The best Android phones of 2024

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Choosing the best Android phone depends on the features you prioritize and your target price range. There are many Android phone brands, each with distinct approaches to hardware and software, and price tags vary widely. 

To help you sort through the Android landscape, we've tested more than a dozen current phones to land on a definitive list of the seven best Android phones you can buy now. For transparency, we don't aim to point out which Android phones have the most features; you can look at a publicly available specs sheet for that. Rather, we favor those with the highest quality features based on our testing.

Google's Pixel phones dominate our 2024 guide for the best Android phones. Our top pick is the Google Pixel 8, a stellar overall phone that would suit the vast majority of Android users. If you're not in the market for a high-end phone, we recommend the Google Pixel 7a as our top budget option. 

Our top picks for the best Android phones

Best overall: Google Pixel 8 - See at Amazon

Best budget: Google Pixel 7a - See at Amazon

Best budget alternative: Google Pixel 6a - See at Amazon

Best camera: Google Pixel 8 Pro - See at Amazon

Best battery life: Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra - See at Amazon

Best small phone: Samsung Galaxy S24 - See at Amazon

Best foldable phone: OnePlus Open - See at Amazon

Best overall

We debated heavily whether Google's Pixel 8 or Samsung's Galaxy S24 should take the top spot, and we ultimately went with the Google Pixel 8. It has the best balance of performance, camera quality, battery life, and features for the best value out of all the Android phones we've tested. 

It's true that Samsung's Galaxy S24 has a more powerful processor and three cameras compared to the Pixel 8's dual-lens camera. However, the Pixel 8's performance is effectively on par in daily use, more than enough to run any app or game smoothly, and its photo quality is better than the Galaxy S24's. 

Indeed, despite only having two cameras instead of three, the Pixel 8's cameras have a lower tendency to overexpose photos, where some bright patches can be so bright that they're void of detail. The Pixel 8's cameras also showed they can better handle less-than-ideal lighting with sharper and clearer images than the Galaxy S24 produces. 

The Pixel 8 has a 6.2-inch OLED display that supports 120Hz and 1080p resolution. It's missing the Galaxy S24 display's 1-120Hz variable refresh rate designed to reduce power consumption. However, the Pixel 8 still managed to beat the Galaxy S24 in our battery test with a 61% result compared to 59%, even when the always-on display feature was enabled. 

Google also dramatically improved its support for the best Google Pixel phone models; the Pixel 8 series offers seven years of Android and security updates, which is on par with Samsung's latest flagship series and a vast improvement from the five or fewer years of support Google offered for previous generations. 

We'd recommend the Galaxy S24 instead if you often use your phone's zoom lens or wish you had a zoom lens to take better photos of subjects further away, as it has a dedicated 3x zoom camera that is more capable with zoomed photos than the Pixel 8.

See our guide to the best Google Pixel 8 cases to protect the phone. 

Best budget

Google's Pixel 7a is essentially a premium device with high-end performance, features, and camera quality that's dressed in somewhat less-premium materials. In return for the slightly diminished aesthetic of thick display borders and plastic back, the Pixel 7a typically costs $499.

The Pixel 7a's MSRP is on the high side for a budget pick, especially compared to the $349 Pixel 6a. But unlike the Pixel 6a, the Pixel 7a comes with several worthwhile premium features, like a more recent flagship processor (Google's Tensor G2), wireless charging, a smoother high refresh-rate display, and the option of fast mmWave 5G connectivity, all of which combine to make the Pixel 7a our top pick among the best budget Android phones. 

In our intensive battery test, the 6.1-inch Pixel 7a's 60% result is astonishingly good for a phone of this size; it matches some premium phones with bigger screens, like the 6.7-inch Galaxy S24 Plus (60%).

While the Pixel 7a's 64MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide camera are ostensibly a significant upgrade from the Pixel 6a's 12MP cameras, in our testing, we found little discernible difference between the excellent photos the two budget phones produce. We also found little difference in camera quality between the Pixel 7a and some high-end devices, many of which cost twice as much. 

