The Android ecosystem is all about choice. While iPhone owners have a smaller pool of new devices to pick from when it’s time to upgrade, there’s a wider range of choices on Android. Some Android phones even fold in half! Imagine.
On the flip side, all that choice can make for some hard decisions. Here’s where I’d like to help; I’ve tested a whole boatload of recent Android phones, and I think there are some real winners in the current batch. It’s all a matter of what you’re looking for, what you’re comfortable spending, and what your definition of a “reasonably sized phone” is. (I have my own, personally.)
As you sift through the options, you’ll almost certainly come across tech’s favorite buzzphrase of the moment: AI. Generally speaking, AI has yet to really impress me on a phone. The Pixel 10 series has some useful features, including Magic Cue, which proactively aims to surface relevant information when you need it, and Galaxy devices can translate a phone call for you in real time. These things are nothing to sneeze at! But none of it feels like the platform shift that the big tech companies keep promising. Best not to put too much stock in any company’s AI claims just yet.
If you live in the US, I have some bad news about the Android market, though. For complicated reasons having to do with “capitalism” and “geopolitics,” we don’t get nearly as many of the options as you’ll find in Asia and Europe — brands like Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and Oppo just aren’t available here. I’ve limited this guide to the devices I’ve personally tested in depth; thus, it is a fairly US-centric set of recommendations.Â
With that in mind, it’s also worth acknowledging that most people in the US get their phones “for free” from their wireless carrier. If you can manage it, buying a phone unlocked will give you the most flexibility and freedom if you end up wanting to change carriers in the near future. Phone manufacturers also offer financing and trade-in deals to make payment more manageable. But if you’re happy with your carrier and the free phone on offer is the one you really want, by all means, take the free phone. Just make sure you understand the terms, especially if you need to change plans to cash in on the deal.Â
However you go about it, you have some fantastic options for your next Android phone.
The best Android phone overall
Google Pixel 10 (128GB)
Score: 8
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Where to Buy:
Screen: 6.3-inch, 1080p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Tensor G5 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 main with OIS; 13-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide; 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS; 10.5-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,970mAh / Charging: 30W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2) / Weather resistance: IP68
The Pixel 10 is Google’s latest take on the “just right” Android phone that introduces a few notable upgrades. For $799, you get a sharp 6.3-inch OLED screen, the same Tensor G5 chip found in the pricier Pro version, and Qi2 wireless charging with built-in magnets, no case required. The device is built to handle the day-to-day without a fuss, and the whole thing feels straightforward instead of flashy.
This year, the Pixel 10 also adds a dedicated telephoto lens, a first for the non-Pro. Unfortunately, the main and ultrawide cameras are a step down from last year’s model. If you’re not scrutinizing every pixel or chasing low-light portraits, you’ll probably never notice. For regular photos, the Pixel 10 is great; it produces clean shots, solid performance, and enough versatility for the average user.
What really sets the Pixel 10 apart, though, is how easy it is to use. AI features like Magic Cue are useful, proactively providing info without getting in the way. For example, it can surface a restaurant’s address or reservation details from your search history or confirmation email as you finalize plans over text. The phone runs cooler than previous versions and handles heavier workloads well, and it shrugs off dust and water. If you want an Android smartphone that doesn’t overcomplicate things, the Pixel 10 is an easy recommendation.
Read our full Pixel 10 review.
The best maximalist phone
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Score: 8
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Where to Buy:
Screen:Â 6.9-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED /Â Processor:Â Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite /Â Cameras:Â 200-megapixel main with OIS, 50-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie /Â Battery:Â 5,000mAh /Â Charging:Â 45W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready) /Â Weather resistance:Â IP68
There’s still no phone quite like the Ultra. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is Samsung’s latest answer to the question, “What if your phone had all of the features?” It’s equipped with two telephoto cameras, a built-in stylus, and a big, bright screen. Good luck finding that combination in another phone. Related: this is one of the most expensive slab-style phones you can buy.
The newest edition of the Ultra comes with rounded corners and flat edges, making it more comfortable in your hand. But if you’re looking for significant year-over-year improvements to the Ultra formula outside of that, well, you won’t find much. Samsung’s focus has been on software features, which is to say AI features. But AI on Galaxy phones remains a mixed bag — it’s certainly not the paradigm shift Samsung wants us to think the S25 series represents.
All of that puts the Ultra in a place of slightly less distinction than previous versions. The biggest updates are software features available to the rest of the S25 series. The Ultra looks and feels more like other Galaxy phones this time around, too. More than ever, it’s hard to understand what Samsung means when it calls this phone “Ultra.” Still, it’s your best choice for a feature-packed Android phone — even if it’s not quite as ultra as it once was.
