There's always a lot of choice among the best Android phones. But we guarantee the devices on this list are all winners; it just depends on your preferences and budget. How do we know? Because our team of reviewers and experts has decades of combined experience covering and testing the latest and best phones.
That includes testing the latest round of Samsung flagships, which have now joined our Android phone rankings. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is our choice for the best Android phone on the strength of its new Galaxy AI features and improved photo processing. And if the Ultra's price is too steep for your budget, the Galaxy S25 offers the same AI capabilities while costing hundreds of dollars less.
Recent updates
February 6: We've tested the Galaxy S25 and Galaxy S25 Ultra, and they now rank among the best Android phones. Stay tuned for our Galaxy S25 Plus review as we finish our tests on Samsung's latest phones.
Speaking of budget options, I can also steer you to more more affordable options like the OnePlus 13R and Google Pixel 8a. And if the addition of AI capabilities to mobile phones has you intrigued, Google's Pixel 9 lineup continues to show off the incredible power of artificial intelligence.
Still, when it comes to Android, there's Samsung and then there's everyone else. Read on to find out why the Tom's Guide phones team is so impressed by the latest Galaxy S models and what else makes up our picks for the best Android phones based on extensive testing and head-to-head comparisons.
The quick list
Samsung continues to offer the best Android phone around with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. There are some noteworthy hardware improvements like a faster, more efficient chipset and an upgraded ultrawide camera plus better photo processing. But the standout addition is new Galaxy AI features that work across multiple apps at once.
It may be more appealing to those of you on a budget, but the Google Pixel 8a proves it's capable of capturing outstanding photos and video with its cameras. And like the rest of the Pixel 8 family, a Tensor G3 chip powers some impressive AI features, particularly on a sub-$500 phone.
Artificial intelligence is increasingly becoming a part of phones and no other one has more of it than the Pixel 9 Pro XL. You'll be delighted by the AI features it offers to help save you time.
OnePlus continues to show up its rivals when it comes to value for top-tier features. But its most unique ability is its fast wireless charging that fills up that battery faster than any other phone on this list.
Don't underestimate the Pixel 9 because despite being lower on the totem pole in Google's lineup, it actually has a lot of premium features found in the pricier Pixel 9 Pro XL.
Anything the Galaxy S25 Ultra can do in terms of AI, the Galaxy S25 does it just as well. And Samsung's entry-level smartphone costs $500 less than the more premium Ultra. That makes up for the lack of big hardware changes, though we're also impressed with improved photo processing on the Galaxy S25 that yields more true-to-life colors.
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While more expensive than before, the cheaper OnePlus flagship remains an excellent phone for battery life and performance for its price, and has seen big improvements in the camera department.
With the biggest screen of any notebook-style foldable — and a lower price — the OnePlus Open tops other well-regarded devices from Samsung and Google.
The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) features an even larger cover display than its predecessor, a brighter interior screen and a new camera setup that includes a dedicated telephoto lens. But you're also paying the same $999 starting price for this phone that the 2023 edition cost.
Best Android phone overall
On paper, only a few specs separate the Galaxy S25 Ultra from its predecessor, the Galaxy S24 Ultra. There's a new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset powering Samsung's latest premium phone, and it's been optimized specifically for the Galaxy S25 lineup. That helps the Ultra produce some of the best results on speed and graphics tests of any Android phone that we've seen, outside of the gaming-focused Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro. Improved power efficiency also helps the S25 Ultra surpass the S24 Ultra's impressive time on our battery life test by around half-an-hour, making this the longest-lasting Samsung phone we've ever seen.
