Apple Wins MKBHD's Phone Of The Year For This Model — Details Inside

If you are looking to buy a new high-end smartphone but can't quite decide between a Samsung, an Apple or even a Pixel, Popular YouTuber Marques Brownlee, better known as MKBHD, has made your job easy.

In his customary year-ending smartphone awards video, Brownlee has revealed the Apple iPhone 17 as the 2025 phone of the year, beating the Samsung Galaxy S25 and Google Pixel models.

"This phone was a long time coming, and what a story this year, hidden in the most expensive iPhone lineup we've kind of ever had, this base iPhone that levelled up to be the most complete and actually kind of a great deal," Brownlee said.

"Basically an 8 out of 10 in every category, great battery, great cameras, great software and an eternity of software support," he added.

The Apple iPhone 17 came out earlier this year and is available at Rs 82,900 as per Apple's official website.

The new generation iPhone base model has been lauded for being a major upgrade over the iPhone 16, having introduced multiple features, including the ProMotion display from the Pro devices of last year.

Apple has also increased battery life in the new iPhone 17, as well as higher memory bandwidth and storage.

Brownlee listed Xiaomi 17 Pro Max as the runner-up in the phone of the year category, crediting the phone for 'one-upping' the iPhone 17 Pro despite copying its design and even name.

Xiaomi 17 Pro Max also won the Best Big Phone award of 2025, while Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 won the Best Small Phone of the year.

For the best camera, MKBHD voted for Oppo Find X9 Pro. "The phone basically did everything right in the camera department," he said.

Meanwhile, Nothing CMF Phone 2 Pro won the value award for its myriad of offerings at a price point of just around Rs 15,000. "They built a phone that feels like it's literally double the price," Brownlee said.

OnePlus 15 won the phone of the year for battery, with MKBHD claming that the phone can offer three days of usage.

Apple was involved in a couple of other awards, including the Best Design, which went to iPhone Air. "It resembles a piece of jewellery in many ways," MKBHD said.

But on the flip side, the iPhone 16 was voted the Bust of the Year. "A crazy swing and a miss," Brownlee said.