If you're on the hunt for the best Android phone, you're diving into a wide world of options that go well beyond just being simple iPhone alternatives. You can find folding behemoths that blur the line between smartphone and tablet, like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6, or find devices that go all-in on gaming performance and features with extra buttons and air-cooled components. The Android market is still where some of the most experimentation is being done, and there's no shortage of compelling phones. Quite a few can even prove fairly competitive on value, so you don't have to settle for spending $1,000 just to get a great phone.
TL;DR – These Are the Best Android Phones:
I've personally been using Android phones since 2012, when I picked up what was both my first Android phone and first (and not my last) 3D phone. Since then, I've used and tested Android phones for years, going hands-on with the ultimate budget options, the first 5G phone (a Motorola model with an attachment that turned it into a 5G phone), gaming phones with wild gimmicks and some with tamer features, folding phones, flipping phones, and even twisting phones.
I've tested what Samsung and Google consider some of their best, and I've seen what some of the lesser-known alternatives have done to keep pace or surpass them. All this is to say, I've been around the block with Android phones, as have many of my colleagues here who have contributed their fair share first-hand testing. So if you're looking for a great Android phone, we've got you covered.
What you'll find here are not just the best Android phones but even some of the best smartphones around. You can go with the best of the best, topping out features and quality, or find a budget score that goes above and beyond for a device at its price. And if nothing quite fits the bill, be sure to check back often. After all, the Android market moves fast, so you won't be left waiting a year to see what the next round of devices offers like iPhone users.
Contributions by Jackie Thomas, Danielle Abraham, and Georgie Peru.
1. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
Best Android Smartphone
Since Samsung started appending Ultra onto its products, these models have been the peak of the brand’s capabilities and design. After our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review, we decided it's worthy of the top spot in 2024. This phone brings so much to the table, so it’s no wonder it proves the best Android phone out there.
Let’s start with the display: You’ll find a 6.8-inch 1440p AMOLED display targeting high brightness, extreme contrast, and fluid motion with a variable refresh rate that goes up to 120Hz. The S24 Ultra also carries over S Pen support for fine input when a fingertip just can’t cut it. Samsung covers that in a new blend of Gorilla Glass designed to be among the strongest out there and wraps the phone up in a titanium frame. Water and dust resistance are also covered.
Inside, you get a top-of-the-line Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC that’s more than ready to run the latest app, blitz through top-tier games with settings maxed out, and keep the phone running smoothly for years to come. And you can count on support for years to come as well, because Samsung is providing seven years of operating system updates to match Google’s promise for its latest Pixel phones.
Samsung also piles in the cameras – five lenses total, in fact – for the Galaxy S24 Ultra. The main sensor is a 200-Megapixel shooter capable of incredible detail. When you want to capture more of a scene, there’s a 12MP ultra-wide camera. And you can bump in on subject to the extreme with both a 3x and 5x lens.
You can put all of this to task with AI tools as well. Samsung has a suite of features, letting you search for objects in photos or edit and adjust your photos with AI.
With top-tier performance, an exceptional design, travel-worthy cameras, and software support that makes it possible to run this phone for the long haul, the Galaxy S24 Ultra is bringing more to the table than pretty much any Android phone around. Until another phone is ready to step up to the plate and challenge Samsung on all counts, the S24 Ultra is going to stand at number one.
2. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6
Best Foldable Android Phone
Large and in charge, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 we reviewed is a beast of a phone with dual natures. Folded up, it offers a tall but thin 6.2-inch display. Flipped open, it provides a 7.6-inch screen with a 4:3 aspect ratio, so you can go from smartphone to tablet in a flash. Both displays use AMOLED panels, so they look simply gorgeous with vibrant colors and deep contrast.
With the kind of productivity you can tackle on the Galaxy Z Fold 6, Samsung didn’t hold back on performance. This phone packs the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, offering a big step up in performance over its predecessor (as much as 22% in our testing). Whether you’re trying to multitask with a split-screen setup, run the phone like a desktop using DeX, or want to enjoy the latest games like Wuthering Waves or Zenless Zone Zero, the Z Fold 6 has the performance to keep up.
