Our scoring system is completely transparent. Every score is calculated from actual phone specifications, and you can see exactly how each score is determined. No black boxes, no mystery—just honest, data-driven scoring.
A deliberate design choice: raw spec-sheet numbers (RAM in GB, camera megapixels, battery mAh, charging watts) are scored with diminishing returns rather than linearly, and real-world proxies (like estimated screen-on-time) are preferred over raw specs when they're available. A phone with a bigger number on paper — more RAM, more megapixels, a bigger battery, faster charging — does not automatically score higher once it's past the point where that number reliably makes a difference in practice. This is why, for example, a phone with 8GB of RAM and a phone with 16GB can score similarly on Performance, and a phone with a smaller but efficient battery can outscore one with a larger but less efficient one. These scores are still our own analysis, not a guarantee — see our editorial policy.
With Geekbench 6 data: Geekbench CPU results (50%) + Chipset Tier (35%) + RAM (10%) + Storage Type (5%). When Geekbench 6 is unavailable, the benchmark is a small AnTuTu fallback (5–10%), with more weight on chipset tier.
Why these weights? Same-version Geekbench CPU measurements distinguish fast chips that share the same broad tier. Single-core and multi-core results contribute equally. Raw clock speed is not scored across architectures; RAM and storage type have smaller roles. GPU performance is not directly measured by this CPU benchmark factor.
Formula: Sensor Size (~23%) + Aperture (~12%) + Megapixels (~18%) + OIS (~20%) + Zoom (~10%) + Video (~8%) + Front Camera (~4%) + Multi-lens (~3%) + Features (~2%)
Why these weights? Sensor size and aperture drive real-world light-gathering and image quality more than headline megapixel counts do, so they carry more weight than raw MP.
Formula: Pixel density (35%) + refresh rate (30%) + peak brightness (20%) + panel type (15%). The gaming profile puts 35% on refresh rate and 32% on pixel density.
Why these weights? Refresh rate affects smoothness, brightness improves visibility, panel type affects contrast, and pixel density reflects sharpness across all content. Sharpness has more weight than peak brightness. Resolution and pixel density are shown as separate spec rows, but sharpness is scored once.
Balanced formula: Estimated battery life (55%) + Capacity (20%) + Wired charging (20%) + Wireless charging (5%). The battery profile gives estimated life 65%.
Why these weights? Time between charges matters most. Capacity supports the estimate, while wired and wireless speed reflect how quickly a phone can be topped up. Battery life comes from GSMArena's standardized battery test, which runs the same way on every brand, converted to an estimated mixed-use screen-on time. Phones that have not been tested use an editorial estimate.
Formula: IP Rating (45%) + Screen Protection (30%) + Materials (25%)
Why these weights? IP rating indicates dust and water resistance, screen protection helps with scratches and drops, and materials affect durability and feel.
Formula: OS updates remaining (60%) + Security updates remaining (40%)
Why these weights? OS updates bring new features and fixes for years, and security updates protect against vulnerabilities. What matters to a buyer is how much of that support is still ahead, so years already used since launch are deducted.
You can adjust scoring weights based on your priorities:
If a specification is not available, it doesn't contribute to the score. Scores with missing data are marked as "Incomplete" and show a completeness percentage.
You can click on any score to see exactly which specifications were used and which are missing.
