The Six Best Android Phones You Can Buy in 2026

Samsung's Galaxy line of phones is a mainstay for a reason, and that's no different with the S25. While it doesn't feature full software support from Google in the way Pixel phones do, it still has key features like Circle-to-Search, and Samsung has its own software offerings, like Galaxy AI and the desktop-like DeX interface. Really, though, the hardware is the real star of the show here. Samsung phones have luxurious, high resolution OLED displays with high frame rates, and crucially, some of the most powerful chips on the market. Samsung also prides itself on offering some of the best phone cameras on the market, although it does save its most powerful lenses for its more premium models. Still, for a good all-around phone, the Galaxy S25 and S25+ are great choices.

If Samsung rules Android hardware, then Google is the king of Android software. As the developer of the Android operating system, that makes sense. Pixel phones benefit from being the first to try out new Google and Android features, including new Gemini releases and camera features, some of which never make their way to the rest of the Android ecosystem. In that way, one could consider these the "smartest smartphones" you can get, at least when it comes to Android.

The downside is that the build can be a little subpar. The Pixel 9 series suffers from a controversial camera bar that juts out of the back of the phone, it has one fewer camera lens than the Galaxy S25, and most notably, the chip is weaker on most tasks. Still, if you're willing to make some sacrifices to your phone's body to boost its brain, this isn't a bad choice.

If you want to add a zoom lens and some admittedly controversial AI features, you could also consider spending a bit more to upgrade to the Pixel 10, but I think the Pixel 9 is still good enough for most people, especially because it's much cheaper right now. It also, surprisingly, has a more powerful ultrawide camera than the Pixel 10.

Premium phones used to have a bit more to offer compared to mid-range or budget phones, but these days, even the cheap stuff is pretty good. I generally thought the Pixel 9 Pro, while good in its own right, wasn't worth it over the Pixel 9. I'd say the same thing about the Pixel 10 Pro. With the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, the situation's a bit different.

Yes, you get the usual screen upgrade here, with more screen space and a higher resolution. And with that larger body, you also get a slight bump to battery life. The chip and RAM loadout are the same as cheaper models, although you can bump up the storage to an increased maximum of 1TB if you'd like. But the real reason to get this phone is the cameras.

With a four-lens setup that maxes out at 200 MP of resolution, the Galaxy S25 Ultra just produces the best raw photo quality you're going to get on any mainstream phone camera, flat out. That well exceeds even Google or Apple's premium options, and if you moonlight as a photographer, this might be the phone for you.

Google's Pixel 9a represents a promising future for Google's smartphones. The company's latest budget model, it actually boasts similar screen specs to the standard Pixel 9, and has the same chip, although with less RAM. It's also a little more lightweight, is rated for a longer battery life, and crucially, finally ditches the camera bar for a small pill that sits in one of the phone's upper corners. Sure, the camera is a little less powerful as a result, but most of Google's camera magic is in post processing, anyway.

And speaking of processing, this has access to all the same software benefits as the standard Pixel 9. Really, if you're willing to put up with slightly less photo quality and a little less memory, this is the Google phone to get, budget or not.

Up until now, I had difficulty finding a modern flip phone that I liked. They always felt too fragile to me, their outer screens were too small, the creases in their OLED screens were too noticeable, and their prices were too high.

But now, the latest iteration of the Motorola Razr has made me a flip-phone believer. Depending on which model you get, you can get a 2025 Razr for as little as $600, which puts it in range of, and sometimes below, other mid-range phones. And while you do sacrifice some camera quality in doing so, you get more portability (while the phone is closed) and a larger, thinner screen (while the phone is open) in return. Plus, performance and battery life are still strong, and best of all, you get a larger external screen than on the other leading budget flip phone model, the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 FE. Plus, because that external screen means you can take selfies with the rear camera setup, that actually makes up for the lower overall camera quality a bit.

The only downside to me is that the external screen being exposed still makes the phone feel a bit too fragile—even though Motorola says it's Gorilla Glass, you'll probably want to be careful with it.

I still don't love most of the folding phones you can buy right now. Unlike flip phones, these models open up horizontally, like a book. That means you get wide, tablet-like displays, but in the past, folding phones have usually been pretty thick when closed, and their external screens were almost always in an uncommon aspect ratio. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 has solved both of these problems, but it's still not for everyone.

The reason to buy this phone is because it is the first one to feel like a normal phone when closed. It's about as thin as my iPhone 15 Pro even when folded up, and finally the external display is in the same 21:9 aspect ratio used by the rest of the industry. It's also got a powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chip, so it can handle everything you can throw at it.

Unfortunately, it's also still very pricey, more so than even premium laptops. A lot of apps also still don't take full advantage of its large internal display, which means you might be paying more to get an experience that's not too different from a phone that doesn't fold.

Whether those compromises are worth it is up to you, but if you do want a folding phone, this is the best one you can get right now.