But what really impressed me when looking at the latest Samsung phones including the S25 Ultra is the new Galaxy AI features. They really introduce a new level to AI on the smart phone by enabling things things like cross-app actions. As demonstrated by my colleague Richard Priday when he spent some time with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, you can look a place up online, text the address to a friend and get directions for yourself, all while using just one spoken command to the Gemini assistant on board the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Richard was less impressed with the Now Brief feature that's supposed to draw on your activities and interests to bring personalized and relevant information to a dedicated screen on your Samsung device. That's sort of by design, though — Samsung is using an on-device Personal Data Engine to note how you use the phone. Over time, those Now Brief suggestions are supposed to draw on that knowledge. We'll eventually find out how effective that is, but for now it remains a work in progress.
I haven't shot photos with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but I have seen the finished results and the impact of an upgraded ProVisual Engine in processing images. Past Samsung camera phones have erred on the side of garish colors. But things look a lot less saturated in our initial Galaxy S25 Ultra vs iPhone 16 Pro camera comparisons — so much so that I think Samsung has toppled Apple's top device as the best camera phone. An upgraded ultrawide lens helps the Samsung phone with more detailed macros shots, too.
I'm not a fan of the lack of Bluetooth connectivity on the S Pen, though apparently it was done with an eye toward slimming down this year's model. But I do like the brighter display and upgrades to existing Galaxy AI features. Samsung's not reinventing the wheel with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, but it's certainly advancing the phone just on the AI additions and enhancements alone.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review.
Best value Android phone
The Google Pixel 8a is a great device to get if you're on a limited budget. For just $499 (the same price as its predecessor), you can get a phone that still packs in some premium features like a 120Hz display, wireless charging support and the same Tensor G3 processor found in the Pixel 8 flagships.
In many ways, it's impossible to tell the budget Pixel 8a from the more premium Pixel 8. What's amazing is that the Pixel 8a is also treated to the same seven years of support just like with the Pixel 8.
Even though there's not a major camera upgrade, which still uses a 64MP main shooter and a 13MP ultrawide lens, it holds up nicely in our 200 photo shootout with the Pixel 8a and Pixel 8. The AI features of the Pixel 8a carry a lot more of the weight because they're helpful.
For example, it gains the same Magic Editor and Best Take features from the Pixel 8. We also like that the battery life on the Pixel 8a is much improved over its predecessor, albeit with the fast-refreshing display feature disabled.
Read our full Google Pixel 8a review.
Best Android AI phone
As impressive as the new Galaxy AI features on the Galaxy S25 series are, Google continues to offer a dizzying amount of AI features on its flagship phones. And because Google's efforts are a bit more refined, that makes the Pixel 9 Pro XL the AI phone to beat.
From its impressively quick image generations with features like Pixel Studio and Reimagine, to the handy note taking and summarizing abilities of Note Assist, the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the best Android phone that showcases the incredible power of AI.
If that's not enough to convince you, the phone receives big upgrades to its display and battery life. In fact, it sets a record for the brightest screen we've tested at an astonishing peak brightness output of 2,469 nits with its 6.8-inch Super Actua display.
Meanwhile, the Tensor G4 chip's power efficiency extends its battery life to a time of 14 hours and 37 minutes — which is much improved over the Pixel 8 Pro's 10 hours and 3 minute time.
You're going to pay a bit more for the Pixel 9 Pro XL since it cost $100 more than its predecessor, but all of its AI features could be the incentive for you to make the compromise.
Read our full Google Pixel 9 Pro XL review.
Best fast-charging Android phone
The OnePlus 13 does stand out among other Android phones because of its faster wired charging, which fills the phone's large 6,000 mAh battery up to 92% in just half an hour. But I would be selling the phone short to focus only on this.
That big battery, for instance, is also one of the longest-lasting we've ever tested, making this phone great for heavy users. The display is bright and bright as you'd hope, but also features tech to reduce eye strain and make the screen usable even when wet, oily or when you're wearing gloves.
Photography is as good as it's ever been on a OnePlus phone, on the level of Samsung or Google's to my eye. And the company also asks for several hundreds of dollars/pounds less than the competition, if the total price is a concern for you.
