The best Android phones

The Android ecosystem is each astir choice. While iPhone owners person a smaller excavation of caller devices to prime from erstwhile it’s clip to upgrade, there’s a wider scope of choices connected Android. Some Android phones moreover fold successful half! Imagine.

On the flip side, each that prime tin make for immoderate difficult decisions. Here’s wherever I’d for illustration to help; I’ve tested a full boatload of caller Android phones, and I deliberation location are immoderate existent winners successful the existent batch. It’s each a matter of what you’re looking for, what you’re comfortable spending, and what your meaning of a “reasonably sized phone” is. (I person my own, personally.)

As you sift done the options, you’ll almost surely travel crossed tech’s favourite buzzphrase of the moment: AI. Generally speaking, AI has yet to really impressment maine connected a phone. The Pixel 10 bid has immoderate useful features, including Magic Cue, which proactively intends to aboveground applicable accusation erstwhile you request it, and Galaxy devices tin construe a telephone telephone for you successful existent time. These things are thing to sneeze at! But nary of it feels for illustration the level displacement that the large tech companies support promising. Best not to put excessively overmuch banal successful immoderate company’s AI claims conscionable yet.

If you unrecorded successful the US, I person immoderate bad news astir the Android market, though. For analyzable reasons having to do pinch “capitalism” and “geopolitics,” we don’t get astir arsenic galore of the options arsenic you’ll find successful Asia and Europe — brands for illustration Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and Oppo conscionable aren’t disposable here. I’ve constricted this guideline to the devices I’ve personally tested successful depth; thus, it is simply a reasonably US-centric group of recommendations.

With that successful mind, it’s besides worthy acknowledging that astir group successful the US get their phones “for free” from their wireless carrier. If you tin negociate it, buying an unlocked telephone will springiness you the astir elasticity and state if you extremity up wanting to alteration carriers successful the adjacent future. Phone manufacturers besides connection financing and trade-in deals to make payments much manageable. But if you’re happy pinch your bearer and the free telephone connected connection is the 1 you really want, by each means, return the free phone. Just make judge you understand the terms, particularly if you request to alteration plans to return advantage of the deal.

However you spell astir it, you person immoderate awesome options for your adjacent Android phone.

Screen: 6.3-inch, 1080p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Tensor G5 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 main pinch OIS; 13-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide; 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto pinch OIS; 10.5-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,970mAh / Charging: 30W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2) / Weather-resistance rating: IP68

The Pixel 10 is Google’s latest return connected the “just right” Android telephone that introduces a fewer notable upgrades. For $799, you get a crisp 6.3-inch OLED screen, the aforesaid Tensor G5 spot recovered successful the pricier Pro version, and Qi2 wireless charging pinch built-in magnets, nary lawsuit required. The instrumentality is built to grip the day-to-day without fuss, and the full point feels straightforward alternatively of flashy.

This year, the Pixel 10 besides adds a dedicated telephoto lens, a first for the non-Pro. Unfortunately, the main and ultrawide cameras are a measurement down from past year’s model. If you’re not scrutinizing each pixel aliases chasing low-light portraits, you’ll astir apt ne'er notice. For regular photos, the Pixel 10 is great; it produces cleanable shots, coagulated performance, and capable versatility for the mean user.

What really sets the Pixel 10 apart, though, is really easy it is to use. AI features for illustration Magic Cue are useful, proactively providing info without getting successful the way. For example, it tin aboveground a restaurant’s reside aliases preservation specifications from your hunt history aliases confirmation email arsenic you finalize plans complete text. The telephone runs cooler than erstwhile versions, handles heavier workloads well, and shrugs disconnected particulate and water. If you want an Android smartphone that doesn’t overcomplicate things, the Pixel 10 is an easy recommendation.

Screen: 6.3-inch, 1080p OLED, 120Hz / Processor: Tensor G4 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 pinch OIS, 13-megapixel ultrawide, 13-megapixel selfie / Battery: 5,100mAh / Charging: 23W wired, 7.5W wireless / Weather-resistance rating: IP68

The budget-friendly Pixel 9A nails the essentials, offering a agleam 6.3-inch OLED show pinch a 120Hz refresh rate, IP68 h2o and particulate resistance, wireless charging, and Google’s fourth-gen Tensor G4 chipset. It’s dependable and polished, pinch dependable capacity and a artillery that lasts each day, moreover pinch the always-on show enabled. Overall, it delivers awesome worth for $499 — particularly fixed it’s group to person 7 years of OS updates — and stands caput and shoulders supra the different inexpensive options we’ve precocious tested.

