A look at our best phones list proves that it's been a great year for phones, and an even better year if you're a fan of Apple's handsets. The iPhone 16 Pro Max heads into the final weeks of the year, as the best phone we've tested during the past 12 months.
1. iPhone 16 Pro Max: Best overall
2. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Best Samsung phone
3. Pixel 9 Pro: Smartest phone
4. Pixel 8a: Best under $500
5. iPhone 16: Best iPhone value
6. Galaxy S24 FE: Affordable AI
7. OnePlus 12: Best value flagship
8. Pixel 9: Google's cheapest flagship
9. OnePlus 12R: Best Android value
10. OnePlus Open: Best foldable
11. Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro: Battery champ
Apple's entire iPhone 16 lineup has something to people looking for phones that last all day on a charge, take outstanding pictures and give you access to a staggering amount of mobile apps. But the iPhone 16 Pro Max stand out in particular by offering the biggest screen ever on an iPhone while also lasting longer on a charge than any iPhone we've ever tested. The arrival of Apple Intelligence features bringing AI capabilities to Apple's devices adds to the phone's appeal.
Android users have some excelent options too, highlighted by the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra. It may have come up short against the iPhone 16 Pro Max in our photo comparisons, but the S24 Ultra benefits from a powerful chipset and new Galaxy AI features. Speaking of smart devices, don't overlook either the Pixel 9 Pro or Pixel 8a, with the latter Google phone delivering a lot of value for a sub-$500 price.
I've worked with the rest of the phones team to come up with these best phone picks using the results of Tom's Guide testing as well as head-to-head comparisons between the dozens of phones that have come into our lab this year. I've been reviewing phones since the first iPhone arrived in 2007, and when you take into account the background of the other Tom's Guide phone team members, we've got more than four decades of experience evaluating phones from every possible angle.
The very best phones offer great cameras, enough performance to easily multitask or play intensive games and the kind of battery life to last the whole day. We test each one of those things for every smartphone we review — and we also look at software, display quality and phone design. Read on to find the phone that matches your wish list, as well as some advice for finding great deals on these top models during the holiday shopping season.
I'm the managing editor for mobile at Tom's Guide, where I've been working since 2015. In total, I've covered technology for more than 20 years, and I was there when Steve Jobs showed off the original iPhone back in 2007. I've been looking at and testing phones since that day, and if you visit my Northern California home, you can marvel at the stacks of phones I keep handy for head-to-head testing.
Black Friday phone deals
Black Friday deals are here, giving you the opportunity to pick up the best phones at a significant discount. But what kind of savings can you expect, and how can you tell if a phone deal delivers real value?
The Tom's Guide team is keeping track of the best Black Friday phone deals, highlighting only the offers that we think are worthwhile. We're constantly updating that guide, too, so that should be the first place that you check for the latest deals. (If you're interested specifically in the iPhone, you can also look at our guide to the best Black Friday Apple deals to narrow down your search.)
You're most likely to find deals on phones like the Galaxy S24 and OnePlus 12. These models came out earlier in the year, and they're expected to be replaced by newer models once 2025 rolls around. That means retailers are going to drop prices to help clear out inventory. You should be able to find discounts of around $100 to $200 — sometimes more on pricier models — if you don't mind that a newer version of the phone you're buying will be available in a matter of weeks.
The iPhone 16 has come out more recently, making deals harder to come by, but they're still out there — you just have to go to phone carriers. You'll find some significant discounts — in some cases, the carrier will give you a new device for free — but that will require you to commit to anywhere from 24 to 36 months of service from that carrier, since that free phone comes via credits to your monthly bill. Often, you'll need to trade in your current phone to get the best deal.
The Pixel 9 series has come out recently, too, but with Black Friday now upon us, we're starting to see deals at both carriers and retailers alike.
The best phone overall
The iPhone 16 Pro Max holds down the top spot among the best phones based on the impressive results it produced when my colleagues and I got the chance to test its display, processing power and — especially — its cameras. The new phone offers a bigger screen (without increasing its overall size too much from the iPhone 15 Pro), an upgraded ultrawide camera and a faster processor. Even better, the first Apple Intelligence features are now available, with more to come in subsequent iOS updates for the next few months.
You won't have to ditch your iPhone 15 Pro Max if you upgraded a year ago, and anyone worried about missing out on the first round of Apple Intelligence features should relax. While a good first step, Apple Intelligence is more of a nice-to-have than a must-have at this point. That said, there are plenty of compelling reasons to upgrade to the iPhone 16 Pro Max, particularly if you've got an iPhone that's at least a couple years old.
Price and value: While this model commands the same $1,199 cost as its predecessor, a larger 6.9-inch screen and bigger battery means you're getting more for your money. That particularly true in light of the $100 price hike Samsung gave to the Galaxy S24 Ultra, which means Apple's top device remains the less expensive option. "Less expensive" is relative, though, as the $.1199 starting price is a lot for some people to pay.
