The Android ecosystem is all about selection. While iPhone house owners have a smaller pool of recent units to choose from when it’s time to improve, there’s a wider vary of decisions on Android. Some Android telephones even fold in half! Imagine.
On the flip facet, all that selection could make for some arduous choices. Here’s the place I’d like to assist; I’ve examined a complete boatload of current Android telephones, and I feel there are some actual winners within the present batch. It’s all a matter of what you’re searching for, what you’re snug spending, and what your definition of a “moderately sized telephone” is. (I’ve my very own, personally.)
As you sift via the choices, you’ll nearly definitely come throughout tech’s favourite buzzphrase of the second: AI. Generally talking, AI has but to actually impress me on a telephone. The Pixel 9 collection has some probably helpful options, like a Screenshots app that makes use of AI to tag related data in metadata, and Galaxy units can translate a telephone name for you in actual time. These issues are nothing to sneeze at! But none of it feels just like the platform shift that the massive tech corporations preserve promising. Best to not put an excessive amount of inventory in any firm’s AI claims simply but.
What I’m searching for
There’s no shortcut to correctly testing a telephone; I put my private SIM card (bodily or in any other case) in every telephone I evaluate and dwell with it for no less than one full week. I arrange every telephone from scratch, load it up with my apps, and go about residing my life — stress testing the battery, utilizing Global Positioning System navigation on my bike whereas streaming radio, taking rapid-fire portrait mode photographs of my child — every part I can throw at it. Starting over with a brand new telephone each week both seems like a dream or your private hell, relying on how Into Phones you’re. For me, switching has change into so routine that it’s principally painless.
An important Android telephone will go the gap. I search for indicators that the {hardware} and software program will sustain for a few years to come back, together with a robust IP score for mud and water resistance (IP68 is most popular), sturdy glass panels on the back and front, and a sturdy aluminum body relatively than plastic. Samsung and Google flagships now provide seven years of OS and safety updates, which as superior. As a naked minimal three years of Android OS model upgrades is most popular, together with a complete of 4 or 5 years of safety updates.
The greatest Android telephones have loads of decision to cowl their giant show space, which suggests 1440p, ideally. A quick refresh price of not less than 120Hz is most popular — animations and scrolling look tremendous easy at that price — and even higher if it’s variable right down to 1Hz to avoid wasting on battery life.
Any telephone can take an honest picture in good lighting, however one of the best telephone cameras can deal with low mild and high-contrast scenes effectively, too. I search for optical (most typical) or sensor-shift (uncommon) picture stabilization, which helps compensate for hand shake and allow slower shutter speeds in low mild to collect extra mild. A telephoto lens is nice to have too, although high-res sensors are beginning to provide higher lossless crop modes that mimic quick zoom lenses effectively.
Most telephones on this record provide wi-fi charging, although not all do. Lack of wi-fi charging isn’t an entire deal-breaker, however it’s turning into an important function for lots of people because it’s handy for charging many alternative sorts of units.
If you reside within the US, I’ve some dangerous information concerning the Android market, although. For sophisticated causes having to do with “capitalism” and “geopolitics,” we don’t get almost as most of the choices as you’ll discover in Asia and Europe — manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and Oppo simply aren’t out there right here. I’ve restricted this information to the units I’ve personally examined in depth; thus, it’s a pretty US-centric set of suggestions.
With that in thoughts, it’s additionally price acknowledging that most individuals within the US get their telephones “totally free” from their wi-fi provider. If you’ll be able to handle it, shopping for a telephone unlocked gives you essentially the most flexibility and freedom if you find yourself wanting to alter carriers within the close to future. Phone producers additionally provide financing and trade-in offers to make fee extra manageable. But in case you’re glad together with your provider and the free telephone on provide is the one you really need, by all means, take the free telephone. Just ensure you perceive the phrases, particularly if it’s good to change plans to money in on the deal.
However you go about it, you’ve gotten some unbelievable choices in your subsequent Android telephone.
The greatest Android telephone total
$700
The Good
- Updated design feels safer in hand
- Fast fingerprint sensor
- Seven years of software program and OS updates
The Bad
- No telephoto digital camera
- AI options are inconsistent
- What is a photograph?
Screen: 6.3-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Tensor G4 / Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.7 primary with OIS, 48-megapixel ultrawide, 10.5-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,700mAh / Charging: 27W wired, 15W wi-fi (with Pixel Stand 2) / Weather resistance: IP68
Google’s {hardware} is healthier than ever, and the entire Pixel 9 lineup feels simply as polished as something you’d get from Samsung or Apple. But at $799, the essential Pixel 9 is in a very interesting place, and in case you don’t want a telephoto digital camera or the most important display, then that is the Android telephone to get.
