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I have tracked down 16 of the latest smartphones from all around the world, including countries that I had no idea even made phones. And each device will represent its home country. So, all 16 will be battling out in a proper knockout bracket tournament to determine the true winner of the smartphone World Cup. So, let's kick things off with our opening match. Korea, represented by Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra, up against Japan, who's responsible for the brand new, pretty controversial Sony Xperia 1 Mark 8. And here's what's tricky. Both sides have the same core formation, same chip,
same size battery, but it's just they play different strategies. It's like Sony's playing defense. Their entire mission is to protect the things that everyone else has dropped. Like this phone still has a headphone jack, a micro SD card slot, and dual front-firing speakers, which actually sound amazing. While Samsung has relegated those things, but they've traded them for this all-out barrage of software features. There is nothing that you can't do on a Samsung flagship, with more regular updates than Sony. And then because there's no chunky speakers, you get this larger edge-to-edge screen that's industry-leading in all sorts of ways, including this. And so, what I'd say breaks the deadlock here is the cameras. While the Sony is
capable, as you might have seen with some recent controversies on X, it's also less dependable than Samsung's camera. I think the reliability of Samsung's super refined image processing makes this a better phone for most people, which means Sammy's through into the quarter-final, and Sony's taking a quiet coach back to the hotel. And that takes us to match two, India, home of the Lava Agni 4. Up against Turkey with their General Mobile's Phoenix 2 Pro. And you'll notice something immediately unusual about this match-up. These look like the same player. Both of these phones, released by separate companies in separate countries, are the same size,
the same color, with the same camera bump. They even both have their own versions of an AI virtual pet. Lava dog, tell me a joke. My name is Vayu AI, not Lava dog. I am happy to tell you another joke. Why do not scientists trust atoms? Because they make up everything. I've heard that joke before, but I've heard it with correct grammar. Also, does not sound like a dog. Right, General Mobile's cat, tell me a joke.
Why did the cat sit on the computer? Because it wanted to keep an eye on the mouse. Did it tell me a cat joke because I called it a cat? Did it tell me a cat joke because it is a cat? So, because neither of these countries has managed to build their own end-to-end supply chains, the companies in these countries are having to source their devices from a Chinese supplier. And they're then just slightly tweaked and rebranded for their home crowds. And both of these just so happen to have had the same supplier. But that doesn't mean it's a draw because there's an astronomical difference in price. While the Turkish phone retails for the equivalent of $998 on their website, the Indian Lava is 316. I would guess partly because
India's smartphone market is super competitive. So, you actually can't take customers for a ride. But then also because Turkey applies an absolutely enormous consumer tax to smartphones. Well, that's a bit of an own goal. Like, if we convert the retail price of an iPhone 17 Pro Max to dollars from both countries, in India you'll be parting with just under $1,600, which is already a lot, but Turkish customers would have to dish out nearly 2,900. This Indian Agni does start with a little less RAM than the Turkish phone, but the price gap between these two is unignorably huge. So, India's through. But if match two is like spot the difference, then
match three is spot the similarity. Cuz we've got the United Arab Emirates with their flagship company Thuraya In a way, this is the battle of the gimmick. UAE is a satellite phone. So, it works like a regular device with a SIM card. But, then if I eject this mahoosive antenna, it can also, when you leave cellular coverage, switch to satellite mode to carry on calls, SMS, and location tracking. And it works. We went extremely remote and still got signal. And then, France's device is a rugged phone. It's not defined by any one single killer feature like UAE's,
but I genuinely think I've never seen this rugged concept done better than it is here. When you put the two side by side, it is so clear just how much more thought the French company has put into its design. Same with the software, which feels more polished and custom as opposed to the Thuraya that feels rustled together at half time as an afterthought. France is better on paper, too. It's got a bigger battery. It's got double the storage. It's got a lower price, too. And then, just seriously thoughtful touches like not one, but two programmable action buttons, one on each side. That it comes with this X-Blocker mounting system that lets you connect the phone up to tripods and bikes. And
that because USB-C ports are one of the biggest points of vulnerability, a cover for yours. And then, this entirely new X-Link connector that lets you transfer data and do a whole lot more just using this waterproof magnetic contact point. I think it's pretty clear that France has made the better product here. So, into the quarterfinals you go. But, that brings us to one of the clear heavyweights in this tournament, China, walking out with the Oppo Find X9 Ultra. The challengers, Finland with the HMD Skyline. Now, to put some respect on the HMD name, the Skyline's got some genuine consumer-friendly perks. There's a microSD card slot and the back cover pops off so you can swap out the battery or even the screen by just
unscrewing them. And obviously, it's far more affordable than this Oppo. This is a $400 mid-ranger versus a $1,200 flagship. But even factoring in the price, the Skyline really is like bringing a plastic spoon to a gunfight. Even when compared to other phones at its own price, it's just lacking. The camera does not feel good enough for $400. I'm seriously like What is that? The battery life and the chipset are disappointing. And it's all crammed into a package that's the worst of both worlds. Rounded corners on the screen, but sharp jutting corners on the body.