Camera performance: iPhones live and die by their cameras, and the telephoto lens on the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers some notable improvements to both its main camera and its ultrawide lens. These complement the 5x telephoto lens that returns from the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Because the iPhone 16 Pro features the same camera setup for $200 less, we rank that phone as the best camera phone overall, but you won't be disappointed with what the iPhone 16 Pro Max cameras produce. We've even put it through a 200 photo face-off against the Galaxy S24 Ultra to crown an undisputed champion, and the iPhone 16 Pro Max came out on top on the strength of its superior dynamic range and low-light shooting capabilities.
Battery and charging: The battery on the iPhone 16 Pro Max lasts more than 17.5 hours on our battery test, where we have a phone surf the web until its battery gives out. The average phone barely makes it past 10 hours, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max was just getting warmed up at that point. No other iPhone has ever lasted that long, with the iPhone 16 Plus coming the closest with an average result of around 16.5 hours. If only the phone could charge quickly, but at least MagSafe charging is improved to 25W speed.
Overall performance: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip dishes up heated competition, but the A18 Pro chipset powering the iPhone 16 Pro Max turns out to be a very fast chip, topping the Snapdragon silicon in speed testing and tasks like video encoding. (Samsung's Galaxy S24 phones did turn in better scores with higher frame rates in graphics testing.). We noticed the extra oomph when using the iPhone 16 Pro Max to perform everyday tasks and switch between apps. When we used the iPhone 16 Pro Max to transcode a video, the task took half as long as it did on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Verdict: The iPhone 16 Pro Max wins top marks for design, photography and performance. Charging speed and digital zoom features could be further refined, and it's very expensive relative to some of the other phones on this list, but you definitely get a lot of power and polish for your money.
Read the full review: iPhone 16 Pro Max
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | This is the most expensive iPhone Apple sells. You can save $200 with the iPhone 16 Pro, if you don't mind the smaller screen and less battery life. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Cameras | The iPhone 16 Pro Max is one of the best camera phones we've tested, though both the Pix9 Galaxy S24 Ultra beat it on zoomed shots. | ★★★★☆ |
| Power | Snapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered phones may have caught up to Apple's silicon, but the A18 Pro continues to be a top performer, particularly when it comes to overall speed and daily tasks. | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | You won't need to charge your phone up during the day. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the second longest-lasting iPhone we've ever tested, finishing ahead of the iPhone 16 Plus. | ★★★★★ |
More on the iPhone 16 Pro Max
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Best Samsung phone
The Galaxy S24 Ultra offers the peak Android experience, with the kind of improvements you'd demand for such a premium phone — a better processor, a brighter display and camera fine-tuning. But this year's model stands out with the arrival of Galaxy AI features, which tap into artificial intelligence to handle tasks like translation, transcription and summaries. This may be Samsung's first attempt at putting AI front and center, but tools like Circle to Search and notes auto-formatting already felt very polished when I put them to the test. And more importantly, Samsung integrated its AI improvements into things you're already using your phone for, like photo editing, searching and writing messages. You don't have to learn new skills to get the most out of Galaxy AI.
Price and Value: Though its price went up up by $100 over the previous generation, you still get what you pay for with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. especially if you can find a lower price through the best Galaxy S24 Ultra deals. Seven years of software and security updates help justify the cost, though it's worth noting that Apple's premium phone remains $100 cheaper. Samsung is also a little slower with updates than I'd like to see, as the One UI 7 interface incorporating Android 15 isn't yet even though Android 15 has been available since September.
Camera performance: Swapping out a 10MP telephoto lens with a 10x zoom for a 50MP shooter with a 5x zoom felt like a step back to me, even though the new telephoto sensor offers higher resolution. (At least you can still enjoy 10x zooms by cropping down those 50MP shots. And the 100x Space Zoom feature is as impressive as before.) Even though I'm not a fan of the change, the Galaxy S24 Ultra remains a top camera phone, with a better handle on color than previous Samsung flagships. My colleague John Velasco compared 200 photos shot by the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra to gauge the camera improvements, and though they were slight year over year, you can see better color and more consistent quality in the S24 Ultra shots. Only the iPhone's superior low-light performance keeps the S24 Ultra out of the top spot for camera phones in my opinion.
Battery and charging: The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powering the Galaxy S24 Ultra is very efficient, helping the S24 Ultra last for 16 hours and 45 minutes on our battery test, That's only 50 minutes behind the iPhone 16 Pro Max's impressive average. Wired charging speeds remain at 45W, which is good but slower than the OnePlus 12 and its 80W charging speeds.
Overall performance: In addition to its power management features, that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon inside the Galaxy S24 Ultra delivers stellar performance — enough to beat last year's iPhone 15 Pro models in some tests, particularly when it comes to graphics. And now that the iPhone 16 Pro models are out with A18 Pro silicon, Samsung's phone still tops them in graphics testing, though the iPhone proved to be the faster speed demon overall.
