Greatest Android telephones in 2023

Final 12 months may have been thought of a 12 months of iterative upgrades for Android flagship gadgets — particularly within the U.S. market. This 12 months has bee extra thrilling already, with extra telephones bringing the 1-inch sensor to the plenty, Samsung bringing a 200MP digital camera, and extra foldables hitting the market. OnePlus additionally returned to its roots, releasing a extremely polished all-rounder at an excellent worth.

In the event you’re out there for a brand new smartphone, we right here at XDA have examined nearly each cellphone, and these are our picks for the perfect in every class, relying in your want or price range.

Our favourite Android telephones:

Contemplating that Samsung’s Galaxy S21 and S22 Extremely held this spot for nearly all of 2021 and 2022, Samsung did not must do a lot for the Galaxy S23 Extremely to assert this spot instantly upon launch, significantly within the U.S. market. And whereas Samsung did convey again largely the identical show, design, and inner parts apart from the most recent Qualcomm chip, it does convey a serious replace: the primary digital camera is now a 200MP sensor, able to taking pictures precise 200MP pictures or 12.5MP photographs utilizing 16-in-1 pixel binning.

The brand new digital camera permits the Galaxy S23 Extremely to make additional enhancements to low gentle images, as a standard binned picture will include nearly twice as a lot picture info because the S22 Extremely’s fundamental digital camera photographs. You too can shoot in full 200MP, after which you’ll be able to crop in considerably and never lose as many particulars as different cell digital camera pictures. Whereas the opposite cameras on the rear — a pair of 10MP zoom lenses and the 12MP ultra-wide stay unchanged from the S22 Extremely, Samsung’s improved computational images plus the newer ISP within the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip make for improved pictures with higher publicity and colours.

The absolutely built-in S-Pen, 5,000 mAh battery, together with a beautiful 6.8-inch Tremendous AMOLED panel with wonderful peak brightness and power effectivity, all make their return, making for a cultured and highly effective system. Throw in Android 13 with 4 assured years of Android updates after which one other 12 months of safety updates, plus nice Samsung software program options like Samsung DeX, and you’ve got a do-it-all, well-rounded flagship that gives greater than what every other cellphone has to supply. If you’d like essentially the most dependable, succesful, and broadly out there Android cellphone, the Galaxy S23 Extremely continues to be it.

In the event you discover the Galaxy S23 Extremely’s $1,200 worth only a tad too excessive, the Galaxy S23+ provides numerous what made that cellphone nice at a penny underneath $1,000. You will not get that new 200MP digital camera, the S Pen, nor the 10x Periscope zoom lens, however you will nonetheless get many top-notch options, like a superb three-camera system with a 50MP fundamental digital camera, a 12MP ultrawide lens, and a 3x telephoto zoom lens. In different phrases, this can be a cellphone that may nonetheless seize some very top-notch pictures, even when it will possibly’t seize these insane zoom photographs or 200MP pictures that its larger brother is able to. We’re additionally followers of the minimal design with the flat panel. The back and front glass are protected by Gorilla Glass Victus, in fact.

Another excuse you might wish to contemplate the Galaxy S23+ is it’s kind of smaller; the flat display screen is “simply” 6.6 inches. It additionally would not have the sharp corners of the Extremely, so it is nearly objectively a extra snug cellphone to carry. The panel continues to be good, a 120Hz Samsung AMOLED 2X panel that shall be nearly the absolute best display screen you could find wherever.

On the software program entrance, you continue to get Samsung’s wonderful OneUI with all of the bonuses that include it, together with Samsung DeX; and also you additionally get a 2023 flagship SoC (Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy) too. The 4,700mAh battery is a bump up from final 12 months, and it is giant sufficient to provide this system all-day battery life. There’s additionally an IP68 score for water and dirt resistance. Samsung’s software program can be wonderful at multitasking, and the South Korean tech big is promising 4 years of assured Android updates, so that you’re getting up to date till Android 17 at the least. Merely put, whereas the Galaxy S23+ just isn’t Samsung’s final slab cellphone providing, it’s greater than flagship sufficient for most individuals.

This class is difficult. It is not often the perfect cellphone per se when it comes to having all essentially the most premium options. However it’s the perfect cellphone for most individuals, the cellphone common customers ought to contemplate due to the mix of efficiency, options, and worth for cash. However with its worth dropping to $449, the Google Pixel 7 takes this class.

Regardless of costing half of the standard flagship cellphone, the Pixel 7 has a number of key flagship options, together with Google’s second-gen silicon Tensor G2. It additionally has its flagship 50MP fundamental digital camera that, when paired with Google’s digital camera software program prowess, makes for arguably the perfect fundamental digital camera round. You additionally get a 6.3-inch OLED display screen, IP68 water resistance, and a beautiful, distinctive design with some very enjoyable colours. There’s additionally one other main promoting level: this can be a pure Google cellphone, so you’ll be able to anticipate to get unique Android-Pixel options and the quickest software program updates.

