Best Android Phone 2024: Our Top Recommendations

In 2025, we’ve already seen a handful of impressive phones, like the Samsung Galaxy S25 series and the new OnePlus 13 series, with many more to come. If you’re in the market for a new phone, then look no further than right here. In this guide, we are going to show you the very best phones that you can buy right now. These are all devices that are available to buy today, and this is mostly geared towards the US. So there’s going to be a lot of Samsung, Google, Motorola, and OnePlus options here.

All of these phones (except where noted) are either available on or work on all three US carriers.

Best Overall Android Phone

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra was announced in January 2025, and so far, it’s the best phone you can buy. Despite not getting a huge upgrade over the Galaxy S24 Ultra last year, the Galaxy S25 Ultra still checks all of the boxes, giving you the most well-rounded smartphone on the market.

With the Galaxy S25 Ultra, Samsung has included the very best specs that are available, as you might expect. This includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. There are also 512GB and 1TB models available. Additionally, it now has a 6.9-inch QHD+ display, which is flat. The sides on the Galaxy S25 Ultra are now fully flat, whereas the Galaxy S24 Ultra has curved sides. This does make it a bit more comfortable to hold.

Speaking of the display, Samsung is using Corning glass called Gorilla Armor 2. This reduces the reflections on the Galaxy S25 Ultra quite considerably. Comparing this side-by-side with other phones, you can really notice the difference. It first debuted on the Galaxy S24 Ultra last year as Gorilla Armor 2, which Samsung says has decreased screen repairs by 60% compared to previous Ultra models.

One of my favorite features of this phone is actually the battery life. We’re looking at 10+ hours of on screen time easily with the Galaxy S25 Ultra. We recently completed the battery test and found that it lasted for 22 hours on video streaming. That is less than the Galaxy S24 Ultra lasted in the same test, but in real-life use, we’re seeing that the Galaxy S25 Ultra is providing about 2 hours more screen on time.

Finally, the camera. There was a lot of talk about Samsung ditching the 10x telephoto for a 5x telephoto camera, and well they did it last year, and it’s still a 5x camera on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. Samsung did, however, upgrade the ultrawide camera which is now a 50-megapixel sensor. It does pixel bin down to about 12.5-megapixels, which means it’s going to provide far more detail, particularly with macro shots.

Samsung still has some pretty good deals available for the Galaxy S25 Ultra, even though pre-orders are over.

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Best Budget Flagship Phone

OnePlus 13

The name for this category is a bit of an oxymoron, but it makes perfect sense for the OnePlus 13. This phone is about $400 less than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, yet it has almost all of the same features, minus the S Pen. In fact, it even has some features that Samsung is lacking, like IP69. Who remembers when OnePlus wouldn’t even get an IP rating, to save money? My how things have changed.

This phone does also sport a 6.82-inch QHD+ display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate. It’s using Ceramic Guard Glass for protecting the display, however, this is a quad-curved display, so it’s still going to scratch pretty easily – don’t ask me how I know. So you will definitely want a case on this one.

Internally, OnePlus is using the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, or 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage. There is a 24GB/1TB model but that is only in China, unfortunately.

The camera setup is mostly the same this year, with three 50-megapixel sensors. That includes a 3x telephoto lens that sensor crops to give you an optical 6x zoom. I’ve been very impressed with the OnePlus 13 cameras, in fact, they are some of my favorite cameras on a smartphone right now. They are just that good.

Finally, we can’t talk about OnePlus without talking about the battery. This has a 6,000mAh capacity battery in a body that is 8.5mm thick. That is pretty incredible. In our testing, we were able to get around 10 hours of screen on time in daily usage. In our review benchmarking, the OnePlus 13 lasted for 22 hours and 35 minutes of video streaming. That puts it about a half hour ahead of the Galaxy S25 Ultra. In real-life usage, they are both very similar in battery life, despite the OnePlus 13 having a nearly 17% larger battery capacity.

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Best Foldable Android Phone

OnePlus Open Apex

The OnePlus Open isn’t the latest foldable Android smartphone to hit the market, but it still blows everyone else out of the water. Not only does the OnePlus Open destroy the competition on the spec sheet, but also in price. It has a price of $1,699, that’s at least $100 less than the competitors, and it also offers some really great trade-in deals – like $200 off any phone in any condition, including one that was on fire. In 2024, OnePlus relaunched the Open as the Apex Edition which now offers a 1TB model with a stunning red color and a new privacy switch that will instantly kill access to the camera and microphone.

With the OnePlus Open, the company was looking to stick to its schtick while also making foldables better. And this being OnePlus, that means the latest and greatest specs across the board. It has a 6.31-inch 20:9 aspect ratio front display and a 7.8-inch main display, both of which are 2K resolution, with adaptive 120Hz refresh rates and a peak brightness of 2,800 nits. So it’s not hard to believe that these are the best displays on a foldable. Inside, you’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, 16GB of RAM, and 512GB of storage. It also has a 4,805mAh capacity battery. These are killer specs for a foldable, with more RAM, double the storage and a larger battery than the competition.