The main limitations to keep in mind are that you only get a promised four years of full software updates, rather than the seven offered by phones from Samsung and Google, and also that price, while lower than its rivals, is more expensive than previous OnePlus flagships.
But in general, I see little reason to pass up the OnePlus 13, especially if Samsung or Google's offerings don't provide the right combination of features and pricing.
Read our full OnePlus 13 review.
Best affordable Pixel flagship
Sure, it costs more than its predecessor, wiping out on of the advantages of choosing Google phones over Samsung flagships, but the $799 starting price for the Google Pixel 9 still makes it the best affordable Pixel flagship. That's because the Pixel 9 benefits from nearly the same set of new AI features found in the pricier 'Pro' models — like Add Me, Pixel Studio, and Call Assist.
It's also powered by the same chip, the Tensor G4, which carries along better power efficiency to propel the Pixel 9 to new heights. Specifically, it manages to clock in a time of 13 hours and 18 minutes, which is a substantial improvement over the Pixel 8's time of 9 hours and 43 minutes. This modestly sized phone packs just as strong of a punch as its 'Pro' siblings.
And since it's a flagship Pixel model, it get the same outstanding 7 years of major Android and security updates to bring even more features to the experience.
Read our full Google Pixel 9 review.
Best Samsung flagship for most people
The Galaxy S25 isn't Samsung's fanciest flagship — that would be the Galaxy S25 Ultra that leads these best Android phone rankings. Yet, by virtue of its lower price, more people are likely to purchase the $799 Galaxy S25 over the $1,299 Ultra. And I think when they do, they'll be quite pleased with the purchase — and not just because of that extra $500 they get to hold on to.
To be fair, not everyone's going to want to upgrade to the Galaxy S25. The phone's specs are too similar to the Galaxy S24 and even the Galaxy S23 to deliver noticeable performance upgrades, even with a much faster Snapdragon 8 Elite chip optimized for this particular model. The biggest gain from the Snapdragon silicon comes withe the Galaxy S25's battery life. While this year's phone has the same size battery as the S24, it lasted around 2 hours longer on our battery test — a testament to the power management features of the Snapdragon 8 Elite.
People upgrading from older Samsung flagships will be more likely to appreciate those gangs. But what you'll really like is the value — the same Galaxy AI features on the S25 Ultra are all accounted for on this much less expensive flagship. That includes advanced capabilities like cross-app actions that let you interact with multiple apps in one command and improvements to Circle to Search, my favorite addition to the Galaxy AI tools from last year.
The Galaxy S25 also takes better pictures in my estimation, even with the same hardware specs as the last two entry-level Samsung flagships. That's likely because Samsung tweaked the ProVisual Engine on this year's models, resulting in truer colors and better performance in low-light. The 3x zoom lens on the S25 trails the 5x capabilities found on other phones from Apple and Google, but then again, those phone makers don't have a device with a telephoto camera for less than $800 like Samsung does.
Between the Galaxy AI capabilities, camera features and longer battery life, that's a lot of value packed into the Galaxy S25 before we even talk about its brighter screen. If you don't mind a compact 6.2-inch phone, this Samsung model is easiest on your budget of the new Galaxy flagships.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 review.
Best budget Android phone alternative
OnePlus successfully built on its first internationally-available budget flagship with the OnePlus 13R, a phone that makes smart sacrifices to offer brilliance at a more affordable price.
While it sucks that there's no equivalent to the cheaper $500 model of the OnePlus 12R this year, you do get more in return on the OnePlus 13R. There's now a 2x telephoto camera on the back, a newer chipset and an even larger battery that has once again netted the phone a spot on our best phone battery life leaderboard.
As we concluded in our review: "the OnePlus 13R delivers it all, at a still-significant discount from what you'd pay for flagship versions of those features."
