Best of 2013: 10 amazing smartphones launched this year

There has been an exponential rise in smartphone market in recent years, especially in developing economies. Manufacturers from around the world are launching newer models every year in an effort to capture a piece of the growing pie.

Let's take a look at some of the best smartphones launched this year.

Note: The prices quoted here are just an indicator and can vary.

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LG G2

Manufacturer: LG Electronics

Release date: September 2013

Operating system: Android 4.2.2

Memory: 2 GB RAM

Storage: 16 GB or 32 GB

Price in India: Rs 41,500 for 16GB and Rs 43,500 for 32GB

Overall rank: 1

LG G2, which is a successor to Optimus G and Optimus G Pro, comes with a high fidelity sound system, a 5.2 in screen and unusual placement of power and volume keys.

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Google Nexus 5

Manufacturer: Google, LG Electronics

Release date: October 2013

Operating system: Android KitKat 4.4

Memory: 2 GB RAM

Storage: 16 GB or 32 GB

Price in India: Rs 29,000 for 16GB and Rs 32,999 for 32GB

Overall rank: 2

Google Nexus 5, which is a successor to Nexus 4, comes with a Snapdragon 800 system-on-chip, a 4.96-inch 1080p display and is also the first device to feature version 4.4 of Android.

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Sony Xperia Z1

Manufacturer: Sony Mobile Communications

Release date: September 2013

Operating system: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean (initial) and Android 4.4 Kit Kat (upgradable)

Memory: 2 GB RAM

Storage: 16 GB

Price in India: Rs 40,165

Overall rank: 3

Sony Xperia Z1, which is a high-end Android smartphone produced by Sony, comes with a 20.7 megapixel camera, is waterproof and dustproof and has an aluminium and glass unibody design.

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iPhone 5S

Manufacturer: Apple Inc

Release date: September 2013

Operating system: iOS 7.0.4

Memory: 1 GB LPDDR3 RAM

Storage: 16 GB, 32 GB and 64 GB

Price in India: Rs 53,500 for 16GB, Rs 62,500 for 32GB and Rs 71,500 for 64GB.

Overall rank: 4

iPhone 5S, which is a revised version of its predecessor, iPhone 5, has a new home button design, a fingerprint recognition system and 64-bit A7 processor.

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HTC One

Manufacturer: HTC

Release date: March 2013

Operating system: Android 4.1.2 or 4.2.2

Memory: 2 GB LPDDR2 RAM

Storage: 32 GB or 64 GB

Price in India: Rs 42,900 for 32 GB

Overall rank: 5

HTC One, which is a touchscreen-based Android smartphone, has a unibody aluminium frame, a 1080p full-HD display, dual front-facing stereo speakers, a camera with a custom image sensor and the ability to automatically generate montages of media.

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Samsung Galaxy Note 3

Manufacturer: Samsung Electronics

Release date: September 2013

Operating system: Android 4.3 (Jelly Bean)

Memory: 3 GB LPDDR3

Storage: 32 GB and 64 GB flash memory

Price in India: Rs 46,330 for 32 GB

Overall rank: 6

Samsung Galaxy Note 3, which is an Android phablet smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics, has a new navigation wheel for pen-enabled apps, along with pop-up apps and expanded multi-window functionality.

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Sony Xperia Z

Manufacturer: Sony Mobile Communications

Release date: February 2013

Operating system: Android 4.2.2 Jelly Bean and Android 4.3 Jelly Bean (upgradable) and Android 4.4 Kit Kat (upgradable)

Memory: 2 GB RAM

Storage: 16 GB

Price in India: Rs 32,542

Overall rank: 7

Sony Xperia Z, which is a touchscreen enabled Android high-end smartphone, is a 13.1 MP Exmor RS camera sensor as well as a full HD (1080p) display, is dust protected, low pressure water jet protected and waterproof.

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Samsung Galaxy S4

Manufacturer: Samsung Electronics

Release date: April 2013

Operating system: Android Jelly Bean 4.2.2, upgradable to Android Jelly Bean 4.3

Memory: 2 GB LPDDR3 RAM

Storage: 16, 32 or 64 GB (8 GB used by the system)

Price in India: Rs 39,530

Overall rank: 8

Samsung Galaxy S4, which is an Android smartphone produced by Samsung Electronics, has the ability to detect when a finger is hovered over the screen, expanded eye tracking functionality and is the first smartphone to support the emerging LTE Advanced mobile network standard.

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iPhone 5C

Manufacturer: Apple Inc

Release date: September 2013

Operating system: iOS 7.0.4

Memory: 1GB RAM

Storage: 16 GB or 32 GB

Price in India: Rs 41,900

Overall rank: 9

iPhone 5C, which is a touchscreen-based smartphone developed by Apple Inc, uses 32-bit A6 processor, has better battery capacity, and antennas that cover more LTE bands than any other smartphone.

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Nokia Lumia 720

Manufacturer: Nokia

Release date: April 2013

Operating system: Windows Phone 8

Memory: 512 MB RAM

Storage: 8 GB

Price in India: Rs 17,345

Overall rank: 10

Nokia Lumia 720, which is a Windows Phone 8 device manufactured by Nokia, has a 4.3 inch display that has a WVGA resolution of 800 x 480 pixels and an aspect ratio of 15:9, plus its range of back 'Shells' allow users to customise the look of the phone as well as add functionality, such as wireless charging.