Best Smartphones 2024: The best phones tested

Samsung’s 2024 flagship is here in the form of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, and it has taken the top spot in our list of the best phones you can buy right now. Our expert reviewer felt that the phone ticked every box for what a flagship phone can offer, from a great design to a stunning display, versatile cameras, true all-day battery life, and, for the first time, GenAI capabilities.

The S24 Ultra’s camera setup now caps out at 5x with its periscope lens, down from the 10x of its predecessor. But fear not; with an upgraded 50MP resolution and improved OIS, our reviewer found that it’d perform just as well as the dedicated 10x lens while also providing much better images at 5-10x than the 3x telephoto could ever manage.

Elsewhere, the cameras remain largely unchanged, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing. The combination of 200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, and 10MP 3x telephoto lenses captures images with swathes of detail in all manner of conditions.

The overall design has also seen a facelift, boasting a new titanium chassis, Corning’s new Gorilla Armor display protection and a transition from a curved to flat 6.82-inch AMOLED display – a small change, but one that makes a positive difference, especially when using the bundled S Pen. Combined with returning screen tech like an LTPO-enabled 120Hz refresh rate, support for HDR10+ and its pixel-packed QHD+ resolution, it really is an exquisite display.

The flagship Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor delivers not only solid everyday performance but new GenAI capabilities in the form of Galaxy AI. It means the phone can perform actions like rewriting messages, dictating voice recordings and even real-time translation, though this is also a feature of the more affordable S24 and S24 Plus.

Battery life is also superb. A 5000mAh cell delivers all-day battery life even with elements like the QHD+ and always-on display active, with enough stamina to last well into a second day before needing a top-up.

The big thing holding the S24 Ultra back is the £1249/$1299 asking price. If you want a slightly cheaper – but still very capable – Android superphone, the outgoing Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra remains an admirable performer if you can find it at a heavy discount. There’s also the more modest Galaxy S24 and Galaxy S24 Plus – although these do miss out on the top-end cameras and S Pen support.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review

Editor’s Note: Apple has recently announced the iPhone 16 range, due for release later this month. We’ll be reviewing the new models very shortly, which could very well change our recommendation here.

If you’re looking for a true flagship phone and want iOS, as opposed to Android, you’re going to be looking at the iPhone 15 Pro Max – the current best iPhone on the market.

The iPhone 15 Pro Max offers the very best of Apple’s tech, with returning staples like Dynamic Island and the stunning 6.7-inch ProMotion display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate that makes everything feel buttery smooth, from general swiping to gaming.

There’s more to it than its large display, however. The iPhone 15 Pro Max introduces a new Action Button in place of the volume slider, allowing you to program shortcuts at the press of a button. This ranges from basic functions like turning on the torch to more advanced options like activating a shortcut to control smart home tech, and it really makes accessing apps and shortcuts a breeze.

There’s also an upgraded titanium chassis in place of the stainless steel of its predecessor. That not only makes the iPhone less of a fingerprint magnet, but it’s also much lighter this time around too. Combined with impressively small bezels and slightly rounded edges, it feels much nicer to hold and use.

It’s also incredibly performant with the new 3nm A17 Pro chipset, allowing the iPhone 15 Pro Max to stay comfortably ahead of the Android competition in terms of day-to-day performance. With console-level games now available on the App Store, you’ll see a real benefit to the top-end chipset, too.

Interestingly, the camera setup is unique even compared to the regular iPhone 15 Pro. It boasts an upgraded 5x optical zoom alongside the same 12MP ultrawide and 48MP main lenses as its predecessor that allows it to get even closer to the subject without physically moving. It’s still not as capable as the likes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, but it’s closer than ever.

Throw in comfortable all-day battery life, the switch from Lightning to USB-C and a whole host of software features courtesy of iOS 17 and you’ve got as close to the perfect iPhone that we’ve seen so far.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full review: Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max review

The Google Pixel 9 Pro XL is a fantastic Android phone that, even with a price rise for a second year, still undercuts rivals like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra when it comes to price while offering a comparable experience.

