There's a new pecking order among the best Samsung phones now that the latest Galaxy S flagships are out and the Tom's Guide team has had a chance to test two of the latest models. The Galaxy S25 Ultra is our new top pick, providing the most premium experience from a Samsung phone, while the Galaxy S25 is an excellent choice if you don't want to pay top dollar for your next handset.
Really, you can't go wrong with either model, as this year, Samsung has put the emphasis on new Galaxy AI features. And with the S25 sharing the same capabilities as the Galaxy S25 Plus and S25 Ultra, no matter what phone you pick, you'll benefit from Samsung's more powerful AI features. (As for the Galaxy S25 Plus, we're testing that model right now — stay tuned for our full review.)
Our search for the best Samsung phones doesn't end with the new Galaxy S25 lineup. We look at all models, from the phone maker's foldables all the way to its midrange Galaxy A devices to find the right Samsung phone for each particular need. With our reviews and test results, we think we can help you grab the best Galaxy phone for your needs.
Samsung launches dozens of phones every year, but fortunately I am able to try them out, test and review them. Before becoming a professional phones guy, I was a faithful Samsung user, eking out every last drop of life from my Galaxy S7 before my job required me to swap devices more regularly. So I've seen how Samsung's phones have changed and improved over a long period of time, and can hopefully steer you toward the right device in the company's spacious portfolio.
The quick list
The Galaxy S25 Ultra is Samsung's ultimate phone, offering both an improved camera setup and the longest battery life we've seen from a Galaxy flagship. It's the Galaxy AI features that put this model over the top as Samsung takes AI on the phone to new levels with cross app actions.
Because the Galaxy S25 has the same Galaxy AI capabilities as pricier S25 models but the lowest price tag, it's the device most people will gravitate toward. Samsung's entry-level flagship is more compact than ever with a brighter screen and better chipset.
Samsung's AI features are just as potent on the S24 FE as they were on last year's Galaxy S24 phones. Even with updated Galaxy AI on the new S25 models, this discounted phone remains a great option for users who want more value or a smaller device.
No Galaxy A55? No problem. U.S. shoppers looking for a discounted phone from Samsung can turn to the Galaxy A35 instead. Its specs don't impress as much as the A55 does, but you will enjoy the bright, colorful screen and support for features like Circle to Search in a phone that costs less than $400.
With a fresh design, more AI goodies, tougher exterior and awesome performance, Samsung's continued on its slow-but-steady path to foldable development with the Galaxy Z Fold 6. This is the best foldable Samsung has ever offered, though the price remains staggeringly high.
Samsung keeps things simple with the Galaxy A55, offering everything you could need (except perhaps a powerful chip) in a handsome new design for the same great price. It's a great midrange option — if it's available in your part of the world.
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It's more expensive than it used to be, but the Galaxy Z Flip 6 is still around the cost of a standard flagship phone, but dazzles with its foldable frame, dual displays and enhanced cameras.
Best Samsung phone overall
There aren't many big hardware changes from previous models to the Galaxy S25 Ultra — though as we'll discuss, the ones that are there are pretty noteworthy. Instead, Samsung's focus this time around is on the AI experience with its phones. And it really pays dividends with the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
That's because the new Galaxy AI features include capabilities that let you do more with your phone. Support for cross app actions works across apps by Samsung and Google as well as Spotify and Whatsapp. (Presumably, other third-party apps will add support eventually.) Using the onboard Gemini assistant from Google, you can give a single command with multiple steps that include different apps — looking about information on a restaurant, pasting it in a note and texting the location to a friend, just as an example. It's an impressive productivity booster that takes AI to the next level on your smartphone.
The Now Brief that surfaces key information based on your preferences and habits is less impressive — for now. At the moment, it's largely a weather forecast and a list of upcoming appointments at the start of the day, but since the feature is built to learn more about you as time progresses, that Now Brief screen should be populated by more personalized information. Time will tell if this feature delivers.
As for the hardware changes, the big one involves the new Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset, which not only powers top performance among Android phones, but also helps better manage how much power the phone expends. As a result, the Galaxy S25 Ultra posted the best time ever for a Samsung device on our phone battery test, breaking the 17-hour mark. And that's with the battery size on the S25 Ultra not changing from last year's model.
