Best smartphones 2024: The best phones tested

Samsung’s 2024 flagship Galaxy S24 Ultra has taken the top spot in our list of the best phones you can buy right now – though it does come with an equally high price tag. 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

If you’re looking for a true flagship phone and have settled on iOS as your operating system of choice, you’re going to be looking at the iPhone 16 Pro Max – the current best iPhone on the market.

Though it may not look all that different to its predecessor, the iPhone 16 Pro Max comes with a host of small, yet meaningful upgrades. The 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED screen has increased to a whopping 6.9 inches, though without much of an expansion of the overall footprint thanks to much slimmer bezels. Seriously, this thing has some of the slimmest screen bezels on the market.

Not content with the customisable Action Button, the iPhone 16 Pro Max also features a Camera Control button with a touch-sensitive surface that lets you swipe to zoom, change modes and more, as well as take the actual photo. However, the idea is better than the execution, with a less-than-ideal placement of the button that makes using it awkward.

It’s also impressively powerful with the A18 Pro chipset at its heart, delivering benchmarks that beat every single other smartphone in our chart, making it the most powerful smartphone around right now – and that’s reflected in everyday performance.

The A18 Pro also powers the new Apple Intelligence functionality, but none of the killer AI features are available just yet, and the functionality is also limited to US owners right now – so don’t be fooled by Apple’s worldwide AI marketing push.

Throw in solid camera performance with a new 48MP ultrawide alongside the returning 48MP main and 12MP 5x telephoto lenses and true all-day battery life and you’ve got the best iPhone to date.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: Apple iPhone 16 Pro Max review

If you’re on the hunt for a premium phone without splashing out on ultra-premium options like the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, the Honor Magic 6 Pro is a great choice.

The top-tier device manages to compete with the Galaxy S24 Ultra in several key areas, from screen and camera tech to battery life, while also boasting a whopping 512GB of storage as standard – and for a few hundred quid less than the top-end Galaxy too.

The Magic 6 Pro’s 6.8-inch curved AMOLED display is a marvel, complete with slightly curved edges, a silky smooth LTPO-enabled 120H refresh rate and a swathe of eye care-focused features that ensure a delightful viewing experience, whether doom scrolling on TikTok or binging Netflix. There’s even a peak brightness of 5000nits, ideal for HDR content.

The camera system is equally as capable, with a 50MP primary snapper delivering impressive dynamic range via a custom HDR sensor and variable aperture, while the 180MP periscope lens – the largest sensor and megapixel count of its kind – delivers impressive zoom capabilities with minimal detail loss.

We were also impressed by the 5,600mAh battery, not only because it’s much larger than the standard 5,000mAh cell found in most premium alternatives, but because it’s made from a more eco-friendly silicon-ion, while also boosting its longevity in cold conditions.

Throw in Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 power, 80W fast charging, IR-enabled facial recognition that’s on a par with Apple’s Face ID tech and a premium, eye-catching design and you’ve got a solid all-rounder that comes in at less than £1000/$1000.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: Honor Magic 6 Pro 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 16 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

After being largely absent from the UK market for the past few years, Oppo has made a triumphant return with the release of the Oppo Find X8 Pro.

The top-end flagship for 2025, the Find X8 Pro strikes a tempting balance between design, performance and camera capabilities that make it a tempting alternative to the likes of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra and Honor Magic 6 Pro, but its battery life where the phone truly stands out.

The smartphone somehow manages to pack a massive 6000mAh battery within its relatively slimline chassis, and when compared with the exceptional power efficiency of the MediaTek Dimensity 9400, can just keep on going, as we found out during our real-world testing.

The Find X8 Pro had absolutely no issue with finishing the day with close to half its battery remaining, and that’s with particularly battery-heavy elements like high refresh rate, full resolution and AOD enabled, meaning it could potentially be even more efficient with a few tweaks. Still, with true two-day potential, it’s not something you’ll likely feel the need to do.

That’s paired with speedy 80W charging that’ll get you a full charge in just 50 minutes and 50W wireless charging, though both require specific Oppo-branded chargers to achieve those speeds.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full review: Oppo Find X8 Pro review

If you want the best possible phone for playing games on the go, our top recommendation is the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro Edition. 

Performance is a top priority for gamers, which is why Asus has gone all-out with the Snapdragon 8 Elite 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 9 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.

Like its predecessor, the ROG Phone 9 Pro doesn’t really look like a gaming phone – though the telltale signs are there if you really look. The LED-powered AniMe Vision screen is back, though with a massive increase to the LEDs taking the total up to 648 LEDs, allowing it to display graphics, text and even battery levels via the back of the phone. Elsewhere, though, it’s very toned-down for a gaming phone, something that’ll likely appeal to more casual mobile gamers.

We also appreciate the slimline bezels on offer from the gaming phone, and the camera performance isn’t terrible for a gaming phone even if it pales in comparison to the likes of the Galaxy S24 Ultra, helping it justify that top-end price tag.

That said, costing well 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 9 Pro Edition.

Reviewer: Luke Baker
Full Review: Asus ROG Phone 9 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 16 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 16 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