Our pick of the best, tested by experts

The Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is one of the most capable big-screen Android phones you can buy right now, and its 6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is a genuine highlight. 

The headline feature here is the built-in Privacy Display, which prevents the person next to you on the train from reading your messages. Functioning similarly to a privacy screen protector but more intelligent, it selectively hides notifications rather than blanketing the entire display at once. Picture quality does take a visible hit when it’s active, particularly in the strongest mode, but it’s a clever and genuinely useful addition.

Design-wise, the S26 Ultra adopts wider, curvier corners that bring it closer in look to the standard S26 models, and at 214g it’s a touch lighter than its predecessor. That does mean saying goodbye to the titanium frame, but the phone still feels properly premium in the hand. 

Camera performance is consistently strong, with the 200MP main sensor now sporting a wider f/1.4 aperture that pays dividends in trickier light, delivering brighter and more detailed shots. Colours are more neutral and balanced than in previous generations, and the dual zoom system holds up well to around the 30-40x mark.

Performance is genuinely exceptional. The custom Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy chipset, paired with 12GB or 16GB of RAM, turns in seriously high Geekbench 6 scores, and a 67.6% stability score across a demanding 4K 20-minute gaming benchmark shows sustained gaming is better handled than before. 

Battery life is fine rather than outstanding, though the bump to 60W wired and 25W wireless charging makes midday top-ups a bit less of a chore. 

Seven years of OS upgrade support rounds out an impressive package, taking the phone all the way to Android 23. If you want a great all-rounder anchored by a standout screen, it’s a cracking pick, though know that the competition is fiercer than it’s ever been.

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There’s no shortage of capable camera phones in the Android market, but the Oppo Find X9 Ultra stands out as one of the most versatile shooters you can buy right now, and that’s largely down to its ridiculously capable four-lens rear setup.

That array pairs an upgraded 200MP main sensor with a 200MP 3x telephoto, a 50MP ultrawide and a rare 50MP 10x periscope lens for serious long-range shooting. 

Crucially, all four lenses pull their weight. Oppo has done a great job keeping colour science and detail consistent across every camera, so shots look natural no matter which lens you reach for.

The supporting cameras hold up brilliantly too. The 3x telephoto pulls out sharp detail with punchy but believable colours, and the ultrawide handles landscapes with plenty of bite. Even the 10x periscope, usually the weak link in a setup like this, proved surprisingly handy at gigs and football matches, grabbing far more detail than you’d expect.

As is typical with Ultra phones, that camera stack does make the handset chunky and heavy at 9.1mm and 236g. But given how much it can do, that feels like a fair trade.

Inside, you get the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a 144Hz AMOLED display, and a massive 7300mAh battery that easily sees you through a full day. So while the cameras are the headline act, the Find X9 Ultra is a proper flagship all round.

It’s no secret at this point that if you want the cleanest, most iOS-like experience within the Android tent, then you absolutely need to nab a Pixel phone. Google’s stock Android, which is uncluttered and very customisable, is just a joy to use, and compared to some of the bloatware-ridden Android overlays that we’ve come across in our many tests, it really shows off Android in its best light.

While you could upgrade to the Pixel 10 or even the Pixel 10 Pro if you’re budget is somewhat restrained, we’d argue that the Pixel 10 Pro XL is worth the added expense for the feeling of luxury that you get here with its suite of high-end features, the most important of which being its super large 6.8-inch display.

With a 120Hz OLED panel that packs 3300 nits of peak brightness, the Pixel 10 Pro XL’s display is a total feast for the eyes. Not only do all of your favourite apps look great, and scrolling through social media feels buttery smooth, but it’s the incredible colour that the screen is able to show when streaming from the likes of Netflix or Disney Plus that really makes it stand out. If you enjoy using your smartphone as your main entertainment hub, then you’ll appreciate the offering here.

