- City Fajr Shuruq Duhr Asr Magrib Isha
- Dubai 04:36 05:52 12:21 15:49 18:45 20:02
2012 was quite clearly the year of the Smartphone, as Apple and Samsung went head to head with their iPhone and Galaxy flagship models.
The android platform got a boost with the release of the Samsung S3, the first real true competition for the iPhone.
Both the Nokia Lumia 920 and HTC Windows Phone 8X introduced the Windows 8 platform, but the non-availability of premium apps caused some initial setback.
BlackBerry still exists, but has to bring its A-game, or a market-grabbing phone to the table.
So here in the UAE, here is the short-list of the best Smartphones of 2012.
Price Dh2399 (Souq.com)
Considered as the first Android phone to really compete with the iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S3 was out in the market in May 2012 and has since overtaken the iPhone4S in terms of sales
Samsung sold 18 million models, compared with Apple's 16.2 million sales, in the third quarter of 2012.
Priced at around Dh2,399 the Android phone has a 4.8in Super AMOLED HD display and is powered by Samsung's own 1.4GHz Exynos quad-core processor.
Price Dh2720 (Souq.com)
The latest edition of the iPhone is slimmer and taller and faster than all previous models but apple’s decision to remove Google maps with its own substandard apple map application in iOS6 has not gone down well with its customers.
This is Apple’s first 4G iPhone and comes with a dual-core 1.6GHz Apple A6 processor.
iPhone5 sales are expected to drop in 2013.
According to research firm OTR Global, shipments of Apple’s iPhone 5 device will miss expectations and will only manage around 35-37 million units during the first quarter of 2013, compared to the expected 47 million units.
Price Dh2,499 (Souq.com)
Nokia’s new flagship phone, with the latest Windows Phone 8 software went live in November and straight away has gone on to be a hit.
Phone looks similar to the Lumia 800 and 900 in design and comes with a body built of polycarbonate plastic
The phone has 4.5-inch screen size, 1280 x 768 resolution, PureMotion HD+ LCD with ClearBlack technology. The 8mp camera is considered as one of the best with rich features such as the optical image stabilization a first for any mobile phone.
Price Dh2199 (Souq.com)
The HTC Windows Phone 8X was one of the first handsets to launch with Windows Phone 8.
The phone has a 4.3-inch screen size1280 x 768 Super LCD 2 display, Qualcomm dual-core Snapdragon S4 processor and NFC.
The phone has a 8MP BSI rear camera, 2MP front camera, a dedicated HTC ImageChip, 1080p HD video recording, 1GB of RAM, 8 or 16GB internal storage options and a 1800 mAh battery.
Price Dh2195 (Souq.com)
They say it’s not a phone. The 5.5 inch ‘phablet’ combines the best features of a phone and a tablet and is a worthy contender to be listed for the top 5 smartphones list for 2012.
With a 5.5 inch screen size, it is considered a bit large to get into pockets but the device comes packed with a 1.6 GHz Quad Core processor, 2 GB RAM, 8 MP camera, ample storage and Samsung’s S-Pen.
For those used to its screen size, the iPhone5 and even the Galaxy S3 might look too small in comparison.
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