Finest Android telephones in 2023

In case you’re searching for an Android cellphone proper now, the Pixel 7 Professional is our present favorite decide. It’s not higher in all respects than the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely, nevertheless it does are available in at a extra reasonably priced value and packs a load of intelligent software program options our reviewer really used.

As with all Pixel cellphone, the 7 Professional is generally about two issues – the Google software program and the digicam. The cameras stay pretty much like what we noticed on the Pixel 6 Professional, however the ultrawide is a bit of wider and the telephoto a bit of extra zoomed. There are software program tweaks too, together with a bunch of up to date modes – together with a intelligent Unblur possibility that does precisely what it suggests  – you’ll really wish to use.

Photographs from the cellphone are nice. They’re richer and extra immersive than these from the Galaxy S23 collection and sometimes higher in darker conditions too. The zoom won’t match as much as Samsung’s Extremely efforts, however for those who maintain to round 5x the outcomes are nice.

Powering the cellphone is Google’s Tensor G2 chipset. It’s not the quickest round – many telephones on this record will publish higher benchmark scores – with the main focus being AI intelligence. There are various software program additions right here which are made higher by this chip, together with voice transcription, and all the pieces works very effectively.

The cellphone impresses elsewhere too. The display screen is on par with the Oppo Discover X5 Professional and Galaxy S23 Extremely whereas the battery life matches up largely too. The charging might be sooner, however that’s a minor situation.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full evaluation: Google Pixel 7 Professional Evaluate

The easiest Samsung Android cellphone we’ve reviewed is the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely. It’s the choice to decide on if you need a very high-end, luxurious expertise – and are comfortable to pay for the privilege.

The S23 Extremely will not be a very totally different beast from final yr’s wonderful S22 Extremely, however small however significant upgrades to efficiency and digicam permit it to face other than most different flagships in 2023.

Let’s begin with efficiency. The S23 Extremely ditches the Exynos/Snapdragon break up for the previous few years and labored with Qualcomm on an unique model of its newest top-end chipset dubbed the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy, permitting the S23 Extremely to stay barely sooner and extra highly effective than different 2023 flagships just like the OnePlus 11.

The largest improve of all must be the inclusion of a brand new 200MP rear digicam. The upgraded digicam presents an all-around enchancment on the already-capable 108MP digicam of the S22 Extremely, significantly in low mild, with this yr’s mannequin in a position to seize extra mild, extra element and extra color by way of 16-in-1 pixel binning tech. It additionally means that you can take images of the celebrities within the cellphone’s astrophoto mode, and it advantages low-light video too.

The opposite cameras, together with a 12MP ultrawide and two 10MP telephoto lenses at 3x and 10x, stay largely unchanged, however the latter nonetheless presents among the very best quality 10x pictures round. There’s additionally Samsung’s 100x Area Zoom that’ll allow you to take images of the moon however not a lot else.

Cameras apart, the opposite huge cause to get the Galaxy S23 Extremely is the spectacular 6.8-inch dynamic AMOLED 2X show with its WQHD+ decision, dynamic 120Hz refresh fee and help for HDR10+ and Dolby Imaginative and prescient delivering a surprising viewing expertise whether or not you’re scrolling via TikTok or watching the most recent Hollywood blockbuster on Netflix. It’s a lot vivid, and boasts help for the S23 Extremely’s built-in S Pen that means that you can doodle on-screen with an impressively low latency of two.3ms.

Throw in all-day battery life with a 5,000mAh battery and also you’ve received a succesful premium smartphone. It’s not good, with comparatively gradual 45W charging, a big, cumbersome design that makes it exhausting to make use of one-handed and a particularly high-end price ticket, however it’s definitely probably the most succesful Samsung smartphone round.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full evaluation: Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely Evaluate

The S23 Extremely could also be the perfect handset in Samsung’s locker, however it’s removed from the one one in there vying to your consideration; the usual Galaxy S23 can be a standout smartphone with a extra compact design than many competing flagships.

