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Discovering the optimal Android smartphones can pose a challenge, and narrowing down the choices to the perfect one can be even more daunting. That’s where we step in. Throughout the year, a multitude of Android smartphones passes through our hands, facilitating the identification of the truly “best” ones. Simultaneously, this process aids in pinpointing the devices that don’t merit your attention.
This collection includes the best Android smartphones that you can buy at the moment. It covers a wide range of phones, each having its own distinct features, such as long battery life, excellent camera capabilities, flip phones, foldable phones, and more. Regardless of your specific needs, you’re sure to find a suitable option on this list.
Best Overall Android Phone
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra was announced in January 2024, and so far, it’s the best phone you can buy. Samsung definitely checked all of the boxes with this one, but that also means a price increase this year. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is now $1,299, that’s a $100 increase over the Galaxy S23 Ultra from 2023.
With the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung has included the very best specs that are available, as you might expect. This includes a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, 12GB of RAM, and 256GB of storage. There are 512GB and 1TB models also available. Additionally, it now has a 6.8-inch QHD+ display, which is flat. Previously, the Ultra models were sporting curved displays. One of the reasons for going flat this time around is the S Pen. With the curved display, it makes it tougher to use the S Pen, particularly on the edges. I personally like the flat display, because it’s less likely to get scratches on the sides, and just feels better in the hand.
Speaking of the display, Samsung is using a new Corning glass, called Gorilla Armor. This reduces the reflections on the Galaxy S24 Ultra quite considerably. Comparing this side-by-side with other phones, you can really notice the difference. It’s a small thing on the spec sheet, but in real-life, it’s a huge deal.
One of my favorite features of this phone is actually the battery life. We’re looking at 12 hours of on screen time easily with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. We recently completed the battery test and found that it lasted for 25 hours on video streaming. That’s nearly four hours longer than the next group of phones (iQOO 12 and iPhone 15 Pro Max). That is rather incredible and hard to imagine at the same time since it does still have a 5,000mAh capacity battery. Don’t worry; this one won’t run out anytime soon.
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. However, it’s not quite that simple. They went from a 10-megapixel 10x telephoto camera to a 50-megapixel 5x telephoto camera. Thanks to that added resolution, you’re still getting the same 10x optical zoom here, as Samsung is cropping in on that 50-megapixel sensor. And in our testing, it does seem to work just as well as the 10x dedicated telephoto lens from the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
Best Foldable Android Phone
OnePlus Open
The OnePlus Open is the latest foldable Android smartphone to hit the market, and it blew 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 $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.
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. With 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 a little over a month so far and never even thought about the crease. I can’t say the same thing about the competition, though.
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. Meaning you can use X, Google Maps, Facebook, anything on that front display, without opening up the phone. Which is a really nice feature to have. 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 does have fast charging, unlike a certain other flip phone. So you can do a quick top up whenever you need.
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.
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.
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.
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 that just want a sleek, black phone, could 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.
Best Compact Android Phone
ASUS Zenfone 10
Not everyone wants a big phone, and thankfully, ASUS has heard all of you. The Zenfone 10 continues on with the ASUS legacy of creating a flagship phone in a small footprint. The Zenfone 10 has a 5.9-inch display, one of the smallest on the market in 2023. And it’s only $699, making it a pretty incredible value.
The Zenfone 10 is also powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 and sports a 144Hz display, 8GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. I am matching the specs of most phones on this list, which are a lot larger. ASUS also packed it with a 4,300mAh capacity battery that will get you through the day. When I reviewed this phone earlier this year, I found that I was able to get two full days on a charge, and that’s with being a heavy user. I was quite impressed with the battery life of this phone. Especially given its size, it’s able to hang in there with the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
When it comes to software, it does run Android 13, and it’s a fairly stock version of Android. That’s something else I love about this phone. ASUS didn’t layer on a thick skin like some other manufacturers do, instead it included a few features to make the experience better. Including a change to the quick settings, which you can use ASUS’ own take on quick settings, or go back to Google’s stock approach.
The only downside to the Zenfone 10 is going to be the cameras. It has a 50-megapixel main sensor and a 13-megapixel ultrawide. On paper, they sound fine. And that’s true, they are. But they are pretty basic. You’ll get some good pictures from this camera, as I found in my review of the Zenfone 10, but don’t expect anything incredible.