Meanwhile, this Oppo is very much at the bleeding edge of its price category with not one, but two 200-megapixel cameras, one of the biggest batteries that you can get on a phone at 7,050 mA hours, and the fastest chip, too. This thing ain't just a striker, it's the entire front three. Which makes it incredibly tough competition to come up against in HMD's first round. But all's fair in love and ball. Finland's road ends here. And that takes us to the bottom half of the bracket with two almost polar opposite devices. Germany's Volla Quintus, a privacy-focused phone for people who want to disconnect from Google. And everything else.
And against them, Sweden, whose Doro phones are specifically designed to get older people more connected. Okay, well, the Germans clearly have taste. the Germans always make good stuff. But this jet-black, stealthy-looking thing that really has the right aesthetic for a security-focused digital detox device. And there's clearly some thought gone into this software they've built. Like how the home page is springboard, where you just scribble in your thoughts, and that can go straight into either an internet search or a note to be saved on the device. So you write first, and then decide what you want to do with that writing. Volter doesn't ask you to make any accounts or log into anything. And the absolutely insane
thing is that while this is currently running Android with a skin, it can also just dual boot into an entirely Google-free Ubuntu operating system, which makes this Doro look pretty lame by comparison. Obviously, it's not trying to be as cool. It's for your granddad. But granddads can still appreciate a bit of intentional software design. Everything about this just feels so budget. How they've given you a physical home button, but still left the digital one on two. How laggy and slow this software is. How they've not even properly programmed it to be aware of its own screen corner radius. So part of your battery percentage and notifications are sometimes just cut off. Credit where due, this alert button
is a genuinely good idea to be able to get help when needed, even if granddad will probably spend half his time trying to take a photo with it. But overall, it's a win to Germany. Engine L 4 our elders. I hear this next country is hosting some other type of World Cup this year. Can't remember what it's for. It's Mexico, and their Lanix Alpha 6. Up against the Netherlands with the Fairphone Gen 6. This is the first time I'd say I'm really disappointed. This Lanix has zero redeeming qualities. I mean, it is only $205, but even then, the screen looks incredibly soft. And it
genuinely feels like not one person checked this software before shipping. I mean, just look how much space is taken up by the UI in the camera. Why do the apps almost touch the search bar when you go into the app drawer? Who decided to leave just one icon's gap on the home page to finish the line? And then you realize that on top of that, while this is clearly designed to look like three cameras, this one's a flash, and this one's an IR depth sensor. So, it's one rear camera, and uh not a very good one. This is such a no-show from Mexico that the Netherlands is Fairphone, just by being at least decent and extremely pro-consumer with its almost limitless repairability, can stroll right through into the next
round. Final two matches now before we get to the quarters. It's the home team, Nothing, and their Phone 4a Pro from England. Good morning, England. Against Taiwan, makers of the Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra. You got to give credit to Nothing. They're probably the most refreshing brand in the game right now. They're making something that's actually interesting to look at and talk about in the big 2026. Whereas the Zenfone 12 Ultra is perhaps the most stale ultra phone I have ever seen. The design is incredibly boring. The software is boring. The display is boring. It's genuinely a less good display than the
Nothing Phone, a device that's half its price. And even the cameras, which are usually the headline of any ultra phone, they're just nothing to write home about. This phone's main camera is the same as this phone's main camera. And Asus's image processing is just not as advanced as their competitors. So, it makes sense why this is one of the last phones that Asus made before getting out of the game earlier this year. And look, I think it's pretty fair to say that this Nothing Phone is gimmick-heavy. It's got this wacky design, this glyph matrix interface that lets you run any number of these glyph toys on it, and the essential app builder, where you can just in a little text prompt and generate these little
widgets. Not to mention a 140 times max digital zoom, which is a little silly and extra. But the best thing about this is that you can take all of that away, and this is still just a rock-solid piece of hardware that feels polished. So, the home crowd gets its moment. Easy win for England in my books. Which leaves us with the US, represented by the Google Pixel 10 Pro XL. I had to keep iPhones out of this. They're like entering an NFL team into a soccer tournament. And that is beefing it out with Indonesia's Advan Barca, which is one of the top performance-focused devices made in the country. That I'm going to guess doesn't taste as good as it sounds. But with a little digging,
it turns out that unfortunately, this is just another example of a cookie-cutter sourced phone. Funnily enough, from the exact same supplier that India's Lava seems to use. I can literally see a phone on the Lava website that looks identical. It's just disappointingly uninspired. It literally has the same AI cat as Turkey, just with a different name. Actually, why don't we put it against Gemini, just in case it's better. Generate me a logo for a video I'm making called The Smartphone World Cup. I don't have the ability at the moment. I expected no more. Sure, here is the image.
