If you’re looking to upgrade, finding the best phone can be tricky. But we make it easier by spending a ton of time in our labs and in the real world testing all of the top handsets and comparing them side by side.
The very best phones offer great cameras, the kind of performance you need to multitask and enough battery life to last the whole day. And we have our own web surfing battery test to put company's "all-day" endurance claims to the test.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is now our top phone, beating out Apple in our Galaxy S23 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max face-off.
In addition, Apple has announced a new yellow color for the iPhone 14 and iPhone 14 Plus, though the features remain the same.
Keep an eye out for a possible new Pixel 7a this spring, as the official start date of Google I/O 2023 is May 10.
To help you pick the best smartphone for your needs and budget, we also compare the best camera phones side by side to see which devices offer the best image quality in all sorts of conditions.
With strong options available at all price levels, you don't have to spend a lot to get something great. You can get a solid mid-range phone that delivers all the features you need for under $500.
Our best phones list has something for everyone, including great bargains and amazing flagships for those willing to pay a premium. We've ranked all the top phones below based on our testing.
Here are the top smartphones right now.
- Our smartphone buying guides:
- The best phones 2023 (this page)
- The best iPhones 2023
- The best Android phones 2023
- The best camera phones 2023
- The best cheap phones 2023
The best phones you can buy today
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The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is truly the ultimate Android phone, and it starts with a 200-megapixel that seems like overkill but delivers truly stellar results. You can reframe your shot after the fact and still get sharp details. Plus, this sensor offers brighter and richer photos overall, and you get an improved 12MP front camera.
In terms of performance, nothing can touch the Galaxy S23 Ultra among Android phones, thanks to its blazing Snapdragon 8 gen 2 for Galaxy processor. This chip beats the iPhone on graphics performance and is a blast for playing games. Another plus? The more than 13 hours of battery life we saw in our web surfing test.
Other highlights for the Galaxy S23 Ultra include smarter OneUI 5.1 features, including Bixby Text call for screening calls for you. And the display is now flatter for easier S Pen use, though we still don't think the panel needs to be curved. Note that there are complaints about S Pen Bluetooth connectivity issues, but hopefully that will be fixed with an update. Although we'd like to see faster charging overall the Samsung S23 Ultra is the best Android phone yet and easily one of the best phones overall.
See our full Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review.
- Undecided about the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra?
- The best Android phones 2023
- The best camera phones 2023
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs Galaxy S22 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs iPhone 14 Pro Max
- The best Samsung Galaxy S23 deals
The iPhone 14 Pro Max is the best iPhone we’ve tested, and that’s because it has everything you could want in a flagship. You get a stunning 6.7-inch display with new always-on capability, which lets you check the time, battery status, widgets and notifications without turning the phone on. And the new Dynamic Island is a clever replacement for the notch that delivers everything from music playback status and timers to your next Maps direction towards the top of the screen.
Other highlights of the iPhone 14 Pro Max include a powerful A16 Bionic processor that smokes most Android phones and a powerful new 48MP camera that gives you the choice of brighter images or sharper resolution in ProRAW. See our ProRAW photo shoot to see the results. And the new Action Mode for video is super smooth and compelling. The best part is the battery life, as we saw over 13 hours in our testing, making this a total beast and worth the premium.
The iPhone 14 Pro Max isn't perfect, as the charging could be faster and the zoom is weaker than the Galaxy S23 Ultra. But overall this is one of the best phones you can buy.
Read our full iPhone 14 Pro Max review.
- Undecided about the iPhone 14 Pro Max?
- The best iPhones 2023: which to choose
- The best big phones 2023
- iPhone 14 Pro Max vs iPhone 13 Pro Max
- iPhone 14 Pro Max vs Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
- iPhone 14 colors - here's all the options
- The best iPhone 14 Pro Max deals
Apple’s iPhone 14 Pro is the best phone under $1,000, and that includes Android and iOS. That’s because you get best-in-class performance from the A16 Bionic chip and the best camera performance in a design you can use with one hand. The 48MP camera delivers sharper and brighter photos, and you’ll get excellent low-light results, especially outdoors from the iPhone 14 Pro’s Photoonic Engine.
