IFA 2014: The best smartphones at the show (Galaxy Notes excluded)

All the focus at the Samsung stall was on the Note 4 and Note Edge, but there was a large space dedicated to the new Samsung Galaxy Alpha, a stunner of a phone. It is a stunner not just because of the design that stands apart from the other Galaxy phones, but also because of the metallic body. The HD super AMOLED display is stunning an the Quad-core 1.8 GHz Cortex-A15 plus quad-core 1.3 GHz Cortex-A7 combo looked capable of some serious computing. The phone has a good 12MP rear camera. In Europe the phone is priced Euro 699, that might make this a very expensive phone in India.

Sony Xperia Z3

The Z3 is as light and slim as you would expect a Sony flagship to be. But this phone is a bit different from its predecessor as well as the other phones in the Xperia third generation because of the curved edges. Despite the 5.2-inch screen this phone is very compact and fits your hand perfectly. Perhaps, Sony could have pushed the screen beyond Full HD. The 20MP rear camera is really good and comes with lens attachments that will give it great edge over other phone cameras. It is powered by a 2.5 GHz Qualcomm MSM8974AC Snapdragon 801 processor.

Lumia 830

There are no stand apart features in the 830, but it is a very good smartphone with an even better camera. Yes, people who buy this phone will have the 10MP PureView camera with ZEISS optics at the top of their mind. The 830 comes with a good mix of specs too and has a 1.2GHz Snapdragon quad-core processor and 5” ClearBlack 1280x720p IPS-LCD display. However, we just hope the phone has a good price in India. In Europe, this “affordable flagship” is priced Euro 330.