Gemini's done it. That is sick. Can you start a timer for 5 minutes? I'm sorry. I don't have the ability at the moment. I've started a timer for 5 minutes. I guess this is a good example of how when it comes to smartphones, buying from global companies is generally a good choice. It's these companies who have access to all the best components, and who can afford to actually create and integrate their own features. These are the ones training their own world-class players from scratch. These are the ones grabbing any available human off the street and sticking them in a football shirt. So, the US swaggers
into the quarters as the Indonesian match retires. Maybe to a coffee shop near you. So, it's the quarterfinals. The losers are looking pretty deflated. Tough day for you guys. How you feeling? Well, you know, at the end of the day, it's a game of two halves. At the end of the day, you got to put in 110% at the end of the day. Yeah. Yeah, I'm sorry about that. And for the winners, the stakes are getting ever higher. Cuz now it's Korea versus India. Samsung S26 Ultra versus Lava Agni 4. We already know that the Samsung is one of the best high-end phones on the planet. So,
really the question here is, is the Lava one of the best affordable phones on the planet? I don't know, Joe. Well, its screen is amazing. Very punchy, 120 Hz refresh rate. It's pretty cool that they give you 256 gigs of fast storage minimum. And even the MediaTek chip that you get inside of here for $316 is a hell yes. It's all looking up for Lava until you open the camera app. And honestly, this was always coming. Because here's the thing, a good screen or a good battery, you can basically buy. Spec the phone with a decent component and you're most of the way there. A good smartphone camera though is only achieved with immense amounts of software tuning. That's the bit that gets skipped over when you're buying off-the-shelf
ready-made devices like this. So, the underdog hits the wall it was always going to hit and Korea is in the semi-finals. This one's tighter though. France's Crosscall, who have turned this notoriously ugly generic category of phones into something that actually feels designed first versus China's Oppo. This astronomically spec'd all-round titan of a device. Oh god. I actually think this French brand is incredible. This entire ecosystem they've created is so polished. They've got their own power banks, their own charging docks, their own walkie-talkies, and even this power station designed to charge 10 Crosscall
phones at once. And it all takes advantage of this ultra-durable MagSafe-esque connector they've made that actually has the speed of a wired connection. Just playing around with the 3D models they have on their site, too. It makes it very clear that this is a brand that just gets it. And so, it kills me to say that even with that, it still doesn't beat the Oppo. France has built the perfect answer to a question that not many people asked. Really, this is for tradespeople, tree climbers, the person who will actually end up dropping their phone in a lake. Whereas, the Oppo is something that you could hand to almost anyone, and they'd be pretty blown away. So, France
heads home, but not without a standing ovation. But now, up against Germany and their Volaphone, it's time for the Netherlands to face the music. Their Fairphone won the first round before it even tied its laces. Now is where it has to truly defend its name. And under pressure, I think the Fairphone shines. We already know the phone uses a ton of recycled components, and that the company seems to have bend over backwards to offset the emissions from making the thing. Plus, the phone's insane repairability is kind of a double benefit, because it also opens the gates for custom accessories like the finger loop and the card holder. And compared to
earlier generations of the Fairphone, with this one, when you use it, it's pretty clear that you're not getting completely shafted on specs for going with the eco choice anymore. This is actually a very decent 120 hertz OLED display. And what I think makes this just outright surpass Germany is the Fairphone also has a minimalist UI option. You activate it with this really cool little slider on the side. And ironically, I would say this mode actually feels more polished than the phone whose entire personality is based on this concept. I do really like the idea of this German stealth machine, of being completely off the grid, especially cuz I've got Surfshark VPN, our sponsor, running on it, which means even if I do decide to
springboard onto the internet, my identity stays masked. The issue is, while this was definitely more polished than the Grandpa phone. It does have some rougher edges. Like the camera app looks like it was built by a vibe coder in one prompt. And I think it's pretty ironic for a phone claiming to have removed Google that they couldn't even manage to remove this butterfly wallpaper every time you swipe to go home. So, the Fairphone's going to take the W cuz I could also just get Surfshark on this, too. And it'll build me an entirely anonymous online identity, name, email, phone number, and more. And if you go to surfshark.com /boss and use the code boss, you'll get a massive four additional months on top of a 2-year subscription to
cover your whole family and maybe your country, too. In the match of England's Nothing Phone 4a Pro against the US's Google Pixel, though, you might think, "Well, obviously, the Google Pixel's going to take this. Pixel gets the latest software updates day one. It's got zero bloatware. It's got so many cutting-edge Gemini features, like how it just knows what music is playing around you and will show you without you needing to go into an app to listen for it." Or how with Add Me, you take the group photo, swap places with the photographer for a second one, and your phone fuses them so that nobody gets left on the bench. But here's what I would say. I think the Nothing Phone 4a Pro punches above its weight.