Unlike other S24 models, which use different chipsets depending on their region, every Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so you're guaranteed the best Android performance no matter where you live in the world.
Verdict: The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra gives the iPhone 16 lineup all it can handle, lasting longer than most other Android phones, but comes up short against the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Still, for Android users, this is the best phone you can get, especially with seven years of software support and the new smart AI features that Samsung keeps adding.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Samsung raised the price on the Galaxy S24 Ultra by $100 over the S23 Ultra. This is the most expensive phone that doesn't fold. | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Cameras | The hardware that makes up the S24 Ultra's camera array impresses, but Samsung augments that with some great AI-powered features that help you edit and fine-tune your photos. | ★★★★☆ |
| Power | Forget about a performance gap with the iPhone. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 holds its own against any phone, particularly in terms of graphic pefromance. | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | This is Samsung's longest-lasting phone, beating the latest many iPhone models on our battery test. | ★★★★★ |
More on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Smartest phone
AI is all the rage this year, with both Apple and Samsung adding AI-powered features to their phones. Google's an old hand at this, though, having switched to the AI-focused Tensor chipset with the Pixel 6. Now, we're up to Tensor G4 on the Google Pixel 9 Pro, and having used Apple Intelligence, Galaxy AI and Google's AI tools, I think Google has the most capable AI of them all.
Google says customers wanted a more compact version of the Pro to go with the big-screen model. (If you prefer more screen real estate, consider the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which has the exact same features as the regular Pro, but a 6.7-inch display and bigger battery, instead. It's also harder to use with one hand in my experience.)
Price and Value: The Pixel 9 Pro costs the same $999 that Google charged for the Pixel 8 Pro. But that older phone had a larger screen, which makes me feel like I'm being asked to pay more for less phone. Then again, with the improvements to battery life and display brightness — not to mention the latest AI features — you can't really claim that Google is shortchanging you on anything other than size.
Camera performance: Actual camera improvements are modest — a new ultrawide sensor adds a Macro mode that performed very well when I tried it out, though I think the iPhone 16's macro photos are a little sharper. (They're different phones, but the iPhone 16 Pro Max vs. Pixel 9 Pro XL photo face-off John Velasco did illustrates the superiority of Apple's macro images.) As for the Pixel 9 Pro's front camera, it gets an upgraded sensor, too, though I think Google needs to dial back the camera's tendency to make faces look too smooth. Really, though, the Pixel 9 Pro's camera performance lives on the strength of its photo processing, and that remains strong, the cameras producing well-composed shots that showed off fine details when I tested them.
Battery and charging: Battery life hasn't been a strong suit for recent Google phones, but the Pixel 9 Pro breaks that losing streak. With a 4,700 mAh battery and a more efficient Tensor G4 chipset, the Pixel 9 Pro lasted an average of 13 hours and 30 minutes in our web surfing test — behind the comparably sized iPhone 16 and Galaxy S24 models, sure, but well, ahead of that 10-hour average for other smartphones. Other Pixels struggled to reach even that threshold so I like what I've seen from the Pixel 9 Pro's ability to get through the day on a charge.
Overall performance: The Tensor G4 that powers the Pixel 9 Pro can't keep pace with other top Android phones in benchmark testing, and it trails the iPhone 16, too. But that's not the focus of Tensor. Instead, it powers a number of helpful AI features, including Pixel Screenshots for easy searches of content within screenshots, Add Me for inserting people into group shots and Call Notes for transcriptions and summaries of phone calls. Potentially, the best addition is Gemini Live, a smarter version of the Google Assistant. Pixel 9 Pro owners get a year of Gemini Advanced for supporting for complex features.
Some of the AI tools need some more polish, though they're still further along than Apple Intelligence features at the moment. Right now Pixel Screenshots has been the most useful addition for me since I take a lot of screenshots to remember important details. Using Pixel Screenshots, I'm able to search for those images by their content, and the Pixel 9 Pro is smart enough to show relevant results. If you're more into producing images from nothing, the Pixel Studio generative AI tool lets you create things with nothing more than text prompts.
Verdict: If you're willing to bet that the Pixel 9 Pro's AI features will improve over time, the camera performance, longer battery life and bright display should be enough to give you a great device right now.
Read the full review: Google Pixel 9 Pro
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | On the bright side, the Pixel 9 Pro costs the same $999 as the Pixel 8 Pro. But you're paying the same for a smaller screen. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Cameras | You'll find few hardware changes outside an improved ultrawide sensor and higher-resolution selfie cam, but the Pixel 9 Pro still takes great shots. And the AI features are second to none. | ★★★★☆ |
| Power | The Tensor G4 enables a bunch of new AI-powered features that make the Pixel 9 Pro standout. But it badly lags behind Samsung and Apple phones in terms of speed. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Battery life | We've finally got a series of Pixels that outlasts the average smartphone, with the Pixel 9 Pro beating the average result on our test by 3 hours. | ★★★★☆ |
More on the Google Pixel 9 Pro
Best under $500
Like the Pixel 7a it replaces, Google's Pixel 8a is the best phone to get when you refuse to spend more than $500. In exchange, you'll get one of the best camera phones for the price, along with the AI features found on current Pixel flagships. The only reason to pass on the Pixel 8a at this point is you'd prefer the more powerful Tensor G4 chipset and newer AI capabilities in the Pixel 9 series. Even so, the Pixel 8a remains a great option for bargain hunters who don't want to pay the extra $300 you'd have to spend on a Pixel 9.
