The best smartphones of 2015: What a year for comebacks

The year 2015 was a tumultuous year for smartphones. Some companies found redemption while others underwhelmed. Finger sensors became the norm, along with pixel-rich screens, extraordinary cameras and premium design. The year was kind to customers in all, but there can only be one PCWorld Smartphone of the Year.

You cannot put a price on greatness. A smartphone can be great and be inexpensive at the same time. This will be noticeable as you progress through out list of this year’s five best smartphones, each one linked back to its respective review.

5. Microsoft Lumia 640

A lot has changed in the ten months that followed the release of the Nokia Lumia 635. A deluge of capable smartphones boasting competitive prices have since launched, and now the low-end of the market is crowded. And in that time Nokia has been absorbed into Microsoft. The Lumia 640 then is one of the first smartphones to be released as a Microsoft smartphone, and it will be the first smartphone to be upgraded to Windows 10 when it lands...Read the full review

4. Motorola Moto G (3rd Gen)

There was no two ways about it: if you wanted a well rounded smartphone on a shoestring budget, you would buy a Moto G. Then you would tell your friends about its incredible value-for-money — the first and second gen models cost no more than $269. These really were the kind of smartphones that would turn the sceptical into brand advocates.

A year on and the times are changing. Google has passed Motorola on to its new owners, Lenovo, and the business is trying to increase its profitability. The result is a third generation Moto G that costs an extra $100.

The only matter left unresolved is whether the third-gen model is worth its $369 asking price...Read the full review

3. Apple iPhone 6s

Big changes have been made to Apple’s iPhone 6s. The naked eye will consider this smartphone identical to its predecessor with its eerie, twin-like looks, and yet this generation’s model represents a substantial step forward, from the fabric of its metal body to the computing components that constitute its work-a-holic core...Read the full review

2. Sony Xperia Z5 Premium/Z5 Compact

Sony is the first company in the world to take the emerging 4K television technology and plant it into a smartphone. Debate surrounds the validity of 4K technology; how will ordinary content look on the pixel-rich screen and what will happen to the phone’s battery life?...Read the full review here and here

1. Samsung Galaxy S6/S6 Edge

This is Samsung’s defining moment, where it makes amends for the hit and miss that was the Galaxy S5. This is the smartphone the company hopes will help it reclaim market share and growth in sales. This is the smartphone it hopes customers will happily rely on everyday. This is the smartphone we have long asked for, and it is as good as we imagined...Read the full review here and here