Looking for a premium smartphone? Here are best options in the big league

Samsung, Sony, HTC, Apple and LG still dominate the premium market segment

India's mobile handset market is set to become the second-largest in the world -- next only to China, and ahead of the US.

The country's smartphone market has been growing at a very rapid pace, and there ahas been a sudden surge in volumes, especially with the government's digital push and a rising competition among manufacturers leading to the India launch of the best devices simultaneously with the global launch.

While there is a stiffer competition in the budget market segment, the premium smartphone market is still dominated by a select few companies that now are increasingly looking to bring their premium offerings to India as soon as possible.

If you are looking for a smartphone with the best in class features and a chic premium tag, here is a list of best smartphones that you could consider buying:

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

Sony Xperia XZ Premium

As the name suggests, the device is a premium version of the Sony Xperia XZ, which was launched last year. The Sony Xperia XZ Premium sports top-of-the-line specifications that make the smartphone a worthy competitor in the league of premium smartphone segment.

However, to fight in the league of top premium smartphone, the device need to offer more than what it is on the specification sheet. To be the top contender in the premium segment, the Xperia XZ Premium sports 23 megapixel (MP) rear camera capable of recording mind boggling 960 frames per second (FPS) slow motion video. This special feature is limited to Xperia XZ Premium only that puts the smartphone ahead in the competition.

Samsung Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+

Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Photo: Khalid Anzar

Launched long after Samsung Galaxy Note 7 debacle, the Samsung Galaxy S8 & Galaxy S8+ are two smartphones that offers the best of the current times that the smartphones could see.

Breaking the clichés around large screen size, both the smartphones sports large display without stretching the overall dimension of the smartphones. The innovative work that has been put behind the make of Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S8+ make these smartphones other best devices in the premium smartphone league.

HTC U11

HTC U11

The Taiwanese smartphone maker HTC launched U11 smartphone recently and by far it is the best premium smartphone that the company has made. The smartphone offers top-tier specifications combined with HTC’s iconic BoomSound speaker set-up, which has been appreciated by critics worldwide for the best sound output any smartphone could offer.

LG G6

LG G6 is another smartphone that has gone beyond the boundaries to experiment with something that could improve the overall meaning of the smartphone. The smartphone features vertically stretched display with 18:9 ratio that supports Dolby Vision and is HDR10 compliant. Out of all the premium smartphones it is LG G6 and Apple iPhone 7 Plus that offer dual rear cameras thus making them stand out from the competition.

Apple iPhone 7 Plus

Last year’s Apple iPhone 7 Plus is still the best premium device available in market. The device offers interesting features and brilliant dual cameras at the rear. Soon, the smartphone’s operating system would be upgraded to iOS 11 that will bring host of new features to the smartphone.