Best Camera Android Phone
Google Pixel 8 Pro
The Google Pixel 8 Pro is, by no surprise, our pick for the best camera phone running Android. This should not surprise you one bit, considering how good Google’s cameras have been in recent years. The Google Pixel 8 Pro did receive a price increase this year over the Pixel 7 Pro, so now it starts at $999 for 128GB of storage. However, we’d recommend spending the extra $60 to jump to 256GB of storage.
In our review of the Google Pixel 8 Pro, I mentioned that this is “The Smartest Android Smartphone”. So what does that mean? Well, Artificial Intelligence, as you might have expected. Google has been all-in with AI for quite a few years now, but with the Pixel 8 Pro, they are taking things a bit further, bringing Generative AI into the mix. And it’s doing so in a few different ways.
Firstly, with wallpapers. You can now generate wallpapers using artificial intelligence and make some rather impressive wallpapers. In fact, the wallpaper in the Pixel 8 Pro picture above was made using Generative AI on-device. The only complaint I have about these wallpapers is that they are sort of limited right now, and you can’t export these to use on other devices. Hopefully, both of those things change in the future.
Then there’s the cameras. Google did upgrade the ultrawide camera here, so it’s now 48-megapixels, just like the telephoto 5x camera. And the main camera is still a 50-megapixel shooter. But that’s not really the changes that we want to focus on with the Google Pixel 8 Pro camera. It’s AI. Google has added a few AI features here in the Pixel 8 Pro camera, including Magic Editor, which I absolutely love. The Magic Editor will use Generative AI to change how your photo looks. It can change the sky, remove objects, make objects larger or smaller, and even stylize portrait shots. And this is just some of what it can do. It’s actually really impressive what it can do, as mentioned in my review of the Pixel 8 Pro.
The other big AI feature is going to be Best Take. When this leaked out before the event, it sounded very creepy, but in practice, it’s not. Basically, what Google has done here is that when you go to take a group shot, it’s using burst mode. So it’s taking several photos of the scene. And there’s always someone that’s not looking at the camera or not smiling. With Best Take, you can change individual people’s faces to one that was taken in another photo. Making it so much easier to get everyone looking good in your group photo.
Of course, we can’t forget about the rest of the hardware on the Pixel 8 Pro. It has the Tensor G3 processor inside, which works pretty well; it’s a big upgrade over the G2. And also allows Google to promise seven years of updates. So the Pixel 8 Pro (and Pixel 8) will get updates until 2030 – that means Android 21! It also has a pretty impressive display. We’re looking at a 6.7-inch QHD+ display that has a peak brightness of 2,400 nits. So no more squinting to see your phone outside. In practice this display looks incredible, it’s hard to put this phone down because it does have such a good display on-board.
Best Battery Life Android Phone
OnePlus 12
The OnePlus 12 is already one of my favorite phones of 2024, and yeah, I know it’s early – it’s only January. But that just shows how well OnePlus hit it out of the park with the 12. OnePlus nailed just about everything here, including the battery life and price. The OnePlus 12 is available in two variants, one with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage for $799, and the other with 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage for $899. That’s very competitive, and much cheaper than similarly specced phones.
Now let’s talk about battery life. OnePlus was able to increase the capacity this year, bringing it to 5,400mAh, which means you’re getting incredible battery life here. We were able to get 10+ hours of screen time pretty consistently. OnePlus says that this is a two-day phone, and that is absolutely true. I’ve gotten two days out of this with ease, and that’s something I hope to see more of in 2024.
But that’s not the only great feature of the OnePlus 12, the camera setup is pretty incredible too. OnePlus has outfitted the 12 with a 50-megapixel main sensor, a 64-megapixel 3x telephoto camera, and a 48-megapixel ultrawide camera. That telephoto camera is able to crop in and give you a 6x optical zoom too. And to be honest, the pictures from this camera look so incredible. It’s quickly become one of my favorite Android smartphone cameras.
Ready for a mindblowing spec? 4,500 nits. That’s right, the 6.82-inch display on the OnePlus 12 is able to hit 4,500 nits of peak brightness. Now, it only hits this brightness in a small portion of the screen, so some think it’s a gimmick. But let me tell you, in the winter when the sun is reflecting off of the snow, and you’re being blinded with sunglasses on (or transitions, in my case), you’re still able to see the display without any issues, it’s no longer a gimmick. This is a curved display, however, which I wish it was not. A flat display would have made this the perfect phone for 2024. Hopefully, the OnePlus 13 will be a flat display.
Did you forget about the price? Well, let me remind you. All of this is available for just $799. That’s before the $100 off OnePlus will give you for trading on any phone. It could have been run over by a tractor, and you’ll still get $100 off. That’s such an insane deal here for what is a really incredible phone.