Mario Bautista
Android phones are available in various sizes and at assorted prices, ranging from cheap handsets with modest screens to expensive foldable models that can turn from a tablet into a phone.
After spending hundreds of hours testing Android smartphones, we’ve concluded that the Google Pixel 9 is the best Android phone for most people. It offers a bright screen, useful software, the best camera we’ve seen on an Android phone, and guaranteed updates longer than with most Android phones. However, unlike previous Pixel phones that cost less, the Pixel 9 costs the same as other premium smartphones.
Top pick
The Pixel 9 offers a bright OLED screen, a fast new processor, useful AI features, all-day battery life, and one of the best cameras on a smartphone. It also promises security updates until fall 2031.
The Google Pixel 9 adds several new features that continue to make it the best Android software experience. And its hardware finally has the fit and finish of a flagship phone, with rounded corners, flat sides, a soft-touch matte back and a matte metal finish with a 6.3-inch 120 Hz OLED display. The Pixel 9 has an excellent rear-camera setup, consisting of a 50-megapixel main sensor and a sharper ultrawide lens than on the Pixel 8. Its new custom Tensor 4 chip also supports more on-device AI features than the Pixel 8, including voice typing, Audio Magic Eraser, and Gemini (Google’s gen AI chatbot). Google also guarantees software and security support for seven years on these Pixel phones. Unfortunately, with a $100 price increase, the Pixel 9 now costs as much as the iPhone 15 and Galaxy 24.
Upgrade pick
The Pixel 9 Pro is the same size as the Pixel 9 but offers a brighter screen, a better selfie camera, and more camera features and AI features.
The Pixel 9 Pro offers all of Google’s Pro features on a smaller screen, but it’s brighter than the Pixel 9, and it has more RAM, a 5x telephoto lens, a better selfie camera, and additional Gemini features. It costs the same $1,000 as its predecessor, with a smaller screen and battery, but the Pixel 9 Pro offers a more-premium experience and the same useful software and update support until 2031.
Budget pick
The Pixel 8a has a beautiful, bright OLED display with a high refresh rate. It also delivers flagship-level performance, great cameras, and useful AI features, and it will continue to receive software updates until 2031.
The Google Pixel 8a is a flagship phone hidden inside a $500 plastic body. The Pixel 8a offers nearly everything that pricier Pixel models do, including a 120 Hz OLED screen, Google’s custom Tensor G3 chip, the high-quality cameras that Pixel phones are known for, facial recognition and an in-display fingerprint reader, solid battery life, and Google’s AI features. The Pixel 8a also receives software and security updates for seven years—the same as the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro.
Also great
The S24 Ultra, which combines a top-tier display, a powerful processor, a stylus, and new AI features, is the best Samsung phone. But considering its high price, you should buy it only if it’s on sale.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra retains nearly everything great about the previous Ultra model, offering a large and beautiful OLED screen, an included S Pen stylus, and a 200-megapixel primary camera. The S24 Ultra also has a new titanium frame for added durability, and its OLED screen is brighter, with flat instead of curved edges, as on an iPhone 15 Pro. It has the latest Snapdragon chip and offers new AI features; it also promises seven years of software updates.
As for the camera, the S24 Ultra swaps the S23 Ultra’s 10x “periscope” zoom for a shorter, 5x zoom with higher resolution. Though the S24 Ultra takes excellent pictures, the Pixel 8 Pro produces better images for a lot less money. Samsung’s top-end Galaxy phone has always been expensive. And the price increase to $1,300 on the S24 Ultra (if you don’t trade in an older Samsung device or buy it on sale) is a hard pill to swallow.
Also great
The Galaxy S24 has a marginally larger screen and battery than last year’s Galaxy S23, and it has the same powerful chip as the S24 Ultra. It’s more compact than the Ultra, and it promises software updates until early 2031.
The Samsung Galaxy S24 shares the S24 Ultra’s Snapdragon processor, Galaxy AI features, and seven years of committed security and software updates. But it’s much smaller than the giant Ultra, and it has a slightly different camera setup.
