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 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 – including the new Galaxy S25 lineup that's available to order. Quite a few of these phones can even prove fairly competitive on value, so you don't have to spend upwards of $1,000 just to get a great phone.
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 of 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 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 (unlike iPhone users).
Contributions by Jackie Thomas, Danielle Abraham, and Georgie Peru.
Best Android Smartphone
Best Foldable Android Phone
Best Budget Android Phone
Best Gaming Android Phone
Best Mid-Range Android Phone
Samsung may have recently introduced one of the thinnest phones we’ve seen in a while, but that doesn’t make it a shoe-in for this list. I just finished testing the Galaxy S25 Edge, so keep an eye out for that review. The long and short of it is that the S25 Edge simply had to make too many sacrifices to pretty important things in order to get so thin and it still costs more than many flagship phones.
The S25 Edge only gets two rear cameras, it has a smaller battery than many rivals, and it runs into thermal throttling quickly when faced with a proper load. That’s a rough spot to be in when many devices around the $1,000 point come with three great cameras, have big batteries, and offer some form of cooling that can keep up with their powerful internals better. The OnePlus 13 is a solid example of this, and it costs $200 less than the S25 Edge. If that couple of millimeters Samsung managed to shave off the S25 Edge were a bit more tangible in everyday use, maybe it would feel like a more worthwhile thing to chase.
Lovers of folding phones have got something to get excited about. Samsung’s next Galaxy Unpacked event is set for July 9 and should come with the announcement of its newest foldables. We’re expecting the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Galaxy Z Fold 7 to make their debut at the event (and you can already reserve one).
Samsung has already teased a bit of what we can expect from the new phones. As PCMag has reported, Samsung made a few statements in early teases, including: “Meet the Next Chapter of Ultra,” “The newest Galaxy Z series is the thinnest, lightest and most advanced foldable yet,” and “Your Smartphone Camera Now Gets What You’re Looking At — and Responds.” This makes it pretty clear Samsung is pushing for thinner phones in this lineup, likely pushed by the progress of Chinese foldables. The note about the camera sounds a lot like Google’s Gemini Live, though Samsung may be offering its own takes on multi-modal AI. The mention of “Ultra” is a little less clear on what it could be, but a camera experience that lines up more with the Galaxy S25 Ultra would certainly be a welcome change to the Z Fold line.
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.
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.
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