The phone's ultrawide sensor gets an upgrade to 50MP, which helps with more detailed macro shots, but it's the improved ProVisual Engine that improves color in phones produced by the Galaxy S25 Ultra while also helping with better low-light images. The better photo processing helped the S25 Ultra edge out the iPhone 16 Pro Max in an initial camera comparison — a great development for photo enthusiasts.
The Galaxy S25 Ultra still commands a $1,299 price, putting the phone out of reach for many users and we're not wild about Samsung's decision to remove Bluetooth connectivity from the S Pen, which drops the ability to use the stylus as a remote controller. But other changes are for the better, and the AI experience on the S25 Ultra helps carry the day.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review.
Best Samsung phone for most people
If you're one of the many who blanches at the thought of a $1,299 phone, the Galaxy S25 is an excellent alternative. It costs $500 less than the Galaxy S25 Ultra, and though that base model comes with half the storage, the standard Galaxy S25 also supports the same Galaxy AI capabilities as its pricier counterpart. And as we outlined in our S25 Ultra write-up, those features are pretty impressive.
Besides the game-changing cross-app actions and the work-in-progress Now Brief, you'll see improvements to existing features like Circle to Search, which can now recognize email addresses, phone numbers and URLs; it can search based on audio, too. Searches now support natural language, which made it easier for us to find photos on the phone when testing out the Galaxy S25.
Samsung's base model shares more in common with the Ultra than just Galaxy AI features. It's also got the Snapdragon 8 Elite chipset — not just for phones released in North America, but around the world. That means consistent performance no matter where you buy your Galaxy S25. And the performance from this optimized version of the Snapdragon 8 Elite even edges out other Android phones powered by the same chip.
There are no camera hardware changes from the Galaxy S24, so if you have a newer Samsung flagship, you may want to skip an upgrade. That said, changes to photo processing mean the images shot by the S25 are less prone to saturation, as I discovered when testing the new phone.
Perhaps the biggest improvement is to battery life, as the compact size of the entry-level Galaxy S model has always placed a limit on just how big a battery Samsung could fit inside. But the Snapdragon 8 Elite has superior power management, helping the Galaxy S25 outlast it predecessor by more than 2 hours on our battery test.
The Galaxy S25 is thinner and lighter than ever — great news if you like compact phones, but not so appealing if you prefer larger screen devices. And testing revealed a much brighter display than last year's model. All told, the Galaxy S25 is a big step forward despite the modest changes. And you won't put as big a dent in your wallet as you would with the Galaxy S25 Ultra.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S25 review.
Galaxy AI for less
The Galaxy S24's time as the top device in Samsung's lineup is over, but don't overlook the Galaxy S24 FE, released several months after last year's flagship. In his Galaxy S4 FE review, TG phones editor John Velasco found it was "one of the best values you'll find in a phone," beating the other S24 models, including the standard model.
The newer Galaxy AI features on the S25 models make those phones a better choice, but the S24 FE remains a bargain hunters dream. That's because this phone has some strong AI capabilities of its own, as well as seven years of promised software support. Test data also showed that the S24 FE had a brighter, more colorful and more accurate display than the Galaxy S24 Plus, a device that sold for $350 more.
The Galaxy S24 FE isn't as good for performance or photography due to Samsung's decision to downgrade the chip and cameras. But the fact it still has a 3x telephoto camera still impressed us, and helps reinforce what John concluded - this is all the phone you need for a surprisingly low price, making it an easy recommendation from us, even with the S25 phones now available.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 FE review.
Best value Samsung phone
Normally, we'd recommend something like the Galaxy A55 as the best Samsung value, given its more impressive feature set. But that's not readily available in the U.S., while the Galaxy A35 is. Yes, we wish the specs were better, but the $399 price is hard to beat making the Galaxy A35 a good choice for people who don't want to pay flagship prices but still want a solid phone in return.
The A35 uses the same Exynos 1380 chipset found in last year's Galaxy A54, which means other midrange phones like the Pixel 8a outperform it. And the Pixel 8a is not exactly known for being a performance beast.
