The Android ecosystem is all about selection. Whereas iPhone house owners have a smaller pool of latest gadgets to choose from when it’s time to improve, there’s a wider vary of selections on Android. Some Android telephones even fold in half! Think about.
On the flip facet, all that selection could make for some laborious selections. Right here’s the place I’d like to assist; I’ve examined an entire boatload of current Android telephones, and I believe there are some actual winners within the present batch. It’s all a matter of what you’re in search of, what you’re snug spending, and what your definition of a “fairly sized cellphone” is. (I’ve my very own, personally.)
As you sift by means of the choices, you’ll virtually definitely come throughout tech’s favourite buzzphrase of the second: AI. Usually talking, AI has but to essentially impress me on a cellphone. The Pixel 9 sequence has some doubtlessly helpful options, like a Screenshots app that makes use of AI to tag related information in metadata, and Galaxy gadgets can translate a cellphone name for you in actual time. These items are nothing to sneeze at! However none of it feels just like the platform shift that the massive tech firms hold promising. Finest to not put an excessive amount of inventory in any firm’s AI claims simply but.
What I’m in search of
There’s no shortcut to correctly testing a cellphone; I put my private SIM card (bodily or in any other case) in every cellphone I overview and stay with it for no less than one full week. I arrange every cellphone from scratch, load it up with my apps, and go about residing my life — stress testing the battery, utilizing GPS navigation on my bike whereas streaming radio, taking rapid-fire portrait mode pictures of my child — all the things I can throw at it. Beginning over with a brand new cellphone each week both appears like a dream or your private hell, relying on how Into Telephones you might be. For me, switching has turn out to be so routine that it’s largely painless.
An awesome Android cellphone will go the space. I search for indicators that the {hardware} and software program will sustain for a few years to come back, together with a powerful IP score for mud and water resistance (IP68 is most well-liked), sturdy glass panels on the back and front, and a sturdy aluminum body somewhat than plastic. Samsung and Google flagships now supply seven years of OS and safety updates, which as superior. As a naked minimal three years of Android OS model upgrades is most well-liked, together with a complete of 4 or 5 years of safety updates.
One of the best Android telephones have loads of decision to cowl their massive show space, which implies 1440p, ideally. A quick refresh charge of a minimum of 120Hz is most well-liked — animations and scrolling look tremendous clean at that charge — and even higher if it’s variable right down to 1Hz to avoid wasting on battery life.
Any cellphone can take a good photograph in good lighting, however the very best cellphone cameras can deal with low mild and high-contrast scenes properly, 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 assemble extra mild. A telephoto lens is nice to have too, although high-res sensors are beginning to supply higher lossless crop modes that mimic brief zoom lenses properly.
Most telephones on this record supply wi-fi charging, although not all do. Lack of wi-fi charging isn’t an entire deal-breaker, but it surely’s changing into an important characteristic for lots of people because it’s handy for charging many alternative sorts of gadgets.
In case you stay within the US, I’ve some dangerous information in regards to the Android market, although. For classy causes having to do with “capitalism” and “geopolitics,” we don’t get practically as lots 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 gadgets I’ve personally examined in depth; thus, it’s a pretty US-centric set of suggestions.
With that in thoughts, it’s additionally value acknowledging that most individuals within the US get their telephones “free of charge” from their wi-fi provider. In case you can handle it, shopping for a cellphone unlocked provides you with probably the most flexibility and freedom if you find yourself wanting to vary carriers within the close to future. Telephone producers additionally supply financing and trade-in offers to make fee extra manageable. However if you happen to’re blissful together with your provider and the free cellphone on supply is the one you actually need, by all means, take the free cellphone. Simply be sure to perceive the phrases, particularly if you could change plans to money in on the deal.
Nonetheless you go about it, you’ve some improbable choices on your subsequent Android cellphone.
One of the best Android cellphone general
$700
The Good
- Up to date design feels safer in hand
- Quick fingerprint sensor
- Seven years of software program and OS updates
The Dangerous
- No telephoto digital camera
- AI options are inconsistent
- What is a photograph?
