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The 8 Best Smartphones For Calls, Video, Social Media, and Everything Else
You use your phone for everything, so you should buy the best.
The smartphone market has reached a point where the majority of devices are good. With high-resolution displays, long-lasting batteries and advanced camera systems, smartphones are more powerful than they’ve ever been. But with the sheer number of options available, especially among Android phones, it can be difficult to upgrade with confidence.
The choice gets even trickier if you’re on the fence about trying a folding phone, which can expand into the size of a small tablet. Remember flip phones? They’re back too. Meanwhile, brands are starting to introduce AI features as a way to stand out.
Let’s focus on the positive, though: There are lots of great choices right now. Whether you’re searching for the biggest, shiniest do-it-all flagship or competent and affordable mid-range phone that will get you from point A to point B, the best smartphones offer a winning combination of features, performance, and value.
The Best Smartphones
- Best iPhone: Apple iPhone 15
- Best Android: Samsung Galaxy S24
- Best Value: Google Pixel 8
- Best Camera: iPhone 15 Pro Max
- Best Folding Phone: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
The Expert
Over the years, I’ve tested and reviewed dozens of smartphones, including top-of-the-line models from popular brands like Apple, Samsung, and Google. Even when I’m not writing a review, I find myself switching between phones all the time so I can tinker with different platform camera systems, software features and designs. (A perk of the job.) In addition to covering tech for Best Products, you’ll find my reviews and stories on tech at publications like Popular Science, Esquire, and Popular Mechanics.
What to Consider in a Smartphone
For most of us, the smartphone is the most important piece of technology you own. It’s your camera, your calendar, your notepad, and your portal to the web. Oh, also texting and phone calls. It’s important that you find one that fits your life and does everything you need it to do. That means it needs to be intuitive and work well, with a sharp camera, long battery life, and have all the software you need. Before you make up your mind: Here’s a primer on the basics of smartphone hardware, which you should keep in mind whenever you’re shopping for a phone.
Processor
The processor is your smartphone’s brain. There’s a direct correlation between its power, and your phone’s performance–whether apps run quickly and smoothly, the number of apps you can have open and running before it slows down, and so on.
Buying a phone with the latest processor will ensure the best possible performance for several years, ensuring smoother multi-tasking, faster loading times, and the ability to take advantage of the latest features.
Apple and Google develop their own mobile processors, allowing them to better optimize their hardware and software. Other Android manufacturers primarily rely on chips from Qualcomm, whose Snapdragon chips are found in many mid- and high-end smartphones, including the Samsung Galaxy S24.
Software and Support
There are two popular mobile operating systems (OS): iOS, Apple’s software for the iPhone; and Android, the Google-made software used by just about everything else. There are some fundamental differences between them and how they function.
iOS offers a streamlined, intuitive interface, but restricts your ability to customize certain aspects of the phone experience.
Android, on the other hand, is open-source and fully customizable–to the point that many phone makers have tailored their own versions of it. That gives users more options to tinker and find software outside the confines of the Google Play Store, but also means that updates may take longer and you are more susceptible to security issues.
All that said, unless you dig deep, your experience may not change dramatically on Android or iOS. Most widely known utilities and apps are available on both platforms, and their core functions are usually aligned.
You should also pay attention to how long manufacturers plan to support their phones with software and security updates. Extended OS support provides users with newer software features, fixes for any bugs, and ensures their device remains protected from security threats.
Apple generally provides OS updates for between five and seven years. Support for different versions of Android varies from manufacturer to manufacturer, but many of the major brands also commit to at least five years of support. Google, unsurprisingly, offers the best long-term support for its Pixel phones. In 2023, it committed to seven years of support for the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
Cameras
Pretty much every new smartphone can take excellent photos in broad daylight, whether it costs $500 or $1,500. The difference between newer and/or more expensive phones and cheaper hardware becomes clear when you shoot in low-light situations, like a poorly lit room or in twilight. Expensive “flagship” phones–the top-of-the-line options from each brand–feature larger sensors, multiple lenses, and advanced software that can help make photos sharper and smoother. The same goes for video. More expensive phones give you better lenses and the ability to record in higher resolutions and frame rates.
Most phones also have a front-facing “selfie” camera. They usually don’t offer the same fidelity as the primary camera cluster, but they often have the specs you need for quick reaction shots and video calls, and can enable other features like using facial recognition to open your phone, rather than a password.
Display
The size of the modern smartphone display is typically between 6- and 7-inches, though there are a few “mini” phones like the iPhone SE, which has a 4.7-inch display, and an increasingly large number of extra large options on folding phones like the OnePlus Open, which has a 7.8-inch inner display. It’s ultimately a personal preference, but both larger- and smaller-than-average phones have advantages. A large display is great for watching movies and playing games. Going the other way, people with smaller hands often prefer smaller phones. They’re also easier to fit in your pocket.
The type of display panel used in your phone is also increasingly important. An increasing number of mid-range and high-end devices feature OLED (Organic Light-Emitting Diode) displays, which achieve deeper blacks and more vibrant colors by lighting each pixel on your screen individually. That said, Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD) are still common, especially in budget-conscious devices. As with TVs, OLED technology gives you the best possible picture, but LCD is far from outdated.
In addition to size and resolution, framerate is an increasingly popular way to distinguish high-end phones. A higher refresh rate, measured Hz, results in smoother animations when navigating the software and playing games. You should expect high-end phone displays to support a higher refresh rate–usually 120Hz. Consider it a welcome bonus in more budget-friendly models.
Battery life
Most smartphones should be able to last for at least a full day of intermittent use on a single charge. You should be able to use your phone web browsing, sending messages, capturing photos, playing games, and watching movies, without needing to watch your battery.
When comparing phones on battery life, check the battery’s capacity, often measured in milliamp hours (or mAh), and the manufacturer’s estimated battery life for specific tasks, like listening to audio or watching movies. Theoretically, the higher the capacity, the longer the battery life. In practice, your battery life will vary charge to charge based on a number of factors, including screen brightness, what apps you use, and whether you spend long stretches actively engaging with it.
Other features
Beyond the essential components of your phone, there’s a whole wide world of fun and helpful secondary features that manufacturers will add to make their phones stand out from the crowd. For example, wireless charging is more or less standard across the industry, allowing you to top up with a charging station, rather than plugging in a cable.
You should also keep an eye on the phone’s “ingress protection” rating, which tells how waterproof and dustproof it is. I recommend looking for a rating of IP68, which means that your phone will be able to survive if it’s submerged in water or drops in dirt.
Finally, look out for the security features your phone offers. Biometric authentication replaces traditional passwords with secure methods like fingerprint sensors and facial recognition. Data encryption can scramble your information on the device, while a secure enclave can act as a vault for sensitive information and protect it from unauthorized access. Location-tracking features like Apple’s “Find My” makes it possible to locate, lock, and erase your iPhone if it’s lost or stolen.
More often than not, each new iteration of each new phone will have at least one or two unique signature features, like the iPhone’s Dynamic Island or the Galaxy S24’s powerful AI features.
How We Selected The Best Smartphones
Over my 10-year career working as a tech journalist, I’ve set up and tested more than 50 smartphones, from mid-range devices to the latest flagships. Over the last few years, I’ve tested many of the newest flagship and mid-range devices, using them to take pictures, play games, and experience the latest features each phone has to offer. I drew on all that knowledge to pick the best phones you can buy today, as well as expert insights from tech-savvy editors at Best Products and Popular Mechanics.
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