Price and value: In addition to saving you money in the near term, the Pixel 8a can be a phone that you hold on to for a long time. Google offers seven years of software and security updates, matching the level of support the regular Pixel 8 phones get. With the Pixel 8a, Google is showing other phone makers how a midrange device should be.
Camera performance: You'll find the same cameras on the Pixel 8a as you did on 2023's Pixel 7a, and photo processing capabilities work the same, too. While we wish there were more substantial improvements, you can't knock the camera performance of the Pixel 8a, especially compared to other camera phones in this price range. You may not want to upgrade from last year's phone, but people with older phones will still be impressed with the quality of images produced by the Pixel 8a. Against the newer Pixel 9 in our 200 photo face-off, the Pixel 8a's cameras hold up nicely.
Battery and charging: Like the Pixel 9 above, the Pixel 8a beats the average smartphone's performance on our battery test, though less decisively. The Pixel 8a was able to surf the web for 11 hours and 21 minutes before running out of gas. To put that result in context, it's an hour and 16 minutes longer than the Pixel 7a lasted. Wired charging speeds could be faster, low-price phone or no, but Google includes wireless charging on the Pixel 8a after adding it with the Pixel 7a.
Overall performance: As always, the story with Pixel phones is the AI features supported by the Tensor core on Google's silicon. With a Tensor G3 running the show, the Pixel 8a matches the feature set found on Pixel 8 flagships, with Magic Editor and Best Take photo-editing features stealing the show. (The latter is particularly impressive, giving you the ability to edit group shots so that everyone is putting their best face forward.) But don't sleep on the phone's call management features, either, as I think they're some of the best AI features on the Pixel and unique to Google's phones. Forget about blazing speeds, though, as that's not in the Tensor chips' locker. The Snapdragon silicon in other Android phones is simply faster and better at handling graphics.
Verdict: The Pixel 8a is a worthy addition to the A series, with excellent cameras for a budget phone. With better battery life than before and extended software support, Google's midrange phone is a even better bargain than its predecessor.
Read the full review: Google Pixel 8a
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Google kept its midrange phone under $500, making the Pixel 8a one of the better values you can find if you don't want to pay flagship prices. | ★★★★☆ |
| Cameras | The Pixel 9 cameras perform better than the Pixel 8a's, but not so much that you're sacrificing a great camera phone by paying less. This is the best cheap camera phone you can buy. | ★★★★☆ |
| Power | The Pixel 8a uses last year's Tensor G3, so you miss out on newer features (for now), but it's still a pretty smart chip with unique AI features. | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | You'll get better than average battery life with the Pixel 8a, though it doesn't last as long as Google's Tensor G4-powered phones. | ★★★★☆ |
More on the Google Pixel 8a
Best iPhone value
The iPhone 16 has replaced the iPhone 15 as the latest entry-level flagship in Apple's lineup, and offers incredible value against the pricier iPhone 16 Pro and 16 Pro Max — especially when it has a lot in common with them. In fact, my colleague John Velasco argues that it's a Pro model in disguise, reversing the recent trend of Apple giving all its attention to the Pro phones. Certainly, no one would claim the iPhone 16 is an afterthought, given all the new additions.
Price and value: The $799 starting price of the iPhone 16 remains a lot to pay for most people. But it's cheaper than the $899 iPhone 16 Plus, not to mention those iPhone 16 Pro models., which start at $999 and only climb upward from there. Whether it's the Galaxy S24 or Pixel 9, you're going to pay $799 for an entry-level smartphone, so at least Apple's not charging you more.
Camera performance: The 48MP main camera unlocks a lot of photography potential in the iPhone 16, but its ultrawide camera gets an even better upgrade with a wider f/2.2 aperture that allows it to gather in more light than previous iPhones. That also enables a new macro mode on the iPhone 16, which produces more striking close-ups than I've seen from other phones.
The iPhone 16 continues to offer lossless 2x zoom without the need of a telephoto camera too, which helps bridge the gap between itself and the Pro models. I've tested that feature against phones like the Galaxy S24 that have a dedicated zoom lens, and the iPhone holds its own when comparing 2x zooms. Zooming in further, though, will make the differences more apparent.
Battery and charging: Apple's larger iPhones have more room for bigger batteries but the iPhone 16 still lasts nearly 13 hours on a single charge — that's well ahead of the average smartphone, but not the Galaxy S24. I remain frustrated by Apple's 20W wired charging speeds, even after the company switched to USB connectivity with the iPhone 15. USB was supposed to be faster than Apple's Lightning standard, so where's the innovation? At least Apple improves wireless MagSafe charging to 25W.