As with any Pixel phone however, beyond the excellent software experience, the real draw is the camera set-up. Particularly when it comes to portrait photography, Google’s computational processing can deliver eye-catching shots unlike any other, and when paired with the XL’s triple-camera array, headlined by a beefy 50MP main camera, you’ll have a hard time taking a bad shot here. Even at night, the 10 Pro XL can still deliver impressive colours, so you can capture that epic night-out with ease.

What’s been great to see is that, in spite of all of the upgrades afforded to the Pixel 10 Pro XL, Google hasn’t neglected arguably the most important factor of all: battery life. From our testing, the massive 5200mAh cell can really go the distance, offering up to two days of use on a single charge, so you’ll never have to worry about needing to seek out a charging outlet before the end of the day.

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If sheer power is what you’re after, then the OnePlus 15 is a great option. Not only does it run on Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, the chip of 2026, but OnePlus worked with mobile game developers to enable the full 165Hz gaming experience offered by the 1.5K display.

In fact, gaming on the OnePlus 15 feels especially seamless as you can now play at up to 165fps in the likes of Call of Duty, giving you the edge when playing online. 

Although we touched briefly upon the display earlier, it’s worth mentioning just how feature-packed it is. The 6.76-inch AMOLED panel delivers vibrant colours, a rapid 3200Hz touch response rate and impossibly thin 1.15mm bezels too. 

Flip the handset over and you’ll note that the OnePlus 15 looks exceptionally similar to Oppo’s Find X9 Pro. However, the exact camera hardware on offer with the OnePlus 15 is different. 

While on paper it may seem like the OnePlus 15’s cameras are unchanged from the OnePlus 13, as both are fitted with the same 50MP trio, there are a few notable differences to keep in mind. For example, the main 50MP camera now has the same sized sensor as the iPhone 17 Pro Max while its telephoto lens has a larger 1/2.75-inch sensor too.

While the cameras might not be quite as impressive as the Find X9 Pro, it’s worth remembering that is a camera-focused handset – and more expensive too. Generally we’d say the OnePlus 15 is a decent all-rounder, able to make light work of most scenarios and does a better job of surpassing the 3.5x zoom mark than even the Pixel 10. 

With a mighty 7300mAh cell, the OnePlus 15 alleviates any battery anxiety you might have. Even busy days with over five hours of screen time still saw us end the day with up to 40% battery remaining.

Thanks to its Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chip, mighty battery capacity and brilliant gaming support, the OnePlus 15 is truly one of the best all-rounders for 2026.

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Although at first you’d be forgiven for thinking the Honor Magic 8 Pro looks the same as its predecessor, a closer inspection shows some welcome updates. While the camera module is larger than before, the handset is thinner and lighter than the Magic 7 Pro, at just 8.4mm and 213g respectively, and now sports the AI Button at the right-hand side. 

Not only that, but the display is smaller too at 6.71-inches compared to the Honor Magic 7 Pro’s 6.8-inch. Even so, we still found the OLED panel delivers vibrant colours and contrast, with its LTPO 120Hz refresh rate helping everything feel delightfully smooth. 

Flip the handset over and you’ll be greeted by the impressive trio of rear lenses, including a 50MP main, 50MP ultrawide and a beefy 200MP 3.7x telephoto lens too. All three lenses are consistent and result in matching contrast, highlights and colour too. While the ultrawide did have a tendency to capture darker and slightly distorted images, and certainly doesn’t match the Oppo Find X9 Pro, it’s still enough for everyday snapping. 

There’s also plenty of presets and filters to choose from too, if its neutral setting is slightly too pale and over-exposed for your liking. 

Where the camera particularly excels is with Honor’s SuperNight capabilities which is able to extract impressive amounts of colour and detail even in darker conditions. 

Powering the Honor Magic 8 Pro is the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, which will likely be behind most of the best smartphones of 2026. Naturally, we can confirm that everything from replying to emails, social media scrolling and gaming feels lightning fast, without a hint of lagging. 

