn't a cheap phone - it's just more affordable than the other two new iPhones.

Screen: The iPhone XR may be the cheapest of Apple's three new iPhones, but it sits in the middle of the trio in terms of screen size with its 6.1-inch display. This provides lots of space for movies and games, although its resolution is under full HD. 

Camera: The camera on the iPhone XR doesn't hit the same heights as its XS siblings, and portrait mode is a little lacking, but it still offers up the same intuitive Apple interface and an auto mode than makes the best of most scenarios.

Battery life: The shining light for the iPhone XR is its battery life. If you're looking for an iPhone with great endurance, this is it, with the XR easily lasting a full day on a single charge.

Mini verdict: The iPhone XR is one of the best handsets Apple has ever made, and that's mainly down to the excellent battery life.

Read more: iPhone XR review

The Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus is still the best smartphone available right now.

It's a big phone that's designed for big hands - and it takes the very best of what's on the smartphone market and puts it together in a compelling package that we've loved testing, despite the strong competition on the following pages.

Screen: The Super AMOLED 6.2-inch display has been measured as one of the very best around right now, with super colours, great dynamic range and, essentially, the very best viewing experience you can have on a mobile phone.

Battery life: The battery life on the S9 Plus is better than that seen on the smaller S9, thanks to the 3,500mAh battery in the Plus model - although it's probably the weakest part of the phone, not offering as much life as we'd have liked.

Camera: The camera on the Galaxy S9 Plus is among the best on the market, and the dual-aperture capability offers some startlingly good snaps when things get a little darker. 

Colours can look a tad washed out when the exposure is higher, but the power of the sensor, with memory built into it to make it smarter than most rivals, offers very low-noise shots.

Mini verdict: If you're after a bigger phone with all the features that matter on board, the Galaxy S9 Plus is that and more.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S9 Plus review

The Huawei P20 Pro is one of the best phones the brand has ever produced, and it's still troubling the top of our charts. Even if you've never heard of this brand before, the P20 Pro is a phone that deserves its place among the very best brands out there.

Screen: The 6.1-inch display is only Full HD, but that does help with battery life. This is actually probably one of the weakest parts of the phone, as it lacks the colour reproduction of its rivals, but it does come with a screen protector pre-fitted, which is a nice touch.

Battery life: The Huawei P20 Pro will get you a day and half of light to moderate use - it goes down after a full month's effort, filling it with apps, but even still we're getting a good day's hard use, which is great.

Camera: The camera is the standout feature on the Huawei P20 Pro, offering three lenses... and they're actually useful. The resolution is pin sharp thanks to brilliant image stabilisation, the software photo optimisation is excellent and having that 40MP sensor has been boosted well by Leica for good low light performance.

Mini verdict: The main issue you have to overcome with the P20 Pro is the fact you might not be familiar with the brand, but not only is Huawei a worthy competitor to Apple and Samsung, but it's the most likely to get the bigger price drops first (which is worth checking out using our price finder below).

Read more: Huawei P20 Pro review

The price of flagship phones are rising every year, but you don't need to pay top dollar for a top-notch experience.

OnePlus offers flagship phones at a lower price point and while its first few handsets didn't trouble the established names, its more recent efforts have really pushed the likes of Samsung, Apple and co. 

The OnePlus 6T is the firm's best flagship offering yet, with a host of high-end features and a price tag which is comfortably lower than the competition.

Screen: This may be a "cheap" flagship phone, but you still get a huge 6.41-inch AMOLED display providing colorful, bright and punchy images. It may 'only' have a fill HD resolution - and there's a notch at the top - but for the price it's difficult to knock.

Battery life: OnePlus has increased the size of the battery in the 6T over the 6 it replaces, and that's resulted in improved battery life with the handset easily lasting a full day on a single charge.

Camera: There's a dual camera setup on the rear of the OnePlus 6T, and while it doesn't reach the same heights as the Google Pixel 3, Huawei P20 Pro or Samsung Galaxy S9, when you consider the price it's still an accomplished offering.

Mini verdict:  The OnePlus 6T is a good-looking and powerful smartphone that can compete with handsets from the larger and more established brands on the market while undercutting them in price.

Read more: OnePlus 6T review

The Honor View 20 is the best phone to come out of the Chinese brand, with a striking rear design (which may divide opinion), plenty of power under the hood, an impressive 48MP camera and a 'punch-hole' display which ushers in the post-notch revolution.

Screen: There's a huge 6.4-inch display on the View 20, giving you plenty of space to play with. It's the location of the front-facing, 25MP camera within the screen which is the real talking point though, as rather than appearing in a bezel or a notch which juts into the screen, it's surround by screen. It's different, but will it catch on?

Battery life: The Honor View 20 has a big 4,000mAh and the result is a battery which will comfortably last through an entire day and into the next on a single charge.

Camera: The View 20 is the world's first smartphone to boast a 48MP rear camera, as the firm has used Sony's new sensor to provide a camera which really packs a punch.

Mini verdict: An ultra-high-resolution camera and punch hole screen are the highlights on the Honor View 20, and they set a standard this year’s more expensive phones will need to match.

Read more: Honor View 20 review

You're at the end of our best smartphone guide, but that doesn't mean we can't help you still - if you're stuck on which model is for you, we've got a tool that can compare all the phones together and you can decide which one suits you best based on the cost.

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