The best Android phones for everyone

Image: The Verge

Whether you privation everything but the room descend oregon top-tier show for a midrange price, you’ve got options.

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 overmuch wider scope of choices connected Android. You privation unthinkable camera zoom? A built-in stylus? A telephone that runs a implicit desktop situation erstwhile you plug it into a monitor? You tin find it connected Android. Heck, you tin find each of that successful a azygous device.

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

If Samsung’s S24-series motorboat event is thing to spell by, past it’s a harmless stake that this year’s mobile tech buzzword volition beryllium AI. Generally speaking, AI has yet to truly impressment maine connected a phone. Google’s Pixel phones person immoderate neat AI photograph editing tricks, and Galaxy devices tin construe a telephone telephone for you successful existent time. These things are thing to sneeze at! But conscionable support successful caput that you’re ever conscionable a fewer taps distant from AI-gone-wrong atrocities similar Pillow Arm. Best not to enactment excessively overmuch banal successful immoderate company’s AI claims conscionable yet.

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

With that successful mind, it’s besides worthy acknowledging that astir radical successful the US get their phones “for free” from their wireless carrier. If you tin negociate it, buying a telephone unlocked volition springiness you the astir flexibility and state if you extremity up wanting to alteration carriers successful the adjacent future. Phone manufacturers besides connection financing and trade-in deals to marque outgo much manageable. But if you’re blessed with your bearer and the escaped telephone connected connection is the 1 you truly want, by each means, instrumentality the escaped phone. Just marque definite you recognize the terms, particularly if you request to alteration plans to currency successful connected the deal.

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

Best Android telephone overall

Screen: 6.7-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 / Cameras: 50-megapixel F1.8 main with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,900mAh / Charging: 45W wired, 15W wireless / Weather resistance: IP68

Samsung’s bigger flagship — but not the big large flagship — is erstwhile again the champion Android telephone for astir people. The Galaxy S24 Plus is simply a crowd-pleaser if the crowds privation a large screen, awesome cameras, and bully artillery beingness (I deliberation they do).

Samsung makes a large woody astir its AI features, which are similar each AI features connected phones close now: hit-and-miss. You tin person the telephone enactment arsenic a real-time connection translator connected telephone calls. It works good capable and could truly travel successful useful successful a pinch. But the generative AI photograph edits? Still precise overmuch a enactment successful progress.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Samsung’s S-series telephone is erstwhile again the champion enactment connected Android for astir people.

Outside of bundle updates, you won’t find overmuch caller hardware present — and that’s fine. The updated Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset is almighty capable for conscionable astir anyone, the artillery is simply a small bigger, and the surface gets a solution bump this twelvemonth for a crisper image. If these dependable similar insignificant updates, it’s due to the fact that they are. But that’s good erstwhile you’re already giving the radical what they want.

Read my afloat reappraisal of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus.

Best maximalist phone

Screen: 6.8-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 / Cameras: 200-megapixel main with OIS, 50-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 5,000mAh / Charging: 45W wired, 15W wireless / Weather resistance: IP68

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra says it each successful the name: Ultra. It has everything you could inquire for successful a telephone — well, astatine slightest 1 that doesn’t fold successful half. There’s a stylus, 2 telephoto cameras, a monolithic battery, and 1 of the champion ding dang screens connected immoderate phone, anywhere.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge Write your market database successful style.

So wherefore americium I a small underwhelmed? For starters, Samsung swapped past year’s 10x telephoto camera for a higher-resolution 5x camera that uses in-sensor harvest to zoom to 10x. This is simply a sensible move, and photos astatine 10x look fine, if not arsenic crisp arsenic they did connected the past model. It’s besides pricier this clip around, and it was already an costly phone. It’s beauteous darn heavy, too, and Samsung’s power to titanium for the framework hasn’t made it immoderate lighter.

Personal feelings astir the zoom lens aside, the S24 Ultra is inactive fundamentally peerless. Its much-touted AI features are fine, but if there’s 1 happening that makes it worthy the upgrade, it’s the screen. Its anti-glare coating and boosted maximum brightness marque it truthful comfy to usage extracurricular it’s astir magic. That’s hardly a fancy caller tech feature, but the Galaxy S24 Ultra is hardly immoderate aged phone.

