Deciding which phone to buy has never been trickier, with the likes of Apple, Samsung and Google vying for your attention with dazzling displays, AI-powered features and professional-grade cameras. Whether you’re in the market for the latest iPhone or you’re looking for a cheap Android that will last for years, you have more options than ever when it comes to choosing the best smartphone.
To help you out, I've put the best phones through their paces to create a definitive guide to the top smartphones in 2025. I’ve tested cameras in challenging lighting conditions, pushed their processors to the limit with demanding apps and games, and measured their battery life under intense usage and real-world conditions.
From the most powerful iPhone to the most stylish Samsung flip phone, my round-up of the best phones will have something to suit your budget and needs.
How I tested
To find the best smartphone, I use each handset as my primary device for at least a week, swapping in my SIM card and integrating it fully into my daily life. This long-term, real-world testing allows me to move beyond benchmark scores and get a genuine feel for a phone’s strengths and weaknesses, focusing on the features and performance that matter most.
Why you can trust IndyBest reviews
Between them, technology experts Steve Hogarty and David Phelan have been testing and writing about smartphones for more than two decades, from the very first iPhone to the AI-powered flagships of today.
Their rigorous, real-world testing process involves using each handset as their primary device, allowing them to go beyond specs on a sheet to understand how a phone truly performs in daily life. This hands-on, long-term approach, combined with years of industry insight, ensures that every recommendation is based on honest, unbiased and expert opinion.
The best phones for 2025 are:
iPhone 16 Pro
Best: Overall
Screen size: 6.3in
Screen type: 120Hz OLED
Dimensions: 149.6mm x 71.5mm x 8.3mm
Weight: 199g
Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB
RAM: 8GB
Rear cameras: 48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 12MP telephoto
Selfie camera: 12MP
Why we love it
- Great photography features
- Beautiful design
Take note
- Still waiting on Apple Intelligence
The harshest criticism you could level at the iPhone 16 Pro is that it’s hardly changed since last year’s phone, with just a few modest improvements keeping it the best phone you can buy right now.
Design-wise, you’d struggle to spot any differences here, apart from the new camera control button on the frame. But under the hood, the newest iPhone gets improved lenses, a host of photography and video shooting options, and naturally better performance thanks to the A18 Pro chip. The much-touted Apple Intelligence features have yet to launch, but with a planned release date in December, the AI overhaul of iOS looks set to give the iPhone 16 range its biggest upgrade over last year’s phones.
In our iPhone 16 Pro and iPhone 16 Pro Max review, our tester called the phones “the most powerful, practical and professional smartphones on the market. Even without the promise of new capabilities, they would be the peak of what is available.”
Read the full iPhone 16 Pro review now
Buy now £899.00, Amazon.co.uk
Google Pixel 10 Pro
Best: Android phone
Screen size: 6.3in/6.8in
Screen type: Actua display, 1-120Hz
Dimensions: 152.8mm x 72mm x 8.6mm (Pixel 10 Pro), 162.8mm x 76.6mm x 8.5mm (Pixel 10 Pro XL)
Weight: 207g (Pixel 10 Pro), 232g (Pixel 10 Pro XL)
Storage: 512GB, 1TB
RAM: 16GB
Rear cameras: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP telephoto
Selfie camera: 42MP
Why we love it
- Premium, stylish design
- Improved cameras
- Brighter screen
- Slick new Android 16 interface
Take note
- The most interesting AI features are of limited use if you're not on Google Messages
Launched in August, the new Pixel 10 Pro is the most impressive Android phone yet. This year's flagship is barely distinguishable from the Pixel 9, but the upgrade to Google’s new Tensor G5 processor enables a set of on-device AI features that are genuinely useful in day-to-day life. Features like Magic Cue, which pulls in data from across your apps to bring you the right information when you need it. A friend asks where you’re supposed to be meeting, for example, and Magic Cue grabs the information from your calendar or inbox and suggests the time as a reply.
When it works – the assistant is sporadic at launch and can’t help with messages outside of the official Google Messages app – it feels like the genuinely helpful vision of AI that Google's been promising for years: a proactive virtual assistant that quietly anticipates your needs and reduces the time spent switching around apps in search of reservation details.