The Z Fold 6 is no slouch in the camera department either. It offers a 50MP main shooter, an ultra-wide sensor, and a zoom lens with a 5x optical magnification and the ability to go up to a 30x digital zoom. Like the S24 Ultra, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 can also tap into Samsung’s AI tools to edit photos. And if you grab an S Pen, you can get similarly fine editing capabilities on the Z Fold 6’s internal display.
The range of things you can do with the Z Fold 6 makes it a shoe-in for the best folding Android phone. Though don’t forget: Samsung also has a smaller option in the Z Flip 6 we also reviewed, which may make some trade-offs on camera and multitasking abilities for a cuter design and compact footprint.
You can also check out our list of the best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 cases if you opt for this Android phone.
3. Poco X5 5G
Best Budget Android Phone
Poco is no stranger to budget smartphones, and it’s always a surprise to see just how much the company manages to pack into its devices while keeping the price down. The Poco X5 5G I personally reviewed was a killer bargain when it launched in 2023 for about $220, and it’s still a surprisingly good value at the price.
The star of the show on the Poco X5 5G is undeniably its display. While other brands might have you settle for basic LCD displays on their budget phones, Poco fitted the X5 5G with a 6.67-inch AMOLED display offering a crisp 1080x2400 resolution and 120Hz refresh rate. What this means in practice is you get excellent contrast and color for all sorts of content and smooth visuals for games all on a reasonably big screen.
Inside, a Snapdragon 695G SoC beats away, driving the performance of the X5 5G. While the chip isn’t the fastest, falling behind even the Tensor G2 found in the Pixel 7a, it’s a worthy performer for a phone at this price. It could even run Genshin Impact at medium settings rather smoothly. Its large 5000mAh battery also helps it keep chugging along for hours on end. Even with the screen brightness maxed out, it was ready to stream Netflix for nearly 20 hours.
The Poco X5 5G also comes with a few features you don’t often see on phones in the US. On the top edge of the phone, there’s an IR blaster that lets the X5 5G fill in for a universal remote control. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack!
Naturally, there are some downsides to budget devices. The Poco X5 5G is unlikely to get long-term software support. It launched with Android 12 and has since been updated to Android 14, but there's no saying how many years it'll continue to get updates. The phone also has lackluster cameras. But if you just need a device that’s got a good screen and sufficient performance for you to enjoy content, navigate the web, and keep in touch with friends and family, the Poco X5 5G delivers.
4. RedMagic 9S Pro
Best Gaming Android Phone
The RegMagic 9S Pro goes all-in on gaming performance, and it brings a few extra features to enhance the gaming experience. That’s crucial to stand apart, because a phone like the Galaxy S24 Ultra also has a great display for gaming and plenty of performance under the hood to get the job done.
The RedMagic 9S Pro packs in a gob of memory, heaps of storage, and a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Leading Version, which is essentially a souped up variant of the flagship SoC found in most high-end phones. The RedMagic 9S Pro doubles down by slapping an active cooling system onto it, so that it can sustain maximum performance. And sure enough, that bore out in testing.
In Geekbench 6’s Vulkan graphics test, the RedMagic 9S Pro outpaced even the S24 Ultra and OnePlus 12. In 3DMark’s Wild Life Extreme benchmark, it again beat both phones and did so by a decent margin. And that’s before we even look at the sustain. 3DMark’s Steel Nomad Light benchmark is a burden for smartphones, and that’s only compounded by the stress test, which runs the benchmark 20 times in a row. With the air cooler running, the RedMagic 9S Pro was able to run all 20 runs with scores ranging from 1719 points to 1833 points, beating the OnePlus 12’s single-run performance and destroying its stress test performance.
