TOP FIVE ANDROID PHONES 2014

                     1. Samsung Galaxy S5

While many were expecting a major change for this year's flagship Galaxy S model, Samsung has instead played it safe, keeping a very similar design to the S4. The S5 does thankfully replace that slimy back with a new fabric like design. The display has been upped to 5.1 inches and it packs a 1080p, full HD resolution, while it's all powered by 2GB RAM and a 2.5GHz quad-core processor. Your photos will be taken care of thanks to a 16 meg snapper on the back, which now has a few more tricks up its sleeve - like UHD video recording and a Lytro like depth of field feature. A load of new health benefits are here too, a heart rate monitor on the back for instance. Similar to models that went before, Samsung has overlaid Android (this time Kit Kat 4.4) with its TouchWiz UI, so you'll have to make do with those overly colourful icons.

                       2. Sony Xperia Z2

While it has only been a few months since we saw the arrival of the Z1, Sony has already announced its successor, the Z2. So, what’s new? The headline feature is definitely a brand-new IPS Live Colour LED display, which Sony claims has the widest colour gamut of any mobile device on the market today. That screen is 5.2-inches and packs the same full-HD 1920x1080 resolution as the Z1, but the innards have been beefed up to 3GB RAM, a quad-core 2.3GHz Snapdragon 801 processor and a 3200mAh battery. Around the back you’ll find a 20-meg snapper, which can now record 4K video and there’s a new mode for recording slow-mo video, similar to the iPhone 5s. It’ll ship with Android 4.4 Kit Kat skinned with Sony’s UI and it is, of course, IP58-certified and waterproof.

Price: £599 | Available: March | Sony | Hands-on review

                         3. Nokia X

Nokia’s first foray into the world of Android has given us three devices, the X, X+ and XL. Now, before you all get your hopes up about a Lumia styled device rocking Android 4.4, we’ve got something to tell you – this is purely a low-end device aimed solely at emerging markets. The Android OS running here is an almost unrecognisable version of 4.1.2, completely forked (similar to what Amazon does with its Kindle Fire) and looking very similar to Windows Phone. As it is forked, you won’t have access to Google apps like GMail and the Play Store, though Nokia says apps will still work. Specs wise, the X boasts a 4-inch IPS LCD at 800 x 480 resolution display, 3meg fixed focus snapped, 1.5GHz dual-core Snapdragon processor and 512MB RAM. The X+ ups the RAM by 256MB and includes a 4GB Micro SD card, while the XL ups the screen size to 5-inch (though the resolution is the same).

                        4. LG G Pro 2

Acting as a larger sibling to the LG G2 and as a sort of rigid LG G Flex, the G Pro 2 packs a 5.9-inch, full HD display along with a load of cool camera tech like an optically stabilised, 13-megapixel sensor and 4K video recording. The buttons are still confined to the rear, but KnockCode (an evolution of KnockOn) lets you unlock the phone with just a few well timed taps.

                            5. Sony Xperia M2

   Slotting itself right into the mid-range of the market, the M2 has a decent spec sheet, headlined by a 4.8-inch HD display and 8-megapixel camera. There’s also LTE support, a 2,300mAh battery and a design that mimics the much more top end Z2 sans the aluminium.