Photography is still a strong point for the Pixel, capturing stunningly detailed and well-processed shots. You get the usual suite of AI editing tricks here, like the ability to add yourself into the group photo you just took, magically erase people and objects or reimagine entire parts of an image. New this time is an AI assistant for capturing better photos, plus a 100x zoom that uses AI image generation to effectively paint in missing detail that the sensor can't resolve.
This year’s Pixel also gets Pixelsnap – effectively MagSafe for Android – with Qi2 wireless charging and compatibility with the full range of MagSafe accessories already out there. While a welcome upgrade, there’s perhaps not quite enough new here to recommend trading up from the Pixel 9, as I noted in my full Pixel 10 review. “The Pixel 10 is the best phone Google has ever made. It’s a beautifully designed piece of hardware, a joy to use, and its camera continues to be best-in-class. For anyone upgrading from a Pixel 8 or older, or switching from the iPhone, it’s an easy recommendation.”
Buy now £999.00, Amazon.co.uk
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Best: Samsung phone
Screen type: AMOLED, 120Hz
Screen size: 6.9in
Dimensions: 162.8mm x 77.6mm x 8.2mm
Weight: 218g
Storage: 256GB/512GB/1TB
RAM: 12GB/16GB
Rear cameras: 200MP main, 50MP telephoto, 50MP ultrawide
Selfie cameras: 12MP
Why we love it
- New rounded display looks great
- Most powerful Android phone worth buying
- Class-leading photography
Take note
- It's really big
Samsung’s newest and best Galaxy phone doesn’t rock the boat, taking everything that was great about S24 Ultra and building on it.
The most powerful phone Samsung makes, the S25 Ultra uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite processor with 12GB of RAM, giving it performance that’s more on par with a laptop than a regular phone. An all-new ultrawide 50MP camera joins the same 200MP main lens found on the S24 Ultra, enabling impressive macro photography.
Unique to the Ultra series, the S-Pen stylus has survived for another year too, letting you take notes, sketch and interact with the screen in a more natural way. And as you might expect, Samsung’s suite of AI features are all here, from generative AI photo editing to live translations.
Read the full Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra review
Buy now £1249.00, Johnlewis.com
iPhone 16
Best: Affordable iPhone
Screen size: 6.1in
Screen type: 60Hz OLED
Dimensions: 147.6mm x 71.6mm x 7.8mm
Weight: 170g
Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB
RAM: 8GB
Rear cameras: 48MP main, 12MP ultrawide
Selfie camera: 12MP
Why we love it
- Zippy A18 chip
- Excellent cameras
- Almost as good as the Pro this year
Take note
- 60Hz display
Apple has made it harder than ever to choose between the entry-level iPhone and the Pro edition. This year’s base iPhone 16 gets the new A18 chip rather than using the chip from last year’s Pro phones, giving it speedy all-round performance. It comes in £200 cheaper than the iPhone 16 Pro by ditching the more expensive phone’s telephoto lens and using a lower quality 60Hz display. If you don’t think you’ll notice those differences, the iPhone 16 is the phone for you.
Otherwise, you’re getting the same upgrades that appear in the rest of the iPhone 16 range: new camera controls, the ability to run Apple Intelligence when it’s made available, faster wireless charging and a toughened glass screen. In our iPhone 16 and iPhone 16 Plus review, our tester was “impressed by how much closer the regular iPhone now is to the pricier Pro models. Sure, the Pro has an extra camera, a better and bigger screen and more, but feature after feature that you might have expected to be Pro-only is on the iPhone 16.”
Read the full iPhone 16 review
Buy now £698.00, Amazon.co.uk
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6
Best: Flip-style folding phone
Screen size: 6.7in (unfolded) / 3.4in (folded)
Screen type: 120Hz OLED
Dimensions: 165.1mm x 71.9mm x 6.9mm (unfolded) / 85.1mm x 71.9mm x 14.9mm (folded)
Weight: 187g
Storage: 256GB, 512GB
RAM: 12GB
Rear cameras: 50MP main, 12MP ultrawide
Selfie camera: 10MP
Why we love it
- Sturdy, flexible, hinged design
- Outer display gets fun new widgets
Samsung’s clamshell-style foldable is one of the coolest looking phones you can buy, with a head-turning design that folds down to a size not much bigger than a cream cracker.