Overall performance: The A18 chipset within the iPhone 16 is potent, proving just as capable as the A18 Pro. (Apple's Pro chipset has a little more muscle when it comes to graphics, thanks to an extra core in its GPU.) Even more impressive is how it puts up better scores in GeekBench than most Android phones running the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip. This boosted chipset allows the iPhone 16 to support AI-powered Apple Intelligence features just like Apple's Pro models, though as we've noted it's very early days for Apple Intelligence.
Verdict: The iPhone 16 is a better value than the iPhone 15 that came before it, thanks in part to its significantly longer battery life, stronger A18 performance, and how it now carries similar features found on the 16 Pro models — like Camera Control, Action Button, and support for spatial photos and videos. If you prefer a bigger screen and a longer-lasting battery, it may be worth an extra $100 for the iPhone 16 Plus, but Apple's standard iPhone remains a compelling option in its own right.
Read the full review: iPhone 16
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | Sporting the same $799 as before, the iPhone 16 is a better value than ever mainly because of how it has more in common with the Pro models than ever before. | ★★★★☆ |
| Cameras | The 48MP main camera does a lot, but it still can't beat a Pro iPhone due to the lack of a dedicated telephoto lens. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Power | Apple uses a variant of its latest chipset, but the A18 manages to deliver outstanding results that narrows the gap against the A18 Pro. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Battery life | As a compact phone, the iPhone 16 offers all-day battery. | ★★★★☆ |
More on the iPhone 16
Most affordable AI phone
Just as iPhone users can turn to the iPhone 16 for a cheaper way to enjoy Apple's best features, the Galaxy S24 FE offers a more affordable entry point to the world of Galaxy AI — and at a discount when compared to the $799 Galaxy S24. The FE version may not be as compact as that model, but it's just a solid constructed, giving you a taste of that flagship phone experience without the same sticker shot.\
Price and value: It's hard to argue with a phone that delivers both a telephoto lens and Galaxy AI features for $649. At the same time, you also enjoy the same seven years of software and security updates Samsung extends to the rest of the Galaxy S24 lineup. There are reasons to pay up for those phones — you want a more powerful telephoto lens than what the FE offers, for example — but it's really hard to beat this model on price. You're getting a device with the same screen size as the 6.7-inch Galaxy S24 Plus, but at a $350 discount.
Camera performance: My colleague John Velasco tested the cameras in the Galaxy S24 FE, sayings its shots rivaled those of the OnePlus 12 in some instances. He was also impressed by how well the Galaxy S24 FE camera performs under low light, by delivering a fair amount of brightness to the shot to better expose the details that are hiding in the shadows. There are better camera phones on this list, but you're not sacrificing too much in terms of camera quality with the Galaxy S24 FE.
Battery and charging: With an average time of 11 hours and 38 minutes on our battery test, the Galaxy S24 FE bests the average smartphone by a little more than 1.5 hours. Still, you're not getting as much battery life as you would with the Galaxy S24, which lasted nearly 2 hours longer. You should be able to get through the day on that kind of battery life, but you'll certainly need to recharge the Galaxy S24 FE by the end of the day. The phone's 25W charging speed matches the s24 and gets the phone up to 50% capacity after 30 minutes.
Overall performance: Unlike its flagship kin and their more powerful Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon, the Galaxy S24 FE is powered by an Exynos 2400e chip that does decently for what it is. This silicon definitely isn't flagship caliber, but it does manage to deliver outstanding results in various synthetic benchmark tests we ran on it. In fact, Geekbench 6 scores are very close to the Galaxy S24 Plus, while its GPU performance and support for ray-tracing can handle most of today's demanding titles.
Verdict: The Galaxy S24 FE may not be Samsung's most feature-packed flagship, but it offers a telephoto lens, Galaxy AI capabilities, and the same seven years of software support — only at much lower cost than those other S24 models.
Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy S24 FE
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | You get a lot of phone for your $649, especially when you find many of the same features on the Galaxy S24 Plus. | ★★★★☆ |
| Cameras | Not many sub-$650 phones have a telephoto lens, so the Galaxy S24 FE stands out in that regard. It also benefits from having useful AI-editing features. | ★★★★½ |
| Power | It doesn't get the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 like its S24 siblings, but the Exynos 2400e still puts out a good performance. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Battery life | It' does last as long as all the other S24 phones, but the S24 FE's battery life is still better than the average phone. | ★★★☆☆ |
More on the Samsung Galaxy S24 FE
Best Android alternative
If you've had enough of Samsung phones but want more power than what Google's Pixels have to offer, check out the OnePlus 12. It's a compelling alternative thanks to a clean Android experience, powerful Snapdragon silicon and cameras that have improved dramatically over the years. I remember when OnePlus got its start a decade ago, as a self-stylized flagship killer — now it's just as capable as any other Android flagship on this list.