Read our full Google Pixel 7a review, and see our guide to the best Google Pixel 7a cases to protect the phone.

Best budget alternative

We realize the Pixel 7a's price stretches the definition of "budget." With that in mind, Google's Pixel 6a is the next budget Android phone we'd recommend, thanks to its performance and stunning camera quality for its $349 price. 

The Pixel 6a runs on Google's Tensor processor from the flagship Pixel 6 series released in 2021. By expensive premium standards, the Tensor processor may be getting on with age, but it's a powerhouse for the Pixel 6a's price. 

The Pixel 6a also includes two 12MP cameras, one main and one ultrawide, that deliver stunning results for the price. In fact, we'd be hard-pressed to tell a Pixel 6a photo from a Pixel 8 Pro photo without pixel peeping and examining closely. 

With a 60Hz display, the Pixel 6a lags behind other budget Android phones with higher refresh rates, but we think it's an easy compromise to make, considering its performance and cameras.

Read our full Google Pixel 6a review, and see our guide to the best Google Pixel 6a cases to protect the phone. 

Best camera

The Android phone with the best camera is Google's Pixel 8 Pro because, quite simply, it takes the best photos out of all the Android phones we've tested so far. 

The Pixel 8 Pro's cameras capture memories in beautifully natural colors while maintaining the best balance of brightness and contrast. The result is photos that are less prone to overexposure and gorgeous depth thanks to superior dynamic range. 

We also found that the Pixel 8 Pro isn't as dependent on optimal lighting conditions as Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra to capture sharp photos of moving subjects, like kids and pets. Indeed, photos taken in less ideal lighting conditions with the Galaxy S24 Ultra can appear somewhat blurry and grainy. 

The Pixel 8 Pro's three cameras include a 50MP main camera, a 48MP 5x zoom camera, and a 48MP ultrawide camera, and they offer plenty of versatility. 

The Pixel 8 Pro uses a highly effective digital zoom when going between its main and 5x lenses, combining the main and ultrawide cameras to produce a photo nearly as sharp as a dedicated optical lens at 3x zoom, for example. 

Still, Google's solution for digital zoom isn't quite as high quality as a dedicated zoom lens, like the Galaxy S24 Ultra's 3x zoom lens. And Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra takes slightly better photos at 10x zoom, too. With that said, we stand by our pick for the Pixel 8 Pro, as overall photo quality is still better and more balanced on the Pixel 8 Pro. 

The Pixel 8 Pro also takes high-quality videos with equally excellent color, brightness, and contrast as its photos.

Read our full Google Pixel 8 Pro review, and see our guide to the best Google Pixel 8 Pro cases to protect the phone. 

Best battery life

Phones with bigger displays almost always have the best battery life, and the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra with a 6.8-inch display and 5,000mAh battery obtained the best result in our battery stress test among flat Android phones, ending the test with a whopping 66% remaining. 

That's a phenomenal result. The traditional Android phone with the next best score is the Google Pixel 8 Pro with 62%. Indeed, most phones with large displays score between 60% and 62%.

The battery stress test is designed to simulate a blend of lighter and heavier workloads. It includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the intensive 20-minute 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, two hours of video streaming, and one hour of music streaming while connected to a Bluetooth speaker.

While you're unlikely to change your charging habits too much, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has the most potential out of any Android phone we've tested to last a couple of days of light use. The Galaxy S24 Ultra's battery life also offers more confidence that it'll last through your typical day.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review, and see our guide to the best Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra cases to protect the phone.  

Best small phone

You'd think our top pick, the Pixel 8 with a 6.2-inch display, would also win the best small phone category, but technically, the best, most compact phone we've tested is Samsung's Galaxy S24. Additionally, we thought the Galaxy S24 deserves a spot on this list, as it's a very close second to the Google Pixel 8.