But OnePlus didn’t stop there. Not only is this a larger battery, but it’s also one of the fastest charging ones, with 67W charging included. Not to mention, the charger is included in the box. So you can charge up in under an hour. The battery life on the OnePlus Open is quite nice. Actually, I’ve been using it for quite some time, and I really enjoy the battery life here. It can sometimes get me through two days of usage.

But the big thing for OnePlus is the software. This is running OxygenOS 13.2 with Android 13 and will get Android 14 pretty soon. But that’s still not the software story; Open Canvas is. With Open Canvas, OnePlus has literally opened the screen to allow you to do virtually anything. Basically, think of this as having screen real estate that’s larger than the actual screen. Open Canvas lets you open multiple apps on the screen at once, and you can even push apps off-screen and keep them open. Check out this Instagram Reel I put together to see more of what I mean here.

The Open checks a lot of boxes for people about foldables. And that includes the display crease. With the OnePlus Open, the display crease is almost non-existent. Sure, you can see it in the right light if you’re looking for it. But for the most part, you’re not going to notice the crease here, and that is rather impressive. I’ve been using the phone for over a year now and never even thought about the crease. I can’t say the same thing about the competition, though.

The OnePlus Open 2 is expected to launch soon, with the OPPO Find N5 set for a February 20 release date. However, we are confident that the Open 2 won’t be launching at the same time, this year. It will likely be closer to the Summer.

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Best Android Flip Phone

Motorola Razr Plus (2024)

The Motorola Razr Plus (2024) had some pretty big shoes to fill, after the 2023 model captured a lot of hearts. But, Motorola did it again. This year, Motorola provided the Razr Plus with an even larger cover display, a pretty big upgrade in processor, and swapped out the ultrawide camera for a telephoto camera. All of which makes this an incredible flip phone, even better than Samsung’s latest offerings.

With the Motorola Razr Plus (2024), we really liked that larger cover display. This display is able to run full apps, unlike the Galaxy Z Flip 6, and basically any Android app out there. This means you can use X, Google Maps, Facebook, or anything on that front display without opening up the phone, which is a really nice feature. Honestly, I end up using that outer display way more than the internal display because I can do doomscrolling on X without opening the phone.

Motorola also improved battery life by upgrading to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 (from the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1), and upping the battery capacity to 4,000mAh. You’ll be able to get through the day with no issues on this battery. Additionally, Motorola has fast charging, unlike other flip phones. So you can do a quick top-up whenever you need it.

Motorola is really making flip phones fun again with the new Razr Plus this year, and it’s by far one of my favorite flip phones on the market today.

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Best Budget Android Flip Phone

Motorola Razr (2024)

Much like the Razr Plus last year, the regular Razr also turned a lot of heads. It was the cheapest folding flip phone on the market. And it actually received some pretty major upgrades this year, while keeping the same price. It’s still $699 (though at the time of writing this, it’s been $399 for a few weeks, which is a killer deal), and offers quite a few upgrades.

First off, the cover display is much larger now. Almost the entire front of the phone, making it much easier to run Android apps on the outside display, including the Weather, Spotify, X, Instagram and more. A lot like the Razr Plus. However, there is a downgrade here, as Motorola went from Qualcomm to MediaTek for the processor. So we’re looking at a Dimensity 7300X. While on paper, it looks like this is a downgrade, in our usage, we haven’t noticed a huge difference between it and last year’s Razr which sported a Snapdragon 7 Gen 1.

Motorola has stuck with the same 4,200mAh capacity battery in the Razr this year, which should provide some pretty good battery life, especially with the more efficient Dimensity 7300X inside. The camera has also been “upgraded” I put that in quotes because, to some, it won’t look like an upgrade. Last year, Motorola included a 64-megapixel primary camera, and this year it’s a 50-megapixel camera. However, this year’s camera has much larger pixels. Making it a much better camera.

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Best Budget Android Phone

Google Pixel 8a

The Google Pixel 8a is the new Best Budget Android Phone, and that should come as no surprise. At $499 (though it is discounted quite often), the Piel 8a packs a whole lot of phones at that low price. Google has kept it to the same 6.1-inch display, which is now much brighter – peak brightness is 2,000 nits. It also has the Tensor G3 processor inside, 8GB of RAM and either 128GB or 256GB of storage.

In my Google Pixel 8a review, I said that Google hit another home run with this phone. And I firmly believe that. There’s almost no reason to upgrade to the Pixel 8, which is $200 more. You’re getting an incredible set of cameras on the Pixel 8a, along with Google’s computational photography. You are also getting a compact phone with pretty high-end specs, something we don’t see a whole lot in the smartphone world these days. And Google also fixed one of my biggest issues, and that is the backside is now matte. Before, it was glossy, which could get pretty ugly pretty quickly.

