The best Android phones to buy in 2025

The Android ecosystem is all about selection. Whereas iPhone house owners have a smaller pool of latest units to choose from when it’s time to improve, there’s a wider vary of selections on Android. Some Android telephones even fold in half! Imagine.

On the flip aspect, all that selection could make for some exhausting selections. Right here’s the place I’d like to assist; I’ve examined a complete boatload of latest Android telephones, and I feel there are some actual winners within the present batch. It’s all a matter of what you’re in search of, what you’re comfy spending, and what your definition of a “fairly sized telephone” is. (I have my own, personally.)

As you sift by means of the choices, you’ll nearly definitely come throughout tech’s favourite buzzphrase of the second: AI. Typically talking, AI has but to actually impress me on a telephone. The Pixel 9 collection has some doubtlessly helpful options, like a Screenshots app that makes use of AI to tag related information in metadata, and Galaxy units can translate a telephone name for you in actual time. These items are nothing to sneeze at! However none of it feels just like the platform shift that the large tech corporations maintain promising. Finest to not put an excessive amount of inventory in any firm’s AI claims simply but.

If you happen to reside within the US, I’ve some dangerous information concerning the Android market, although. For sophisticated causes having to do with “capitalism” and “geopolitics,” we don’t get almost as lots of the choices as you’ll discover in Asia and Europe — manufacturers like Huawei, Xiaomi, Honor, and Oppo simply aren’t accessible right here. I’ve restricted this information to the units I’ve personally examined in depth; thus, it’s a pretty US-centric set of suggestions.

With that in thoughts, it’s additionally price acknowledging that most individuals within the US get their telephones “totally free” from their wi-fi provider. If you happen to can handle it, shopping for a telephone unlocked provides you with probably the most flexibility and freedom if you find yourself wanting to alter carriers within the close to future. Cellphone producers additionally supply financing and trade-in offers to make cost extra manageable. However when you’re comfortable along with your provider and the free telephone on supply is the one you really need, by all means, take the free telephone. Simply ensure you perceive the phrases, particularly if you want to change plans to money in on the deal.

Nevertheless you go about it, you might have some implausible choices in your subsequent Android telephone.

The most effective Android telephone total

Display: 6.3-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Tensor G4 / Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.7 most important with OIS, 48-megapixel ultrawide, 10.5-megapixel selfie / Battery: 4,700mAh / Charging: 27W wired, 15W wi-fi (with Pixel Stand 2) / Climate resistance: IP68

Google’s {hardware} is best than ever, and the entire Pixel 9 lineup feels simply as polished as something you’d get from Samsung or Apple. However at $799 (and sometimes lower than that), the fundamental Pixel 9 is in a very interesting place, and when you don’t want a telephoto digital camera or the most important display, then that is the Android telephone to get.

The Pixel 9 comes with some vital quality-of-life enhancements like a quicker fingerprint scanner for unlocking the telephone. The digital camera is as dependable as ever, and when you’re into AI picture modifying methods, boy does this phone have ‘em. There’s a brand new Screenshots app that acts as a spot to retailer the entire data that will in any other case be misplaced at sea in your digital camera roll, and it makes use of AI to parse data out and make it searchable. Kinda useful.

Even with out AI, this is a superb telephone. It’s additionally designed to go the gap, with seven years of promised OS updates, which very seemingly means you’ll outgrow the telephone earlier than Google stops supporting it. Its potential for long-term worth and the standard of the {hardware} make it a straightforward suggestion for anybody who simply desires a pleasant Android telephone that works.

The most effective maximalist telephone

Display: 6.9-inch 1440p 120Hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 200-megapixel most important with OIS, 50-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 50-megapixel ultrawide, 12-megapixel selfie / Battery: 5,000mAh / Charging: 45W wired, 15W wi-fi (Qi2 Prepared) / Climate resistance: IP68

There’s nonetheless no telephone fairly just like the Extremely. The Galaxy S25 Extremely is Samsung’s newest reply to the query, “What in case your telephone had the entire options?” It’s outfitted with two telephoto cameras, a built-in stylus, and an enormous, vivid display. Good luck discovering that mixture in one other telephone. Associated: this is likely one of the most costly slab-style telephones you should purchase.

The most recent version of the Extremely comes with rounded corners and flat edges, making it extra comfy in your hand. However when you’re in search of vital year-over-year enhancements to the Extremely method exterior of that, nicely, you gained’t discover a lot. Samsung’s focus has been on software program options, which is to say AI options. However AI on Galaxy telephones stays a combined bag — it’s definitely not the paradigm shift Samsung desires us to assume the S25 collection represents.

All of that places the Extremely in a spot of barely much less distinction than earlier variations. The largest updates are software program options accessible to the remainder of the S25 collection. The Extremely seems and feels extra like different Galaxy telephones this time round, too. Greater than ever, it’s exhausting to know what Samsung means when it calls this telephone “Extremely.” Nonetheless, it’s your most suitable option for a feature-packed Android telephone — even when it’s not fairly as extremely because it as soon as was.