Google’s latest flagship, launched alongside the new compact Pixel 9 Pro and regular Pixel 9, ticks just about all the boxes our reviewers look for in a phone that ends up on this list. It has a great 6.7-inch Super Actua screen with a smooth adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and impressive max brightness that makes it easy to use in daylight, accompanied by a refreshed design with flat edges, rounded corners and even a redesigned camera housing that makes it look slick.

But the biggest reason to opt for the Pixel 9 Pro XL is the camera performance. Our reviewer was very impressed with the photography skills of this phone, praising its true-to-life skin tones, colours and crisp nature of images. It handles skin and pictures of faces better than the iPhone 15 Pro, or Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, and delivers a better-quality digital zoom too.

That’s thanks to Google’s usual suite of photo-focused AI tools and functions like Super Res Zoom and Magic Eraser, but it goes so much further than that this year.

Using the latest Tensor G4, the Pixel 9 Pro XL can run Google Gemini on-device for a faster, more responsive experience, and it boasts several key new features like the ability to search for content in screenshots, generate images, summarise calls (in the US, anyway) and much more. It really does permeate the entire OS, offering a more holistic approach to AI than much of the competition.

But while it powers the upgraded AI experience, the Tensor G4 isn’t quite as capable as the competing Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and that means the phone can get pretty toasty when gaming. Still, it’s power efficient enough to deliver solid all-day battery life without scrambling for a charger by the evening.

Oh, and did we mention that it’ll get seven years of OS upgrades too? Because it will.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: Google Pixel 9 Pro XL Review

Editor’s Note: Apple has recently announced the iPhone 16 range, due for release later this month. We’ll be reviewing the new models very shortly, which could very well change our recommendation here.

If you’re looking for an iPhone that not just gets everything done but also offers a more compact experience than the 6.7-inch display of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, then your best bet would be the iPhone 15 Pro.

Despite the more pocketable dimensions of the 15 Pro, we found that the display experience was just as top-notch with great HDR performance and impressive peak brightness that makes both watching Netflix and playing games look great.

It also packs other key improvements of the top-end iPhone 15 Pro Max, including the new Action button, a switch from stainless steel to titanium and rounded edges that make the phone nicer to hold, as well as the top-end A17 Pro chipset, making for a capable compact iPhone.

However, it does miss out on the 5x optical camera present on the top-end iPhone, instead sporting the same 3.5x lens as the iPhone 14 Pro alongside a 48MP main and 12MP ultrawide lenses. And while still capable of all-day battery life, the compact design means it falls short of the extended battery life of the Pro Max.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: iPhone 15 Pro Review

OnePlus phones have gone from strength to strength in recent years, and that trend looks to continue with the new OnePlus 12.

The Android flagship offers a competitive range of features at a cheaper price than many rivals featured in this chart, even with a slightly higher £849/$799 price tag than its predecessor.

That includes a slightly larger 6.8-inch AMOLED display with adaptive 120Hz refresh rate tech that lets it go as high as 120Hz and as low as 1Hz and an astonishing peak brightness of 4500nits. It also boasts support for Dolby Vision, HDR10+, HDR Vivid, and 2160Hz PWM dimming, and the slight curvature to the edges helps it sit comfortably in the hand.

It’s more than just a great display though; the OnePlus 12 is all about the camera, sporting a fourth-gen Hasselblad camera system. The 50MP main rear snapper sports the same sensor as the top-end OnePlus Open, delivering consistently detailed, vibrant images both during the day and at night. It’s arguably the new 3x periscope lens that’ll make the most difference though, delivering huge improvements to zoom shots compared to the previous 2x telephoto.

It boasts Qualcomm’s latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and 256GB of storage as default for solid everyday performance, although we’ve found it doesn’t perform quite as well as some 8 Gen 3 rivals in benchmarks, nor does it take advantage of the GenAI power of the chipset like Samsung’s Galaxy S24 range.