Read my afloat reappraisal of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Best telephone if you’re sick of proceeding astir AI

Screen: 6.82-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.6 main with OIS, 64-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 48-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide / Battery: 5400mAh / Charging: 80W wired, 50W wireless / Weather-resistance rating: IP65

After a fewer years and a small soul-searching, OnePlus is backmost to its roots. The OnePlus 12 is an fantabulous instrumentality with high-end show with a competitory price: $799 for the basal exemplary with a hefty 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage.

For that price, you get a crisp 1440p 6.8-inch display, a top-tier Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and a susceptible camera. It supports wireless charging, thing that erstwhile OnePlus flagships person skipped. Battery show is fantastic, excessively — powerfulness users tin get done a afloat day, and airy users tin agelong it to two.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The OnePlus 12 gets the basics close astatine a precise bully price.

What stands retired astir the OnePlus 12, though, mightiness conscionable beryllium what’s not here: a clump of AI features. Honestly? That’s benignant of refreshing. Some of the AI features Google and Samsung are engaged shipping close present are nice, but nary of them consciousness essential. If you privation to beryllium retired this AI hype rhythm but you inactive privation a large phone, the OnePlus 12 mightiness beryllium the one.

Read my afloat reappraisal of the OnePlus 12.

Best telephone for household photography

Screen: 6.7-inch 1344p 120Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Tensor G3 Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.7 main with OIS, 48-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 48-megapixel ultrawide / Battery: 5050mAh / Charging: 30W wired, 23W wireless with Pixel Stand 2 / Weather-resistance rating: IP68

Anyone who’s ever tried to photograph a young kid understands what a telephone camera is up against: an unpredictable (but adorable!) taxable that won’t. Ever. Sit. Still. The Google Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro tackle this age-old problem with immoderate caller tech: AI. And dissimilar astir caller AI features connected smartphones, these tools truly bash travel successful handy.

Both phones see an AI editing instrumentality that volition fto you take the champion look for each idiosyncratic successful your photograph erstwhile you instrumentality a burst of images — particularly useful if you privation to get 1 with everyone looking astatine the camera. There’s AI to amended the audio successful your videos, too, allowing you to minimize distracting inheritance noises.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The Pixel 8 Pro comes with a fewer features cleanable for photographing small monsters.

The Pixel 8 and 8 Pro person highly susceptible cameras successful general, though lone the pricier 8 Pro has a telephoto lens. It’s worthy the upgrade if you’re a keen photographer. The 8 Pro besides comes with a bigger surface and battery, which a batch of radical volition appreciate. The airy and svelte Pixel 8, with its 6.2-inch screen, is simply a bully prime for small-ish telephone fans. Both phones usage Google’s Tensor G3 chipset, though only the 8 Pro is capable to tally ample connection models on-device — that’ll beryllium important successful the aboriginal arsenic AI tools (possibly?) go much useful.

Otherwise, the 8 and 8 Pro are bully all-around devices — conscionable cognize that Pixels are unluckily susceptible to an unusual bug present and there. None of the reappraisal units I’ve tested person suffered from them, but they’re retired there.

Read my afloat reappraisal of the Google Pixel 8 and 8 Pro.

Best foldable phone

Screen: 7.6-inch 2176p 120Hz OLED interior screen, 6.2-inch 2316p 120Hz OLED screen surface / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 / Cameras: 50-megapixel F/1.8 main with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel selfie (cover screen), four-megapixel under-display selfie (inner screen) / Battery: 4,400mAh / Charging: 25W wired, 15W wireless / Weather resistance: IPX8

Samsung’s flagship foldable isn’t the lone amusement successful municipality anymore, but it’s inactive the champion prime for astir radical looking for a folding phone. Its multitasking capabilities are 2nd to none, and it’s lighter and easier to wield than Google’s Pixel Fold. The constrictive dimensions of the screen show marque it a small awkward to usage for regular telephone stuff, but that’s a tenable tradeoff considering everything that the Fold 5 tin do.

