I love big phones and I cannot lie — and here are the best you can buy right now

This is the guide you want if you're thinking about buying one of the best big phones as your next phone purchase. Chances are you're after a big phone for its display or battery, but these handsets often come packed with many other features that may tempt you to buy them besides. So we're here to help point you to exactly the right phone for your needs.

Our top pick right now is the Galaxy S26 Ultra, or the iPhone 17 Pro Max if you prefer an Apple-made phone. We'd also highlight the OnePlus 15 for its exceptional battery life, to round out our top three. But there are other excellent phones on this list, like the Pixel 10 Pro XL or the Galaxy Z Fold 7, if you want a greater focus on cameras or overall size.

We're always testing new phones to see what's the best on offer, so things may not be the same if you come back to this list another time. But as things stand, here's our pick of the best big phones you can buy right now.

Richard Priday

I'm a little sad to have seen the small phone basically go extinct over the seven years of my phone-reviewing career. But as a fan of big phones, I'm one of the people the industry is trying to cater to by making their phones larger! Having a big, but still pocketable, smartphone gives me lots of screen space to enjoy video or games on, and a large battery to keep enjoying them on while I'm out away from a charger. And if you're reading this guide, you likely feel that way too.

The quick list

Best big phone overall

The Galaxy S26 Ultra is Samsung's premium flagship phone option for 2026, and the best big phone you can buy right now. It delivers an immersive, vibrant display and excellent battery life while being slimmer than its predecessor and the iPhone 17 Pro Max. That combination of unbeatable screen real estate and improved ergonomics makes the S26 Ultra a standout for anyone who wants the biggest, brightest phone without the usual heft.

Samsung's also used the S26 Ultra as the platform for brand new unique features like the customizable Privacy Display, which uses hardware and software to shield your screen from prying eyes, or AI powers like the updated Now Brief and Now Nudge, or Gemini's new Automated App Actions ability. These help cement the S26 Ultra’s position as the big-screen Android flagship for those who want the best tools that a smartphone has to offer.

When it comes to endurance, the S26 Ultra delivers nearly two hours more battery life than last year’s S25 Ultra in our 5G web-surfing test at 150 nits. The iPhone 17 Pro Max still pulls ahead by another two hours, but the S26 Ultra closes the gap and brings more convenience with 25W wireless Qi charging. It’s a welcome boost that matches what you’d expect from a true flagship.

Day-to-day performance is where the S26 Ultra truly shines. In 3DMark Solar Bay Unlimited benchmark testing, it outpaced the iPhone 17 Pro Max in both frame rate and overall score, a reflection of the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip and a redesigned vapor chamber that keeps the phone cool even during long gaming sessions. In our review, we found the S26 Ultra stayed fast and comfortable to hold, even with demanding games running for extended periods.

The camera system is just as versatile as you’d hope for at this level. A 200MP main sensor with a wider aperture produces crisp, detailed shots across a wide range of conditions, and low-light photos look noticeably better than last year’s model. Samsung’s dual 5x and 3x optical zoom lenses, plus digital zoom up to 100x, continue to set the standard for versatility. The new Horizon Lock stabilization keeps videos smooth no matter how you hold the phone.

There are trade-offs to consider. The large camera bump causes the S26 Ultra to wobble when lying flat, a drawback compared to the iPhone 17 Pro Max’s more stable, plateau-style camera housing. Samsung’s switch from titanium to aluminum keeps the phone lighter with no major loss in durability, but some may miss the extra premium feel. These are only minor issues though, and we have no hesitation in recommending the Galaxy S26 Ultra to the majority of people seeking the best big phone.

Read our full Galaxy S26 Ultra review

Best big iPhone

Apple's external updates to the iPhone 17 Pro Max are significant. There are some bold new colors to choose from, an aluminium frame with glass interior where once was titanium, and a big new camera plateau taking up the top third of the phone. But there are more substantial changes beneath.

As usual, Apple's knocked performance and battery life benchmarks out of the park with a larger battery, faster charging speeds and the new A19 Pro chipset. Photography - always a priority on Pro iPhones - has been upgraded too with a new 4x 48MP telephoto camera and a new Center Stage selfie camera to help you frame up your front-facing shots more easily.

This does come at the expense of size and weight compared to previous Pro Max iPhones. Plus, while we wait for the big Siri rework to finally come out, Apple's behind on on-board AI experiences. But all the same - this is the ultimate big iPhone if you're in the market for one right now.

Read our full iPhone 17 Pro Max review.

Best big phone value

OnePlus took a big step forward with the OnePlus 15, without changing the price or the size. Hence why it still occupies this best value spot.