Inside, you’ll find a 5,000mAh battery that’ll last all day and then some, along with 100W SuperVOOC charging that’ll get you from flat to full in less than half an hour. There’s also the benefit of the highly customisable OxygenOS 14, along with OnePlus’ promise of four years of OS upgrades and five years of security updates to appreciate.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: OnePlus 12 review

If you want the best possible phone for playing games on the go, our top recommendation is the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition. 

Performance is a top priority for gamers, which is why Asus has gone all-out with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 and a whopping 24GB of RAM. Combined with Asus’ proprietary internal cooling tech and the optional cooler that straps to your phone, the ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition delivered consistently solid performance even in high-end demanding mobile games like Genshin Impact.

It’s the gaming-specific features that really stand out though, with the AirTriggers allowing you to use and hold the phone like a gamepad, while the Armoury Crate software allows you to display the frame rate and optimise performance settings. Honestly, there’s a bevvy of optional accessories for the phone to customise the experience to your liking.

The ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition is a different beast compared to other gaming phones though; it doesn’t look like a gaming phone. Asus has ditched the angular design of its predecessor for something that’s much more sleek, with a matte pattern on the rear that feels nice – though one that’s also pretty prone to scratches.

It has also shrunk the bezels of the display, and though it features a customisable LED panel on the rear, it disappears when not in active use. There’s also been an attempt to improve camera performance with an upgraded 50MP main snapper and 3x telephoto, though it’s still not quite at the same level as the likes of the Pixel 8 Pro or Galaxy S24 Ultra.

Costing over £1000/$1000, this is a seriously expensive phone. Those who want a more versatile phone may want to look elsewhere, as the camera quality is still behind that of the competition. But if you fancy a gaming phone that doesn’t look like a gaming phone, there is no better choice than the Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition.

Reviewer: Ryan Jones
Full Review: Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition review

While the Z Flip from Samsung can be seen as the pioneer of the modern flip phone, the Z Flip 5 isn’t the very best phone we’ve tested with this design. In fact, the best clamshell foldable we’ve reviewed is the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra.

While the Razr 40 Ultra was impressive enough, the Razr 50 Ultra takes things to the next level. That’s mainly down to its cover display, which has expanded to a whopping 4 inches, taking up practically the entire front panel. it’s not just size though; the Razr’s cover screen allows you to do more than the competition, from opening any app on your phone to accessing Google Gemini from the cover screen.

Motorola has also ditched the ultrawide lens for a 2x telephoto lens, sporting the same 50MP resolution as the upgraded main camera. Both deliver impressive results, both in well-lit and low-light conditions, with decent 4x digital zoom capabilities too.

There’s also a boost in performance, up to the Snapdragon 8s Gen 3, and it ships with 12GB of RAM and 512GB of storage as standard, making its £999/$999 price tag all the more tempting.

Sure, it’s not the most powerful foldable, and its promise of 3 OS upgrades and 4 years of security patches isn’t the best ever, but we think the experience, on the whole, is among the best you’ll find on the foldable market in 2024.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: Motorola Razr 50 Ultra

If you’re on the market for a book-style foldable that’s not thick and heavy, the impossibly thin Honor Magic V3 is the one to go for. It measures 9.2mm thick when folded, making it thinner than the 12.1mm Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 and some regular candybar phones. And, weighing just 226g, it’s lighter than the Galaxy S24 Ultra.

But if you thought this was simply a thin foldable with no substance, you’d be wrong. Honor has thrown the kitchen sink at this thing, boasting a fully-specced out 6.34-inch OLED cover screen that sports flagship tech including a 120Hz LTPO refresh rate and 5000nits peak brightness, and that’s matched by the 7.92-inch inner display too. What’s more, Honor has made great strides in reducing the crease of the screen, down to just 78um. For context, the Galaxy Z Fold 6 has a depth of 217um.