It’s not all puppy dogs and rainbows for the Pixel 8a, however. Google is still providing pretty slow charging here, both wired and wireless. There’s also no reverse wireless charging, which seems like a big omission with the Pixel Buds Pro.

If you’re in the market for a good phone that doesn’t cost a ton, this is the one to get.

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Best Gaming Android Phone

ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro

With the ASUS ROG Phone 8 Pro, the company was able to keep its place as the best gaming phone available. In fact, in our review back in January, we called it the “gold standard of gaming phones.”

This is not a cheap phone, starting at $1,199 and going up to over $1,500, but the specs inside this phone are nothing to sneeze at. The ROG Phone 8 Pro sports a 6.78-inch 165Hz adaptive display, powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, with up to 24GB of RAM and up to 1TB of storage. It also has a pretty massive 5,500mAh capacity battery inside. ASUS has also included fast charging at 65W for wired and 15W for wireless.

What really makes the ROG Phone 8 Pro stand out for us is the more streamlined design, so it no longer screams “gaming phone”. Those who just want a sleek black phone can grab the ROG Phone 8 Pro and be perfectly fine with it. Of course the impressive battery life alone is a great reason to grab this one.

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Best Compact Android Phone

Google Pixel 9

Google is keeping their compact option around for another year with the Google Pixel 9. There’s also the Pixel 9 Pro, which we recommend if you want a phone with a telephoto camera. Otherwise, the Pixel 9 is a really good option and it starts at $799 for the 128GB model.

The Pixel 9 comes in four colors: Obsidian, Porcelain, Wintergreen and Peony. This year, Google made the entire phone flat, including the camera bump. Which looks much different from earlier Pixel devices, but it also looks and feels a lot like the iPhone.

In our Google Pixel 9 Review, we called it Google’s “Answer to the iPhone” and also praised the battery life and updates. Google is promising 7 years of updates for the Pixel 9 series, much like the Pixel 8 has. Battery life on the Pixel 9 is also quite good, thanks to the changes Google made to the modem and for thermals this year. Speaking of the modem, it is insanely good. I’ve achieved much better signal on both mobile and WiFi on the Pixel 9 versus almost any other phone.

If you are looking for a stock-ish Android experience, on a smaller phone, then the Pixel 9 is a great option.

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Best Camera Android Phone

Google Pixel 9 Pro XL

Surprisingly, the Google Pixel 9 Pro XL has the best camera on a phone sold in the US. Of course, if you look at phones sold outside of the US, there are plenty of better camera phones. But, we’re focused on the United States here, so Pixel 9 Pro XL it is. We can also recommend the Pixel 9 Pro with this one since those cameras are exactly the same, aside from the size. Google now lets you choose whether you want a 6.3-inch display or a 6.8-inch display.

Inside the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the Tensor G4 chipset, with 16GB of RAM and it starts at 128GB of storage, going up to 1TB. The Tensor G4, while not the most powerful processor on the market, is much improved over the Tensor G3. This includes much better thermals and a much-improved modem. Two major issues that affected the Pixel 8 series last year.

The Pixel 9 Pro is so good that it’s actually my smartphone of choice and is what my daily driver has been for the past few months. Not only is the camera pretty good, but so is the battery life and the software. It also feels great in the hand.

However, this is the best camera phone on our list, so let’s talk more about that camera. In our review, we tested a good number of features on the Pixel 9 Pro XL camera, including Zoom Enhance which was supposed to launch last year. It’s pretty good, but far from perfect. Google also has a bunch of AI features in Magic Editor, like adding things to your photos. But what about the non-AI edited photos? Those look really good, too. They have the usual Google Pixel look, which is a bit warmer than normal, and they also do quite well with different skin tones.

The Pixel 9 Pro starts at $999, and the Pixel 9 Pro XL at $1,099. As mentioned, these are the exact same phones, the only difference is the screen size and thus the battery size.

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Best Battery Life Android Phone

OnePlus 13R

The OnePlus 13R is an amazing value. This phone costs just $599, yet has a lot of the flagship features we’ve seen on other devices. It’s running on the older Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, which is still a very capable chipset. And many would say it offers better efficiency than the newer Snapdragon 8 Elite. OnePlus pairs that with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, which is pretty incredible for the price.

OnePlus has also outfitted the 13R with a flat 6.78-inch FHD+ display that has an adaptive refresh rate up to 120Hz. This is also using Corning’s Gorilla Glass 7i, and goes up to 4,500 nits of peak brightness. While high brightness mode maxes out at 1,600 nits.

This is an incredible device for $599, and honestly, I’m recommending this to anyone that doesn’t need the absolute latest and greatest. OnePlus is also offering four years of OS upgrades and five years of security upgrades with the 13R, so it’ll be supported for quite some time.

But that’s not the best part. OnePlus has somehow crammed a 6,000mAh capacity battery into this phone, which is only 8mm thick (that’s thinner than the Galaxy S25 Ultra). Paired with that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, the battery life is incredible on this device. Not to mention, there’s also 80W wired charging, with a charger in the box.

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