In comparison with the cumbersome S23 Extremely, the Galaxy S23 is far smaller and simpler to handle. That’s largely right down to using a smaller 6.1in show, however it’s nonetheless very a lot top-end with a dynamic AMOLED 2x 120Hz panel that delivers crisp, vivid and vibrant visuals, and it’s completely serviceable for watching YouTube movies and TikTok. Apart from, people who demand a bigger display screen might all the time go for the near-identical (however bigger) Galaxy S23 Plus.

Elsewhere, it boasts top-end efficiency by way of the unique Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy unique to the S23 vary, a flexible digicam system consisting of a large, ultrawide and 3x telephoto lens, and it fixes one of many largest points with its predecessor; battery life.

Regardless of having a smaller battery than a lot of the competitors, the improved power effectivity of the Galaxy S23 means it’s a snug all-day system, nonetheless managing to achieve the top of the day with 30-40% cost on most days.

In fact, it doesn’t have the massive 200MP digicam improve of the S23 Extremely, pictures can look a bit of over-saturated and charging is fairly gradual at simply 25W, so it’s removed from good, however it’s a wonderful compact handset that it’s best to significantly contemplate.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full evaluation: Samsung Galaxy S23 Evaluate

The Pixel 7a is a compact Android cellphone with a wonderful digicam, Google’s implausible software program and a price ticket that gained’t break the financial institution. It’s one in every of our favorite Android telephones available on the market proper now.

Regardless of its extra reasonably priced price ticket, it matches lots of the important options of the costlier Pixel 7 and boasts a number of benefits over the Pixel 6a. Amongst these benefits are Qi wi-fi charging, 8GB of reminiscence, a sooner 90Hz display screen (in comparison with the Pixel 6a’s 60Hz), and a extra strong physique.

The Pixel 7a additionally has a formidable digicam with a brand new 64MP sensor that produces wonderful pictures in numerous lighting circumstances and precisely captures pores and skin tones. At this value, there isn’t a greater cellphone included on this record

Whereas the 6.1-inch 90Hz OLED display screen on the Pixel 7a is similar to the marginally bigger Pixel 7’s 6.3-inch show, the Pixel 7 Professional has the very best display screen among the many Pixel telephones.

The Pixel 7a is powered by the identical Tensor G2 chip discovered within the Pixel 7, Pixel 7 Professional, and Pixel Fold. This presents enough efficiency for the worth level and handles lots of the cellphone’s AI options similar to name screening and voice recording.

Nevertheless, the Pixel 7a’s battery life is mediocre, and charging will be gradual. Although the cellphone can usually final a day, customers could have to recharge rapidly on busy days with heavy display screen utilization – one thing our reviewer needed to do on just a few events. It will probably additionally take over 100 minutes for a full cost and also you’ll want to offer your personal charger.

Reviewer: Max Parker
Full evaluation: Google Pixel 7a Evaluate

After years of Samsung dominating the clamshell foldable market with its Galaxy Z Flip vary, Motorola has knocked Samsung off its perch with the Razr 40 Extremely.

The Razr 40 Extremely takes the clamshell expertise to new heights with its giant 3.6-inch pOLED exterior show, that includes a super-smooth 144Hz refresh fee.

This beneficiant show dimension permits not solely using widgets just like the Oppo Discover N2 Flip, but in addition full Android apps. You possibly can management sensible residence know-how, reply to messages, and even get instructions from Google Maps with out having to unfold the cellphone. This not solely reduces the necessity to open the system steadily but in addition makes it comfy to make use of in its folded type.

Nevertheless, you gained’t all the time depend on the exterior show, particularly with the presence of a tall, slender 6.9-inch pOLED show inside. This display screen is extremely {smooth} at 165Hz and incorporates LTPO know-how, intelligently adapting the refresh fee primarily based in your actions.

Whereas the primary 12MP digicam could not sound overly spectacular on paper, its mixture of optical picture stabilization (OIS), phase-detection autofocus (PDAF), and a large f/1.5 aperture permits it to excel in each well-lit and low-light environments. Though it doesn’t fairly match the standard of top-end flagship cameras, it’s spectacular for a slimline foldable system.

