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For the final category of our Phandroid Readers’ Choice Awards, we will name the Manufacturer of the Year as voted on by you, our loyal readers. Before we get to that, we’d first like to thank all of the 1,700+ who voted in our poll and the many more who have debated the results in the comments. We’re looking forward to another great year in 2015.
You can see the full results for our Readers’ Choice Awards by clicking here. Now onto the the winner…
Honorable Mention: LG
With 10% of the vote, LG takes the third place spot in our poll. It wasn’t the biggest year from end-to-end for the manufacturer, but they were able to make their mark with the stellar LG G3. They also made strides in the tablet market as well as the growing smartwatch category with their excellent LG G Watch R with Android Wear.
Runner-up: HTC
HTC continues to focus on quality over quantity, and the results are paying off. Their HTC One M8 was the darling of many an Android user, and their work on the Nexus 9 brought us one of the best pure Android tablet experience of all time. HTC seems to finally be coming out of their slump, and 2015 should be another great year.
And the winner is: Motorola
Was there any doubt Motorola would take home this prize? The company knocked it out of the park in nearly every category, from the Moto 360 smartwatch and low-cost Moto G to the customizable Moto X and the Lollipop flagship Nexus 6. All in the midst of yet another change in ownership with Google selling the mobile manufacturer off to Lenovo.
Here is how the voting broke down:
Really it’s a tie for me. I love what HTC has been doing with hardware and custom software, but nobody can beat Motorola when it comes to near stock Android and timely updates.
My completely stock Startac is as stock as you can get. An awesome digital screen with a kick-ass antenna…I dont think it can get better.
My N6 is awesome, I could not of agreed with the above any better. My G2 still runs great….it really came down to getting the G3 or my Nexus. I’m pretty friggin happy!
Motorola is so hot right now. http://media.giphy.com/media/tBb19eUNiEjBsYeZPhu/giphy.gif
Motorola did things right this year. An excellent Moto X, a monster Droid Turbo, a great Nexus 6 (though I don’t like the design), the Moto 360 (IMO the best Android Wear device at the moment), and the new Moto G. All with near-stock or stock Android.
LG did well too, although if they stuck with a 1080p panel the G3 wouldn’t lag or have battery issues. Also, their UI still kinda blows. I flashed CyanogenMod 12 onto mine and now it’s buttery smooth, though.
lol, “buttery smooth”. The most overused term on Phandroid
I believe Sony will make it on 2015
I heard the Z3 is awesome. I really wouldn’t be surprised if they made it next year.
I didn’t know that Motorola is this popular, It’s pretty rare to see a Motorola where I live. I only know one person that one’s one and he bought it cause I recommend it as a good budget phone.
Its so close to stock Android and build quality is great. I have the Nexus 6 and I have a friend who has the Bamboo Moto X (2nd gen). They are both awesome to hold and are just straight speed with no gimics.
Same here. Rarely see a moto. They have good stuff if you want a budget phone, but other than their watch, I don’t see the hype. The N6 is nice but a lot of people don’t like it for different reasons.
I’m one of them, I don’t like the yellowish, dim look of these amoled display
Its not popular with the general public. This is an android site that is heavily biased towards Motorola. Of course many readers will follow the leader . The title is manufacturer of the year, yet not a single vote for Apple. Not surprising given where we are, but go take a random sample of your own and see where Motorola stands. Good luck finding many people that even know they make smartphones
That’s true the completely disappeared from the market in the Netherlands till 2014. But you won’t be able to buy one directly from the official site of a carrier or carrier store you can only buy them trough third party stores like Saturn or online.
I thought Apple would get lots of votes. Their iAndroid phone was amazing…smdh
did the headline say “Android Manufacturer of the Year? Apparently comprehension isn’t your strong point.
No the headline didn’t say that. But guess what? Its an Android site! I have very good comprehension skills which is why I can understand that and clearly you can’t. So if you want to know who lacks comprehension skill, look no further than your nearest mirror.
But if you think you’re so smart, tell me, where are the votes for BMW, or Rolex, or Airbus? I mean the title didn’t say “Smartphone Manufacturer of the Year” Oh that’s right, people with an actual brain realized that it is clearly referring to smartphones since its a smartphone site. People with brains(which doesn’t seem to include you) also realized it was only including Android since this is an Android site.
ok drizzel, go back to fondling your OPO and beating off.
I don’t have an OPO, but you can pretend I do if you like(And damn that is one stupid assumption). But hey, sorry I ruined your idiotic posting by pointing out how incredibly stupid your comments are. I get it, you just wanted to say something stupid and go on with your day. I should have let you.
“This is an android site that is heavily biased towards Motorola.”
Is AndroidCentral also biased? Motorola won MotY there as well.
The only thing holding me back from the moto x is the small battery..its only ≈200mah more than my GS3, and the Moto has a bigger screen, higher resolution, and LTE radios…Also…the Sony Z3 compact is smaller, boasts way better specs (except for display) and is roughly the same price….