The Pixel 9 comes with some vital quality-of-life enhancements like a sooner fingerprint scanner for unlocking the telephone. The digital camera is as dependable as ever, and in case you’re into AI picture enhancing methods, boy does this telephone have ‘em. There’s a brand new Screenshots app that acts as a spot to retailer all the data that will in any other case be misplaced at sea in your digital camera roll, and it makes use of AI to parse data out and make it searchable. Kinda helpful.
Even with out AI, this is a wonderful telephone. It’s additionally designed to go the gap, with seven years of promised OS updates, which very doubtless means you’ll outgrow the telephone earlier than Google stops supporting it. Its potential for long-term worth and the standard of the {hardware} make it a straightforward suggestion for anybody who simply desires a pleasant Android telephone that works.
Read my Google Pixel 9 evaluate.
The greatest maximalist telephone
$1299
The Good
- Excellent display
- Improved ultrawide digital camera
- Rounded corners are comfier
The Bad
- Expensive
- Bulky
- AI is (nonetheless) hit and miss
Screen: 6.9-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 200-megapixel primary with OIS, 50-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 5,000mAh / Charging: 45W wired, 15W wi-fi (Qi2 Ready) / Weather resistance: IP68
There’s nonetheless no telephone fairly just like the Ultra. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is Samsung’s newest reply to the query, “What in case your telephone had all the options?” It’s geared up with two telephoto cameras, a built-in stylus, and a giant, brilliant display. Good luck discovering that mixture in one other telephone. Related: this is likely one of the costliest slab-style telephones you should purchase.
The latest version of the Ultra comes with rounded corners and flat edges, making it extra snug in your hand. But in case you’re searching for vital year-over-year enhancements to the Ultra system outdoors of that, effectively, you received’t discover a lot. Samsung’s focus has been on software program options, which is to say AI options. But AI on Galaxy telephones stays a combined bag — it’s definitely not the paradigm shift Samsung desires us to suppose the S25 collection represents.
Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge
All of that places the Ultra in a spot of barely much less distinction than earlier variations. The greatest updates are software program options out there to the remainder of the S25 collection. The Ultra seems and feels extra like different Galaxy telephones this time round, too. More than ever, it’s arduous to know what Samsung means when it calls this telephone “Ultra.” Still, it’s your most suitable option for a feature-packed Android telephone — even when it’s not fairly as extremely because it as soon as was.
Read my Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra evaluate.
The greatest Android telephone that isn’t big
$800
The Good
- The final moderately sized Android telephone
- Seven years of OS upgrades
- Very good digital camera
The Bad
- Samsung software program is as cluttered as typical
- AI remains to be a combined bag
Screen: 6.2-inch 2340 x 1080 120hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Cameras: 50-megapixel primary with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel selfie Battery: 4000mAh / Charging: 25W wired, 15W wi-fi (Qi2 Ready) / Weather-resistance score: IP68
Most folks like a giant telephone, and I get that. I do. If you need a large Android telephone, you’ve gotten loads of choices in entrance of you. But a few of us like a smaller telephone — one thing that (sort of) suits in your pocket, or feels extra snug in your hand. For us, there may be however one choice on Android: the Samsung Galaxy S25.
That’s the common S25, not the Plus, which is a advantageous large telephone. But the usual S25 is mainly the final of its type: a full-featured telephone with a 6.2-inch display. It’s not small, however it’s not big, and we’ll must take what we will get. And it’s a darn good telephone that retains up with the larger units in all of the essential methods: the battery goes all day, it comes with loads of RAM, and it even has an actual telephoto lens — not one thing you get on a primary, 6.1-inch telephone on, say, iOS.
Photo: Allison Johnson / The Verge
The Galaxy S25 isn’t only a good, small-ish telephone by default. It’s dependable, sturdy, and comes with the promise of seven years of OS updates. It’s not my decide for the general greatest Android telephone as a result of Samsung software program could be a bit a lot, however in case you’re snug within the Samsung ecosystem and also you simply need a telephone that matches in your dang pocket, then that is the one to go along with.
The greatest telephone in case you hate ready in your telephone to cost
$899
The OnePlus 13 comes with improved water resistance, help from all three main US wi-fi carriers, and a robust software program coverage. Coupled with a Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and multi-day battery life, it’s a formidable high-end Android telephone.