Price and value: A $100 price hike over the OnePlus 11 is a bit of a bummer, but at least a very liberal trade-in program wipes out that added cost, so you shouldn't spend more than $699 on the OnePlus 12. That's in the ballpark of the Galaxy S24 FE's $649 price.
Camera performance: The telephoto lens can now offer a 3x zoom — it was 2x on previous OnePlus models — as the OnePlus 12 features the fourth generation Hasselblad camera system. Hasselblad has been a good partner for OnePlus, improving color quality in past models. This time around, our low-light photos shot by the OnePlus 12 looked under-exposed; in other conditions, we came away with sharp, well-composed shots.
Battery and charging: Outside of gaming phones and the iPhone 16 Pro Max, it's hard to find longer-lasting device than the OnePlus 12. Its 17-plus hour result trails only the iPhone among flagship devices. And with 80W wired charging and the return of wireless charging, you'll always be able to keep the battery juiced.
Overall performance: A Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset means the OnePlus 12 can go toe-to-toe with top performers like the Galaxy S24 Ultra and not miss a step. On graphics testing, the OnePlus 12 even tops the latest iPhones. The OnePlus 12 has no problem playing demanding games or jumping quickly between apps.
Verdict: The OnePlus 12 is the most complete OnePlus offering to date, featuring Qualcomm's best chipset, a triple camera system designed with Hasselblad, speedy wired charging, and the return of wireless charging.
That said, OnePlus has already announced the OnePlus 13, with the phone arriving in China first, followed by a global launch next year. It will be one of the first Android phones to feature the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which really impressed me when I had the chance to benchmark the new silicon. If OnePlus intrigues you as an option, you may want to hold out until next year to see what improvements the OnePlus 13 brings.
Read the full review: OnePlus 12
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The $799 starting price marks a price increase, but OnePlus has a trade-in promotion that brings your cost back down to OnePlus 11 levels. | ★★★★☆ |
| Cameras | OnePlus continues to improve on its cameras, but we wish the OnePlus 12 performed better in low-light situations. | ★★★★½ |
| Power | The same Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset in Samsung phones powers OnePlus' flagship, so expect comparable performance that measures up well against iPhone 16 models. | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | A long-lasting battery can be charged up very quickly, thanks to OnePlus' commitment to fast charging speeds. | ★★★★☆ |
More on the OnePlus 12
Best Android value
The OnePlus 12R is the first R series phone from OnePlus to ship outside of China and India, and if this model is an indication, I hope it's not the last. The 12R is a solid midrange device that retains some high-end flagship features at a lower price. It's one of my favorite phones under $500, and it's very much a viable alternative to the Pixel 8a if you're looking for a less expensive Android device.
Price and value: The OnePlus 12R packs in a lot for a $499 phone. I only wish the software and security support ran a little bit longer — just three years of software support with an added year of security updates. That's not out of line for a midrange phone, but Google provides seven years of Pixel 8a support.
In Europe, the cheaper 8GB/128GB model isn't available, somewhat negating the OnePlus 12R's appeal as a Pixel 8a-like budget alternative.
Camera performance: Cameras are perhaps the biggest shortcoming of the OnePlus 12R, as it lacks the Hasselblad partnership that's bolstered the cameras on the main OnePlus 12. When I tested the OnePlus 12R, the camera performed well in ideal conditions, but under challenging lighting, I found the OnePlus 12R tried to compensate by over-saturating colors. Speciality modes like portrait and night shots are also lacking on the OnePlus 12, especially when compared to what Google's midrange camera phones can do.
Battery and charging: The OnePlus 12R delivers outstanding battery life, outlasting all but one phone that we've tested in the last 18 months. With 18 hours of battery life in our test, I imagine you could probably get multiday battery from a fully charged OnePlus 12R, with normal usage. With 80W wired charging, you can top off the battery quickly, but there's no wireless charging on this model like there is on the OnePlus 12 flagship.
Overall performance: One of the ways OnePlus keeps the cost down on the OnePlus 12R is by using an older chipset — in this case, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2. It may not be the fastest Android silicon anymore, but considering this was the go-to chipset for 2023's Android flagships, it's not that big a step down. Certainly, I found the OnePlus 12R to be faster than a lot of phones in its price range, and only a few steps slower than much more expensive flagships.
Bottom line: The OnePlus 12R has outstanding battery life and solid performance. Add a low starting price in the U.S. and you've got an unbeatable value for a midrange phone.
Read the full review: OnePlus 12R
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | While the Pixel 8a is the better overall value thanks to its AI features, it's hard to ignore the sub-$500 starting price of the OnePlus 12R (at least in the U.S.). | ★★★★★ |
| Cameras | If there's one area where the OnePlus 12R falls short, it's the camera performance, even compared to the OnePlus 12 flagship. | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Power | Most budget phones turn to much less capable processors. But the OnePlus 12R uses the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 which powered 2023's best Android phones. | ★★★★☆ |
| Battery life | Outside of gaming phones and a few flagships, you won't find a phone that lasts as long as the OnePlus 12R, particularly at this price. | ★★★★★ |
More on the OnePlus 12R
Best foldable phone
Both the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and Pixel 9 Pro Fold may have come out more recently, but the OnePlus Open still tops them both, especially now that it's cheaper than Samsung's top foldable. Not only is the OnePlus Open well made, but it offers up a more practical multitasking experience for users — easily the biggest argument we can make for choosing this phone over other foldables with a similar design.