Read my full Galaxy S25 Ultra review.
The best Android phone that isn’t huge
Samsung Galaxy S25
Score: 8
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Where to Buy:
Screen: 6.2-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 50-megapixel main with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,000mAh / Charging: 25W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready) / Weather-resistance rating: IP68
Most people like a big phone, and I get that. I do. If you want a big Android phone, you have plenty of options in front of you. But some of us like a smaller phone — something that (kind of) fits in your pocket, or feels more comfortable in your hand. For us, there is but one option on Android: the Samsung Galaxy S25.
That’s the regular S25, not the Plus, which is a fine big phone. But the standard S25 is basically the last of its kind: a full-featured phone with a 6.2-inch screen. It’s not small, but it’s not huge, and we’ll have to take what we can get. And it’s a darn good phone that keeps up with the bigger devices in all the important ways: the battery goes all day, it comes with plenty of RAM, and it even has a real telephoto lens — not something you get on a basic, 6.1-inch phone on, say, iOS.
The Galaxy S25 isn’t just a good, small-ish phone by default. It’s reliable, durable, and comes with the promise of seven years of OS updates. It’s not my pick for the overall best Android phone because Samsung software can be a bit much, but if you’re comfortable in the Samsung ecosystem and you just want a phone that fits in your dang pocket, then this is the one to go with.
Read my full Galaxy S25 review.
The best lightweight big phone
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge
Score: 8
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Where to Buy:
Screen: 6.7-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 200-megapixel f/1.7 main camera with OIS, 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide, 12-megapixel f/2.2 selfie / Battery: 3,900mAh / Charging: 25W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2 Ready)Â / Weather-resistance rating: IP68
Big phones have a tendency to, well, look and feel big. The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge, on the other hand, is different. Thanks to its slim, lightweight design, the device provides a welcome reprieve from the countless chunky, heavy alternatives. It’s thinner and lighter than the Galaxy S25 Plus, making it the big phone you can actually slide into your pocket or evening bag without it protruding out.
So, what’s the catch? The S25 Edge’s battery life is fine. Not great, not terrible, but somewhere straight down the middle. To be fair, it held up admirably during a particularly strenuous workday, one complete with hours of screen time, mobile hotspotting, and live blogging, making it to bedtime with battery to spare. It also lacks a dedicated telephoto lens, though it does feature the same 200-megapixel main camera found in the S25 Ultra.
Even with those compromises, the S25 Edge is a very capable phone that offers similar performance and durability to other devices in the S25 lineup. You’ll just have to be a little more aware of battery life as the day goes on; however, unless you’re frequently streaming video or playing graphics-intensive games throughout the day, the noticeably thinner, lighter design offers a nice change of pace.
Read our Galaxy S25 Edge review.
The best phone if you hate waiting for your phone to charge
OnePlus 13
Score: 8
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Where to Buy:
Screen: 6.82-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.6 main with OIS, 50-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 50-megapixel f/2.0 ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie / Battery: 6,000mAh / Charging: 80W wired, 50W wireless / Weather-resistance rating: IP68 and IP69
There are plenty of good reasons to consider the OnePlus 13. It has a big, beautiful screen, and costs a hundred bucks less than the Galaxy S25 Plus. Its dust and water resistance is so strong you could practically use the phone in a hurricane without consequences. And its camera system is much improved year over year, particularly when it comes to low-light portraiture. But there’s one standout reason to consider the 13: impatience.
The OnePlus 13 offers enough battery stamina to get through two days of moderate use on a single charge — and that’s with plenty of power-draining features enabled, including the always-on display. If you’re thriftier with your charge, it could even go beyond that. Forgot to charge overnight? No big deal; you can probably just charge it up on night two. Charging is also relatively fast, and in the US, the phone comes with an 80W wired charger in the box. So even if you do need a midday top-off, you’ll be able to get hours of charge in a matter of minutes. No other flagship phone offers that kind of charging (or not charging) flexibility.
Read my full OnePlus 13 review.
