2024's top Android smartphones

For those in search of the Android phone that tops all the rest, look no further than the Galaxy S24 Ultra. While its $1,299.99 starting price understandably puts it out of reach for some, those who can afford it will have a phone at their disposal that excels in just about every way you could ask for such a device.

As you’d expect from a 2024 flagship, the Galaxy S24 Ultra comes equipped with Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset backed by 12GB of RAM. This pairing naturally provides chart-topping performance, making for an excellent user experience whether you’re browsing your phone or getting in a few minutes of gaming. The camera hardware has received an upgrade too, with a new 50MP periscope telephoto lens that supports up to 5x optical zoom.

With the Galaxy S24 Ultra, Samsung has finally bid adieu to curved screens. This change is understandably somewhat divisive, but something all users can benefit from is the phone’s new peak brightness of 2,600nits (up from 1,750nits on the S23 Ultra). Such a boost greatly assists with outdoor viewing and, more importantly, lets both SDR and HDR content truly pop. The screen is also coated with Corning Gorilla Armor glass for added protection.

Samsung, like its competitors, is leaning heavily into AI with its phones now and the Galaxy S24 Ultra is no exception. However, it’s important to note that much of what the company is offering here isn’t exclusive to this phone and can be found elsewhere. More importantly, though, is that you’ll need to pay to access some features from 2026 onwards. For more on this one, read our Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review.

You don’t need to pay copious amounts of cash to get a great phone, with the Pixel 7a serving as a prime example. For $499.99, cheaper still in places since the release of the Pixel 8a, you’re getting the lion’s share of what makes the more-expensive Pixel 7 such a great phone to this day.

Camera quality is suitably high on the Pixel 7a, coming close enough to the best Google Pixel phones that most folks should find little to nothing to complain about photos taken with it. This is the first A-series phone to feature new sensors, with a new 64MP main lens taking up primary duties and a 13MP ultrawide that are a cut above predecessors like the Pixel 6a.

As with all Pixel phones, you can expect a stock Android launcher that runs smoothly on the Tensor G2 chipset and is devoid of duplicate applications that clutter up its admittedly limited 128GB of storage. Be sure to dive into its settings menu, though, as you’ll annoyingly need to enable the 90Hz refresh rate of its display, as its OLED panel runs at 60Hz by default.

Playing games on the Pixel 7a is a decent experience but the phone can become noticeably warm if its Tensor G2 chipset is under stress for a prolonged period. This, naturally, leads to some thermal throttling, but it never gets so hot that you have to put it down. For more details, see our Google Pixel 7a review.

While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 performs well in other Android flagships, the chipset doesn’t shine quite as brightly in games as it does in the ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition. For those that demand the highest frame rates from their phone, at the cost of other features, this is the undisputed champ.

Peak performance naturally demands a lofty price and you can expect to pay $1,499.99 for the ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition. This includes the otherwise optional AeroActive Cooler X accessory ($99) but the major differences compared to the standard 8 Pro are in storage and RAM, which jumps to 1TB and 24GB, respectively.

A redesigned chassis makes the ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition a more subtle smartphone to carry around, with far less aggressive stylings typical of a ROG gaming product. Nonetheless, Asus has included an AniMe Vision Mini LED display on the back of the phone which is a novel and surprisingly useful addition, providing you with notification information, the time, or just a cool way to personalize your phone further.

Using the phone for games or more generally is silky smooth thanks to its 165Hz display, but you will need to be a little more conscious of battery life given that the ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition comes with a smaller 5,500mAh battery (down from 6,000mAh in the ROG Phone 7 Ultimate). Bear in mind, as well, that you shouldn’t expect flagship-level photography from its camera array, despite its price. ASUS has made improvements here, but there’s only so much it can do with the midrange IMX890 sensor. For the full lowdown, check out our Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro Edition review.

Point-and-shoot photography doesn’t get any better on Android phones than it does with the Pixel 8 Pro. That said, Google’s latest flagship has much more to offer than just a fantastic camera array, with a newly upgraded screen, a specs boost, and a longer support period making its higher price much easier to stomach.

In addition to equipping the Pixel 8 Pro with a much more capable 48MP ultrawide lens, Google has also tweaked the main and telephoto lenses with wider apertures, allowing more light to reach each sensor. Both photo and video captured on this phone look simply stunning with no configuration required, but there are aptly named Pro camera controls available for those who seek greater command over their shots.

Google has markedly improved the OLED display on the Pixel 8 Pro, ditching the curved screen as seen on the Pixel 7 Pro and massively increasing peak brightness to 2,400 nits (up from 1,500 nits). You can also expect software and security updates up until 2030, making your $1,000 investment last all the longer.

Drawbacks on the Pixel 8 Pro are few but largely concern its Tensor G3 chipset, which while an improvement over Tensor G2 is still behind competing Snapdragon options. In addition to its temperature sensor amounting to little more than a gimmick, many of the phone’s other advantages and features feel arbitrarily exclusive as the Pixel 8 packs the same hardware. As such, while AI features like Video Boost are for now only available on the Pro model, we wouldn’t be surprised if they came to other phones in the lineup later down the line. For more details, see our Google Pixel 8 Pro review.

Sporting a bigger cover screen and a refined hinge design, the Galaxy Z Flip 5 marks the most compelling realization of Samsung’s flip phone design and finds itself ahead of the pack. Make no mistake, it’s as pretty as it is powerful and of course, packs a satisfyingly crisp closing sound that never gets old.

The Galaxy Z Flip 5’s visible hinge may bother some, as will the crease on the internal display, both are quickly forgotten about during normal use. The phone is simply a pleasure to use, open or closed, with Samsung finally changing its hinge design to allow for a practically gapless closed state.

Samsung has also greatly expanded the capabilities and size of the Galaxy Z Flip 5’s Flex screen, replacing the Flip4’s comparatively minute cover display with a 3.4-inch 720p panel. This makes the phone much more useful while closed with a surprising amount of apps optimized for the small form factor, with the option to add unoptimized ones if you’re feeling brave enough.

Battery capacity is on the smaller side (3,700mAh), as you may expect from a flip phone, but Samsung has seemingly missed a trick that would help to prolong the time between charges. Annoyingly, the exterior Flex display is constantly running at 60Hz, when it’d do just as well running at 1Hz with an LTPO panel. If you want to know more, see our Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review.