The OnePlus Open has everything power users crave, and the arrival of a variant called the OnePlus Open Apex Edition delivers storage enhancements and AI photo-editing tools. There's talk of a OnePlus Open 2 follow-up showing up at some point in 2025, so adjust your buying plans accordingly, especially given the high price that foldables demand.
Price and value: OnePlus has an attractive proposition for prospective buyers. It already undercuts other notebook styled foldables with its $1,699 starting cost, but the extra $200 trade-in credit offer effectively makes it $1,499, which is a much better deal than the $1,899 cost for the Galaxy Z Fold 6.
Camera performance: Armed with a Hasselblad camera system, the OnePlus Open handles most situations with ease, excelling mostly with its main camera when lightning conditions are ideal. Its 3x telephoto zoom camera is just as good as the Pixel Fold's 5x zoom camera. That said, when John Velasco tested the OnePlus Open for Tom's Guide, he found that the foldable's cameras struggle in extreme low light conditions.
Battery and charging: Foldable phones don't always last a long time on a charge, given the super-sized screens they have to keep powered. Yet, the OnePlus Open goes the distance lasting over 11 hours on our battery test — easily beating out the Galaxy Z Fold 6. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold finished just a few minutes behind the OnePlus Open, so this is the foldable to get if you want a device that can stay powered up through the day. Like other OnePlus phones, the Open charges quickly, as we got the phone up to 85% capacity after 30 minutes.
Overall performance: Since the OnePlus Open is more than a year old, you're getting a phone with an older chip. But as I noted with the OnePlus 12R, it's not like the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 from 2023 is showing its age. Just be aware that the Galaxy Z Fold 6 can handle tasks faster, and even the Tensor G4-powered Pixel 9 Pro Fold has a bit more pep.
But even if the OnePlus Open can't out-muscle newer foldable phones, it still boasts the Open Canvas multitasking feature that John Velasco calls the best implementation of multitasking that he's seen on all the foldable phones he's reviewed for us.
Verdict: The OnePlus Open improves upon what existing notebook styled foldables have done already, but it includes all the necessary improvements to make it the best foldable phone. At the same time, it offers the longest battery life and fastest recharge speeds in a foldable, paired with a lower cost and premium design.
Read the full review: OnePlus Open
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | With other foldable phones going up in price, the OnePlus Open is the least expensive model you can find with a design that opens up like a book. | ★★★★☆ |
| Design | The Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold is thinner, but the OnePlus Open is lighter and easier to tote around. | ★★★★☆ |
| Power | While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 was a strong chip in its day, the OnePlus Open is starting to fall behind rival foldables with newer silicon. The Galaxy Z Fold 6 beats it handily, and the Pixel 9 Pro Fold can keep pace with it. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Battery life | The OnePlus Open doesn't last as long as smaller foldable flip phones, but among foldables with this design, it's the battery life champ. | ★★★★☆ |
More on the OnePlus Open
Longest-lasting phone
Each year a new ROG Phone comes along and sets a new standard in battery life, and while it doesn't surprise us, we certainly are impressed by how Asus continually manages to make already long-lasting phones hold out for even longer. But another thing catches our eye about the ROG Phone 9 Pro — it's the first phone we've tested that features Qualcomm's new Snapdragon 8 Elite silicon. Many more Android devices will follow, but this gives us a glimpse of what the latest Snapdragon can do. The results of our testing are very promising indeed.
Price and value: The good news is that Asus hasn't raised prices from the ROG Phone 8 Pro. The bad news is that $1,199 remains a lot to pay for any phone, even a top-of-the-line gaming phone with a fast-refreshing, ultra-bright screen that also has a top-of-the-line system-on-chip running the show. The issue is compounded even further by the ROG Phone 9 Pro's limited availability as now — though we've been able to test the phone, Asus likely won't release it in the U.S. until 2025.
Camera performance: No one buys a gaming phone for the camera, but it would make the ROG Phone 9's high price go down a little easier if the phone produced better quality photos. When my colleague Richard Priday put the ROG Phone up against the similarly priced Galaxy S24 Ultra, the shots from the Asus device featured muted colors that made the images look flat. As a result, the images lack depth and fail to catch the eye. You'll get a competent camera performance with the ROG Phone 9 Pro, but nothing more.
