Best phones 2024 tested — November top picks

A few of the best phones held in the hand.
(Image credit: Future)

Device makers have released their best phones of the year; now it's up to us to separate the contenders from the also-rans, as we help you find the perfect phone to replace your current handset. And if you're a fan of Apple's devices, it's been a very good year indeed.

Best Phones: Quick Menu

iPhone 16 Pro Max shown in hand

(Image credit: Tom's Guide)

1. iPhone 16 Pro Max: Best overall
2. Galaxy S24 Ultra: Best Samsung phone
3. Pixel 9 Pro: Smartest phone
4. Pixel 8a: Best under $500
5. iPhone 16: Best iPhone value
6. Galaxy S24 FE: Affordable AI
7. OnePlus 12: Best value flagship
8. Pixel 9: Google's cheapest flagship
9. OnePlus 12R: Best Android value
10. OnePlus Open: Best foldable
11. Asus ROG Phone 8 Pro: Battery champ

The iPhone 16 Pro Max stands atop our best phones list, and the standard iPhone 16 isn't too far behind. But really, any device from the iPhone 16 lineup will serve you will, thanks to powerful processors, outstanding cameras and — soon — all-new AI capabilities.

But if you're more of an Android fan, you've got great options, too in the form of the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, which comes up short against the iPhone 16 Pro Max on the photo front, or the super-smart Pixel 9 Pro. Google also makes the best budget buy of the year in the form of the Pixel 8a.

I've made my best phone picks using the results of Tom's Guide testing as well as head-to-head comparisons between the dozens of phones that come into our lab each year. I've been reviewing phones since the first iPhone arrived in 2007, and when you take into account the background of the other Tom's Guide phone team members, we've got more than four decades of experience evaluating phones from every possible angle.

The very best phones offer great cameras, enough performance to easily multitask or play intensive games and the kind of battery life to last the whole day. We test each one of those things for every smartphone we review — and we also look at software, display quality and phone design. Read on to find the phone that matches your wish list.

Written by
Philip Michaels
Written by
Philip Michaels

I'm the managing editor for mobile at Tom's Guide, where I've been working since 2015. In total, I've covered technology for more than 20 years, and I was there when Steve Jobs showed off the original iPhone back in 2007. I've been looking at and testing phones since that day, and if you visit my Northern California home, you can marvel at the stacks of phones I keep handy for head-to-head testing.

The best phone overall

The best phone overall

Specifications

Display: 6.7-inch OLED (2868x1320; 1-120Hz)
CPU: A18 Pro
RAM: N/A
Storage / Expandable: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB / No
Rear camera: 48MP wide (f/1.78), 48MP ultra wide (ƒ/2.2), 12MP telephoto (5x zoom; f/2.8)
Front camera: 12MP (ƒ/1.9)
Weight: 8 oz
Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 18:06

Reasons to buy

+
Long lasting battery life
+
Useful Camera Control button
+
4K 120 fps video capture
+
Larger screen

Reasons to avoid

-
Slow charging speeds
-
Apple Intelligence features aren't too innovative

The iPhone 16 Pro Max keeps Apple in the number one reason for all the good reasons, supplanting its predecessor in the iPhone 15 Pro Max in the process after testing it. The new phone offers a bigger screen (without increasing its overall size too much), an upgraded ultrawide camera and a faster processor. Even better, new Apple Intelligence features arrive as part of a software update this month.

You won't have to ditch your iPhone 15 Pro Max if you upgraded a year ago, but anyone with an older iPhone will clearly benefit from all the new features we've discovered when testing the iPhone 16 Pro Max.

Price and value: While this model commands the same $1,199 cost as its predecessor, a larger 6.9-inch screen and bigger battery adds more value to the Pro Max model this time. As for Samsung's most comparable device to the Pro Max, the Galaxy S24 Ultra underwent a price hike this past year, so Apple's top device remains the less expensive option by $100.

Camera performance: iPhones live and die by their cameras, and the telephoto lens on the iPhone 16 Pro Max offers some notable improvements to both its main camera and its ultrawide lens. These complement the 5x telephoto lens that returns from the iPhone 15 Pro Max. Because the iPhone 16 Pro features the same camera setup for $200 less, we rank that phone as the best camera phone overall, but you won't be disappointed with what the iPhone 16 Pro Max cameras produce. We've even put it through a 200 photo face-off against the Galaxy S24 Ultra to crown an undisputed champion.