Still, that trade-off may be worth it, given that price we mentioned. The Galaxy A35 costs $100 less than the Pixel 8a, and it's $200 cheaper than the OnePlus 13R. Software support on the Galaxy A35 is limited to four years, with an added year for security updates, so you won't enjoy the extended support Samsung offers to pricier phones on this list.
What you do get is a very bright and colorful 6.6-inch display that my colleague Philip Michaels had no problem viewing in bright sunlight during his testing. The A35 beats the average smartphone by about an hour in our battery test, and its cameras produce decent photos for a sub-$400 camera phone. You won't get Pixel 8a-level quality, but our 200-photo face-off between the Galaxy A35 and Pixel 8a found that Samsung's phone producing some great portrait shots and colorful images overall.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy A35 review.
Best foldable Samsung phone
Samsung's been evolving the Z Fold line slowly since it first arrived, but the Galaxy Z Fold 6 is still one of my favorite phones of the year despite that sluggish progress.
An upgrade I was glad to see this year are better resistance against water and dust and tougher exterior parts - because nobody wants their expensive foldable to break because of an unfortunate drop in a sandbox or puddle. But the display, chipset and cameras have all been tweaked since last year too to keep things up to date, and the addition of Galaxy AI features are quite a bonus too. Features like Sketch to Image work especially well on the big 7.6-inch inner display, and even more so if you get the optional stylus.
If you like your photography, or value for money, the Z Fold 6 isn't the phone for you. But it's still a solid choice for those who want to go foldable.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review.
Best global value
If you want to save some money — and if this phone is available in your part of the world — this is my pick for the Samsung midrange phone to buy. The Galaxy A55 deserves your attention, as it's a surprisingly good photography phone, even compared to tough competition like Samsung's other phones.
What's more, the Galaxy A55's battery life was quite impressive, outlasting phones with much larger batteries in my own YouTube-based testing. Plus the phone feels more premium than ever thanks to an aluminum frame and glass back and an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate.
The one possible deal breaker for me is the low-powered chipset, which makes gaming and similarly demanding apps run at disappointing speeds and quality. However there are many users out there who won't be bothered by this, and I'd be more than happy to introduce them to this particular Samsung.
A warning to U.S. shoppers — some retailers do sell the Galaxy A55, but it's the international version of the phone. Should you decide to purchase that model, you'll want to confirm that it's compatible with the U.S. wireless network you plan to use it on.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy A55 review.
Most affordable Samsung foldable
If you like your phones truly pocket-size, allow me to introduce you to the Galaxy Z Flip 6. It's taken a lot of cues from the Z Flip 5 last year, but upgrades like a 50MP main camera and a new chipset mean photography and performance are better than ever.
Galaxy AI is here in all its glory too. The new Interpreter mode is a particular favorite of mine, transcribing and translating speech on both screens at once to help you converse face-to-face with someone speaking a different language.
More expensive than before, plus it was disappointing to see the new larger battery make only a slight difference in the Z Flip 6's battery life. It's still a charming phone though, and one that you can fairly easily afford if you have a typical flagship phone budget.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6 review.
Also tested
If these options don't suit your needs, then fortunately we have other recommendations that aren't necessarily the top choice for a given niche, but could still be excellent for particular users.
You can still probably find the Galaxy S24 models around, and given their lengthy software support (seven years like the S25 models), Galaxy AI features and similarities to the S25 hardware, these would still be very good phones. It's even possible that some of the new Galaxy AI features introduced with the Galaxy S25 could find their way to older models, but there's no official word yet from Samsung.
If you do look for an S24, make sure you're getting it for less than what the current Galaxy S25 models cost. As a reminder, the Galaxy S25 starts at $799, the S25 Plus goes for $999, and you'll pay at least $1,299 for a Galaxy S25 Ultra. Look for discounts of at least $100 if you opt for the S24 versions.
If you're on a really tight budget, Samsung just announced the Galaxy A16, a $199 phone with a 6.7-inch display, Exynos 1330 chipset and three rear cameras. (A macro lens joins the main and ultrawide shooters.) Stay tuned for a review of this budget device.
How to choose the best Samsung phones
Picking which Samsung phone to buy is primarily driven by budget considerations. You're not going to spring for a Galaxy S24 Ultra, for example, if you're not prepared with at least $1,199 even if you opt to spread those payments out over time. But other factors need to be taken into consideration as well.