Video is another strong point for the iPhone 14 Pro, as you get a super smooth Action mode along with a sharper 4K Cinematic Mode. Add in a very clever replacement for the notch with Dynamic Island and an always-on display and you have one of the best phones you can buy. We just wish Apple offered faster charging, which likely won't happen until the iPhone 15 Pro.
Read our full iPhone 14 Pro review.
- Undecided about the iPhone 14 Pro?
- The best iPhones 2023: which to buy
- The best camera phones 2023
- iPhone 14 Pro vs iPhone 13 Pro
- iPhone 14 colors - here's all the options
- The best iPhone 14 Pro deals
The Google Pixel 6a runs on the same Tensor processor that powers the Pixel 6. That means the same AI-driven features on that more premium phone are available on this sub-$500 model. And Google even ups the ante by introducing new capabilities to its stellar Magic Erase photo editing feature.
Speaking of photos, the Pixel 6a carries on the tradition of Google’s budget phones offering superior photo-taking skills. The camera hardware on the Pixel 6a doesn’t necessarily impress, but Google’s flair for computational photography means the photos you take with this phone will top images by similarly priced camera phones. You may even get photos that rival what a more premium handset can produce.
We wish the battery life on the Pixel 6a was better, but sometimes for a cheaper price, you make trade-offs. The great thing about the Pixel 6a is that those sacrifices are few and far between.
Read our full Google Pixel 6a review.
- Undecided about the Google Pixel 6a?
- The best cheap phones 2023
- The best Android phones 2023
- 5 reasons to buy and 3 reasons to skip the Pixel 6a
- Google Pixel 6a vs Pixel 6: what's the difference?
- Google Pixel 6a vs iPhone SE: compared
- The best Google Pixel 6a deals
The OnePlus 11 comes out of the gate swinging with top-tier specs, great cameras, and an awesome starting price. It packs the latest Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 silicon, which grants it a lot of power — even more than the iPhone 14 Pro Max in gaming. Coupled with the stellar battery life, this phone means business.
As you might expect for $699, the OnePlus 11 makes a couple of compromises. The telephoto lens saw a drop to 2x from the OnePlus 10 Pro’s 3.3x. There’s also the odd lack of wireless charging, something the OnePlus 11’s closest competitors have.
Still, this is one of the best phones you can buy.
Read our full OnePlus 11 review.
- Undecided about the OnePlus 11?
- The best Android phones 2023
- Best unlocked phones
- OnePlus 11 vs. Pixel 7 Pro
- OnePlus 11: Everything you need to know
- Best cell phone deals
It may not have the flashy features of the Galaxy S23 Ultra — namely, that 200MP main camera — but the Galaxy S23 offers the best things about Samsung's flagship lineup at a lower price. You do get the customized Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chipset that provides a big performance boost for Samsung's new phones. More importantly, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2's more efficient power management helps the Galaxy S23 last longer on a charge than its predecessor, addressing one of our biggest complaints about the Galaxy S22.
Samsung improved the phone in other ways as well, boosting maximum brightness on the Galaxy S23's 6.1-inch display to 1,750 nits. You certainly won't have a difficult time viewing that screen outdoors in bright sunlight. We've also seen improvements to low-light photography, even if the Galaxy S23 still lags other top camera phones from Apple in an overall photo face-off. At a starting price of $799, the Galaxy S23 offers a good mix of premium features and a relatively low price for a flagship device.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 review.
- Undecided about the Samsung Galaxy S23?
- The best Android phones 2023
- The best camera phones 2023
- Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. iPhone 14
- Samsung Galaxy S23 vs. Galaxy S22
- The best Samsung Galaxy S23 deals
The Pixel 7 Pro is Google’s best phone yet, and certainly the most iconic. It features a refined design, brighter display, more powerful Tensor G2 chipset and stronger cameras. We just wish it had better battery life, though it has improved this year.