Battery and charging: The battery on the iPhone 16 Pro Max lasts more than 18 hours on our battery test, an impressive jump over the already long-lasting iPhone 15 Pro Max. If only the phone could charge quickly, but at least MagSafe charging is improved to 25W speed.

Overall performance: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chip dishes up heated competition, but the A18 Pro chipset powering the iPhone 16 Pro Max turns out to be a very fast chip. You'll notice the extra oomph when you're performing everyday tasks and switching between apps. For all the Snapdragon's gains in graphics, the iPhone 16 Pro Max still outperforms the latest Galaxy device when it comes to real-world tasks like video transcoding.

Verdict: The iPhone 16 Pro Max has been tops for design, photography and performance. Charging speed and digital zoom features could be further refined, and it's very expensive.

Read the full review: iPhone 16 Pro Max

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iPhone 16 Pro Max breakdown
AttributesNotesRating
PriceThis is the most expensive iPhone Apple sells. You can save $200 with the iPhone 16 Pro, if you don't mind the smaller screen and less battery life.★★★☆☆
CamerasThe iPhone 16 Pro Max is one of the best camera phones we've tested, though both the Pix9 Galaxy S24 Ultra beat it on zoomed shots.★★★★☆
PowerSnapdragon 8 Gen 3-powered phones may have caught up to Apple's silicon, but the A18 Pro continues to be a top performer, particularly when it comes to overall speed and daily tasks.★★★★★
Battery lifeYou won't need to charge your phone up during the day. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is the second longest-lasting iPhone we've ever tested, finishing ahead of the iPhone 16 Plus.★★★★★

More on the iPhone 16 Pro Max

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Best Samsung phone

The best phone from Samsung

Specifications

Display: 6.8-inch OLED (3120 x 1440; 1-120Hz)
CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 3
RAM: 12GB
Storage / Expandable: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB / No
Rear camera: 200MP main (f/1.7), 12MP ultra wide (ƒ/2.2), 50MP telephoto (5x zoom; f/3.4), 10MP telephoto (3x zoom) **Front camera:** 12MP (ƒ/2.2)
Weight: 8.2 oz
Battery life: (Hrs:Mins): 16:45

Reasons to buy

+
Practical AI features
+
7 years of software updates
+
Incredible processing power

Reasons to avoid

-
5x zoom lens isn't as powerful as S23 Ultra's 10x lens
-
More expensive than before

The Galaxy S24 Ultra offers the peak Android experience, with the kind of improvements you'd demand for such a premium phone — a better processor, a brighter display and camera fine-tuning. But this year's model stands out with the arrival of Galaxy AI features, which tap into artificial intelligence to handle tasks like translation, transcription and summaries. This may be Samsung's first attempt at putting AI front and center, but tools like Circle to Search and notes auto-formatting already feel very polished. And more importantly, they're integrated into your everyday phone usage.

Price and Value: Though its price went up up by $100 over the previous generation, you still get what you pay for with the Galaxy S24 Ultra. especially if you can find a lower price through the best Galaxy S24 Ultra deals. Seven years of software and security updates helps justify the cost, though it's worth noting that Apple's premium phone remains $100 cheaper.

Camera performance: Swapping out a 10MP telephoto lens with a 10x zoom for a 50MP shooter with a 5x zoom feel like a step back, even with the higher-resolution photos. (At least you can still enjoy 10x zooms by cropping down those 50MP shots. And the 100x Space Zoom feature is as impressive as before.) Nevertheless, the Galaxy S24 Ultra remains a top camera phone, with a better handle on color than previous Samsung flagships. Due to its controversial switch with its telephoto camera, we took over 200 photos against the Galaxy S23 Ultra to see how much better it is.

Battery and charging: The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 powering the Galaxy S24 Ultra is very efficient, helping the S24 Ultra last for 16 hours and 45 minutes on our battery test. Wired charging speeds remain at 45W, which is good but slower than the OnePlus 12 and its 80W charging speeds.

Overall performance: In addition to its power management features, that Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 silicon delivers stellar performance — enough to beat last year's iPhone 15 Pro models in some tests, particularly when it comes to graphics. And now that the iPhone 16 Pro models are out with A18 Pro silicon, Samsung's phone still tops them in graphics testing.