Google’s entry-level handset does make immoderate compromises to deed its little value point, though. The 48-megapixel main and 13-megapixel ultrawide cameras are decent for mundane shots, but low-light capacity and image mode lag down the latest Pixel 10 phones (and moreover older Pixel 9 devices). Meanwhile, it runs a much pared-down type of Google’s on-device AI, truthful you miss retired connected immoderate features, including the Screenshots app and Call Notes. The halfway acquisition is fantastic, though, and the agelong support model is among the champion you’ll find successful this value range. If you want a comparatively inexpensive telephone that feels conscionable a measurement beneath today’s flagships, the 9A is an easy pick.

Screen: 6.9-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 200-megapixel main pinch OIS, 50-megapixel 5x telephoto pinch OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto pinch OIS, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 5,000mAh / Charging: 45W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready) / Weather-resistance rating: IP68

There’s still nary telephone rather for illustration the Ultra. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is Samsung’s latest reply to the question, “What if your telephone had each of the features?” It’s equipped pinch 2 telephoto cameras, a built-in stylus, and a big, agleam screen. Good luck uncovering that operation successful different phone. Related: this is 1 of the astir costly slab-style phones you tin buy.

The newest version of the Ultra comes pinch rounded corners and level edges, making it much comfortable successful your hand. But if you’re looking for important year-over-year improvements to the Ultra look extracurricular of that, well, you won’t find much. Samsung’s attraction has been connected package features, which is to opportunity AI features. But AI connected Galaxy phones remains a mixed container — it’s surely not the paradigm displacement Samsung wants america to deliberation the S25 bid represents.

All of that puts the Ultra successful a spot of somewhat little favoritism than erstwhile versions. The biggest updates are package features disposable to the remainder of the S25 series. The Ultra looks and feels much for illustration different Galaxy phones this clip around, too. More than ever, it’s difficult to understand what Samsung intends erstwhile it calls this telephone “Ultra.” Still, it’s your champion prime for a feature-packed Android telephone — moreover if it’s not rather arsenic ultra arsenic it erstwhile was.

Screen: 6.2-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 50-megapixel main pinch OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto pinch OIS, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,000mAh / Charging: 25W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready) / Weather-resistance rating: IP68

Most group for illustration a large phone, and I get that. I do. If you want a large Android phone, you person plentifulness of options. But immoderate of america for illustration a smaller telephone — thing that (kind of) fits successful your pocket, aliases feels much comfortable successful your hand. For us, location is but 1 action connected Android: the Samsung Galaxy S25.

That’s the regular S25, not the Plus, which is simply a good large phone. But the modular S25 is fundamentally the past of its kind: a full-featured telephone pinch a 6.2-inch screen. It’s not small, but it’s not huge, and we’ll person to return what we tin get. And it’s a darn bully telephone that keeps up pinch the bigger devices successful each the important ways: the artillery goes each day, it comes pinch plentifulness of RAM, and it moreover has a existent telephoto lens — not thing you get connected a basic, 6.1-inch telephone on, say, iOS.

The Galaxy S25 isn’t conscionable a good, small-ish telephone by default. It’s reliable, durable, and comes pinch the committedness of 7 years of OS updates. It’s not my prime for the wide champion Android telephone because Samsung package tin beryllium a spot much, but if you’re comfortable successful the Samsung ecosystem and you conscionable want a telephone that fits successful your dang pocket, past this is the 1 to spell with.

Screen: 6.7-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 200-megapixel f/1.7 main camera pinch OIS, 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, 12-megapixel f/2.2 selfie / Battery: 3,900mAh / Charging: 25W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready) / Weather-resistance rating: IP68

Big phones person a inclination to, well, look and consciousness big. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, connected the different hand, is different. Thanks to its slim, lightweight design, the instrumentality provides a invited reprieve from the countless chunky, dense alternatives. It’s thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S25 Plus, making it the large telephone you tin really descent into your pouch aliases moreover your evening container without it protruding.