In fact, there have been compromises to get this cellphone all the way down to this worth vary. The show solely refreshes as much as 90Hz, there is no devoted zoom lens, and it has comparatively sluggish wired and wi-fi charging. However these compromises are very straightforward to simply accept for individuals who desire a cellphone that appears and seems like a flagship however prices half the worth. Merely put, the Pixel 7 is the perfect general worth on this listing and the perfect cellphone for most individuals.

Samsung’s Galaxy A54 brings a 120Hz vibrant OLED show, a robust 50MP, f/1.8 fundamental digital camera, and a glass physique at a mid-range worth. Beforehand, Samsung’s A sequence used a plastic physique, so this new building is an instantaneous step up. The cellphone additionally packs a big 5,000mAh battery and retains expandable storage, which may be very uncommon in trendy smartphones.

The A54 runs Android 13 with Samsung’s OneUI and the software program expertise is nice. Regardless of the cellphone working on an Exynos chip — which does not get the perfect rep — general efficiency is comparatively clean. The cellphone is not going to zip round as quick as a flagship Samsung and even the OnePlus 11, but it surely’s not a sluggish cellphone both.

The principle digital camera makes use of Samsung’s enhancing software program processing to provide vigorous pictures, and even in low-light conditions, it performs nicely. The ultrawide digital camera is simply common, nevertheless, falling to the same old comfortable particulars and noise in low gentle conditions. Nevertheless, add in official IP67 water resistance and stereo audio system, and the A54 is an excellent mid-range choice.

Look, we all know OnePlus’ OxygenOS has misplaced a little bit of its id over the previous 12 months, ever since OnePlus and OPPO lastly admitted to being the identical firm and OxygenOS started wanting increasingly more like OPPO’s ColorOS. However this is the factor: ColorOS is sweet, and this “colorfied” model of OxygenOS working within the OnePlus 11 continues to be one of many zippiest and smoothest software program round.

Each Android flagship provides a 120Hz refresh charge nowadays, however OxygenOS’ (and ColorOS’) animations simply zip round noticeably quicker and smoother than, say, Samsung’s OneUI, which sees dropped frames now and again. Google’s Pixel UI has fairly clean animations, and a case may be made for that software program taking this spot, however OxygenOS is only a bit extra customizable, with a greater always-on show and extra helpful shortcut gestures.

The OnePlus 11 itself is a high quality cellphone, too, working on the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2, with a visually putting design that sees the digital camera module spill over the perimeters and blends into the chassis. It additionally has an excellent Hasselblad digital camera system headlined by a 50MP IMX890 fundamental digital camera plus a 48MP ultrawide shooter and a 32MP 2x telephoto zoom lens. Photographs captured by the OnePlus 11 are vibrant with punchy colours and wonderful dynamic vary.

The OnePlus 11 ships with a 100W quick charging brick (80W within the U.S.) that may high up the cellphone from 0-100% in underneath 25 minutes. General the OnePlus 11 is a handsome, polished Android cellphone that ought to fulfill your want for velocity, and it is priced a couple of hundred {dollars} cheaper than the Galaxy S23+.

The primary three Google Pixel telephones have been hands-down the finest nonetheless digital camera telephones round, largely as a result of Google’s computational images was thus far forward of the sport on the time. Within the years since different cellphone manufacturers have stepped up their computational images recreation. Add in the truth that Google did not trouble upgrading its digital camera {hardware} for the Pixel 4 and 5, and the Pixel was not the undisputed finest digital camera cellphone round by 2019 or so.

Google regained the point-and-shoot crown final 12 months with the Pixel 6 Professional after upgrading the digital camera {hardware}, and this 12 months’s Pixel 7 Professional brings additional refinement. The principle digital camera of the Pixel 7 Professional is similar to the 6 Professional when it comes to {hardware} — a 50MP Samsung GN1 sensor with a 1/1.31-inch picture sensor and quick aperture. However the Pixel 7 Professional’s new silicon, the Tensor G2, improves efficiency, significantly in low gentle scenes the place the Pixel 7 Professional not takes a very long time to snap an evening shot.

Whereas the Pixel 7 Professional nonetheless lacks the superior video capabilities of an iPhone 14 Professional, it is arguably the perfect cellphone for individuals who simply wish to level their cellphone, faucet the shutter button, after which get a shot they will submit to social media instantly with out tweaks or edits. The explanation for that is software program. Google’s computational images makes taking pictures a pleasure. You need not stress it; simply level and shoot and you are going to get a shot that is nearly all the time completely balanced, with simply the correct amount of boosted colours and distinction (with out going overboard like Samsung), correct white steadiness, and sufficient sharpness. It is a digital camera that simply works.

2021’s ASUS ROG Telephone 5 Final was our choose for the gaming cellphone of the 12 months, and its 2022 replace is even higher — thus making it a simple favourite for this class.