Start with how you use your smartphone. If it's primarily a productivity device, the Galaxy S24 Ultra and Galaxy Z Fold 6 are appealing, despite their high price tags, because they both support the S Pen. (Like the S23 Ultra before it, the S24 Ultra comes with an S Pen; the stylus is an optional add-on for Samsung's foldable.) If you turn to your phone for photography, the Galaxy S series is usually first in line for Samsung's camera innovations, and all three S24 models offer impressive camera features — particularly the 200MP main camera on the Galaxy S24 Ultra.
Budget-minded shoppers have a plethora of options, from the reduced price tag of the Galaxy S22 to the midrange Galaxy A series. The Galaxy S23 FE is also another older Samsung phone with a low starting price. Additionally, you can find discounts on Samsung phones by buying directly from the phone maker and trading in your current device. Check out the best Samsung phone deals for the latest savings.
How we test the best Samsung phones
In order for a smartphone to make our best phone list, it needs to excel on several tests that we run on every handset. We perform some of these tests in our labs and some in the real world. See our detailed explanation on how Tom's Guide tests and reviews smartphones for more information.
When it comes to performance, we rely on such synthetic benchmarks as Geekbench 6 and 3DMark to measure graphics performance. These tests allow us to compare performance across iPhones and Android devices. (Note that some phones in the chart below are still showing their Geekbench 5 numbers.) We also run a real-world video transcoding test on each phone using the Adobe Premiere Rush app and time the result. (We unfortunately have to skip this test on some phones due to app compatibility issues, but we attempt this benchmark with each device we get in to review.)
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Geekbench 6 (single-core / multicore) | 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited (FPS) |
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | 3,031 / 9,829 | 161.7 |
| Galaxy S25 | 2,916 / 9,886 | 158 |
| Galaxy S24 FE | 2,161 / 6,386 | 86 |
| Galaxy A35 | 1017 / 2950 | 16.8 |
| Galaxy Z Fold 6 | 2172 / 6901 | 112 |
| Galaxy A55 | 1161 / 3464 | Not tested |
| Galaxy Z Flip 6 | 2091 / 7022 | 113 |
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 | 151.5 (Vivid) / 128.1 (Natural) | 107.3 (Vivid) / 90.8 (Natural) | 0.25 (Vivid) /0.24 (Natural) |
| Galaxy S25 | 152.7 (Vivid) / 129.4 (Natural) | 108.2 (Vivid) / 91.7 (Natural) | 0.25 (Vivid) / 0.31 (Natural) |
| Galaxy S24 FE | 140.6 (Vivid) / 120.5 (Natural) | 99.6 (Vivid) / 85.3 (Natural) | 0.23 (Vivid) / 0.2 (Natural) |
| Galaxy A35 | 140 (Vivid) / 117.1 (Natural) | 99.2 (Vivid) / 82.9 (Natural) | 0.23 (Vivid) / 0.29 (Natural) |
| Galaxy Z Fold 6 (inner screen) | 136.4 (Vivid) / 114.7 (Natural) | 96.9 (Vivid) / 81.2(Natural) | 0.24 (Vivid) / ).24 (Natural) |
| Galaxy A55 | Not tested | Not tested | Not tested |
| Galaxy Z Flip 5 (inner screen) | 135.8 (Vivid) / 119.9 (Natural) | 96.2 (Vivid) / 84.9 (Natural) | 0.24 (Vivid) / 0.24 (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 11 hours makes our list of the best phone battery life.
| Row 0 - Cell 0 | Battery life (Hrs:Mins) |
| Galaxy S25 Ultra | 17:14 (adaptive); 18:35 (60Hz) |
| Galaxy S25 | 15:22 (adaptive); 15:51 (60Hz) |
| Galaxy S24 FE | 12:22 (adaptive); 11:38 (60Hz) |
| Galaxy A35 | 11:09 (adaptive) / 10:58 (60Hz) |
| Galaxy Z Fold 6 | 11:13 (adaptive) / 10:37 (60Hz) |
| Galaxy A55 | Not tested |
| Galaxy Z Flip 5 | 11:01 (adaptive) / 10:21 (60Hz) |
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.
