Global Top10 Best Performing Android Phones, December 2022

As the new year approaches, we finally see Android flagship phones with the latest processors on the AnTuTu performance list. Although they have been released for a while, they were not available to consumers until the last month of 2022, and therefore just appeared on the AnTuTu list. This may be the first time that the performance of an Android flagship phone has come close to that of an iPhone. According to the phone makers, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2's CPU performance is very close to that of the A16, while the GPU performance has surpassed the A16.

It should be noted that the scores in the AnTuTu performance list are the average valid scores of the devices tested by users using the AnTuTu application. Some devices fail to appear on the list because they have been tested too few times and failed to meet the requirements.

No.1: vivo X90 Pro+

Average score: 1,290,933

No.2: iQOO 11 Pro

Average score: 1,272,766

No.3: ROG Phone 6

Average score: 1,108,094

Vivo has become the new popular Chinese smartphone maker after Huawei ran into problems. Vivo phones are much improved in terms of performance and appearance, with a more premium looking body design and eye-catching bright body colors, especially the signature red color of the X90 series.

Equipped with the latest processor Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, the vivo X90 Pro+ has an average score of 1.29 million, making it the most powerful Android smartphone in the international market today. In addition, the vivo X90 Pro+’s main camera is equipped with Sony's 1-inch sensor IMX989. Although Xiaomi launched a phone with this sensor six months ago, it has yet to enter the international market.

With its bright looks, powerful performance and top-notch camera capabilities, the vivo X90 Pro+ is the most powerful Android phone available to users today. What will next year's X100 series look like?

iQOO, a sub-brand of vivo, comes in at number two on the list with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. The iQOO brand may be a bit unfamiliar to many users who only focus on flagship phones. iQOO and vivo have a relationship similar to that between Xiaomi and Redmi, but unlike Redmi, iQOO is marketed as a high-end gaming phone, focusing on performance while also paying attention to the overall configuration of the phone.

The iQOO 11 Pro comes in a classic design. The new performance combination of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 + LPDDR5X + UFS 4.0 allows this device to reach a score of around 1.27 million points, although this score is achieved mainly because of the strength of Snapdragon 8 Gen 2.

The iQOO 11 Pro is not only powerful in performance, but also impressive in image configuration. The three rear cameras are 50MP Sony IMX866 primary camera + 50MP ultra-wide camera with a 150-degree fisheye lens + 13MP portrait lens. The front camera is 16MP with f/2.45 aperture. It supports OIS optical stabilization, video stabilization, fisheye lens supports video stabilization, and the rear lens supports up to 8K video recording. And the device is also equipped with vivo's self-developed V2 chip, a very strong overall strength.

From the third to the tenth place we see more Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 equipped phones. Of all the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 phones, the gaming phones have always had an absolute advantage because of their outstanding configuration, so it's no surprise that the ROG Phone 6 is in third place.

With an average running score of 1,108,094, the ROG Phone 6 ranks as the top Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 powered phone. It maintains the design strengths of the ROG phone, along with features like an ultra-high refresh rate screen and a large capacity battery, making it a favorite among gaming users.

It is disappointing that there is not a single phone equipped with the Dimensity 9200 in the top 10 of the flagship phone performance list, as the rivalry between the Dimensity 9200 and the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 is the most intriguing. But one of the reasons is that there are still relatively few phones equipped with the Dimensity 9200 for the time being, only the vivo X90 and X90 Pro are currently available, but they didn't appear on the AnTuTu list due to the number of tests not meeting the minimum requirements.

Next let's take a look at the sub-flagship performance list, which is basically unchanged compared to last month.

No.1: Mi 12T

Average score: 825,308

No.2: realme GT Neo3

Average score: 811,533

No.3: Poco X4 GT

Average score: 789,709

The top six phones are all equipped with Dimensity 8100, Snapdragon 870 phones are only ranked seventh and below, and Qualcomm's Snapdragon 7 Gen 1, launched in 2022, is not even ranked in the top ten.

Mi 12T is a series launched by Xiaomi in the second half of 2022 for the global market. Mi 12T Pro is ranked sixth in the flagship phone list and the standard version Mi 12T is ranked first in the sub-flagship phone list.

The main advantage of Mi 12T is that it inherits the excellent design of Xiaomi 12 series with a more advanced look, and the core configuration and imaging capabilities are at the top level in the same price range. In addition, it also supports the latest MIUI 14 update and has a very high fluency under MIUI 14.

In second place is the realme GT Neo 3, which focuses on the youth market, it has a very trendy design and many co-branded models such as Naruto.

The powerful performance of realme GT Neo 3 comes from its combination of Dimensity 8100 chip + LPDDR5 memory + UFS 3.1 flash memory. In addition, the realme GT Neo 3 is equipped with dual stereo speakers and X-axis Linear Motor for a better sound experience.

The most impressive feature of the realme GT Neo 3 is the 150W charging power, a charging system that is much bolder than Apple and Samsung and so far doesn't seem to have given realme any negative press. According to the latest reports, the realme GT Neo 5 will be equipped with 240W of charging power, reaching the limit of the current type-C connector.

In third place is the Poco X4 GT, a phone that largely continues the strengths of the X3 GT and redeems the negative impact on the Poco brand caused by the loss of the Poco X4 Pro.

The Poco X4 GT's screen supports HDR10 and Dolby Vision, as well as a 144Hz refresh rate, and even the LCD screen has good color contrast and maximum brightness, the display effect is one of the best in its price range.

The phone has a rear camera of 64MP + 8MP + 2MP combination, a front 16MP selfie camera, as well as Fingerprint (side-mounted), 3.5mm headphone jack, Dolby dual speakers, NFC, X-axis linear motor, infrared remote control, and pre-installed Android 12-based MIUI 13 system.

No.1: iQOO Z5

Average score: 568,186

No.2: realme GT Master

Average score: 545,164

No.3: realme Q3s

Average score: 534,765

There used to be one or two MediaTek models in the top 10 mid-range phone performance list, but now it's all Snapdragon 7 series, and all Snapdragon 778G and Snapdragon 780G. Mobile processors have made rapid progress in the last two years, but that progress doesn't seem to involve mid-range chips at all.

Affected by various factors, the phone market is not very prosperous in the past two years, but the good thing is that the situation is gradually improving. A lot of high-end specs are also gradually becoming more common, such as 2K resolution, 200W + fast charging, etc., which used to be only available on flagship phones, but are now even available on mid-range phones. These rapid developments allow the technology and industry chain to mature faster, which is pleasing to consumers, and we are also curious to see what new directions of progress will be made in cell phones in the future.

That's it for the global Android phone performance rankings for December 2022. The competition for new flagship phones should be more intense in January, so let's wait and see what happens.