So what makes the ROG Telephone 6 Professional a gaming beast? Let’s begin with the 165Hz show, which might run on the highest refresh charge full-time with out micro-stutters. Do notice the panel is not an LTPO panel, nevertheless, however that is not a giant deal for a game-centric cellphone. The display screen can be solely uninterrupted as a result of the selfie digital camera is located within the skinny bezel above.

Throw in an enormous 6,000mAh battery to deal with that variable refresh charge and you will not have to fret about discovering a charger in the course of a session. In our testing, this cellphone can final a day and a half simply if used as a “regular smartphone,” and even when you do a recreation on it, it will possibly final by means of the day on a cost, until you are pulling marathon periods.

As a result of this can be a gaming cellphone, the ROG Telephone 6 Professional provides useful shoulder buttons named “AirTriggers” that give further management to first-person shooters in methods most conventional smartphones can not. There’s additionally a rear show named “ROG Imaginative and prescient,” which lets you show graphics on it for some aptitude.

From our testing, the ROG Telephone 6 is a beast of a performer, capable of run video games at 60 FPS with few drops. All of the benchmarks are chart-topping too. Finally, if you’re a cell gamer and you do not wish to be slowed down by less-than-premium {hardware}, that is the cellphone to get.

The Galaxy Z Fold 4 appears at first like a really minor and iterative replace over the already wonderful Galaxy Z Fold 3, however Samsung made a number of small however essential, enhancements.

First, Samsung shaved a couple of millimeters off the hinge’s bulkiness so it doesn’t protrude from the facet of the cellphone as a lot as earlier than. Samsung then gave that further little bit of area to the outer show, so the display screen is ever so barely wider. Then, Samsung improved the digital camera {hardware}. The Fold 3’s three 12MP shooters have been first rate at finest, however the Fold 4 gained a 50MP picture sensor with a bigger 1/1.53-inch picture sensor dimension. The 10MP zoom lens has additionally been improved to a 3X telephoto lens.

Samsung additionally fine-tuned the software program to additional benefit from the bigger show. One in every of our favourite new options is the taskbar, which runs alongside the underside of the cellphone and lists your most used or final used apps. From this bar, you’ll be able to shortly cycle by means of apps with out ever leaping again out to the house display screen. You possibly can, in fact, eliminate this bar when you do not want it or don’t desire the distraction.

With a 4,400mAh battery, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 has sufficient juice to energy the system by means of a complete day, and for these of us at XDA who owns one, the system has had no hassle making it by means of a complete day on a single cost. If you’d like a cellphone that may be each a pill and a smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 4 is tough to beat proper now. In the event you discover it a bit too massive, nevertheless, then Samsung has a smaller choice for you, too.

In case you have ever lamented the escalating dimension of smartphones and need one thing that’ll really slot in your pocket, then the Galaxy Z Flip 4 is price contemplating. In contrast to the Galaxy Z Fold 4, which is a pill that folds right into a cellphone, the Flip 4 is a normal-sized smartphone that folds right into a compact sq., concerning the dimensions of a coaster or a make-up compactor. Samsung did not change a lot when it comes to general {hardware} and design from the surface, however final 12 months’s Flip 3 was universally acclaimed for its lovely and useful design. This implies you continue to have a 6.7-inch 120Hz fundamental display screen and a 1.9-inch exterior cowl display screen.

Inside you will discover a Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 with 8GB of RAM and a bigger 3,700mAh battery. That battery dimension sounds small, however the Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 is a extremely environment friendly chip. We won’t assure the Flip 4 shall be an all-day cellphone for you, however at the least battery life will not be horrible like in earlier Flips. The hinge is sturdier than ever, and the Galaxy Z Flip 4, just like the Galaxy Z Flip 3, additionally options IPX8 water resistance.

The hinge’s means to remain midway folded in place, referred to as “Flex Mode,” provides a complete slew of recent use instances to the Galaxy Z Flip 4. For instance, you’ll be able to fold it in an L-shape, place it on a tabletop, and have a hands-free video calling or watching machine. Likewise, you’ll be able to shoot time-lapses or long-exposure photographs with no need a tripod or maintain the cellphone up your self.

Greatest Android Telephones 2023: The ultimate say

The Galaxy S23 Extremely is our choose for the perfect general Android cellphone, even when we expect the Pixel 7 Professional and Xiaomi 13 Professional have higher fundamental cameras, and that the OnePlus 11 or Pixel 7 are higher worth propositions. The explanation Samsung’s alpha canine nonetheless takes the highest spot is as a result of it is essentially the most well-rounded, versatile system of the bunch, and would not have a obtrusive weak point just like the Xiaomi 13 Professional’s restricted market availability or Pixel 7’s sub-par battery life. And whereas the OnePlus 11 is nearly nearly as good, the Galaxy S23 Extremely can simply do extra, with the included S Pen stylus and software program options like Samsung DeX. It is nonetheless essentially the most cellphone for these with cash to spend.