---
title: 'I Tested Smartphones from Every Country'
source: 'https://youtube.com/watch?v=BtmUJDueMP4'
video_id: 'BtmUJDueMP4'
date: 2026-06-30
duration_sec: 1442
---

# I Tested Smartphones from Every Country

> Source: [I Tested Smartphones from Every Country](https://youtube.com/watch?v=BtmUJDueMP4)

## Summary

A tech reviewer pits 16 smartphones from 16 different countries against each other in a knockout tournament to determine the best phone globally. The video covers everything from budget rebrands to cutting-edge flagships, highlighting how different markets approach mobile technology.

### Key Points

- **Korea vs Japan** [0:19] — Samsung's Galaxy S26 Ultra beats Sony's Xperia 1 Mark 8 due to more reliable cameras and software features.
- **India vs Turkey** [3:03] — India's Lava Agni 4 ($316) defeats Turkey's General Mobile Phoenix 2 Pro ($998) due to massive price difference, despite similar hardware.
- **UAE vs France** [4:17] — France's Crosscall rugged phone beats UAE's Thuraya satellite phone on design, software polish, and features like dual action buttons and X-Link connector.
- **China vs Finland** [5:57] — China's Oppo Find X9 Ultra (dual 200MP cameras, 7050mAh battery) easily defeats Finland's HMD Skyline ($400 mid-ranger).
- **Germany vs Sweden** [7:29] — Germany's Volla Quintus (privacy-focused, dual-boot Ubuntu) beats Sweden's Doro (senior phone) on design and software.
- **Mexico vs Netherlands** [9:13] — Netherlands' Fairphone Gen 6 (repairable, sustainable) beats Mexico's Lanix Alpha 6 (poor software, single camera).
- **England vs Taiwan** [10:24] — England's Nothing Phone 4a Pro beats Taiwan's Asus Zenfone 12 Ultra on design, value, and innovation.
- **US vs Indonesia** [11:58] — US Google Pixel 10 Pro XL beats Indonesia's Advan Barca (rebranded from same Chinese supplier as India's Lava).
- **Quarterfinals** [13:46] — Korea beats India; China beats France; Netherlands beats Germany; England beats US.
- **Semifinals** [19:09] — China beats Korea (Oppo more ambitious than iterative Samsung); England beats Netherlands (Nothing feels closer to flagship).
- **Final: China vs England** [22:30] — China's Oppo Find X9 Ultra wins the final against England's Nothing Phone 4a Pro, praised for pushing the industry forward.

## Transcript

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,
>> [music]
>> 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 [music] 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 [music] industry-leading in all
sorts of ways, including this. And so,
what I'd say breaks the deadlock here is
the cameras. [music] 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, [music] 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 [music]
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?
>> [music]
>> 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 [music] 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 [music]
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 [music] Thuraya
versus France and their Crosscall.
>> [music]
>> 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.
>> [music]
>> Now, to put some respect on the HMD
[music] 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 [music] 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.
>> [music]
>> 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 [music]
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 [music]
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
[music] England.
>> Good morning, England.
>> Against Taiwan, makers [music] 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 [music]
interesting to look at and talk about in
the big 2026. Whereas the Zenfone 12
Ultra is [music] 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 [music] 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 [music] 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,
>> [music]
>> 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 [music] 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
[music]
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 [music] Ultra
versus Lava Agni 4. We already know that
the Samsung is one of the best high-end
phones on the planet. So, [music]
really the question here is, is the Lava
one of the best affordable phones
[music] 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 [music] the thing, a good
screen or a good battery, you can
basically buy. Spec the phone with a
decent component [music] 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 [music] that
actually feels designed first versus
China's Oppo. This astronomically spec'd
[music] 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
[music] 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 [music] 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 [music]
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] 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
[music] 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
[music] just outright surpass Germany is
the Fairphone also has a minimalist UI
option. [music] 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
[music] 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 [music] 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 [music] 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 [music] 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. [music] I think the Nothing
Phone 4a Pro punches above its weight.
It's got a good enough display, battery,
design that [music] 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. [music] 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.
>> [music]
>> 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 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 [music]
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
>> [music]
>> 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 [music] 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
[music] 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.
[music]
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
[music]
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 [music] by doing so, shaping the
future of smartphone tech, which I think
gives Oppo the edge, and makes China our
champions of 2026.