Indeed, the Galaxy S24 also has a 6.2-inch display, but it's among the most compact and lightest Android phones available in the US. It's incredibly lightweight at only 5.9 ounces, whereas the Pixel 8 weighs in at 6.6 ounces. 

Many associate large phones with the most power, but the Galaxy S24 is a compact powerhouse with the same processor as the $1,300 Galaxy S24 Ultra. When paired with a supreme OLED display with adaptive 1-120Hz refresh rate, the Galaxy S24 offers a fast and fluid experience for whatever you're doing. 

The Galaxy S24 is one of the few phones in the $800 range that includes a 3x zoom lens in addition to the main and ultrawide cameras that most phones in the price range come with. 

To be transparent, the Galaxy S24's cameras are somewhat flawed, at least compared to the Pixel 8. The Galaxy S24 can take excellent photos when lighting conditions are good, and subjects stay still, but it's prone to overexposing brighter details. Additionally, when lightning conditions aren't optimal, moving subjects like kids and pets can appear grainy and occasionally slightly blurry. 

The Galaxy S24 surprised us with its battery life. It ended our battery test with 59%, which is not only a good score for a small phone but also for a large phone. The Galaxy S24 Plus, for example, scored 60% in the same test.

See our guide to the best Samsung Galaxy S24 cases to protect the phone. 

Best foldable phone

When it comes to foldable phones, we prefer the book-style design over clamshell flip-style designs. Book-style foldables are significantly more expensive, but they offer vastly greater functionality with their tablet displays, and you don't have to worry as much about battery life or performance as you do with clamshell foldables. 

The first foldable phone we'd recommend to anyone who asks is the OnePlus Open, thanks to its premium, solid design and build quality, large cover and tablet displays, and excellent performance. The OnePlus Open's cameras are stellar, too, even if they're a little dependent on ideal lighting conditions, and battery life proved solid in our tests.

We've tested and considered other book-style phones, including the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5. However, the OnePlus Open's build quality and large 7.6-inch tablet display sets it apart from the others with 7.6-inch tablet displays. To be sure, the other foldables we mentioned have great build quality, but the OnePlus Open is simply a step above. 

We also love the OnePlus Open's large 6.3-inch cover display, as it's wider than the Galaxy Z Fold 5's awkwardly narrow cover display and larger than the Google Pixel Fold's stout 5.8-inch cover display. It offers a comfortable experience familiar to a regular phone's display, which is important, as you don't want to feel like you constantly need to unfold the phone for basic tasks, like replying to a message or quickly searching the web.

See our guide to the best foldable phones for other top options. 

What is the best Android phone?

The best Android phone we recommend to most people is the Google Pixel 8. For its $699 starting price, it offers an ideal balance of performance, camera quality, and features. Samsung's Galaxy S24 comes in at a close second.

How we test Android phones

We test Android phones as if they were our daily drivers for at least several days, often much longer. That way, we can get the best anecdotal feel for their performance, battery life, cameras, and new features.

We also conduct standard tests on all the phones we review and include in our guides.

For performance, we put the phones through a gamut of benchmarking apps to check for performance discrepancies between phones, at least on paper. These benchmark tests also help us evaluate how many years a phone could maintain its performance compared to other phones. We've used Geekbench 6 for general performance and the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test to get a sense of extended heavy gaming performance. 

For camera testing, we photograph a set gamut of scenes with every phone; you may have seen our barn photos repeatedly. We take photos and videos with each lens on each phone and compare them to their direct competitors. We even compare premium phone cameras to budget options to evaluate the difference. 

For battery life, we run each phone through a stress test that simulates a mixture of typical daily workloads, like streaming a video and music, and high-intensity workloads, like playing demanding games. The battery stress test includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the 3DMark Wildlife Stress Test, two hours of video streaming at a set average brightness, and one hour of music streaming with a Bluetooth speaker connected. At the end of the test, we note the remaining battery percentage on the phone.