The 15 is a flagship phone for several hundred dollars/pounds/currency of your choice less than equivalent Samsung or Google phones, but no less capable. While we wish its cameras were a touch better and its display a little brighter, its features, especially its power and its battery life, are on par or better than the others.

Using the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip has resulted in strong benchmark results, making the phone itself a benchmark for phone performance in 2026. But its real secret weapon is its battery life, which due to power efficiency tweaks and a massive 7,300 mAh capacity led to it being the first phone that lasted over 24 hours on our battery test. Safe to say you won't be left without charge unexpectedly with this phone.

Read our full OnePlus 15 review.

Best big phone for cameras

While not as much of a revolution as the Pixel 9 Pro XL was, the Pixel 10 Pro XL refines the formula to make an even more capable phone. That goes especially for the cameras, where Google continues to make improvements.

The hardware is unchanged, but Google's processing keeps them up to speed with Samsung and Apple's best. There's also a new 100x Pro Res Zoom mode if you really want to close in on a subject. The real joy is to be found in the tools surrounding the cameras themselves, like Camera Coach, a new tool that can help you take better shots by suggesting positioning and framing improvements for an existing photo.

The rest of the Pixel falls in line with previous models' strengths and weaknesses. The display is brighter than anything else you can buy right now, and there are even more Gemini-powered abilities you can try for productive and creative purposes. But Google's Tensor G5 chip is still underpowered for a flagship phone, and some of the AI features Google demoed at launch still haven't arrived. Don't let these couple of negative points put you off of an overall excellent big phone pick, though.

Read our full Pixel 10 Pro XL review.

Best big foldable phone

Samsung has retaken the foldable phone crown this year, with the Galaxy Z Fold 7 having undergone a remarkable transformation from the previous generation. It's bigger but thinner and lighter, and with more hardware and software improvements throughout.

If you want a big phone that's bigger than the rest, the 8-inch inner screen of the Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the obvious choice. While it's sadly no longer compatible with S Pen styluses, it remains a nice wide canvas to work from. Samsung's made changes to its Galaxy AI features to help you get the most out of the foldable, such as offering dual window and slide-over modes for common Gemini and Bixby functions.

The cameras are better than ever, the phone runs faster than ever, and even the battery life isn't that bad for a folding phone. The only other real problem is the two-grand standard price. That's par for the course with foldables though, and if you have the budget, the Z Fold 7 could be the perfect fit for you.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 review.

How to choose the best big phone for you

• Android or iPhone? Android phones give you more choice in terms of price, size and innovative designs — many of them happen to be larger, too. However, iPhones offer speedier software updates, better games and apps and better security and privacy. See our iPhone vs Android face-off.
• Unlocked or carrier? Most shoppers in the U.S. buy new phones through their wireless carrier. But an unlocked phone gives you the freedom to buy the device without any sort of contract and then bring it to the provider you want to use.
• Screen size: For fans of big phones, 6.5 inches and up is a good place to start. If you want something you can easily use with one hand, go with one of the best small phones with a screen measuring 6.3 inches or under.
• Cameras: Don't pay attention to the megapixel count. Instead, look at camera face-offs between phones to see the photo quality and look for special features like Night Mode to get better quality in low light. Also see our best camera phone roundup.
• Battery life: Generally, phones with larger batteries (measured in mAh) offer the longest battery life, but that's not always the case. That's why we run our own custom battery tests, where phones repeatedly load webpages over a T-Mobile data connection while set to 150 nits of display brightness until they run out of juice.

How we test smartphones

In order for a smartphone to make our best phone list, it needs to excel on several tests that we run on every handset. We perform some of these tests in our labs and some in the real world.

When it comes to performance, we rely on such synthetic benchmarks as Geekbench 5 and 3DMark to measure graphics performance. These tests allow us to compare performance across iPhones and Android devices. We also run a real-world video transcoding test on each phone using the Adobe Premiere Rush app and time the result. (We unfortunately have to skip this test on some phones due to app compatibility issues, but we attempt this benchmark with each device we get in to review.)

To measure the quality of a phone's display, we perform lab tests to determine the brightness of the panel (in nits), as well as how colorful each screen is (DCI-P3 color gamut). In these cases, higher numbers are better. We also measure color accuracy of each panel with a Delta-E rating, where lower numbers are better and score of 0 is perfect.

One of the most important tests we run is the Tom's Guide battery test. We run a web surfing test over 5G (or 4G if the phone doesn't have 5G support) at 150 nits of screen brightness until the battery gives out. In general, a phone that lasts 10 hours or more is good, and anything above 11 hours makes our list of the best phone battery life.

Last but not least, we take the best phones out in the field to take photos outdoors, indoors and at night in low light to see how they perform versus their closest competitors. We take shots of landscapes, food, portraits and more, and also allow you to be the judge with side-by-side comparisons in our reviews.