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Best smartphones for awesome selfies

We check out the very best mobile phones for snapping a selfie, from the Sony Xperia Z1 Compact to the HTC One M8…

Whether you’re rocking a glam celeb-packed event or simply want to showcase your guns after a sweaty workout, there’s nothing better than the trusty selfie for showing off how wonderful your life is on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Of course, you need to make sure your equipment’s top notch, to capture your grinning mug in all its glory.

Here’s our pick (or rather ‘pic’, hohoho) of the very best selfie phones around right now, in 2014.

 

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact

The Xperia Z1 Compact’s selfie cam itself isn’t particularly hot, but the rear camera shoots hot 20-megapixel snaps, and can easily take selfies using the physical shutter button. The Xperia Z1 Compact is also fully waterproof, so you can take sexy shots in the shower, or in the pouring rain like a 90’s popstar.

Sony Xperia Z1 Compact selfie test

Samsung Galaxy Note 3

The mighty phablet used for Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar selfie, Samsung’s Galaxy Note 3 packs a 2-megapixel front-facing lens which proves itself as a dependable selfie-snapper. Things can get a little grainy once the lights dim, but as Ellen’s shot proves, you can pack plenty of peeps into one photo. You can even take a selfie with the front and rear cameras simultaneously, using Samsung’s picture-in-picture mode, if your entourage is too massive.

Huawei Ascend P6

The Ascend P6 was the first smartphone in memory to rock a mighty 5-megapixel front-snapper, a feature Huawei carried over to its freshly-launched Ascend G6. As a result, we found our selfies were sharp and packed with detail. That might be a terrifying prospect if Huawei hadn’t also invented an ego-stroking Beauty Mode, which irons out any blemishes and gives you a freakishly healthy sheen. There’s even a handy countdown feature, to make sure no one is blinking or picking their nose when the shutter goes.

Huawei Ascend P6

HTC One (M8)

In our opinion, the undisputed king of the selfie is still the HTC One, now in sequel form with the HTC One M8. The front-facing camera boasts a wide-angle lens, an ideal way to take glamorous group selfies at international movie events. Once again you get a countdown timer, to make sure everyone’s ready with a beaming smile (or hilarious rude gesture), and we found our photos came out crisp and bright in almost any conditions, with realistic colours.

Apple iPhone 5s

And of course, no forgetting the Apple iPhone 5s. That FaceTime camera may be lacking features, but it does the job nicely and it’s faster than lightning. That means you can take tons of selfies all in one go, and choose the best to post online. Nice.

Bear in mind…

We’re expecting selfies to become even more popular in 2014, with phone manufacturers finally delivering some quality hardware and plenty of editing apps for perfect personal portraits. If you can’t stand selfies, now might be a good time to quit the internet.

As a side-note, Ellen DeGeneres’ Oscar selfie was swiftly parodied on Twitter, with several horrifying Photoshop jobs emerging. Our favourite is this hilarious, and trouser-ruiningly terrifying, Nic Cage effort from Mashable…

Nic Cage oscar selfie

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