Finally, the Magic 8 Pro supports 100W wired and 80W wireless charging. Yes, you will need Honor-branded chargers to benefit from such speeds, but even without you can still expect impressively fast recharging. For example, we concluded that with a 65W adapter, the Magic 8 Pro saw a full charge in just 70 minutes and got to 50% in under 30 minutes too.

Overall, if you want a brilliant flagship Android that not only runs smoothly but impresses with its night photography prowess and speedy charging, then the Honor Magic 8 Pro is a brilliant option for most.

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Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip line might’ve popularised the modern clamshell foldable, but the Motorola Razr 70 Ultra makes a strong case that style and practicality don’t have to come at the cost of performance.

If you pick one up, you’ll likely be drawn first to the finish. The Pantone Orient Blue Alcantara back is a genuinely lovely thing to look at and hold, with gently curved edges that stop it feeling uncomfortable against your palm. The fabric-like texture does attract dust and lint, but that’s a small price to pay for a foldable that feels this distinctive in the hand.

The cover screen remains the Razr’s headline act. Bright, quick to respond, and paired with software that lets you run most of your usual apps without flipping the phone open, it’s the best external display you’ll find on any foldable right now. The main 7-inch display is arguably too tall and narrow for its own good, but for everyday use it gets the job done.

Being a foldable hasn’t forced Motorola to cut corners on cameras either. The 50-megapixel main and ultrawide sensors deliver punchy, colour-rich shots, particularly in good outdoor light. There’s no dedicated telephoto, but the 2x crop-zoom still holds up well enough for most situations.

Under the hood you get a Snapdragon 8 Elite, a 5000mAh battery and 68W charging that hits 50% in just 20 minutes. That makes it one of the quickest and most powerful clamshells you can buy today. It isn’t a huge leap over its predecessor, but if you want a foldable that turns heads and backs it up with genuine day-to-day capability, the Razr 70 Ultra is well worth your attention.

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The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 marks a genuine leap forward for Samsung’s book-style foldable, finally delivering the ultra-slim, lightweight design many have been waiting for.

Shedding much of the bulk and weight of its predecessors, the 4.2mm-thick Fold 7 is now among the thinnest foldables around, and at 215g, it’s both lighter than the book-style competition and even the Galaxy S25 Ultra. It makes it a joy to handle, and it’s almost unnoticeable in the pocket as a result.

Samsung has also nailed the usability of both displays this year. The wider 6.5-inch cover screen is genuinely practical for everyday tasks, while the 8-inch internal panel feels more solid with a way less intrusive crease. Both screens are bright, vibrant and ideal for everything from gaming to multitasking.

Camera performance is another highlight, with the main 200MP sensor borrowed from the S25 Ultra delivering sharp, detailed shots that put the Fold 7 on par with regular bar phones. General performance is equally impressive, thanks to the Snapdragon 8 Elite and up to 16GB of RAM.

Battery life and charging remain the main drawbacks with a 4400mAh cell and 25W charging falling far behind rivals. Still, for most users, the Fold 7 will comfortably last a day, and the overall package is compelling enough to make it the standout book-style foldable of 2025.

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The RedMagic 11S Pro may not be the most well-rounded Android phone on this list, but it absolutely delivers where it matters most for its target audience: gaming.

There are plenty of gaming-focused features packed in here, from the two side-mounted touch triggers that give you gamepad-style controls during play, to the dedicated red slider that activates the Game Space Mode for a console-like performance boost. 

The design leans into its gaming identity too, with a blocky, aggressive aesthetic that nods to older handsets in the line, complete with a liquid cooling window that lets you watch the coolant being pumped around inside, plus customisable lighting for good measure.

The real highlight is the overclocked Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 paired with 16GB of RAM, which puts the 11S Pro among the best performers we’ve tested. That power is matched by a large 6.85-inch 144Hz AMOLED display running at 1216×2688 with peak brightness of 1800 nits, making it a genuinely great panel for long gaming sessions.

Battery life is another strong suit, with the 7500mAh cell comfortably covering a couple of days on a single charge depending on how hard you play. The cameras are not the best you will find at this price point, so if photography is a priority you may want to look elsewhere. But if you want a phone that puts gaming first and still handles the daily grind, the RedMagic 11S Pro is a solid pick.