The main drawback of the OnePlus 13R - as with the OnePlus 13 - is its AI features suite is not as mature as its rivals'. But if you're not fussed about using AI to edit your text and images, then there's little in the way of you getting a flagship-grade experience for a lot less than you'd think with the OnePlus 13R.
Read our full OnePlus 13R review.
Best foldable Android phone
Competition is heating up in the world of foldable phones, but the OnePlus Open emerges from the crowd by going big. Its cover display and interior screen are the largest out there for notebook-style foldables, and it boasts the best battery life of any foldable, too.
Even the built-in storage — 512GB — is more than you may be used to. Cameras are the weakest part of the phone, especially when stacked up against the superior camera output produced by the Galaxy Z Fold 5. While the more recent Galaxy Z Fold 6 narrows the gap, we still would recommend the OnePlus Open over Samsung's foldable.
About the only thing OnePlus didn't supersize is the price of the Open. AT $1,699, it's $200 less than the Galaxy Z Fold 6 and $100 cheaper than the Pixel Fold. Maybe that's not a big difference, but it gives the OnePlus Open an edge that its impressive specs and feature set take advantage of. Four years of software support plus another year of security updates should help your OnePlus Open stay current.
In the camera department, it impresses with its improved performance in our 200 photo shootout between the OnePlus Open and Galaxy Z Fold 6. Additionally, a variant of the phone, the Apex Edition, offers a more sophisticated vegan leather casing with more storage and RAM.
Read our full OnePlus Open review.
Best flip-phone foldable
The best thing about the 2024 edition of the Motorola Razr Plus is something that didn't change from last year — the price. The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) still costs $999 at a time when the rival Galaxy Z Flip 6 raised its price to $1,099. That just might give Motorola the edge when comparing these two very similar folding flip phones.
But the Razr Plus has other things going for it, too, including upgraded rear cameras. Not everyone will like exchanging an ultrawide lens for a dedicated telephoto lens, but it will mean sharper zooms for the Razr Plus (2024).
A bigger cover display adds more functionality to that outer screen, and the main 6.9-inch display is twice as bright as its predecessor. Battery life continues to impress, as the new Razr is one of the longest-lasting foldables we've tested. We're also impressed by the camera performance when we took over 200 photos against the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6.
Read our full Motorola Razr Plus (2024) review.
How to choose the best Android phone for you
The first place to start when shopping for the best Android phone for you is your budget, and there are a few tiers. The cheapest Android phones cost under $200 and offer mostly the basics for using apps, taking pictures and staying connected. We chart the best cheap phones under $300, though honestly, you'll make a lot of compromises to get a phone priced that low.
As you move up to under $450, you'll find more compelling handsets, touting better processors, higher-grade materials and more camera lenses. Right now, the best value phones on our list is the Pixel 8a. (The OnePlus 13R, at $599, is a little more expensive, but still cheaper than flagship devices.) Our main guide to the best cheap phones for less than $500 goes into greater depth on these devices.
Jump into the $700-and-up range, and the best phones offer flagship-caliber performance along with cutting-edge computational photography and special features. You'll start to see features like telephoto lenses appear at this level of phone.
The most premium Android phones offer foldable designs and big price tags. The Motorola Razr+ joins the Galaxy Z Flip 6 on the cheap end of foldable phones with a $999 starting price. The best foldable phone is the OnePlus Open, which starts at $1,699, while the Pixel 9 Pro Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 will set you back at least $1,799 and $1,899, respectively.
What you look for in the best Android phone also depends on what you plan to use your handset for. To that end:
- For mobile gaming: Make sure you're getting a phone with a top-performing processor. As of this writing, that would be the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, though any recent Snapdragon 8 series system-on-chip would do the trick. Good gaming phones also have lots of RAM — at least 8GB — and a display that ramps up the refresh rate to at least 120Hz for smoother graphics. A phone with a long battery life won't die on you mid-session, either.
