The Best Smartphones

Who it’s for: The iPhone 16 is ideal for someone who wants a bright screen, a fast processor for Pro-level gaming and performance, all-day battery life with fast-charging, and great cameras for shooting photos and videos. The iPhone 16 Plus is ideal for those who prefer a larger screen and lengthy battery life, without paying more for the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Why we like them: The Apple iPhone 16 provides Pro-level features with powerful performance. Its overall design remains unchanged: The iPhone 16 has a 6.1-inch display, and the 16 Plus has a 6.7-inch screen, both of which can reach up to 2,000 nits of maximum outdoor brightness and can dim as low as 1 nit to preserve battery life. But it comes in vibrant new color options, including teal and pink.

The 16 also gets two new side buttons: the customizable Action button from the iPhone 15 Pro lineup, which lets you quickly trigger tasks like Focus Mode or turning your ringer off, and a Camera Control button, which launches the Camera app, as well as cycles through select camera settings. (The Camera Control is a little finicky, so we don’t recommend upgrading just for that.) The iPhone 16’s rear dual-lens camera setup is now vertically stacked with a wide-angle lens that can capture macro photos.

Both are powered by Apple’s new custom A18 chip, which feels noticeably faster than the iPhone 15 for multitasking, speech recognition, and image and video processing. It can also handle Pro-level gaming with more realistic visual effects and lighting, as well as Apple’s AI features, which start rolling out next month. The new chip is also power-efficient, which helps the iPhone 16 last longer than the previous model. The iPhone 16 Plus offers the same features as the iPhone 16 but adds a larger battery, and MagSafe charging is now faster across all iPhone 16 models.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Apple's much-hyped AI features aren’t available at launch, which is disappointing. A handful of AI features are coming in the iOS 18.1 software update rolling out in October, including a smarter Siri, which can use context to answer your questions; a photo clean-up tool that will remove unwanted people or objects from photos; new writing tools to make emails sound more professional; and email summaries. Additional features will roll out in December and throughout 2025.

To see if the iPhone 16 is right for you, read our full guide to which iPhone you should get.

Who it’s for: Those who prefer larger screens, the best cameras for photos and videos, and flagship-level performance and battery will like the iPhone 16 Pro. The iPhone 16 Pro Max is for those who want everything the 16 Pro offers but with an even bigger display and a longer-lasting battery.

Why we like them: The Apple iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max both have larger screens than previous models at 6.3 inches and 6.9 inches, respectively. The always-on screens are otherwise the same as previous models, with a 120 Hz refresh rate and a peak brightness of 2,000 nits, though they can now dim as low as 1 nit to preserve battery life.

Both Pro models are powered by Apple’s new custom A18 Pro processor, which feels marginally faster than last year’s Pro phones. The new chip powers new camera features, upcoming AI features, and offers improved graphics and overall performance for high-end games. The new chip is also more power-efficient, which gives the Pro models longer battery life. The iPhone 16 Pro Max now offers the best battery life of any iPhone.

The iPhone 16 Pro models share the same triple-lens rear camera systems with a 48-megapixel main lens, a 48-megapixel ultrawide, and a 12-megapixel telephoto with 5x optical zoom (the iPhone 15 Pro was limited to a 3x zoom, while the 15 Pro Max offered 5x). The triple- camera setup provides a total of seven focal lengths: 13 mm macro, 13 mm ultra-wide, 24 mm, 28 mm, 35 mm, 48 mm 2x telephoto, or 120 mm 5x telephoto. The main camera can capture excellent photos in normal conditions with accurate colors and sharp details, but it also excels in night-mode shots, portrait shots, night-mode portraits, and selfies. The ultrawide sensor provides better resolution for both wide-angle photos and sharper macro photos. The 5x telephoto sensor keeps the details sharp in well-lit and low-light situations. The Pro models can also now record in 4K 120 fps video, which lets you shoot beautiful, high-quality slow-motion and can adjust the speed and frame rate when editing.

The Pro models added four new microphones to capture clearer voice audio recordings, which combined with the Audio Mix feature (exclusive to iPhone 16 models), uses AI and mics to filter out unwanted background noise and isolate vocals on an audio track. This feature is also on the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus models, but the Pro’s new mics give it an edge.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The 6.7-inch iPhone 15 Pro Max was already on the larger side for those with small hands, pockets, and bags, and the 6.9-inch iPhone 16 Pro Max is even larger and heavier. The 6.3-inch 16 Pro hits the sweet spot—not too big or too small—and saves you $200, but with shorter battery life. And like the iPhone 16 and 16 Plus, the Pro models will receive Apple’s new AI features beginning in October with iOS 18.1, so you can’t try them out yet.

If neither the iPhone 16 or 16 Pro sounds right for you, or if you’d just like to know more about the full range of iPhones that Apple currently sells, read our full guide to which iPhone you should get.

Who it’s for: The Pixel 9 is the best choice for people who want a fast, secure Android phone with premium hardware, a bright screen, a great camera, and guaranteed software updates but don’t want to spend a thousand dollars.

Why we like it: The Google Pixel 9 got a redesign and looks more like a flagship phone (or, some would say, an iPhone), with rounded corners, flat sides, a soft-touch matte back, and a matte metal finish. The Pixel 9 has a 6.32-inch 120 Hz OLED screen that stretches nearly edge to edge with minimal borders. That slightly bigger new screen can now reach up to 2,700 nits, so it’s extremely bright for outdoor use, and it also has an extra-dim feature that makes the screen easier on the eyes in dark rooms.

