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The 12 phones we can't wait to get our hands on (pictures)

Check out the handsets coming through the pipeline that we know will make waves in 2016.

Lynn La
Lynn La covers mobile reviews and news. She previously wrote for The Sacramento Bee, Macworld and The Global Post.
Lynn La
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1 of 12 Ciccarese Design

Apple iPhone 7 and 7 Plus

Expected this fall, there's not much we officially know about Apple's next flagships. Because this is an even-numbered year, however, we do anticipate more changes to the design. Other rumors include the next A10 processor inside and a lack of a 3.5mm headphone jack.

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2 of 12 Josh Miller/CNET

Samsung Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge

The Galaxy S7 can debut as soon as next month during MWC 2016, and while the design might not change too drastically, we do have reason to believe it'll have expandable memory and a camera that has more low-light capabilities.

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3 of 12 Ben Fox Rubin/CNET

HTC One M10

Though HTC's marquee series includes some of the best looking Android phones around, there's still lots of room to improve. For instance, a spruced up design that differentiates it from its predecessors would be great, as well as a better camera and longer battery life.

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4 of 12 Lukas Baxa

Apple iPhone 6C

Though we're not 100 percent sure Apple is developing a cheaper and smaller iPhone, a refresh of the company's 2013 5C handset could always be in the works. Predicted to be called the 6C, it would have a 4-inch display and come in a flurry of colors.

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5 of 12 Sarah Tew/CNET

Microsoft Surface phone

With the critical success of the Surface Pro 3 tablet (pictured on the left), a high-end Microsoft Surface phone (that's not a Lumia) could be in development. And similar to the tablet, the device could come with a stylus and emphasize handwriting recognition.

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6 of 12 Andrew Hoyle/CNET

LG G5

LG has confirmed that it will launch its next flagship handset at MWC 2016, but we don't know much else besides that. There has been some speculation that it'll have a pull-out battery and a fingerprint sensor like LG's other high-end V10 handset, but the former feature doesn't seem too likely.

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7 of 12 Josh Miller/CNET

The next pair of Google Nexus handsets

Last year, Google released two flagships: the Nexus 5X and the bigger and pricier 6P, both of which featured a fingerprint sensor and USB Type-C. The next successors should come some time in October and will hopefully add two more devices to Google's Project Fi Wi-Fi only service.

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8 of 12 Josh Miller/CNET

The OnePlus 3

OnePlus, a scrappy mobile manufacturer, drew consumers in with a high-end but incredibly inexpensive smartphone. And while it recently started selling the even cheaper mid-tier OnePlus X last month, the new year should mark a third generation for its flagship line.

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9 of 12 Sean Hollister/CNET

Lenovo and Google's Project Tango

Project Tango, a program that will bring motion tracking and depth perception to mobile devices, has been in the works for a long time. But at CES 2016, Google and Lenovo announced they are teaming up to finally offer a Project Tango phone (a tablet is already available for developers). It'll go on sale by the summer for less than $500 (about £350 and AU$720) and use three cameras to virtually map out the space around it.

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10 of 12 Sarah Tew/CNET

A high-end Windows 10 Mobile phone from Alcatel

At CES, Alcatel showed off its first Windows 10 Mobile handset, the OneTouch Fierce XL (left) -- but the company doesn't intend to stop there. In fact, Alcatel's senior vice president of the North America region, Steve Cistulli, says the company will make a "superphone" that runs the Microsoft mobile OS and will be on par with high-end devices from Apple and Samsung.

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11 of 12 Josh Miller/CNET

Nextbit Robin

Created by ex-Google and HTC execs, the Robin started off on Kickstarter last year and will be available this February for shipping. Aside from its quirky design, the phone will work on networks using both GSM and CDMA technology, feature a 5.2-inch display and have 100GB of cloud storage.

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12 of 12 James Martin/CNET

Yezz Sfera

The Sfera by Miami-based mobile manufacturer Yezz looks weird and clunky, but that's because it has a 360-degree camera on its top bezel. That means the photos you capture and videos you record can be viewed in an immersive VR headset. Sure, that's a pretty niche thing to sport, but it's enough to make us really curious.

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