Display: 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) / Climate resistance: IP68
Google’s {hardware} is best than ever, and the entire Pixel 9 lineup feels simply as polished as something you’d get from Samsung or Apple. However at $799, the essential Pixel 9 is in a very interesting place, and if you happen to don’t want a telephoto digital camera or the largest display screen, then that is the Android cellphone to get.
The Pixel 9 comes with some important quality-of-life enhancements like a sooner fingerprint scanner for unlocking the cellphone. The digital camera is as dependable as ever, and if you happen to’re into AI photograph modifying tips, boy does this cellphone have ‘em. There’s a brand new Screenshots app that acts as a spot to retailer the entire info that might in any other case be misplaced at sea in your digital camera roll, and it makes use of AI to parse info out and make it searchable. Kinda helpful.
Even with out AI, this is a superb cellphone. It’s additionally designed to go the space, with seven years of promised OS updates, which very possible means you’ll outgrow the cellphone 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 needs a pleasant Android cellphone that works.
Learn my Google Pixel 9 overview.
One of the best maximalist cellphone
$1299
The Good
- Glorious display screen
- Improved ultrawide digital camera
- Rounded corners are comfier
The Dangerous
- Costly
- Cumbersome
- AI is (nonetheless) hit and miss
Display: 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 Prepared) / Climate resistance: IP68
There’s nonetheless no cellphone fairly just like the Extremely. The Galaxy S25 Extremely is Samsung’s newest reply to the query, “What in case your cellphone had the entire options?” It’s outfitted with two telephoto cameras, a built-in stylus, and an enormous, vivid display screen. Good luck discovering that mixture in one other cellphone. Associated: this is likely one of the costliest slab-style telephones you should purchase.
The most recent version of the Extremely comes with rounded corners and flat edges, making it extra snug in your hand. However if you happen to’re in search of important year-over-year enhancements to the Extremely method exterior of that, properly, you received’t discover a lot. Samsung’s focus has been on software program options, which is to say AI options. However AI on Galaxy telephones stays a blended bag — it’s definitely not the paradigm shift Samsung needs us to suppose the S25 sequence represents.
Picture: Allison Johnson / The Verge
All of that places the Extremely in a spot of barely much less distinction than earlier variations. The largest updates are software program options out there to the remainder of the S25 sequence. The Extremely appears to be like and feels extra like different Galaxy telephones this time round, too. Greater than ever, it’s laborious to know what Samsung means when it calls this cellphone “Extremely.” Nonetheless, it’s your most suitable option for a feature-packed Android cellphone — even when it’s not fairly as extremely because it as soon as was.
Learn my Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely overview.
One of the best Android cellphone that isn’t enormous
$800
The Good
- The final fairly sized Android cellphone
- Seven years of OS upgrades
- Excellent digital camera
The Dangerous
- Samsung software program is as cluttered as traditional
- AI remains to be a blended bag
Display: 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 Prepared) / Climate-resistance score: IP68
Most individuals like an enormous cellphone, and I get that. I do. If you need an enormous Android cellphone, you’ve loads of choices in entrance of you. However a few of us like a smaller cellphone — one thing that (sort of) suits in your pocket, or feels extra snug in your hand. For us, there’s however one choice on Android: the Samsung Galaxy S25.
That’s the common S25, not the Plus, which is a positive huge cellphone. However the usual S25 is mainly the final of its type: a full-featured cellphone with a 6.2-inch display screen. It’s not small, but it surely’s not enormous, and we’ll must take what we are able to get. And it’s a darn good cellphone that retains up with the larger gadgets in all of the vital 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 cellphone on, say, iOS.
Picture: Allison Johnson / The Verge
The Galaxy S25 isn’t only a good, small-ish cellphone by default. It’s dependable, sturdy, and comes with the promise of seven years of OS updates. It’s not my choose for the general greatest Android cellphone as a result of Samsung software program is usually a bit a lot, however if you happen to’re snug within the Samsung ecosystem and also you simply need a cellphone that matches in your dang pocket, then that is the one to go along with.