This year’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 saw a big upgrade to battery life, performance and cameras, which were lacking in last year’s version, and tweaks the build slightly to give the frame flatter edges that snap together neatly when closed. Small enough to be used one-handed, it features a 3.4in outer display to see your notifications, check the weather and even reply to messages without having to open the phone. Inside, the tall 6.7in display is perfect for vertical scrolling, and by angling the phone half-open you can frame selfies without needing to prop your phone up against a wall.
In our Galaxy Z Flip 6 review, our tester called it “an incredible piece of hardware. This year’s Galaxy Z Flip might look the same but is the culmination of continuous advancements to the popular flip-phone’s design, the hinge, the durability and the outer screen. Unsurprisingly, it’s probably the best folding phone you can buy today.”
Read the full Galaxy Z Flip 6 review
Buy now £949.00, Amazon.co.uk
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Best: Folding phone
Screen size: 8in (unfolded) / 6.3in (folded)
Screen type: 120Hz OLED
Dimensions: 155.2mm x 150.2mm x 5.1mm (unfolded) / 155.2mm x 77.1mm x 10.5mm (folded)
Weight: 257g
Storage: 256GB, 512GB
RAM: 16GB
Rear cameras: 48MP main, 10.5MP ultrawide, 10.8MP telephoto
Selfie camera: 10MP
Why we love it
- The size of a normal phone when folded
- App compatibility much improved
- Inner screen is bright, immersive and vibrant
Take note
- Expensive
Google’s second foldable launched in September and became the best folding phone in this niche smartphone category, with only the OnePlus Open and the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 offering much in the way of competition.
We prefer the Pixel 9 Pro Fold to Samsung’s foldable for the simple reason that it’s roughly the same size and shape as the regular Pixel 9 Pro when closed, meaning you can use the outer display like a normal phone rather than having the interface squished into the tall and narrow form factor of the Samsung rival. It’s thin for a foldable too, just about fitting into a pocket comfortably, and it feels comparable in thickness and weight to the Pixel 9 Pro XL with a case on.
Android runs beautifully on a folding display. When apps make use of the extra space you get useful side menus – Gmail lets you view emails while keeping your inbox visible, for example – while apps that aren’t designed for the bigger screen are automatically adapted to fill the space neatly (with some ugly exceptions every now and then).
In our Pixel 9 Pro Fold review, our tester rated the phone for its speed and AI features. “Unlike the original Pixel Fold, this year’s foldable Pixel runs on the same Tensor processor as the mainline Pixel 9 phones, so it feels fast and responsive. You also get all of those Pixel 9 exclusive benefits of Gemini AI built in, such as the Pixel Studio and Pixel Screenshots apps.”
Read the full Pixel 9 Pro Fold review
Buy now £1399.00, Currys.co.uk
Your questions about smartphones answered
What is the best phone?
The latest phones offer powerful performance, sharp cameras and long-lasting battery life. The iPhone 16 Pro is the best iPhone yet, with outstanding cameras, new photography controls and a premium design.
Over on Android, the Google Pixel 10 Pro is the best argument yet for ditching Apple, with exceptional styling, brilliant cameras and genuinely innovative AI features embedded throughout.
What phone has the best camera?
Apple, Google, and Samsung phones are now so good that you can’t make a bad choice, but each has a distinct personality. The iPhone 16 Pro is the king of video and delivers consistently brilliant, true-to-life photos with a simple point-and-shoot approach. The Pixel 9 Pro is the smartest of the bunch, using clever AI processing to pull detail out of tricky scenes and offering powerful editing tools. Finally, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is the most versatile, with a formidable zoom lens that lets you capture subjects from a huge distance.
What phone has the best battery life?
Generally speaking, the biggest phones have the best battery life simply because there's more physical space to cram in a larger battery cell. Year after year, the iPhone Pro Max models consistently deliver the best longevity on the market, closely followed by top-tier Android phones like the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra. Chip efficiency plays a huge part too, but if your absolute priority is multi-day battery life, a larger flagship is almost always your best bet.
Protect your new smartphone with the best iPhone 16 phone cases
