There are countless smartphones to choose from, and some with a something extra – a stylus to help people to more accurately use them, such as these 8 best smartphones with a stylus.
One thing that’s obvious, is that you mainly use a stylus with phones that big screens, the so-called phablets – a crossover between phone and tablet. They’re larger than your average smartphone, but smaller than a tablet while still offering enough screen real estate so that you can do more.
We should mention that we only included phones that come with a built-in stylus. You can, however, get yourself a stylus with whichever smartphone you have. It’s preferable to get a capacitive stylus pen, even though you should keep in mind that they don’t work nearly as fine as those that were designed specifically for one phone by the manufacturer. They will, however, do the job you want them to.
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So, for today’s list of the 8 best smartphones with a stylus, we took a look on GSMArena to find those phones that come with one of these little gadgets. Then, we got information about each and every one of them and only kept those that were launched in the past 5 years. Then, we took into account the hits and likes they received on this specialized site and also how many years they’ve been on the market, dividing both the number of hits and likes to the number of years. That’s because it’s only natural for a phone that’s 4 years old, for instance, to get more likes and be more searched for than a phone that’s been around for 6 months. We ranked the devices by these numbers, handing out points according to the spot the occupied.
Then, we went and added extra points based on how long they’ve been on the market – 2016 phones got 5 points, 2016 phones got 4 points and so on. That’s mostly because as much as we like certain devices, we can’t argue with the fact that technology changes tremendously over short periods of time so a newer phone is almost always better than previous ones. Since we’re on the topic of technical advancement, you might be interested in taking a look at the 6 Best Smartphones with OLED Displays.
We should also talk about the elephant in the room – the Samsung Galaxy Note 7. Although this may have very well been the best of the best, given the stats and the components, we chose not to include it on the list given the fact that it has been discontinued due to one tiny issue – it used to explode in people’s hands and randomly catch fire. We’re yet not sure what could have pushed Samsung to come out with such a device in the first place without properly testing it beforehand, but the whole incident has certainly put a dent in the company’s image.
That being said, here are the 8 best smartphones with a stylus.
8. Samsung Galaxy Note II N7100
Score – 13
Released back in September 2012, this one is the oldest phones on our list. It has a 5.5-inch screen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, which is quite low, but then again this is 2012 we’re talking about.
The Galaxy Note II N7100 features a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen and comes with Android that can be upgraded to KitKat. There’s a microSD slot that can support up to 64GB, while the internal memory of this phone comes in three options – 16, 32 and 64 GB. The Galaxy Note II has a primary camera of a mere 8 MP and a secondary camera of 1.9 MP, which means your selfies may not turn out so well. Despite the fact that it’s been a while since this phone has been out, people are still very much in love with it and the way it handles all the apps they need.
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7. Samsung Galaxy Note Edge
Score – 13
Released in November 2014, this phone has received quite a bit of love over the years. Featuring a screen measuring 5.6 inches, it is quite large. The Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen has a resolution of 1600 x 2560 pixels, so the images should be crystal clear.
Samsung Galaxy Note Edge, the next in line on our list of best smartphones with a stylus comes with KitKat Android installed that can be upgraded to Marshmallow in just a few minutes. The phablet features a Qualcomm Snapdragon 805 chipset and a quad-core 2.7 GHz Krait 450 CPU to support all your needs.
The phone comes in 32 and 64GB options and there’s also a card slot available where you can use a card of up to 256 GB, so that’s plenty of space for any creative things you want to do.
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6. LG Stylus 2 Plus
Score – 13
Next up on the list of best smartphones with a stylus is the LG Stylus 2 Plus, a phone that was released in July 2016 and that features a 5.7-inch screen, which is massive. The screen is an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels. Given the fact that the phone is just half a year old, it comes with Android 6.0 Marshmallow and it will most likely upgrade to newer versions in the near future.
Under the hood you’ll find a Snapdragon 430 chipset and an octa-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, as well as an Adreno 505 GPU to work on all your projects. The primary camera on this phone is 13 or 16 MP, depending on the edition you’re buying, while the secondary camera measures 5 or 8 MP, yet again, depending on the version you bought.
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5. LG Stylus 2
Score – 13
Next on the list of best smartphones with a stylus is yet another LG model, the Stylus 2, released in June 2016. With a 5.7-inch screen, with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels, this is one of the largest smartphones on our list. The device comes with Android Marshmallow already installed, so the chances are quite high for future updates to newer Android versions.
Under the hood, we’ll find the Snapdragon 410 chipset, complete with a quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex – A53 CPU and the Adreno 306 GPU. Internally, the phone has room for 16GB of data, but there’s a dedicated microSD slot that supports up to 256 GB, which is more than enough for everything you need.
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4. LG Stylo 2
Score – 13
Next on the list is the LG Slylo 2. As the name suggests, it comes with a stylus so you can better handle the 5.7-inch screen. Released in April 2016, this phablet comes with an IPS LCD capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 720 x 1280 pixels.
The LG Stylo 2 comes with Android Marshmallow installed which will work great on the Snapdragon 410 chipset and the quad-core 1.2 GHz Cortex-A53 CPU, as well as the Adreno 306 GPU. The device has 16GB internal memory, which you can enhance with a microSD of up to 256 GB. There’s a 13 MP camera on the back of the phone and a 5MP selfie camera on the front so you can get some great shots. People seem to be quite pleased with how pictures come out with this device.
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3. Samsung Galaxy Note 3
Score – 20
We’re back to Samsung with this next phone on our list of best smartphones with a stylus – the Galaxy Note 3. Released back in September 2013, this continues to be a fan-favorite. With a 5.7-inch screen, this was one of the largest phones on the market at the time. Even now, it continues to be among the top competitors. The device comes with a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 pixels, making sure you have crystal clear images.
Given the time it was released, the Samsung Galaxy Note 3 comes with Android Jelly Bean installed, but it can be upgraded up to Android 5.0 Lollipop. The phablet has a 13 MP back camera with a pretty great sensor and a secondary camera of 2 MP, which is low by today’s standards, but pretty much in line with what we were used to back in 2013. The Note 3 came in three memory options – 16, 32 and 64 GB, extendable with microSDs of up to 64 GB.
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2. Samsung Galaxy Note 5
Score – 20
Up next is the Samsung Galaxy Note 5, released in august 2015. The 5.7-inch display has a higher resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels, so it’s a big improvement over the 2013 model. The device also comes with Android Lollipop preinstalled, but it can be upgraded to Marshmallow and it might still receive some more updates in the years to come, especially given its popularity.
The Note 5 comes with the Exynos 7420 Octa chipset under the hood and an octa-core CPU. The back camera has 16 MP, while the front camera measures at 5 MP.
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1. Samsung Galaxy Note 4
Score – 23
While the Note 5 sure has its followers, the Galaxy Note 4 seems to be one of the fan favorites. Released in September 2014, the Galaxy Note 4 has a Super AMOLED capacitive touchscreen with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels.
Under the hood, there’s either a Snapdragon 805 or an Exynos 5433 chipset. Depending on the chipset, there’s also either an octa-core Krait 450 CPU or a Cortex. When it comes to internal memory, the 32 GB the phone comes with can be enhanced with a microSD of up to 256 GB. Be aware, however, that battery life on such phablets is rather low, so be prepared in case you’re thinking about buying one.
That being said, these were the 8 best smartphones with a stylus.
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