The Pixel 9 also has Google’s new Tensor 4 chip plus 12 GB of RAM to support more on-device AI features, high-quality software, and the same camera features that have made all of Google’s Pixel phones great. This phone comes with Google’s clean, responsive version of Android 14, and it’s guaranteed to get seven years of updates through fall 2031. The Pixel 9 has a dual-camera setup—with a sharp 50-megapixel main sensor and an upgraded 48-megapixel ultrawide sensor—that allows it to take better photos than almost any other Android phone (except the higher-end Pixels).

Though it has only two camera lenses, the Pixel 9’s photo processing is borderline magical. It offers new photo features such as Add Me, which uses a combination of AI and AR to take group photos without a tripod or someone else shooting photos, and Reimagine, which allows you to manipulate photos by adding fireworks or mountains, say, or changing colors using Google’s Magic Editor software. The Pixel 9 also includes our favorite Pixel 8 features: Best Take, which lets you create a composite photo from multiple pics to grab the best faces from your subjects, Magic Eraser, which can remove distractions and unwanted background objects in photos, Audio Magic Eraser, which removes unwanted noise from your videos, Call Screen, which tells you who’s calling you and what they want before you pick up, and assistive features such as Guided Frame and the Magnifier app for people who are blind or have low vision.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Pixel models aren’t the value smartphones they once were—the Pixel 9 is $100 more expensive than last year’s models. The $800 Pixel 9 is now the same price as the base-model iPhone 15 and Samsung Galaxy S24. For context, the Pixel 7 was $600 when it went on sale just two years ago.

To read more about the Pixel 9 and other Android phones we’ve tested, read our full guide to the best Android phones.

Who it’s for: People who want a bigger phone that captures the best images will like the Pixel 9 Pro.

Why we like it: The Pixel 9 Pro is a higher-end version of the Pixel 9, adding a brighter 6.3-inch OLED display, a polished metal finish, a longer-lasting battery, a 5x-optical-zoom lens, professional camera controls, better video quality, and support for Google’s AI-powered Gemini Advanced features.

The Pixel 9 Pro is one of the fastest phones you can buy. Scrolling and navigating apps is exceptionally smooth, and certain functions, such as Gemini and Google Assistant responses, are much faster than on other phones thanks to Google’s Tensor 4 processor and the Pro’s 16 GB of RAM. The new screen is even brighter than that of the Pixel 9, capable of up to 3,000 nits of maximum outdoor brightness.

The Pixel 9 Pro is also an upgrade over the Pixel 9 in that it has an additional camera lens: It has a third, 48-megapixel lens on the back with a 5x zoom that retains detail even when fully zoomed in. It takes the best photos of any Android phone we’ve tested, and you don’t have to tinker with the settings to get stunning images, though the Pixel 9 Pro offers manual controls to adjust things such as white balance, focus, shutter speed, and ISO if you want more granular control of your photos. It can also utilize the full-resolution 50-megapixel main camera instead of relying on a compressed 12-megapixel image. The Pixel 9 Pro’s Super Res Zoom makes photos zoomed in from 5x to 20x zoom look clearer with more visible details. And the Pro has a better selfie camera than the Pixel 9—42 megapixels versus the lower-priced Pixel’s 10.5-megapixel sensor—which makes your selfies as nearly as good as photos you take on the rear-facing cameras.

The Pixel 9 Pro has 16 GB of RAM to power an on-device, advanced version of Google’s Gemini Assistant, which analyzes images, speech, and text in addition to answering queries, supporting voice typing, and handling all of the other features Google Assistant offers. It also includes access to Gemini Live, Google’s new conversation-based assistant, which lets you ask questions just as you would type them into a Google search. Pixel 9 Pro owners get one year of Gemini Advanced for free (which usually costs $239 a year), and that also includes 2 TB of Google One cloud storage and access to Gemini AI within apps like Gmail and Google Docs.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: The Google Pixel 9 Pro has the Pixel 8 Pro’s gimmicky temperature sensor, which we find useless. But you don’t have to use it.

The Pixel 9 Pro’s Video Boost feature, which requires you to upload your videos to the cloud via Google Photos to improve your video details, colors, and stabilization, is tricky to use, because it requires you to turn the option on before pressing record. It also requires you to upload your video files to the cloud via Google Photos for processing instead of letting it happen on your device. The entire process can take several hours to complete—and if you’re shooting in 8K, even longer.

For more information on the Google Pixel 9 Pro, read our full guide to the best Android phones.

Who it’s for: The Galaxy A15 5G is an excellent budget Android option that provides nearly everything you need, with very few trade-offs.

Why we like it: The Samsung Galaxy A15 5G costs only $200, and it offers a lot of value for that low price. It has a colorful 6.5-inch 90 Hz OLED screen, a MediaTek 6835 chip with solid performance, a large battery that can last for nearly two days on a charge, and a 50-megapixel main camera that can capture great results in good lighting. It runs the latest version of Android with up to five years of security updates, and it supports 5G, so it works on all three major carriers.

Flaws but not dealbreakers: Like many cheap phones, the Galaxy A15 5G has a plastic body and doesn’t have an official IP rating. That means you should avoid dropping it in water. It also lacks internal seals for additional protection, so you shouldn’t expose it to sand and dust.

For more information on the Samsung Galaxy A15 5G, read our full guide to the best budget Android phones.

The latest version of this article was edited by Caitlin McGarry.