The best foldable phone
Google Pixel Pro 10 Fold (256GB)
Score: 8
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Where to Buy:
Screen:Â 8-inch, 2076p, 120Hz OLED inner screen; 6.4-inch, 1080p, 120Hz OLED cover screen /Â Processor:Â Google Tensor G5 /Â Cameras:Â 48-megapixel f/1.7 main with OIS; 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS; 10.5-megapixel ultrawide; 10-megapixel selfie (cover screen); 10-megapixel inner selfie camera /Â Battery:Â 5,015mAh /Â Charging:Â 30W wired, 15W wireless (Qi2) /Â Weather resistance:Â IP68
The Pixel 10 Pro Fold’s brings better durability to a category that’s historically fragile. With an IP68 rating, the it’s the first foldable to offer full dust and water resistance. In real-world use, that means the device can take a tumble at the beach and remain relatively unscathed. Plus, you get the convenience of Qi2 support with built-in magnets for snap-on charging and accessories, including Google’s excellent magnetic ring stand. Performance is smooth, too, and the slightly wider outer display feels more like a standard slab-style phone.
Battery life is also solid for a folding phone, lasting a full day with minimal use of the inner screen; however, spending more time multitasking on the larger display means the battery may be in the red by bedtime. While the 10 Pro Fold’s cameras are good, they lag behind Google’s other 10 Pro models. The foldable is also over 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 design means exposure to dust and grains of sand doesn’t equal certain doom.
Read our Pixel 10 Pro Fold review.
Other Android phones worth considering
There are many more great Android devices that weren’t covered here, and a few are worth calling out that didn’t quite make the cut for a recommendation.
- The OnePlus 13R is a midrange phone with a big 6.78-inch OLED display and enough battery life to carry you through two full days on a single charge. That said, the $599 handset lacks wireless charging and full water resistance, both of which can be found on other budget-friendly phones for less. Read our review.
- The Google Pixel 9A comes with some small but important updates over the 8A, including more robust water resistance and a slightly bigger, brighter screen. Better yet, those improvements don’t come with a price bump. With seven years of OS updates included, that’s a strong ROI. Read our review.
- The Nothing Phone 3 is billed by the brand as its “first true flagship phone,” with a $799 starting price that competes directly with the iPhone 17, Galaxy S25, and Pixel 10. It boasts a 6.67-inch OLED display, a generous 5,150mAh capacity battery, and a Snapdragon 8S Gen 4 chipset, which is on the lower end of the flagship spectrum. It also looks different from previous Nothing devices. Instead of the iconic light strips on the back that glow and flash, the Nothing 3 features a small dot-matrix LED display that can show pictures and icons. Read our review.
- The Galaxy Z Flip 7 is Samsung’s other new foldable device. Unlike previous Flip series devices, the company’s latest flip phone ditches the file folder-shaped look for a 4.1-inch, edge-to-edge display that wraps around the cameras. The larger screen is a joy to use, making it much easier to quickly respond to texts and manage full apps. While the design is a big upgrade, the device still offers no protection against fine particles like dust or sand, raising concerns about how the device will hold up over time. Read our review.
- The Pixel 9 Pro Fold remains a great option for anyone looking to jump into the foldable market. Like the Z Fold 7, it offers a more slab-style form factor when it’s closed and a spacious inner screen when it’s open. As great as it is, the 9 Pro Fold has a slightly downgraded camera system compared to other Pixel 9 devices. There’s also no formal dust resistance, so even a small amount of dust has the potential to cause significant damage to the hinge. Read our review.
- The Pixel 10 Pro is Google’s most refined flagship yet, and a great showcase for the Android ecosystem. It features a premium design and big hardware upgrades over its predecessor, like a Tensor G5 chip and Qi2 wireless charging with built-in magnets. It also offers genuinely useful AI features, and the camera’s portrait mode is much improved over its predecessor. However, while the 10 Pro’s battery capacity is a bit larger this time around (4,870mAh versus 4,700mAh), the battery life is just okay. We’re also feeling uneasy about generative AI being inside the camera app. Read our review.
- The Galaxy Z Fold 7 is a thin, lightweight foldable that feels like a regular phone when folded shut. It has a spacious inner display that’s great for multitasking and gaming, and its battery can last all day with moderate use. That said, the device has a starting price of $2,000 — $200 more than the Pixel 10 Pro Fold — though we’ve seen it drop as low as $1,599. It also has an IP48 rating, meaning it’s fully water-resistant but not completely immune to tiny specks of dust. Read our review.
What’s coming next
- Now that we’re past all the major releases for the year, we’re in a bit of a lull. That said, we still may see Samsung’s rumored trifold device before 2025 is over, though we haven’t heard much since the summer. Either way, you have more options than ever to choose from right now, whether you’re upgrading your current device or a first-time buyer. This time of the year is also typically a good time to find something on sale, with Black Friday and Cyber Monday being good dates to earmark if you’re on a budget.
Update, October 22nd: Updated pricing / availability and added the Pixel 10 Pro Fold as our pick for “the best foldable phone.” Brandon Russell also contributed to this post.