All that speed isn’t just for benchmarks. Naturally, the RedMagic 9S Pro handles games with ease. It’s more than up to the task of playing Zenless Zone Zero with settings maxed out and nary a stutter. Aiding in that gameplay, the RedMagic 9S Pro features enhanced touch sampling on the display, so it can detect inputs quicker. The phone also features capacitive shoulder buttons, allowing for easier access to key abilities in games.
Then there’s the display. The RedMagic 9S Pro offers an exceptional display stretching 6.8 inches and virtually uninterrupted. The selfie camera is actually hidden underneath active pixels, and it’s almost invisible when content is present on the screen. RedMagic went with an 1116x2480 AMOLED panel that can reach up to 120Hz for smooth visuals, and the 1,600-nit peak brightness never hurts. The display is simply gorgeous, and that goes for the rest of the phone, which features a clear back.
The main camera is decent – which is not a given for a gaming phone – though photography is still a weakness for the phone overall. Still, the RedMagic 9S Pro proves a worthy option for gamers, and it’s all the more enticing when considering it has a $649 starting price and tops out at $799.
5. Google Pixel 8
Best Midrange Android Phone
Yep – we know the Pixel 8 isn’t the latest, I even reviewed the Pixel 9 myself. But here’s the thing: It’s still a great phone, and the fact that it’s a year older means it’s easy to snag at a much lower price than it started with. There’s little reason to consider the Pixel 8a, for instance, when you can jump up to the real McCoy for just $100 more.
Google brought some great upgrades with the Pixel 8, including the new Tensor G3 SoC, which ran faster and (critically) cooler than its predecessor. Google also shrunk down the phone slightly, making it a bit more friendly for folks who appreciate a more pocketable device for easy one-handed use. It’s a great little phone.
The 6.2-inch display means business. Small though it may be, it offers a smooth 120Hz refresh rate and boasts a 2,000-nit peak brightness. Games, movies, and just about anything else look great on the display, and it’s matched by a decent set of stereo speakers.
Perhaps the key thing making the Pixel 8 an exceptional value is that it comes with seven years of updates to the operating system, security patches, and features. It may not get every new feature that Google launches in the future, but it will at least not be left with the security vulnerabilities that can plague outdated devices.
A key highlight of the Pixel 8 is its camera system. It offers an excellent main sensor that can tackle dark environments and make the most of quality lighting by providing sharp, richly colored photos. The ultra-wide isn’t quite as impressive, but had a very wide field-of-view, letting you capture a lot in one shot. Getting any great cameras on a phone for $500 is a pretty good deal, so getting one backed by a modest ultra-wide doesn’t hurt.
What to Look for in an Android Phone
Making the final decision on a phone purchase is not easy, so we've helped narrow down what to look for.
Storage space on phones is crucial. If filming videos, playing games, or downloading loads of music is important, only a few (and increasingly fewer) phones come with a Micro SD slot to expand storage. That means you'll have to spend more to get more, and that's if a phone offers it. Some of our picks have up to 1TB of storage, which should suit most people. Of course, you can always store files to different cloud services, opening more space on your phone.
RAM is crucial to a phone’s operating system. Having more RAM means you can run more applications at the same time. For standard operation, 4GB RAM is enough, but additional RAM is necessary for heavy gaming and app use. All of our picks have at least 6GB of RAM, so you can get to gaming and scrolling with little worry.
Finally, the phone’s processor is essential for your device to run smoothly. The number of cores and clock speed generally determine how quickly a phone can run processes and functions. Snapdragon processors are often used in Android phones. All of our picks use them except for the Google Pixel devices, which use Google’s Tensor chips. Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and Tensor G4 are currently the best processors out there.
Best Android Phones FAQ
What is the difference between an Android phone and a smartphone?
Android phones are just a type of smartphone. Ever since the iPhone started the 'smartphone' trend back in 2007, Google has been competing with its own smartphone OS, Android. An Android phone is just a smartphone that's running Google's Android operating system, and with a few exceptions, anything that's running Android is also a smartphone.
Mark Knapp is a regular contributor to IGN and an irregular Tweeter on Twitter @Techn0Mark