Unlike other S24 models, which use different chipsets depending on their region, every Galaxy S24 Ultra uses a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, so you're guaranteed the best Android performance no matter where you live in the world.

Verdict: The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra gives the iPhone 16 lineup all it can handle, lasting longer than most other Android phones, but comes up short against the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Still for Android users, this is the best phone you can get, especially with seven years of software support and the new smart AI features that Samsung keeps adding.

Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

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Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra breakdown
AttributesNotesRating
PriceSamsung raised the price on the Galaxy S24 Ultra by $100 over the S23 Ultra. This is the most expensive phone that doesn't fold.★★☆☆☆
CamerasThe hardware that makes up the S24 Ultra's camera array impresses, but Samsung augments that with some great AI-powered features that help you edit and fine-tune your photos.★★★★☆
PowerForget about a performance gap with the iPhone. The Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 holds its own against any phone, particularly in terms of graphic pefromance.★★★★★
Battery lifeThis is Samsung's longest-lasting phone, beating the latest many iPhone models on our battery test. ★★★★★

More on the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Smartest phone

Best AI features on a phone

Specifications

Display: 6.3-inch OLED (2856x1280; 1-120Hz)
CPU: Tensor G4
RAM: 16GB
Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB / No
Rear camera: 50MP wide (ƒ/1.68), 48MP ultra wide (ƒ/1.7), 48MP telephoto (5x zoom; ƒ/2.8)
Front camera: 42MP (ƒ/2.2)
Weight: 7 oz
Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 13:37

Reasons to buy

+
Super bright display
+
Vastly improved battery life
+
Excellent camera performance

Reasons to avoid

-
Tensor G4 chip lags other top Android chipset in performance
-
As pricey as larger Pixel 8 Pro

The Google Pixel 9 Pro brings Google's usual mix of great camera features and AI-powered tools, with more of a focus on the latter this time around. You'll also get a smaller display — Google says customers wanted a more compact version of the Pro to go with the big-screen model. (If you prefer more screen real estate, consider the Pixel 9 Pro XL, which has the exact same features as the regular Pro, but a 6.7-inch display and bigger battery, instead.)

Price and Value: On the one hand, the Pixel 9 Pro costs the same $999 that Google charged for the Pixel 8 Pro. But that older phone had a larger screen, making you feel that you're paying more for less phone. Still, with the improvements to battery life and display brightness — not to mention the new AI features — you're getting plenty of value for your money.

Camera performance: Camera improvements are modest — a new ultrawide sensor adds a Macro mode that performed very well in our testing. The front camera gets an upgraded sensor, too. Otherwise, the Pixel 9 Pro's camera performance lives on the strength of its photo processing, which turned out some very strong photos during our camera tests. In fact, we were surprised by the outcome in our 200 photo face-off between the Pixel 9 Pro and iPhone 15 Pro.

Battery and charging: Camera improvements are modest — a new ultrawide sensor adds a Macro mode that performed very well in our testing. The front camera gets an upgraded sensor, too. Otherwise, the Pixel 9 Pro's camera performance lives on the strength of its photo processing, which turned out some very strong photos during our camera tests.

Overall performance: The Tensor G4 that powers the Pixel 9 Pro can't keep pace with other top Android phones in benchmark testing, and it trails the iPhone 16, too. But that's not the focus of Tensor. Instead, it powers a number of helpful AI features, including Pixel Screenshots for easy searches of content within screenshots, Add Me for inserting people into group shots and Call Notes for transcriptions and summaries of phone calls. Potentially, the best addition is Gemini Live, a smarter version of the Google Assistant. Pixel 9 Pro owners get a year of Gemini Advanced for supporting for complex features.

Some of the AI tools need some more polish, which we would guess will come over time. Right now Pixel Screenshots is the most useful if you take a lot of screenshots in order to remember important details. The Pixel Studio generative AI tool is also adept at producing images just using your text prompts.

Verdict: If you're willing to bet that the Pixel 9 Pro's AI features will improve over time, the camera performance, longer battery life and bright display should be enough to give you a great device right now.