- For mobile productivity: As with gaming, a fast processor is helpful, and you'll want a phone with lots of storage capacity. Bigger screens are usually more helpful for performing tasks on the go, which is why foldable phones and their extended screens are of interest here. Foldable phones also have unique multitasking features that let you run multiple apps at once.
- For mobile photograhy: Nearly every phone will offer a main camera plus an ultrawide shooter, but more expensive models also tend to include telephoto lenses. Just as an important as the camera hardware is the software — check out what kind of computational photography features a phone might have. Google's Pixels excel in this area, but Samsung and OnePlus also perform well.
How we test the best Android phones
The same method we use to test the best phones applies to the dozen or so Android phones we evaluate each year. Every smartphone Tom’s Guide evaluates is tested for several days in real-world use cases and benchmarked with a gamut of performance-measuring apps. In terms of performance, we used Geekbench 5 to measure overall speed and 3DMark Wild Life to measure graphics performance.
We also use our own video editing test in the Adobe Premiere Rush app to see how long it takes to transcode a clip, which we run on both Android phones and iPhone to compare performance. (This test is not always available for all phones we test due to app compatibility issues.)
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Geekbench 5 (single-core / multicore) | 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited (FPS) |
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | 3031 / 9829 | 161.7 |
| Pixel 8a | 1581 / 4093 | 53.7 |
| Pixel 9 Pro XL | 1929 / 4747 | 55.6 |
| OnePlus 13 | 2893 / 9058 | 152.8 |
| Pixel 9 | 1758 / 4594 | 55.71 |
| Galaxy S25 | 2916 / 9886 | 168 |
| OnePlus 13R | 2098 / 6533 | 115.3 |
| OnePlus Open | 1087 / 4203 | 84.8 |
| Motorola Razr Plus | 1834 / 4848 | 73.7 |
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.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | sRGB (%) | DCI-P3 (%) | Delta-E |
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | Row 1 - Cell 1 | Row 1 - Cell 2 | Row 1 - Cell 3 |
| Pixel 8a | 126.5 (Adaptive), 108.9 (Natural | 89.6 (Adaptive), 77.2 (Natural) | 0.24 (Adaptive), 0.29 (Natural) |
| Pixel 9 Pro XL | 105 (Natural), 116.9 (Adaptive) | 74.4 (Natural), 82.8 (Adaptive) | 0.28 (Natural), 0.24 (Adaptive) |
| OnePlus 13 | 121.7 (Natural) | 86.2 (Natural) | 0.23 (Natural) |
| Pixel 9 | 119.4 (Natural), 106.6 (Adaptive) | 84.5 (Natural), 75..5 (Adaptive) | 0.30 (Natural), 0.20 (Adaptive) |
| Galaxy S25 | 152.7 (Vivid), 129.4 (Natural) | 108.2 (Vivid), 91.7 (Natural) | 0.25 (Vivid), 0.31 (Natural) |
| OnePlus 13R | 171.6 (Vivid), 121.9 (Natural) | 121.6 (Vivid), 86.3 (Natural) | 0.3 (Vivid), 0.21 (Natural) |
| OnePlus Open | 111.8 (Natural) / 169.7 (Vivid) | 79.2 (Natural) / 120.2 (Vivid) | 0.14 (Natural) / 0.29 (Vivid) |
| Motorola Razr Plus (2024) | 98.1% (Natural) | 69.5% (Natural) | 0.23 (Natural) |
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 14 hours makes our list of the best phone battery life.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Battery life (Hrs:Mins) |
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | 17:14 |
| Pixel 8a | 11:21 |
| Pixel 9 Pro XL | 14:37 |
| OnePlus 13 | 19:45 |
| Pixel 9 | 13:18 |
| Galaxy S25 | 15:22 |
| OnePlus 13R | 18:49 |
| OnePlus Open | 11:45 |
| Motorola Razr Plus (2024) | 14:13 |
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 and 200 photo head-to-head shootouts.
For more information, check out our how we test page for Tom's Guide.