Battery and charing: Here's where the ROG Phone 9 Pro really begins to justify its expense. You start with a big battery at 5,800 mAh and throw in the improved power management features of the Snapdragon 8 Elite. The end result is a phone that lasted more than 20.5 hours on hour battery test — nearly 2 hours better than the ROG Phone 8 Pro this model replaces and more than 10 hours longer than the average smartphone fares on our test. In less demanding conditions than our battery torture test, you're going to go days between charging your ROG Phone 9 Pro.
When you do charge the phone, you can count on 65W wired charging speeds. That got the drained ROG Phone 8 Pro back to 71% of capacity when we tested the charging features. Wireless charging is supported at 15W speeds, which is typical for a phone in this price range.
Overall performance: The Snapdragon 8 Elite promises to challenge any phone when it comes to speed, and that certainly proved to be the case when we took the ROG Phone 9 Pro out for a test drive. The phone was more able to handle graphically-demanding games, and it could switch between apps with ease.
Benchmarks reflect our experience with the ROG Phone 9 Pro, posting numbers on graphics tests that not only bested 2024's top-performing Android phones but also the iPhone 16 Pro Max. To get the most out of the ROG Phone's chipset, we enabled the phone's X Mode — a performance-boosting feature that kicks in when you're using particularly demanding apps. In X Mode, the ROG Phone 9 Pro's Geekbench multicore score topped what the iPhone 16 Pro Max can do, making this one of the fastest phones you'll use — at least until more Snapdragon 8 Elite-powered Android handsets come along.
Verdict: The ROG Phone 9 Pro certainly deserves consideration as the best gaming phone you can buy, and its more reserved design means you can tote around this handset without people instantly deducing that it's a gaming device. The performance and battery life impress, and you'll appreciate how bright the 6.78-inch screen can get. Ultimately, the so-so camera performance keeps us from being more enthusiastic about this device as anything other than a gaming phone.
| Attributes | Notes | Rating |
|---|---|---|
| Price | The ROG Phone 9 Pro's price rivals what you'd pay for an iPhone 16 Pro Max. At least you get some stellar specs like a bright display and lots of RAM in return. | ★★★☆☆ |
| Cameras | The cameras on the ROG Phone 9 Pro are probably its most disappointing feature with dull colors that can't match what similarly priced phones produce. | ★★☆☆☆ |
| Power | The Snapdragon 8 Elite lives up to its advanced billing with stellar speed and great graphics features that gamers will love. The fast-refreshing display also adds to the game playing experience on this phone. | ★★★★★ |
| Battery life | It's another record time on our battery test for an Asus phone, with the ROG Phone 9 Pro blowing bast the 20-hour mark on a test where most phones give up after 10 hours. | ★★★★★ |
More on the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro
FAQ: Finding the best phones
Should I get an Android device or iPhone?
Android phones give you more choice in terms of price, size and innovative designs. However, iPhones offer speedier software updates, better games and apps and better security and privacy. See our iPhone vs Android face-off for more on the strengths and weaknesses of the two mobile platforms.
Is it better to buy an unlocked phone?
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. And these days, it's pretty easy to bring an unlocked phone to any phone carrier.
That said, some phones cost more when you buy them unlocked. For example, Apple tacks $30 on to the price of the iPhone 16 for an unlocked model. Best Buy typically takes money off the price of a phone when you activate it with a specific carrier at time of purchase.
How big of a phone should I get?
Fans of the best small phones will have a hard time finding devices with screens smaller than 6 inches today, though a few still exist. Thanks to shrinking bezels, most phones with screens around 6.1 inches are fairly compact. If you prefer a big phone, you'll want something with a screen that's 6.5 to 6.8 inches. Anything bigger, and you'll likely want to turn to a foldable phone, where the device opens up to reveal a larger display.
What should I consider when looking at camera features?
Most phones will come with at least two rear cameras — a main lens and an ultrawide shooter, usually. Telephoto lenses offering an optical zoom are often reserved for more expensive flagship phones. 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 for more on the devices that really excel when taking photos.
What do I need to know about smartphone 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 battery test, in which we make phones surf the web until they run out of power. The average phone runs out of juice in 10 hours in our test, while the best phone battery life we've tested tends to pass the 14-hour mark with some phones lasting longer than 18 hours.
What about AI features?
Artificial intelligence is the talk of the tech world these days, and mobile phones are looking to capitalize on the buzz by adding AI-powered features that either simplify common tasks or help you create new images and documents on the go. Google's phones — whether it's the flagship Pixel 9 models or the budget Pixel 8a — have the most advanced AI, but Samsung has gotten very aggressive with adding Galaxy AI capabilities, whether it's introducing AI features in new phones or extending those features to older flagships. Apple trails both its rivals, though it hopes the just-launched Apple Intelligence features tha run on the iPhone 16 and iPhone 15 Pro models will close the gap somewhat.
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's Wild Life Unlimited 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.
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 at 150 nits of screen brightness until the battery gives out. As noted above, a phone that lasts more than 10 hour has good battery life, while phones that last around 12 hours or longer are among the longest-lasting phones we've tested.
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.
For more information, check out our how we test page for Tom's Guide.