Tensor G2 offers some nice upgrades across the board, such as Photo Unblur, Cinematic Blur, and Active Stabilization. Google Assistant has also gotten a lot smarter, offering improvements to Direct My Call, transcription for voice texts, and better contextual understanding for voice typing.
With 5x optical zoom, the Pixel 6 Pro can pull off some fancy zoom tricks in combination with the enhanced Super Res Zoom. But we think the colors are a bit dull on the telephoto shots, certainly less vibrant than the iPhone 14 Pro in our testing. Regardless, the Pixel 7 Pro is the Android phone to get if you want the best cameras.
Read our full Pixel 7 Pro review.
- Undecided about the Pixel 7 Pro?
- Best camera phones
- Best unlocked phones
- Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra vs. Pixel 7 Pro
- OnePlus 11 vs. Pixel 7 Pro
- Best Google Pixel 7 deals
The iPhone 14 is the best new iPhone for those looking for an affordable option. For $799, you get improved cameras across the board with better low-light performance (thanks to Photonic Engine), and the new Action mode for video delivers super stable video when you’re in motion — no gimbal required.
The iPhone 14’s A15 Bionic is stolen from the iPhone 13 Pro, which results in stronger graphics performance. This phone could even save your life when its new safety features come online, including Emergency SOS via Satellite and crash detection. We’re not a fan of the same old design, and we wish Apple offered a 120Hz display at this price, but overall the iPhone 14 is a winner.
Read our full iPhone 14 review.
- Undecided about the iPhone 14?
- The best iPhones 2023: which to buy
- The best camera phones 2023
- iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Pro
- iPhone 14 vs iPhone 13
- iPhone 14 colors - here's all the options
- The best iPhone 14 deals
The iPhone 14 Plus is what happens when Apple listens to its customers. This new model replaces the iPhone mini with a large 6.7-inch OLED display, which is great for watching movies, playing games and more. And at $899 you don’t have to pay the iPhone Pro Max premium. Plus, you get the same great camera upgrades as the regular iPhone 14, including a larger main sensor and Photonic Engine for better low-light performance.
The other big reason to go for the iPhone 14 Plus is the battery life. This handset lasted nearly 12 hours on our testing, which is about 2.5 hours longer than the regular iPhone 14. Add in strong A15 Bionic performance and you have a winner. But we do wish Apple offered a 120Hz display and telephoto lens at this price.
Read our full iPhone 14 Plus review.
- Undecided about the iPhone 14 Plus?
- The best iPhones 2023: which to buy
- The best camera phones 2023
- iPhone 14 vs iPhone 14 Plus
- Best big phones
- iPhone 14 colors - here's all the options
- The best iPhone 14 deals
When it comes to the iPhone SE (2022), you really are getting a lot for your money. At $429, the newest budget iPhone outperforms anything else in the price category and even puts the highest-end Android phones on their toes. With the same A15 Bionic that powers the iPhone 13, the SE is a little beast.
But like its predecessor, it recycles the iPhone 8 body. That means huge bezels, but you get a Touch ID home button. This tired design won’t be to everyone’s liking, nor will the lack of Night mode. This glaring omission is one reason why the new iPhone SE doesn’t rank higher. And you also lose out on Verizon’s Ultra Wideband network.
The iPhone SE (2022) offers a lot and is one of the best phones under $500. It trades blows with the Pixel 5a, meaning that iPhone buyers on a budget have two great options to look at. (The other being the $499 LTE-only iPhone 11.)
Read our full iPhone SE (2022) review.
- Undecided about the iPhone SE?
- The best iPhones 2023: which to buy
- The best cheap phones 2023
- iPhone SE 2022 vs iPhone SE 2020
- iPhone SE vs Google Pixel 6a: compared
- I swapped to the iPhone SE: here's what happened
- The best iPhone SE deals
The Galaxy S22 is no longer the new kid in town, now that the Galaxy S23 has arrived. But Samsung has kept last year's flagship around and knocked $100 off the starting price. Thanks to that price cut, bargain hunters may find the Galaxy S22 still has plenty to offer.
The Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 lacks the processing oomph and power management features of the chipset inside the Galaxy S23 phones, but it's still a good performer among top Android flagships. With Samsung making few hardware changes to the cameras on the Galaxy S23, you're essentially getting the same camera experience as the newer, more expensive model. (The S22's 10MP selfie cam has been upgraded to 12MP on the S23.)
The main reason to get the Galaxy S22 is because you hate paying full price for phones. And at $699, the Galaxy S22 still has a lot to offer since just a few months ago, it was one of the best phones in Samsung's lineup.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S22 review.
- Undecided about the Samsung Galaxy S22?
- The best Android phones 2023
- The best camera phones 2023
- Samsung Galaxy S22 vs iPhone 13 camera shootout
- Samsung Galaxy S22 vs Google Pixel 6
- Samsung Galaxy S22 vs S22 Plus
- The best Samsung Galaxy S22 deals
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 takes the best foldable phone and makes it better in multiple ways. For one, Samsung and Google made it much easier to multitask by adding a taskbar, and you can now drag and drop content between more apps when you're running them side by side.
We also really like the improved camera system on the Galaxy Z Fold 4, headed up by the same 50MP main sensor as the Galaxy S22 series. In our testing, the Fold 4 held its own against the iPhone 13 Pro Max and beat it in a few shots.
Other highlights of the Galaxy Z Fold 4 include a slimmer hinge and narrower bezels, as well as a brighter main display. The battery lasted longer, too, in our testing.
However, $1,799 is still a lot to spend on a phone — even one that doubles as a tablet — and this is still one thick and heavy device. But if you want a foldable phone that can do it all, this is it.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 review.
- Undecided about the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4?
- The best foldable phones 2023
- Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs Z Fold 3: The biggest upgrades
- Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 vs iPhone 13 Pro Max
- The best Android phones 2023
- The best Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 deals
How to choose the best smartphone for you
- Android or iPhone? Android phones give you more choice in terms of price, size and innovative designs. However, iPhones offer speedier software updates, better games and apps and better security and privacy. See our iPhone vs Android face-off.
- Unlocked or carrier? Most shoppers in the U.S. buy new phones through their wireless carrier. But an unlocked phone gives you the freedom to buy the device without any sort of contract and then bring it to the provider you want to use.
- Screen size: If you're looking for a big phone, 6 inches and up is a good place to start. The biggest phones are 6.5 to 6.8 inches. If you want something you can easily use with one hand, go with one of the best small phones with a screen under 6 inches.
- Cameras: Don't pay attention to the megapixel count. Instead, look at camera face-offs between phones to see the photo quality and look for special features like Night Mode to get better quality in low light. Also see our best camera phone roundup.
- Battery life: Generally, phones with larger batteries (measured in mAh) offer the longest battery life, but that's not always the case. That's why we run our own battery test.
How we test smartphones
In order for a smartphone to make our best phone list, it needs to excel on several tests that we run on every handset. We perform some of these tests in our labs and some in the real world.
When it comes to performance, we rely on such synthetic benchmarks as Geekbench 5 and GFXBench to measure graphics performance. These tests allow us to compare performance across iPhones and Android devices. We also run a real-world video transcoding test on each phone using the Adobe Premiere Rush app and time the result.
To measure the quality of a phone's display, we perform lab tests to determine the brightness of the panel (in nits), as well as how colorful each screen is (DCI-P3 color gamut). In these cases, higher numbers are better. We also measure color accuracy of each panel with a Delta-E rating, where lower numbers are better and score of 0 is perfect.
One of the most important tests we run is the Tom's Guide battery test. We run a web surfing test over 5G or 4G at 150 nits of screen brightness until the battery gives out. In general, a phone that lasts 10 hours or more is good, and anything above 11 hours makes our list of the best phone battery life.
Last but not least, we take the best phones out in the field to take photos outdoors, indoors and at night in low light to see how they perform versus their closest competitors. We take shots of landscapes, food, portraits and more, and also allow you to be the judge with side-by-side comparisons in our reviews.
For more information, check out our how we test (opens in new tab) page for Tom's Guide.