Powering the cellphone is the year-old Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor, which can deter some customers. However, on a regular basis efficiency is stable, although it tends to overheat throughout graphics-intensive gaming periods.

With a 3,800mAh battery, the Razr 40 Extremely presents an enchancment over the Razr (2022)’s 3,500mAh cell. It’s able to lasting your entire day, though it won’t make it via the second day. The excellent news is that it expenses in lower than an hour because of the inclusion of 30W quick charging know-how.

Reviewer: Lewis Painter
Full evaluation: Motorola Razr 40 Extremely Evaluate

In order for you a wonderful, and really reasonably priced, Android cellphone then the Redmi Word 11 is a robust decide and among the finest low-cost telephones round. Contemplating the a lot lower cost, it’d be unfair to match this to the far pricier telephones on this record; nevertheless it nonetheless stands out in sure areas.

We significantly favored the show, which makes use of the identical OLED tech as all the opposite telephones above. It measures 6.43-inches, has a {smooth} 90Hz refresh fee and nice color replica that makes this show simply entrancing whenever you’re watching movies or taking part in video games.

We had been impressed with the battery life and the audio system too, although had been much less enamoured with the digicam when it got here to taking photos in troublesome circumstances, and the mediocre efficiency was a tad disappointing too.

The cellphone additionally misses 5G and the sooner obtain speeds that include the fashionable community tech. This isn’t a dealbreaker for us, as we don’t assume 5G is a crucial characteristic but, however it’s one thing out there at this value. The Moto G50, for instance, prices across the similar value and has 5G. However then that cellphone sacrifices display screen high quality. In order for you a cellphone with an OLED show and 5G, we’d recommend the OnePlus Nord CE 2.

Reviewer: Andrew Williams
Full evaluation: Xiaomi Redmi Word 11 Evaluate

The Asus ROG Telephone 7 Final isn’t probably the most rounded Android cellphone on this record, however it excels at its predominant focal point: gaming. 

There are oodles of gaming-centric options right here, from the AirTriggers that permit for gamepad-esque controls to the Armoury Crate software program that lets you fiddle with the efficiency settings and show body fee, temperature and GPU workload figures when you play your favorite mobiles video games. 

Due to the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, this is without doubt one of the strongest Android telephones you should buy. The very good cooling system additionally permits the cellphone to keep up a excessive efficiency over lengthy stretches of heavy workloads, with our benchmark exams exhibiting it to have the slight benefit over the Samsung Galaxy S23 Extremely on that entrance. 

The colossal 6000mAh battery can be an necessary inclusion, with our reviewer noting that it allowed the ROG Telephone 7 Final to final effectively over a day from regular use. And for those who fancied taking part in Name of Responsibility Cellular nonstop, our exams point out the cellphone might final over seven hours on a single cost, which is exceptional. 

The one main stumbling block for this cellphone is that it’s extremely costly, requiring a sum past the £1000/$1000 mark. Consequently, it could be value sacrificing a few options and choosing the cheaper Asus ROG Telephone 7 as an alternative. However for those who fancy probably the most full gaming cellphone at the moment out there, then the Asus ROG Telephone 7 Final is a no brainer. 

Reviewer: Ryan Jones
Full evaluation: Asus ROG Telephone 7 Final evaluation

In case you’ve been on the lookout for a handset that’s barely smaller than the others on this record – one which you would even use with only one hand as an illustration – then you possibly can’t do a lot better than the superb Asus Zenfone 9.

This system presents some related qualities to the opposite Android smartphones above, together with packing a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 chipset to offer you all of the muscle you want, and a robust twin digicam system as effectively, however it additionally is available in a smaller (albeit pretty thick) bundle.

In case you discover that your arms aren’t fairly sufficiently big to wield among the cumbersome phablets which were talked about above, then the 5.9-inch display screen on this system might swimsuit you proper right down to the bottom.

Reviewer: Andrew Williams

Full evaluation: Asus Zenfone 9 evaluation