The Pixel 10a is the latest in Google’s mid-range series, though the gap between it and last year’s 9a is smaller than you might expect. And, as the 10a settles onto shelves, prices on the 9a should continue to drift downward, making a decision between the two even trickier.

That said, the most obvious change with the 10a is the fully flat back, which gives it a clean, minimal look. The downside is that the phone sits completely flush on any surface, meaning scratches are a real risk if you go caseless. The bezels have also been trimmed slightly, and while it’s not a dramatic difference, it does give the 10a a marginally fresher feel. The 6.3-inch pOLED display gets a meaningful brightness boost too, hitting 2000 nits in high brightness mode, and it delivers the same punchy, vivid colours that the Pixel line has always been known for.

Under the hood, the Tensor G4 chip returns alongside 8GB of RAM, keeping day-to-day performance smooth and ensuring you get access to Google’s full suite of AI features, from Magic Editor to Best Take. Crucially, the seven-year OS update guarantee also carries over.

The cameras are carried over unchanged from the 9a, with a 48MP main sensor and a 13MP ultrawide. Given how strong Google’s image processing is, that still puts the 10a ahead of much of the mid-range competition on cameras, with sharp, detailed shots and impressive low-light performance. There is no telephoto lens, so if zoom is a priority for you, you will need to look elsewhere.

Battery life is a strong point, with the large 5100mAh cell delivering excellent stamina. Wired charging has also been bumped up to 30W compared to the 9a’s 23W, which brings the full charge time down to around an hour and 40 minutes.

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The Honor Magic V6 might just be the best-looking book-style foldable you can buy right now, and a large part of that comes down to how it feels in the hand. It’s remarkably thin and light for a device of this type, yet the build quality feels solid throughout, and with an IP68/69 rating it can shrug off dust and water without needing to be babied.

Both screens are genuinely stunning. The cover display and 7.95-inch inner panel each run at 120Hz, with the cover screen capable of peak brightness hitting 6000 nits, which means videos look punchy and outdoor use is never a squinting exercise. There is still a crease on the inner screen, though it is faint enough that it is very easy to ignore.

Powering everything is the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, one of the fastest chips currently available, and it shows. Demanding titles like Destiny Rising, Genshin Impact and Call of Duty run without breaking a sweat, and everyday apps feel equally snappy. Battery life is equally reassuring, with a 6660mAh cell that comfortably gets you through a full day on a single charge.

If you want a book-style foldable that pairs serious durability and outright performance with two of the best screens you will find on any foldable right now, the Honor Magic V6 is an exceptionally strong choice – it’s just Honor’s MagicOS skin that stops it from being the go-to recommendation. 

Few phones deliver as much firepower for the money as the Poco F8 Ultra, making it one of the strongest value propositions on this list.

Pick it up and you know straight away this isn’t your average flagship. The denim-inspired back panel will split opinion, but the matte aluminium frame and rounded edges feel a lot like Apple’s iPhone 17 Pro range, and you get proper IP68 dust and water resistance to go along with that premium feel.

That 6.9-inch AMOLED display is a genuine highlight too, hitting 2000 nits at peak brightness and delivering colours that pop, perfectly suited to both films and gaming. Pair it with the Bose-certified triple-speaker setup and things really click, with films sounding bigger and games gaining that extra layer of atmosphere.

On the performance front, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 inside makes this one of the fastest phones you can buy right now, with even the most demanding titles barely making it break a sweat. Then there’s the 6500mAh battery, which cruised through two days in our testing, with 100W fast charging refilling it from flat to full in just under 45 minutes.

The one area where the F8 Ultra falls short is the camera setup. If photography is your top priority, you would be better served by something like the Oppo Find X9 Ultra. But if you want raw speed, a stunning display and outstanding battery life without spending flagship money, the Poco F8 Ultra is a remarkable package.