Doesn’t surprise me. I don’t own many Motorola devices, but I have used the Nexus 6. I was deciding between that and the Note 4 at one point, it was a closer decision than I expected. Moto has the best 5″ device, the best smartwatch, and reliability. As for LG, they don’t belong on this list because I feel like Sony is better. Sony’s Xperia Line is underrated and more reliable than LG’s phones. LG’s G2 was better than the G3, but the G3 gets about a 8.5/10 from me. The G3 had too many issues that people faced.
As for HTC, solid products year in year out ever since they retired the carrier exclusive HTC product variants. They’re missing a smartwatch though. A return to the Nexus line, albeit expensive and priced to compete with the iPad Air(s), is prominent. Their budget phones are second only to the Moto G line.
As for Samsung, they can’t even be in this conversation since their only good phone is the Note 4 for 2014. They kept the S5 stagnant w/ respect to the S4 since it kept the same build quality, similar specs (2 GB of RAM on TW wasn’t ideal), had camera issues, had heating issues, and the screen size was roughly the same. It was more like the S4-S or S4-2. They keep on making too many devices. The Galaxy Alpha was destined to undersell since it was tied to AT&T only while being overpriced.
Motorola is so hot right now. Everyone wants to be them or inside of them.
Just the tip?
Like Moto 360 tips? http://phandroid.com/2014/10/14/moto-360-tips-and-tricks/
:P
How about a tip that gets inside of someone who is appealing and who has a Moto 360? :D
Seems people love that stock design. Android as a whole I think it’d be Moto, LG, Sony as best this year.
You can’t go into second place HTC with barely any hardware. Anyone can make a couple good products, but it takes a lot to come out guns hot with your full product line.
Moto definitely deserves the crown, but what’s impressive to me is the growth of OnePlus in a years time from not existing to standing just behind the big boys.
I’m doing a Tmo jump tomorrow. N5 for the N6.
No way. HTC by a mile. Best build construction, best audio, best user interface, best user experience, best (and most accurate) display, and best support and transparency for OS updates. Not to mention same-day announcement and in-store sales of the M8, and availability of GPe versions. HTC kicks everybody’s butt in overall satisfaction. Even 9 months after release, the M8 is still duking it out with the best of them.
I love my turbo, fast all the time
I had a M7…. No correction, I had 5 M7’s in 6 months. It will be awhile before I trust them again. I’ve had every iteration of the Nexus line. Loved them all. (I know, different manufactures) But if I don’t like it. TMo jump plan. They pay it off and I get a new phone every month if I want.
Love my droid turbo, fast all the time
The fact that One Plus got even one vote much less 119 pretty much sums up the validity of this pole. Take this same poll in any mall at random in the US and I doubt there would be a single vote for One Plus and very few for Motorola as a matter of fact.
right, if shooter50 doesn’t like One Plus, its completely impossible for more than 100 people to like.
What a clueless comment.
The story was Manufacturer of the Year. Clueless is the fool that thinks One Plus is a great company. Few phones to sell. Gimmicky contests. Poor service. I could go on forever, but a fanboy is a fanboy. Live on on your dreamworld
I think One Plus should be blown up and their owners be left on a deserted island. But that’s MY opinion. Many people have posted how much they enjoyed the phone and the experience.The true fool is the one who can’t see that others have differing opinions than their own. Live on in your delusional world where everyone thinks like you do.
The phone is great. I had one myself. The article is MANUFACTURER of the year. NOT phone of the year. Apparently you CAN read, but not comprehend.
I can read, clearly you can’t. If you could you’d see where I said “the phone and the experience.” Or are you gonna argue that it isn’t “experience of the year” And even if I hadn’t pointed out the experience, many people are happy with the manufacturer because they gave them what they think is an amazing phone at an amazing price. And if those people had no issues with the phone and didn’t have to deal with bad service, then guess what? They’re gonna think One Plus is a pretty good manufacturer. Seriously, are you really this slow or just doing a very poor job of trolling? I’m starting to think I need to apologize to you for using words above a third grade reading level when you obviously don’t understand them.
So whoever voted for OnePlus… Its not April Fools yet you silly goose!
HTC has my vote. I’ve owned the G1, nexus one, HTC rezound, Samsung Galaxy nexus, HTC one and HTC one m8.
The only phone out of that lineup that felt cheap was the Samsung. The only phone that had burn in issues was the Samsung. Only phone that had a battery that was awful was Samsung. 3 batteries on the galaxy and they never hold a charge.
Meanwhile my g1 and nexus 1 both still work fine despite sitting in a closet. My one m8 is amazing…nobody builds like HTC. I find it shocking they don’t do better.
Back when HTC made basically every carrier branded phone they made money by the truck load. Now that they brand their own phones and awesome ones at that they lose money. Go figure.
My next phone will hopefully be an HTC. I’m unhappy with my m8 for one reason and that is because its the VZW version I should have gotten the play version. I’m a fan of rooting and I had this rooted till the last update and now it won’t root. I’m also a huge fan of the nexus series so I’d love if HTC became googles prime choice again…sigh.