Screen: 6.82-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.6 primary with OIS, 50-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 50-megapixel f/2.0 ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie / Battery: 6,000mAh / Charging: 80W wired, 50W wi-fi / Weather-resistance score: IP68 and IP69
There are loads of good causes to contemplate the OnePlus 13. It has a giant, lovely display, and prices 100 bucks lower than the Galaxy S25 Plus. Its mud and water resistance is so robust you can virtually use the telephone in a hurricane with out penalties. And its digital camera system is far improved 12 months over 12 months, notably relating to low-light portraiture. But there’s one standout cause to contemplate the 13: impatience.
The OnePlus 13 presents sufficient battery stamina to get via two days of average use on a single cost — and that’s with loads of power-draining options enabled, together with the always-on show. If you’re thriftier together with your cost, it may even transcend that. Forgot to cost in a single day? No large deal; you’ll be able to in all probability simply cost it up on night time two. Charging can be comparatively quick, and within the US, the telephone comes with an 80W wired charger within the field. So even in case you do want a noon top-off, you’ll have the ability to get hours of cost in a matter of minutes. No different flagship telephone presents that sort of charging (or not charging) flexibility.
Read my OnePlus 13 evaluate.
$1499
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold includes a 6.3-inch outer display and an eight-inch internal display as soon as it’s unfolded — each of that are bigger than the unique Pixel Fold. The new foldable additionally lays flat when opened, sports activities IPX8 climate resistance, and presents a thinner design than the last-gen mannequin.
Screen: 8.0-inch 2076p 120Hz OLED internal display, 6.3-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED cowl display / Processor: Tensor G4 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 primary with OIS, 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 10.5-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel selfie (cowl display), 10-megapixel internal selfie digital camera / Battery: 4,650mAh / Charging: 21W wired, 7.5W wi-fi / Weather resistance: IPX8
Does anybody really want a folding telephone? Probably not. But utilizing one is terribly good, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold is the nicest book-style foldable I’ve used so far. It’s dear, it’s nonetheless bulkier than a slab-style telephone, and its cameras aren’t fairly as good as the opposite Pixel 9 Pro telephones. But it’s a pleasure to make use of, each as a daily telephone with the duvet display and if you unfold the massive internal display.
The 9 Pro Fold is Google’s second folding telephone, following up the passport-shaped Pixel Fold with a format that feels rather more acquainted. The outer display measures 6.3 inches on the diagonal, however extra importantly, the ratio is identical as Google’s slab telephones. By comparability, Samsung’s Z Fold 6 makes use of a taller, narrower format that feels cramped. Having used them each, I a lot choose the 9 Pro Fold’s strategy.
That mentioned, the 9 Pro Fold isn’t with out compromises. The digital camera system isn’t fairly pretty much as good as what you get within the different 9 Pro telephones. The outer display isn’t as sharp or brilliant because the Pixel 9 Pro’s, both. And it’s not as sturdy as its slab-style counterparts — there’s no mud resistance, and you’ll’t get it repaired simply anyplace. For $1,800, that’s an terrible lot to swallow. For the adventurous early adopter, although, the 9 Pro Fold shall be very rewarding.
Read my Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold evaluate.
Other Android telephones price contemplating
There are many extra nice Android units that weren’t coated right here, and some are price calling out that didn’t fairly make the reduce for a suggestion.
- First off, there’s the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Samsung’s wonderful clamshell-style foldable. It’s not as a lot enjoyable to make use of because the 2024 Motorola Razr Plus — which facilitates utilizing apps on the duvet display extra simply — however Motorola’s monitor report for software program updates isn’t nice, so the Z Flip 6 is a safer wager for a flip telephone. Read our evaluate.
- The OnePlus Open can be one other good book-style foldable choice. It’s skinny and lightweight, and the software program contains some considerate approaches to multitasking — a vital a part of the folding telephone expertise. But it received’t be supported with software program updates for so long as the Pixel 9 Pro Fold or the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Read our evaluate.
- Last however not least, there’s the Google Pixel 8A. If you actually wish to maximize the return in your funding, it’s arduous to beat Google’s newest midrange telephone. It’s due for alternative within the close to future, however in case you can snag a deal on the 8A it’s nonetheless an excellent purchase. Read our evaluate.
Update, February twenty seventh: Added the Samsung Galaxy S25 and eliminated the Nothing Phone 2.