Other Android phones we tested

Aside from the phones listed or mentioned above, we've tested a variety of the latest Android phones available. From Samsung, we also tested the Galaxy Z Flip 5 and Galaxy A54, the latter of which is our best Samsung phone for budget value. 

We've also tested the latest OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R. We were convinced they'd feature in this guide, but we faced issues when using the Geekbench 6 benchmarking app, which we use to test battery life. 

For some reason, both the OnePlus 12 and OnePlus 12R obtained significantly lower scores in Geekbench 6 than we'd expect from their processors, which put our battery test results for the phones in doubt. The odd benchmark results also questioned whether we were experiencing the intended performance and full potential of both OnePlus devices. 

We are communicating with OnePlus to figure out the issue, and we'll update this guide once we're sure we're getting the correct performance from the two phones.

FAQs

Who owns Android? 

In simple terms, Google owns the Android operating system. Other companies like Samsung and OnePlus can run Android on their phones because Google makes it freely available as an open-source operating system for anyone to use on their phones. Even you, the reader, could build your own phone that legally runs the Android operating system.  

The Android operating system looks and works differently on phones from different companies because phone makers modify it by adding their own software layers on top of Android for users to interact with.

For example, while Samsung phones run the core Android operating system that gives them access to the Google Play Store apps, they also run Samsung's user interface (UI) layer called One UI, which adds a distinctive look and feel to the company's phones. 

Which Android phone gets the most updates?

The best support window for Android phones is the seven years of Android operating system and security updates offered by the Google Pixel 8 phones and Samsung Galaxy S24 series.

Relative to the Pixel 8 phones, Google offers a smaller support window for two of the earlier phones we've included above, the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold, both of which will get three years of Android updates and five years of security updates from their respective release dates. 

Best overall

Samsung's Galaxy S23 Plus is our top pick because we don't have to spend time talking about compromises like we do on most other Android phones — if you have a necessity in an Android phone, it's more than likely that the Galaxy S23 Plus has it, and it has it in high quality. The only trade-off for such a complete experience is its $1,000 starting price.

The Galaxy S23 Plus' performance goes beyond expectations for high-end Android phones in 2023 by running on a specially optimized processor that's exclusive to the Galaxy S23 series — the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy. The gains aren't massive over other Android phones running the standard Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, like the OnePlus 11, but the Galaxy S23 Plus does occasionally open apps a little faster in side-by-side testing.

The rear triple-lens camera on the Galaxy S23 Plus delivers photos anyone would be happy with, and Samsung has also improved the selfie camera year-over-year, with surprisingly good HDR, portrait mode, colors, contrast, and brightness. Battery life on the Galaxy S23 Plus is excellent; among comparably sized Android phones, its 59% result in our intensive battery test was bested only by the Google Pixel 8 Pro, which scored 62%, and the OnePlus 11, which scored 61%. 

The Galaxy S23 Plus has a fairly large screen at 6.6 inches, which may be too large for some people, but its light weight at 6.91 ounces makes it incredibly comfortable in the hand. And, as expected for a high-end Android phone, the Galaxy S23 Plus' display runs at a silky smooth 120Hz, which pairs beautifully with the phone's powerful processor — every swipe and animation on the screen glides effortlessly. 

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 Plus review.

Best budget

The Google Pixel 7a is essentially a premium device with high-end performance, features, and camera quality that's dressed in somewhat less-premium materials. In return for the slightly diminished aesthetic of thick display borders and a plastic back, the Pixel 7a costs $499.

The Pixel 7a's MSRP is on the high side for a budget pick, especially compared to the $349 Pixel 6a. But unlike the Pixel 6a, the Pixel 7a comes with several premium features, like a recent flagship processor (Google's Tensor G2), wireless charging, a smoother high refresh-rate display, and the option of fast mmWave 5G connectivity — all of which combine to justify the price gap between the Pixel 7a and the Pixel 6a and make the newer model the top pick in our best budget Android phone guide. 

