I figured now would be as good a time as any to do this poll fresh off the release of 007 First Light (which is great BTW, easily the best Bond game since GoldenEye). Which Bond actor was the best?

Craig is my favorite. He brought insane range and intensity to the role in ways nobody thought possible going in or nobody ever really could while still delivering the trademark Bond quips and one-liners. I remember the #BondNotBlond discourse before Casino Royale (which I watched before playing First Light yesterday to get me in the “groove”) like it was yesterday. How quaint that all was. He proved all the naysayers wrong by absolutely killing his first go in 2006 which ironically also happens to be many people’s favorite Bond film ever. 

Brosnan was cool, but kinda hard to give the nod to a guy who’s had all of one good movie even if it did bring not only the best Bond game ever, but one of the best console shooters of all time.

Surprisingly, this is how I would describe Daniel Craig.  I liked Casino Royale and Craig did nail it in that movie, but honestly, I was kind of done with him as Bond and his movies after that.  At least with Brosnan I still liked Tomorrow Never Dies.  And even though the last two Brosnan movies are bad, GoldenEye is comfortably my favorite Bond movie.  Plus, Brosnan just looks the coolest to me.  He's not as intimidating looking as Craig or Connery but bigger and tougher looking isn't really what Bond is about.  Brosnan brings the style and sophistication but I can see that many would consider him too goody-goody compared to the character in the novels.

Connery is iconic though and his movies overall seem the best (again, I'd have to reeducate myself) so it would be between him and Brosnan for me.

I will say that Lazenby reminds me a little of Golgo 13 so he gets some points just for that.

I never bought Roger Moore as Bond at all.  Some of his movies are ok and he'd be fine as another agent in a Bond movie, I just don't care for him as the main character.

Dalton was the worst, full stop.

I'm undecided whether to make a long analysis about how you can look at them as best actor, most charismatic, best fit as Bond, who has the better movies... or just list them best to worst. Let's go more with the latter, with some extra notes.

As a general note, I don't remember what would be the first Bond I've seen as kid, but there's a kind of divide to Brosnan and Craig who came "in my time" and the first four who existed "always". Dalton would be on border, but I don't remember any TV ads or talk about Licence to Kill, so it may well be I hadn't seen any films by then and completely ignored it, so in my mind I'm putting Dalton to the old category.
I'm sure I did see some of the old ones before GoldenEye (which btw was only Bond I've seen in theater).

Anyways.

1. Connery: aside being original, there's sheer charisma and films in the recognizable "Bond" style that was only really matched by...
2. Brosnan: was a welcome return to original form (in style of movies) and again, charisma
3. Dalton: the "could've been" Bond, he had potential, but with one movie trying to imitate Moore Bonds and other being generic action film... never had a real chance
4. Craig: also suffering from all movies being different - despite there being 5! He's too much a Bruce Willis style punching bag character (minus humor); I more like the "always lands on feet" superspy than one constantly getting more and more injured
5. Lazenby: not downright bad, got a good movie, but he really didn't have what it takes. I don't think he would've improved if he'd made more films
6. Moore: just not my idea of Bond. He had couple good films, most great villains, but never liked him and never will (as Bond, I do like The Saint)

Sean Connery is the best actor of the bunch as almost nobody does classy badass as well as him, but Pierce Brosnan will always be "Bond" in my mind cos I grew up in the 90s.

Connery is the best, followed closely by Brosnan. Moore is a distant third. Craig is my least favourite by far.

I feel like Daniel Craid was a good Bond, it's just the films he was in were shit as they tried way too hard to the dark and edgy and lost the campy charm.

Connery and Moore, end of.

Connery.

I don't like this young Bond's look in game at all, with that smug face with zero charisma.

Connery
Moore
Brosnan
Craig
Dalton
Lazenby

That's my ranking.

I am actually quite impressed how they have always managed to find good actors for the role. All of the six are pretty good at what they do and have at least one film where they absolutely nail the role. But there are also arguments against all of them. Connery probably has the best run in terms of film quality, I really like his first four, Dr. No-Thunderball, and his charisma in those is unmatched. However, he probably also gave the worst performances in the entire series in You Only Live Twice and Diamonds are Forever, which are also quite weak movies.

Lazenby stars in my favorite Bond film, and gives a great performance, they made the mistake of dubbing him in a significant portion of the film which lowers the overall impression of his performance, but in the rest he was awesome, especially at fights and the more emotional aspects. I don't think Connery did emotions as well as Lazenby.
Moore nailed the humor and charm of Bond, unfortunately he probably had the weakest movies. The Spy who Loved me and For Your Eyes Only are solid, and some of the others are kind of guilty pleasures for me, Octopussy and A View to a Kill flat out suck though.
Dalton is pretty good as well, bringing back the more grounded aspect to the role, and delivering more emotional performances. Licence to Kill does feel a bit too much like a product of the time though. I think the glamour is also part of Bond, and Dalton is lacking in that aspect.

Brosnan is the perfect Bond imo, and my personal favorite, as he has a bit of everything that defines the character. He has charm, charisma, humor, feelings, he is handsome and a gentleman, but can also be dangerous. Some say GoldenEye is his only good one, and I agree it is his only stone cold classic, but I think The World is Not Enough is seriously underrated and much better than Tomorrow Never Dies, which has a very boring second half (still it is a guilty pleasure of mine). Die Another Day was atrocious though.

Craig blew me away with Casino Royale, and I am one of the few who actually like Quantum of Solace. Skyfall is probably his best one and the one I rewatch the most. Unfortunalely the last two have been so horrible, to the point that he dropped from my favorite Bond to third. Those two are just drained of the life and magic of the series, no fun, no humor, no glamour, just dark, dull, depressing, drawn-out movies filled with plot-holes and poorly written characters. The fact that Craig himself influenced some of these terrible decisions doesn't help. What is up with giving him an "arc" across five films? I hope they skip that terrible decision for the future films, one film - one story is the winning formula.

So my ranking is probably:
1. Brosnan
2. Connery
3. Craig
4. Lazenby
5. Dalton
6. Moore