The iPhone 17 Pro Max is Apple’s flagship phone. But in popular YouTuber MKBHD’s yearly Smartphone Awards 2025, the iPhone 17 bagged the Phone of the Year award, beating its siblings and Android rivals.
The iPhone Air and iPhone 16e also won three more awards in different categories.
iPhone 17 outshines its Pro siblings
Every year, YouTuber MKBHD, also known as Marques Brownlee, does a smartphone award. He crowns the best phones across multiple categories.
iPhones have always performed well in his awards, with the iPhone 16 Pro winning Best Camera and the iPhone 16 taking Best Small Phone last year.
In 2025, the results are quite different. The iPhone 17 won two awards from the YouTuber. One, for being the “Most Improved” phone of the year.
That should not be a surprise since the iPhone 17 packs major upgrades over its predecessor. This includes a 120Hz ProMotion display, longer battery life, faster chip and a brilliant new selfie camera.
Even better, Apple delivered these improvements without increasing the price. That likely helped the phone secure its second award, the coveted Phone of the Year.
That’s no small feat given the competition from Android flagships, such as the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max, Oppo Find X9 Pro, Galaxy Z Fold 7 and S25 Ultra.
Despite major improvements to battery life and a revamped design, the iPhone 17 Pro (or Pro Max) failed to win any awards.
iPhone 16e wins the one award no phone wants
The iPhone Air might be a sales dud, but it won the Best Design award in MKBHD’s Smartphone Awards. Again, not surprising given it’s among the most complete slim phones to launch this year. Despite its sleek 5.6mm chassis, the phone packs powerful internals and decent battery life.
The iPhone 16e also won an award, but not one to brag about. It took the title of Bust of the Year. If anything, that highlights its poor positioning in Apple’s lineup.
Despite that, a report points to Apple’s most affordable iPhone being the fourth highest-selling smartphone in Q3 2025.
Rajesh has been closely following and writing about the latest happenings in the world of mobile for nearly a decade now. While he prefers Android, he does not deny the superiority of Apple’s products and ecosystem.