In our intensive battery test, the 6.1-inch Pixel 7a's 60% result is astonishingly good for a phone of this size — it matches and outperforms some premium phones with bigger screens, like the 6.6-inch Galaxy S23 Plus (59%) and 6.8-inch Galaxy S23 Ultra (54%).

While the Pixel 7a's 64MP main camera and 13MP ultrawide camera are ostensibly a significant upgrade from the Pixel 6a's 12MP cameras, in our testing, we found little discernible difference between the excellent photos the two budget phones produce. There's also little difference in camera quality between the Pixel 7a and some high-end devices, many of which cost twice as much. 

Read our full Google Pixel 7a review.

Best camera

Samsung's Galaxy S23 Ultra is the ultimate camera phone with its four lenses, including a 200-megapixel (MP) main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, a 10MP 3x zoom, and a 10MP 10x zoom.

Despite the very high-resolution main camera, you might not notice much of a difference in photo quality compared to other premium phones with around 50MP cameras — most high-end devices achieve a similarly good balance of color, brightness, contrast, and sharpness. 

What sets the Galaxy S23 Ultra apart from the other best Samsung phones, and from any other phone for that matter, is its fourth 10x optical zoom lens. It takes crisp, clear photos and videos in full detail significantly further than any other phone, making it the most versatile camera phone you can buy in the US.

The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a built-in stylus, the S Pen, which comes in handy for editing photos on the phone's giant 6.8-inch screen — it offers precision and functionality that simply can't be achieved with a fingertip. 

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra review.

Best battery life

Phones with bigger displays almost always have the best battery life, and the Google Pixel 8 Pro with a 6.7-inch display obtained the best result in our battery stress test among Android phones, ending the test with 62% remaining. 

The battery stress test is designed to simulate a blend of lighter and heavier workloads. It includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the intensive 20-minute 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test, two hours of video streaming, and one hour of music streaming while connected to a Bluetooth speaker.

The Pixel 8 Pro's 62% is a great result, but it's not far ahead of other Android phones with similar screen sizes. The Galaxy S23 Plus (6.6 inches) ended the test with 59% remaining, and the OnePlus 11 (6.7 inches) with 61%. Surprisingly, the Galaxy S23 Ultra with a 6.8-inch display did remarkably poorly with 54% remaining at the end of our test. 

At the end of the day, the Pixel 8 Pro's result doesn't mean it'll last significantly longer than the Galaxy S23 Plus or the OnePlus 11 — you'll still need to charge the Pixel 8 Pro whenever you usually charge your phones. That's to say, if you're not a Google Pixel fan, you can pick either the Galaxy S23 Plus or OnePlus 11 and be just as happy with battery life. Choice is one of the best things about the Android ecosystem.  

Best small phone

The Android phone market is flooded with large screens, and you'd think fans of smaller phones are underserved, but not when the 6.1-inch Samsung Galaxy S23 is around. 

One of the best Samsung phones you can buy, the Galaxy S23 is essentially a smaller version of our pick for the best overall Android phone, the 6.6-inch Galaxy S23 Plus — it offers the same high-end performance, the same cameras, and the same design. 

Its battery life isn't quite as good as the Galaxy S23 Plus (47% vs. 59%), but that's understandable and expected in smaller phones. The only baffling compromise is its 25W charging speed compared to the Galaxy S23 Plus' 45W charging speed, and it also has a lower base storage option at 128GB. 

At its starting price of $800, the Galaxy S23 is still on the expensive side, so we alternately recommend the Google Pixel 7a, which also has a 6.1-inch screen and currently starts at $499. 

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S23 review.

Best foldable phone

The Google Pixel Fold, Google's first entry into the foldable phone market, immediately stood out on its release as the premier offering in the realm of Android foldable devices for one key reason: Its folded, exterior display offered a closer approximation to a traditional phone experience than any previous foldable phone. 