Read the full review: Google Pixel 9 Pro

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Google Pixel 9 breakdown
AttributesNotesRating
PriceOn the bright side, the Pixel 9 Pro costs the same $999 as the Pixel 8 Pro. But you're paying the same for a smaller screen.★★★☆☆
CamerasYou'll find few hardware changes outside an improved ultrawide sensor and higher-resolution selfie cam, but the Pixel 9 Pro still takes great shots. And the AI features are second to none.★★★★☆
PowerThe Tensor G4 enables a bunch of new AI-powered features that make the Pixel 9 Pro standout. But it badly lags behind Samsung and Apple phones in terms of speed.★★★☆☆
Battery lifeWe've finally got a series of Pixels that outlasts the average smartphone, with the Pixel 9 Pro beating the average result on our test by 3 hours.★★★★☆

More on the Google Pixel 9 Pro

Best under $500

The best phone value

Specifications

Display: 6.1-inch OLED (2400 x 1080; 120Hz)
CPU: Tensor G3
RAM: 8GB
Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB / No
Rear camera: 64MP wide (f/1.89), 13MP ultrawide (f/2.2)
Front camera: 13MP (f/2.2)
Weight: 6.8 ounces
Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 11:21

Reasons to buy

+
Brighter screen than before
+
Much improved battery life over recent Pixels
+
7 years of software and security updates

Reasons to avoid

-
Few camera changes from Pixel 7a
-
Slow charging

Like the Pixel 7a it replaces, Google's Pixel 8a is the best phone to get when you refuse to spend more than $500. In exchange, you'll get one of the best camera phones for the price, along with the AI features found on current Pixel flagships. The only reason to pass on the Pixel 8a at this point is you'd prefer the more powerful Tensor G4 chipset and newer AI capabilities in the Pixel 9 series. Even so, the Pixel 8a remains a great option for bargain hunters.

Price and value: In addition to saving you $200 to $300 for flagship level features, the Pixel 8a can be a phone that you hold on to for a long time. Google offers seven years of software and security updates, matching the level of support the regular Pixel 8 phones get. With the Pixel 8a, Google is showing other phone makers how a midrange device should be.

Camera performance: You'll find the same cameras on the Pixel 8a as you did on the Pixel 7a, and photo processing capabilities work the same, too. While we wish there were more substantial improvements, you can't knock the camera performance of the Pixel 8a, especially compared to other camera phones in this price range. You may not want to upgrade from last year's phone, but people with older phones will still be impressed with the quality of images produced by the Pixel 8a. Against the newer Pixel 9 in our 200 photo face-off, the Pixel 8a's cameras hold up nicely.

Battery and charging: At last, Google has made a phone that lasts longer than the average handset on a charge. The Pixel 8a turned in a time of 11 hours and 21 minutes on our battery test, the best result we've seen in a while from a Pixel, at least until the Pixel 9 models came along. We only wish charging speeds were faster, but at least you get wireless charging support.

Overall performance: As always, the story with Pixel phones is the AI features supported by the Tensor core on Google's silicon. With a Tensor G3 running the show, the Pixel 8a matches the feature set found on Pixel 8 flagships, with Magic Editor and Best Take photo-editing features stealing the show. But don't sleep on the phone's call management features, either. That said, if you're looking for raw performance power, you won't find it on the Pixel 8a, as Tensor chips lag behind what the Snapdragon silicon in Android phones can provide.

Verdict: The Pixel 8a is a worthy addition to the A series, with excellent cameras for a budget phone. With better battery life than before and extended software support, Google's midrange phone is a even better bargain than its predecessor.

Read the full review: Google Pixel 8a

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Google Pixel 8a breakdown
AttributesNotesRating
PriceGoogle kept its midrange phone under $500, making the Pixel 8a one of the better values you can find if you don't want to pay flagship prices.★★★★☆
CamerasThe Pixel 9 cameras perform better than the Pixel 8a's, but not so much that you're sacrificing a great camera phone by paying less. This is the best cheap camera phone you can buy.★★★★☆
PowerThe Pixel 8a uses last year's Tensor G3, so you miss out on newer features (for now), but it's still a pretty smart chip with unique AI features.★★★★☆
Battery lifeYou'll get better than average battery life with the Pixel 8a, though it doesn't last as long as Google's Tensor G4-powered phones.★★★★☆

More on the Google Pixel 8a

Best iPhone value