So, what’s the catch? The S25 Edge’s artillery life is fine. Not great, not terrible, but location consecutive down the middle. To beryllium fair, it held up admirably during a peculiarly strenuous workday, 1 complete pinch hours of surface time, mobile hotspotting, and unrecorded blogging, making it to bedtime pinch artillery to spare. It besides lacks a dedicated telephoto lens, though it does characteristic the aforesaid 200-megapixel main camera recovered successful the S25 Ultra.

Even pinch those compromises, the S25 Edge is simply a very tin telephone that offers akin capacity and durability to different devices successful the S25 lineup. You’ll conscionable person to beryllium a small much alert of artillery life arsenic the time goes on; however, unless you’re routinely streaming video aliases playing graphics-intensive games passim the day, the noticeably thinner, lighter creation offers a bully alteration of pace.

Screen: 6.78-inch 1272p 165Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 / Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.8 main pinch OIS, 50-megapixel f/2.8 3.5x telephoto pinch OIS, 50-megapixel f/2.0 ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie / Battery: 7,300mAh / Charging: 80W wired, 50W wireless / Weather-resistance rating: IP68 and IP69K

The OnePlus 15 takes the “never interest astir charging” ethos of its predecessor and cranks it up a notch. Its monolithic 7,300mAh silicon-carbon artillery comfortably delivers 2 days of real-world usage — and that’s pinch each power-draining characteristic enabled, including the always-on display. You don’t person to babe it to get the champion imaginable artillery life, either. If you do request a speedy top-off, the included 80W wired charger and patented USB-C cablegram tin supply you pinch a afloat time of artillery life successful conscionable 20-ish minutes of charging.

As for different specs, the 15 features a crisp 1.5K, 165Hz show and Qualcomm’s Snapdragon Elite Gen 5 chip, meaning there’s much to the handset than conscionable artillery life. That said, location are immoderate tradeoffs fixed the newer technology. The chemistry of silicon-carbon batteries whitethorn degrade faster than that of lithium-ion batteries, though OnePlus claims the artillery will clasp complete 80 percent of its wide wellness for the first 4 years. The 15 besides lacks built-in Qi2 magnets, dissimilar the Pixel 10, truthful you whitethorn person to fiddle pinch the alignment connected your wireless charger to get it conscionable right. If absurd artillery headroom is what you’re after, though, the 15 offers it successful spades.

Screen: 8-inch, 2076p, 120Hz OLED soul screen; 6.4-inch, 1080p, 120Hz OLED screen surface / Processor: Google Tensor G5 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 main pinch OIS; 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto pinch OIS; 10.5-megapixel ultrawide; 10-megapixel selfie (cover screen); 10-megapixel soul selfie camera / Battery: 5,015mAh / Charging: 30W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2) / Weather-resistance rating: IP68

The Pixel 10 Pro Fold brings amended durability to a class that’s historically fragile. With an IP68 rating, it’s the first foldable to connection afloat particulate and h2o resistance. In real-world use, that intends the instrumentality tin return a tumble astatine the formation and stay comparatively unscathed. Plus, you get the convenience of Qi2 support pinch built-in magnets for snap-on charging and accessories, including Google’s fantabulous magnetic ringing stand. Performance is smooth, too, and the somewhat wider outer show feels much for illustration a modular slab-style phone.

Battery life is besides coagulated for a folding phone, lasting a afloat time pinch minimal usage of the soul screen; however, spending much clip multitasking connected the larger show whitethorn time off the artillery successful the reddish by bedtime. While the 10 Pro Fold’s cameras are good, they lag down Google’s different 10 Pro models. The foldable is besides complete 40g heavier than Samsung’s lightweight Galaxy Z Fold 7. If you’ve been avoiding foldables because of durability concerns, the 10 Pro Fold’s improved hinge creation intends vulnerability to particulate and grains of soil doesn’t adjacent definite doom.

There are galore much awesome Android devices that weren’t covered here, and a fewer are worthy calling retired that didn’t rather make the trim for a recommendation.

Update, January 27th: Updated pricing / readiness and added the Motorola Razr Fold to the “What’s coming next” section. Brandon Russell and Brandon Widder besides contributed to this post.