We find the exterior screens on Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold series awkwardly narrow to the point of providing a sub-par experience as a phone, while the Pixel Fold's 5.8-inch exterior display is wider and more functional when using apps. (The latest entry in the foldable realm, the OnePlus Open, has an exterior display that improves on both the Z Fold phones and the Pixel Fold by striking a middle ground between the narrowness of the former and the width of the latter, but we're still in the process of testing it fully.) 

The Pixel Fold's exterior and interior screens operate at a smooth 120Hz, and the phone runs on Google's proficient Tensor G2 processor, which we've found to be essentially on par in everyday use with the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor that runs Samsung's Galaxy Z Fold 5, despite the latter processor's superior benchmark performance.  

If you're looking for a new phone that can double as a tablet, the Pixel Fold is more than worth your while if its $1,799 starting price tag is within your budget. 

Read our full Google Pixel Fold review.

Best Android phones compared

Specs	Galaxy S23 Plus	Pixel 7a	Galaxy S23 Ultra	Pixel 8 Pro	Galaxy S23	Pixel Fold
Starting price	$1,000	$499	$1,200	$999	$800	$1,799
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy	Google Tensor G2	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy	Google Tensor G3	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Optimized for Galaxy	Google Tensor G2
Release date	February 2023	May 2023	February 2023	October 2023	February 2023	June 2023
Screen size	6.6 inches	6.1 inches	6.8 inches	6.7 inches	6.1 inches	5.8-inch exterior; 7.6-inch interior
Rear cameras	50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom	64MP main, 13MP ultrawide	200MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom, 10MP 10x zoom	50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP 5x zoom	50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom	48MP main, 10.8MP ultrawide, 10.8MP 5x zoom
Storage	256GB, 512GB	128GB	256GB, 512GB, 1TB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	256GB, 512GB

How we test Android phones

We test Android phones as if they were our daily drivers for at least several days, and often much longer. That way, we can get the best anecdotal feel for their performance, battery life, cameras, and new features.

We also conduct standard tests on all the phones we review and include in our guides.

For performance, we put the phones through a gamut of benchmarking apps to check for performance discrepancies between phones, at least on paper. These benchmark tests also help us evaluate how many years a phone could maintain its performance compared to other phones. We've used Geekbench 6 for general performance, and the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test to get a sense of extended heavy gaming performance. 

For camera testing, we photograph a set gamut of scenes with every phone; you may have seen our barn photos over and over again. We take photos with each lens on each phone and compare them to their direct competitors. We even compare premium phone cameras to budget options to evaluate the difference. 

For battery life, we run each phone through a stress test that simulates a mixture of typical daily workloads, like streaming a video and music, as well as high-intensity workloads, like playing demanding games. The battery stress test includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the 3DMark Wildlife Stress Test, two hours of video streaming at a set average brightness, and one hour of music streaming with Bluetooth headphones connected. At the end of the test, we note the remaining battery percentage on the phone.

Best Android phone FAQs

Who owns Android? 

In simple terms, Google owns the Android operating system. Other companies like Samsung and OnePlus can run Android on their phones because Google makes it freely available as an open-source operating system for anyone to use on their phones. Even you, the reader, could build your own phone that legally runs the Android operating system.  

The Android operating system looks and works differently on phones from different companies because phone makers modify the operating system by adding their own layers of software on top of Android for users to interact with.

For example, while Samsung phones run the core Android operating system that gives them access to the Google Play Store apps, they also run Samsung's user interface (UI) layer called One UI, which adds a distinctive look and feel to the company's phones. 

Which Android phone gets the most updates?

The best support window for Android phones currently is the seven years of Android operating system and security updates offered by the new Google Pixel 8 phones.

Samsung's current flagship phones offer a shorter support window; the company has said that its Galaxy S23 series phones will get four years of Android software updates and five years of security updates following their February 2023 release. 

Relative to the Pixel 8 phones, Google offers a smaller support window for two of the earlier phones we've included here, the Pixel 7a and Pixel Fold, both of which will get three years of Android updates and five years of security updates from their respective release dates.