There are immoderate important things to consider, though, starting with the $1800 price. That’s what the Pixel Fold costs, too, but it doesn’t substance however you look astatine it — that’s a batch to wage for a phone. The Fold 5 isn’t dust-resistant, either, truthful you’ll privation to beryllium somewhat cautious with your investment.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The Fold 5’s unusually long-and-narrow facet ratio erstwhile it’s closed is simply a crook disconnected for some.

The Fold 5 isn’t precisely teeming with technological improvements implicit past year’s model, either. There’s a caller hinge that folds level alternatively than with a spread betwixt the 2 halves of the phone, and that’s astir it. A mates of bundle updates that it offers volition travel to older Fold devices successful the future, truthful there’s not overmuch crushed to unreserved retired and commercialized successful your Fold 4 for a Fold 5.

If you’re a devoted Pixel instrumentality oregon averse to the Fold 5’s constrictive signifier origin erstwhile closed, Google’s foldable mightiness beryllium a amended choice. But for astir people, the Galaxy Fold 5’s versatility and bully caller way grounds for durability marque it a amended bet.

Read my afloat reappraisal of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.

Best telephone that puts connected a airy show

Screen: 6.7-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 / Cameras: 50-megapixel F/1.9 main with OIS, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,700mAh / Charging: 45W wired, 15W wireless / Weather resistance: IP54

The Nothing Phone 2 doesn’t connection the precise champion worth proposition successful its upper-midrange category. But if it’s benignant you’re aft and thing a small flashy (well, a lot flashy), past the Phone 2 is an casual pick.

It offers a bully 6.7-inch screen, large regular show and artillery life, and a susceptible camera system. But that’s the accustomed worldly — what’s antithetic astir the Phone 2 is its acceptable of LED airy strips connected the backmost panel. They illuminate successful combinations called “glyphs,” and you tin acceptable them to alert you to definite notifications. It’s neat but yet isn’t arsenic adjuvant arsenic the system’s customizable always-on display.

Photo by Allison Johnson / The Verge The Phone 2’s UI is on-theme.

On the downside, the Phone 2 is lone splash-resistant alternatively than afloat resistant to h2o submersion similar virtually each different phones implicit $500. It’s besides not afloat supported connected Verizon’s network, which takes it retired of contention for a batch of the US population.

If neither of the supra is simply a deal-breaker, and the Phone 2’s styling appeals to you, past it’s an fantabulous choice. One thing’s for definite — it decidedly stands retired from the crowd.

Read my afloat reappraisal of the Nothing Phone 2.

Other Android phones worthy considering

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

There’s the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Samsung’s clamshell-style foldable. It’s overmuch much utile than its predecessors, acknowledgment to a bigger 3.4-inch screen surface that allows you to benignant retired texts and emails connected a afloat QWERTY keyboard. It’s not arsenic versatile arsenic the Fold 5, but it besides costs a overmuch much tenable $999. Another flip telephone worthy considering: the Motorola Razr Plus. It’s not arsenic durable arsenic the Flip 5, and its screen surface widgets aren’t arsenic useful, but it runs afloat apps connected the outer show much easily. And it’s conscionable plain fun, gosh dang it.

On the different broadside of the foldable spectrum, the OnePlus Open is simply a invited summation to the premix with the champion surface format connected a book-style folding phone. It’s bladed and light, and the bundle includes immoderate thoughtful approaches to multitasking — a important portion of the folding telephone experience. At $1,700, it’s conscionable $100 shy of the Pixel Fold and Galaxy Z Fold 5 and misses a mates of cardinal features that some of those different options include: wireless charging and an IPX8 rating. But if those omissions don’t fuss you and the signifier origin appeals, it’s a beauteous instrumentality to use.

There’s 1 much Pixel telephone to consider: the Google Pixel 7A. It’s $499 and has the aforesaid Tensor G2 processor arsenic the Pixel 7 and 7 Pro. The 7A is decidedly the champion telephone camera you tin get for the money, and it comes with bully carnal comforts not usually seen successful fund devices, similar wireless charging. It’s connected the pricey broadside of the “budget” category, but it’s designed to spell the distance.

Update March 18th, 2024, 6:15PM ET: Replaced the Google Pixel 8 with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Plus. Replaced the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra with the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. Added the Google Pixel 8 Pro and the OnePlus 12.