How we score phones
Every phone page on The Synap carries a spec score out of 10. Here is exactly how we work it out, so you can check our sums.
What the score is, and what it isn’t
The spec score reads the maker’s spec sheet and nothing else. It tells you how much phone you get on paper: how fast the chip is, how good the screen is, how capable the cameras are, and so on. It is not a hands-on test. Two phones with the same score can feel very different in your hand, which is why every phone page also has our verdict, and why our reviews always come first when we have one.
The seven areas
Each area gets its own score out of 10, shown as ten dots. The spec score is the average of the seven, weighted by how much each one matters to most buyers.
Scores run from 3 to 10. We set the scale so a solid budget phone lands around 6 and the best flagships around 9.5. It is the same scale at every price, so a phone that is better on paper always scores higher, whatever it costs.
| Area | Weight | What counts |
|---|---|---|
| Performance | 22% | How fast the chip is in published benchmark results, plus a little for RAM |
| Rear camera | 20% | The main camera’s resolution, stabilisation and sensor size, a zoom lens, an ultrawide, and video |
| Display | 18% | The panel (LTPO OLED, OLED or LCD), refresh rate, brightness and sharpness |
| Battery | 18% | Capacity, wired charging speed and wireless charging. Apple doesn’t list capacity on its website, so for iPhones we use the capacity Apple files for the EU energy label |
| Software | 10% | How many years the maker promises to keep the phone updated, counting Android updates or security updates, whichever runs longer |
| Build | 7% | The dust and water rating, the glass and the weight |
| Front camera | 5% | Resolution, autofocus and 4K video |
How fast a chip is
We place every chip by its published AnTuTu benchmark average. Apple’s chips are placed against Android chips by their Geekbench results. A chip twice as fast as another scores about one and a half points more, so a top 2026 flagship chip scores 10 and an entry-level chip scores around 5. We add a little for 12GB of RAM or more and take a little off for 6GB or less.
When a figure is missing
Some makers don’t publish everything. Many brands don’t put an update promise in writing, and some leave out the charging speed or the water rating. When we don’t have the figure an area needs, that area says “Not rated” and why, and the spec score is worked out from the areas we can score. We never fill a gap with a guess. When fewer than about two thirds of the score’s weight can be rated, the phone gets no spec score at all until the missing figures are published.
What the words mean
- Best in class: 9 or more
- Excellent: 8 to 8.9
- Very good: 7 to 7.9
- Good: 6 to 6.9
- Average: 4.5 to 5.9
- Basic: below 4.5
When scores change
A phone’s score changes when its spec sheet does, for example when a maker confirms a figure that was missing. The rules themselves change rarely. When they do, we will say what changed and when on this page.