One of the best cellphone if you happen to hate ready on your cellphone to cost
$899
The Good
- Glorious outer display screen format
- Interior display screen is beautiful to make use of
- Seven years of OS updates
The Dangerous
- Costly
- Important digital camera isn’t pretty much as good as slab telephones
- Lengthy-term sturdiness?
Display: 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 / Climate-resistance score: IP68 and IP69
There are many good causes to think about the OnePlus 13. It has an enormous, lovely display screen, and prices 100 bucks lower than the Galaxy S25 Plus. Its mud and water resistance is so robust you can virtually use the cellphone in a hurricane with out penalties. And its digital camera system is far improved yr over yr, notably in relation to low-light portraiture. However there’s one standout purpose to think about the 13: impatience.
The OnePlus 13 gives sufficient battery stamina to get by means of two days of reasonable use on a single cost — and that’s with loads of power-draining options enabled, together with the always-on show. In case you’re thriftier together with your cost, it might even transcend that. Forgot to cost in a single day? No huge deal; you’ll be able to most likely simply cost it up on night time two. Charging can be comparatively quick, and within the US, the cellphone comes with an 80W wired charger within the field. So even if you happen to do want a noon top-off, you’ll be capable to get hours of cost in a matter of minutes. No different flagship cellphone gives that sort of charging (or not charging) flexibility.
Learn my OnePlus 13 overview.
$1499
The Good
- Glorious outer display screen format
- Interior display screen is beautiful to make use of
- Seven years of OS updates
The Dangerous
- Costly
- Important digital camera isn’t pretty much as good as slab telephones
- Lengthy-term sturdiness?
Display: 8.0-inch 2076p 120Hz OLED inside display screen, 6.3-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED cowl display screen / 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 screen), 10-megapixel inside selfie digital camera / Battery: 4,650mAh / Charging: 21W wired, 7.5W wi-fi / Climate resistance: IPX8
Does anybody actually want a folding cellphone? Most likely not. However utilizing one is terribly good, and the Pixel 9 Professional Fold is the nicest book-style foldable I’ve used up to now. It’s expensive, it’s nonetheless bulkier than a slab-style cellphone, and its cameras aren’t fairly as good as the opposite Pixel 9 Professional telephones. But it surely’s a pleasure to make use of, each as an everyday cellphone with the duvet display screen and once you unfold the massive inside display screen.
The 9 Professional Fold is Google’s second folding cellphone, following up the passport-shaped Pixel Fold with a format that feels rather more acquainted. The outer display screen measures 6.3 inches on the diagonal, however extra importantly, the ratio is similar 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 Professional Fold’s strategy.
That stated, the 9 Professional 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 Professional telephones. The outer display screen isn’t as sharp or vivid because the Pixel 9 Professional’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 Professional Fold might be very rewarding.
Learn my Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold overview.
Different Android telephones value contemplating
There are numerous extra nice Android gadgets that weren’t lined right here, and some are value calling out that didn’t fairly make the minimize for a suggestion.
- First off, there’s the Galaxy Z Flip 6, Samsung’s glorious 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 screen extra simply — however Motorola’s monitor report for software program updates isn’t nice, so the Z Flip 6 is a safer guess for a flip cellphone. Learn our overview.
- The OnePlus Open can be one other good book-style foldable choice. It’s skinny and light-weight, and the software program consists of some considerate approaches to multitasking — a vital a part of the folding cellphone expertise. But it surely received’t be supported with software program updates for so long as the Pixel 9 Professional Fold or the Galaxy Z Fold 6. Learn our overview.
- Final however not least, there’s the Google Pixel 8A. In case you actually wish to maximize the return in your funding, it’s laborious to beat Google’s newest midrange cellphone. It’s due for substitute within the close to future, however if you happen to can snag a deal on the 8A it’s nonetheless an incredible purchase. Learn our overview.
Replace, February twenty seventh: Added the Samsung Galaxy S25 and eliminated the Nothing Telephone 2.