It's got a good enough display, battery, design that I would actually recommend it as one of the go-to mid-rangers right now, even if the normal non-Pro 4a is its even better value cousin. Pixel, though, doesn't punch above its weight. In fact, anytime I want to recommend this to someone, unlike the Nothing Phone 4a, I always have to caveat the Pixel a little. I have to tell people, "Yes, the software experience is world-class, but it's dramatically less powerful and less suited for gaming than its peers, and its battery doesn't last as long." So, when you're factoring in value, I think Nothing knocks out the US, booking England's place in the semis. I'm not biased.
I swear. But it's time for those semis. I've been dreading this one. Korea versus China. Galaxy S26 Ultra versus Oppo Find X9 Ultra. Two heavyweights that you'd expect to go all the way. Because in Korea's corner, you've got Samsung's amazing One UI software, which I would actually rank higher than Oppo's Color OS. Not to mention how valuable it is to have a phone mainstream enough that accessories are actually made for it. And one with a robust ecosystem of watches and earbuds surrounding it. And of course, the S Pen. No other company supplies a stylus of this quality that just works in the most mindless way possible. It's just how does that weigh up against Oppo, who I'd say has fewer of Samsung's comforts, but
then two absolutely staggering standouts. A battery that lasts like 4 hours longer, and a camera that's just zero contest better. It's good enough that we're shooting this shot with the phone. And you know, if used right, it could very easily replace our mirrorless camera here. How does one decide this? Okay. I'm going to say the Oppo takes it. It feels like the more ambitious phone. Samsung started to feel very iterative over the last few years. Almost like they're coasting on reputation instead of pushing for the win. So, China's through to the final. But there's a very different kind of war being fought in our other semi-final.
Between the Netherlands' Fairphone Gen 6, which I'll be honest, I didn't expect to make it this far. And then in England's Nothing Phone. It's the match-up that we didn't know we needed. Because these are both industry outsiders. Two underdogs who completely agree on the idea of standing out, but just completely disagree on how. While Nothing's game plan is very much about making phones fun again, Fairphone leans into sustainability. And even though they've already made any of this phone's 12 major components replaceable with just one screwdriver bit, they still haven't stopped driving to achieve their goal. How give you 5 years of warranty compared to one on the Nothing phone, at least 7 years of Android OS upgrades compared to Nothing phone's
three, plus the option right there on the main webpage to buy refurbished, which is easily the most eco-friendly choice. Here's where I'm at though. I respect the Fairphone's mission a lot, but they're not a charity, they're a business, and while clearly still this is the more sustainable option, we should be very honest when we say that the production of neither of these phones is good for the planet. That's just not possible yet. And what's also very clear when you look at these two phones that the Nothing phone feels a lot closer to a flagship, whether it's the metal body, the pretty much category
leading display, the cameras which are not amazing but still miles better than the Fairphone's, or the chipset which is about 40% faster overall. Plus the speakers on the Fairphone and the haptics are pretty harsh and jarring. I guess you're only doing the planet a solid if you actually keep this phone for many years to come, and I just think that a lot of people would struggle to do that given that it already feels, while better than previous Fairphones, still somewhat dated. Me personally, I would rather buy something like this, use it for 3 to 4 years, and really enjoy that time, and then hand it down to a cousin who's not as fussy as I am. Which makes the Nothing phone our second finalist. So, after all the trials and tribulations, just two countries remain.
How on earth do we make this decision? The uber flagship phone from our giant Chinese conglomerate versus the surprising mid-ranger from our plucky London startup. And what makes this final so brutal is these are not just both fantastic phones, but they're also both companies that are improving the entire smartphone industry in their own ways. I feel like Oppo are quietly becoming the most viable alternative to a Samsung or a Google Pixel. They're making themselves more available around the world and just trying harder to cram as much bleeding edge tech in as possible. It's phones like this that are holding other flagships accountable. And for nothing, they don't have the
scale to undertake R&D on the level that Oppo does. But just through having this clear, unique vision, they still found ways to bring value. This company's championed the idea of being able to disconnect from your tech. They've created a whole lot of competitive pressure that's forced others to keep their prices down. And if nothing else, they've just created a fun, edgy alternative for people who want something a bit different. So, here's what I think clinches this. Nothing's superpower is taking great tech and making it affordable and stylish. But Oppo is pushing the entire frontier forward. They're one of the few who are actually taking the big swings, and by doing so, shaping the
future of smartphone tech, which I think gives Oppo the edge, and makes China our champions of 2026.
