The winners for the 2022 WhistleOut Awards have been announced, and in addition to judging the best mobile and NBN providers, we've also picked out the best phones.
The WhistleOut awards cover devices released between July 2021 and June 2022. Without further ado, here are our top picks.
If you're looking for a new handset, the iPhone 13 is the best choice for most.
While the iPhone 13 might not be a “Pro” model, it strikes an excellent balance between price and performance, offering up a zippy processor, excellent camera, and a reliable battery. It makes very few compromises for its $1,349 price point.
While that's still on the pricier side for a phone, the extensive support Apple provides for its smartphones helps balance this out. History suggests we can expect around seven years of major operating system upgrades for the iPhone 13. Most Android flagship phones tend to max out at three years.
Even if you're not keeping your iPhone 13 for that long, the longer support life should help keep its resale value down the line.
It's for these reasons and more we've named the iPhone 13 our phone of the year for FY21/22. It's an excellent all-round device that's easy to recommend.
Until Apple announced the iPhone 13 Pro and iPhone 13 Pro Max, the iPhone 12 Pro Max was the best camera phone you could buy. And almost a full year later, the iPhone 13 Pro siblings are still holding onto that crown.
The pair have the fastest primary lens on a phone, giving you the best possible chance of not missing a moment. There's a smaller risk of blur in low light, with phones snapping far quicker than rival phones. And the all new macro mode allows for stunning images.
It's for these reasons and more we've crowned the iPhone 13 Pro family the best camera phone of FY21/22.
You can't buy the OPPO Find N in Australia, but it's a fascinating enough device that we've still crowned it the best designed phone of FY21/22.
The Find N is easily the most refined foldable phone to date, addressing the biggest design issues with the form factor. Unlike all other foldables to date, the Find N doesn't have a noticeable crease. At some angles you can see it if you're looking for it, but it's the most seamless display we've seen in this new category of phone.
In addition, you can barely feel the crease when you move your hands across the screen, solving another pain point with early devices.
Our favourite thing about the Find N, however, is the size. When folded, the external display is just 5.49-inch and uses a traditional aspect ratio. This makes it feels a lot more like using a regular phone, and means you get a great experience whether the Find N is open or closed.
Even if you can't currently get your hands on an OPPO foldable in Australia, we're hoping that the Find N's innovations help push the entire category forward.
With the Edge 20 Fusion, Motorola managed to cram a whole lot of impressive hardware into an affordable package. At launch, $499 bought you a sizeable 6.7-display with a 90Hz refresh rate, a chonky 5,000mAh battery, and the same 108MP camera we saw in the Galaxy S20 Ultra the year prior.
Quantity doesn't always mean quality, but we found the Edge 20 Fusion to deliver smooth performance, reliable battery life, and a big improvement in camera when compared to previous Motorola phones.
It's for these reasons we've named the Motorola Edge 20 Fusion our best value phone of FY21/22.
If you're after a phone that doesn't make any compromises, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is as close as you'll get.
The iPhone 12 Pro Max set the bar pretty high, but Apple nonetheless managed to push battery life and camera quality even further with the iPhone 13 Pro Max.
Even with 5G enabled, the iPhone 13 Pro Max can almost last two days, and almost a year later, no Android flagship phone has bested its camera.
When you also factor in the fastest mobile processor, a gorgeous OLED display, and the strength of the iOS ecosystem, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is hard to beat. It's for these reasons and more that we've named it our high-end phone of the year for FY21/22. It's got everything but the kitchen sink.