The most effective Android telephone that isn’t enormous

Display: 6.2-inch 2340 x 1080 120hz OLED / Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Cameras: 50-megapixel most important with OIS, 12-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 12-megapixel selfie Battery: 4000mAh / Charging: 25W wired, 15W wi-fi (Qi2 Prepared) / Climate-resistance score: IP68

Most individuals like an enormous telephone, and I get that. I do. If you need an enormous Android telephone, you might have loads of choices in entrance of you. However a few of us like a smaller telephone — one thing that (sort of) suits in your pocket, or feels extra comfy in your hand. For us, there may be however one possibility on Android: the Samsung Galaxy S25.

That’s the common S25, not the Plus, which is a effective huge telephone. However the usual S25 is principally the final of its variety: a full-featured telephone with a 6.2-inch display. It’s not small, however it’s not enormous, and we’ll need to take what we are able to get. And it’s a darn good telephone that retains up with the larger units in all of the vital methods: the battery goes all day, it comes with loads of RAM, and it even has an actual telephoto lens — not one thing you get on a primary, 6.1-inch telephone on, say, iOS.

The Galaxy S25 isn’t only a good, small-ish telephone by default. It’s dependable, sturdy, and comes with the promise of seven years of OS updates. It’s not my choose for the general finest Android telephone as a result of Samsung software program could be a bit a lot, however when you’re comfy within the Samsung ecosystem and also you simply need a telephone that matches in your dang pocket, then that is the one to go together with.

The most effective telephone when you hate ready in your telephone to cost

Display: 6.82-inch 1440p 120Hz LTPO OLED / Processor: Snapdragon 8 Elite / Cameras: 50-megapixel f/1.6 most important with OIS, 50-megapixel 3x telephoto with OIS, 50-megapixel f/2.0 ultrawide, 32-megapixel selfie / Battery: 6,000mAh / Charging: 80W wired, 50W wi-fi / Climate-resistance score: IP68 and IP69

There are many good causes to contemplate the OnePlus 13. It has an enormous, stunning display, and prices 100 bucks lower than the Galaxy S25 Plus. Its mud and water resistance is so robust you can virtually use the telephone in a hurricane with out penalties. And its digital camera system is way improved yr over yr, notably in terms of low-light portraiture. However there’s one standout motive to contemplate the 13: impatience.

The OnePlus 13 provides sufficient battery stamina to get by means of two days of average use on a single cost — and that’s with loads of power-draining options enabled, together with the always-on show. If you happen to’re thriftier along with your cost, it may even transcend that. Forgot to cost in a single day? No huge deal; you’ll be able to most likely simply cost it up on evening two. Charging can also be comparatively quick, and within the US, the telephone comes with an 80W wired charger within the field. So even when you do want a noon top-off, you’ll have the ability to get hours of cost in a matter of minutes. No different flagship telephone provides that sort of charging (or not charging) flexibility.

Display: 8.0-inch 2076p 120Hz OLED internal display, 6.3-inch 1080p 120Hz OLED cowl display / Processor: Tensor G4 / Cameras: 48-megapixel f/1.7 most important with OIS, 10.8-megapixel 5x telephoto with OIS, 10.5-megapixel ultrawide, 10-megapixel selfie (cowl display), 10-megapixel internal selfie digital camera / Battery: 4,650mAh / Charging: 21W wired, 7.5W wi-fi / Climate resistance: IPX8

Does anybody actually want a folding telephone? Most likely not. However utilizing one is very good, and the Pixel 9 Professional Fold is the nicest book-style foldable I’ve used up to now. It’s dear, it’s nonetheless bulkier than a slab-style telephone, and its cameras aren’t fairly as good as the opposite Pixel 9 Professional telephones. Nevertheless it’s a pleasure to make use of, each as a daily telephone with the quilt display and if you unfold the large internal display.

The 9 Professional Fold is Google’s second folding telephone, following up the passport-shaped Pixel Fold with a format that feels far more acquainted. The outer display measures 6.3 inches on the diagonal, however extra importantly, the ratio is identical as Google’s slab telephones. By comparability, Samsung’s Z Fold 6 makes use of a taller, narrower format that feels cramped. Having used them each, I a lot choose the 9 Professional Fold’s strategy.

That mentioned, the 9 Professional Fold isn’t with out compromises. The digital camera system isn’t fairly nearly as good as what you get within the different 9 Professional telephones. The outer display isn’t as sharp or vivid because the Pixel 9 Professional’s, both. And it’s not as sturdy as its slab-style counterparts — there’s no mud resistance, and you may’t get it repaired simply wherever. For $1,800, that’s an terrible lot to swallow. For the adventurous early adopter, although, the 9 Professional Fold might be very rewarding.

Different Android telephones price contemplating

There are lots of extra nice Android units that weren’t coated right here, and some are price calling out that didn’t fairly make the lower for a suggestion.

Replace, June fifth: Up to date pricing / availability and added a point out of Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Edge.