There’s also a solid camera offering comprised of a 50MP main, 50MP 3.5x periscope lens and 40MP ultrawide that, while not truly in the leagues of the best cameras around, does pretty well for a foldable. It’s also powerful with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, and with a 5150mAh battery, it has no trouble lasting all day on a single charge.

The only weakness is Honor’s MagicOS. While it’s good enough for day-to-day use, it lacks the finesse of other foldables like the OnePlus Open and its Magic Canvas multitasking software and the impressive AI of the Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold, with Honor’s intent-based Magic Portal really only handy for niche use-cases.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: Honor Magic V3 review

If you’re on the hunt for a compact phone that won’t put a dent in your wallet, the Pixel 8a is an outstanding choice. For the price, there are few better choices out there running Android and this is one of our reviewers’ favourite phones of 2024.

It fixes some big complaints with last year’s Pixel 7a, which we already thought was one of the best mid-rangers around, especially in the display department. The 6.1-inch OLED display has been boosted to the same 120Hz as the Pixel 8 while also borrowing the flagship’s Actua display tech to boost brightness to an impressive 2000nits. The bezel is pretty thick, but it’s not a dealbreaker.

It’s also just a nice design overall, with more rounded edges and a matte-finish rear that makes it nicer to hold than the flagship-level Pixel 8 that it’s based on, with IP67 dust and water resistance to boot.

Of course, as with most Pixels, the camera on the Pixel 8a is truly remarkable. The 64MP main sensor from the Pixel 7a returns, but don’t let that disappoint you. The camera excels in capturing accurate skin tones, delivering exceptional low-light performance, and ensuring vibrant and true-to-life colours, and AI-powered editing tools like Best Take and Audio Magic Eraser take the experience even further.

Inside, the Pixel 8a shares the same Tensor G3 chip as its more premium siblings, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro. While some might desire even more power in the flagship range, at this price point, the Tensor chip offers perfectly adequate performance and handles various AI-driven features seamlessly. Notably, Tensor powers the phone’s intelligent call-screening capabilities and outstanding voice recorder functionality.

Battery life could be better, as with most small phones, with a 4492mAh cell that can just about get you through a full day’s use. But, without any substantial fast charging and the lack of a charger in the box, it’s a phone that’ll take nearly two hours to fully charge.

That said, the Pixel 8a still represents a compelling option for those seeking a smaller-sized Pixel phone. With its impressive camera, notable features like wireless charging, the Pixel 8a offers excellent value for the price.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full review: Google Pixel 8a review

If your budget doesn’t quite extend to the heights of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and iPhone 15 Pro Max, the £349 Motorola Edge 50 Fusion should be one for serious consideration. Don’t let the budget nature fool you though; this is very much a capable phone that punches above its weight class in many respects.

Measuring 7.9mm thick and 175g, it’s a delight to hold and use, further complemented by a either vegan leather rear or silky plastic finish depending on the colour option you go for, of which there are three colourful options.

That’s further improved by premium features like full IP68 dust and water resistance and a 6.7-inch curved OLED panel with a 144Hz refresh rate that’s faster than most flagships. That makes the Neo particularly well suited to gaming, especially when paired with the snappy Snapdragon 7s Gen 2 and up to 12GB of RAM that allows it to compete with mid-rangers that cost £200 more.

Despite its svelte dimensions, Motorola has packed a 5000mAh battery into the phone that doesn’t struggle to last a full day, and with 68W charging and a 68W charger in the box, you’ll get 44% charge in 15 minutes and 75% in 30 minutes. That easily beats the likes of the Pixel 9 Pro XL, iPhone 15 Pro Max and Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra in the charging department.

There’s also a 50MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide camera that performs pretty well in both well-lit and low-light scenarios, and stock Android 14 is a nice touch too. Seriously, what’s not to like?

Reviewer: Jon Mundy
Full review: Motorola Edge 50 Fusion review