2025’s best phones, like the colourful orange iPhone 17 Pro, the Android all-rounder Google Pixel 10 Pro and the persistently high-perfoming Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra share many issues. All of them provide superb efficiency and include unbelievable digicam setups. Then there’s the huge, vibrant shows and the host of funky new AI expertise, all of which makes these flagship telephones the height of what cellular tech can provide. It is also no shock that these fan-favorite phones have one thing else in frequent, too: whopping worth tags.
Costing $1,000 and extra, right now’s greatest telephones are out of attain for a lot of — or are merely pointless for these of us who simply need an on a regular basis handset for preserving in contact with buddies or scrolling by means of Instagram on the bus. Fortunately, there’s an enormous array of choices on the market catering to all wants and budgets, whether or not you are searching for top-end mannequin or a extra reasonably priced possibility, just like the CNET Editors’ Alternative award-winning Nothing Phone 3A Pro.
You’d suppose the huge variety of selections would make buying easy. However the actuality is that generally all of the choices make it extra complicated. That will help you reduce by means of a number of the jargon and spend your cash sensibly, I’ve put collectively suggestions for getting a telephone.
How you can purchase a brand new telephone: Prime phone-buying suggestions
- Know what you care about most: Is it display dimension? Digicam high quality? Battery life? It will assist slim down your selections. Telephones just like the iPhone 17 Professional, Galaxy S25 Extremely or Xiaomi 15 Ultra, for instance, pack unbelievable cameras that just about rival the standard you’d get from a mirrorless digicam. If you happen to’re eager on pictures and at all times need to carry an excellent digicam for when inspiration strikes, then spending cash right here is a good suggestion. If not, you possibly can doubtless save your self a bundle.
- Do not low cost the midrange: Options of final 12 months’s flagships at all times trickle all the way down to this 12 months’s midrange handsets.You may get an awesome telephone that does nearly all the things {that a} premium telephone can do for a fraction of the worth. Google’s Pixel 10 Professional packs an awesome zoom digicam, however the base Pixel 10 has a lot of the similar key specs and comes at a extra affordable worth. Even lower-end telephones just like the Nothing Cellphone 3A Professional provide an awesome expertise and asks for little money in return.
- Store the gross sales: Search for deep reductions and promo offers round main holidays, particularly Amazon’s Prime Day and Black Friday. And discover out what your grace interval is in case you want a fast return or trade.
- Think about final 12 months’s telephones: They’ll usually be an awesome deal, too. Watch for this 12 months’s launch to get final 12 months’s telephone for much less, when shops and carriers could also be making an attempt to dump their present inventory. You also needs to examine for used choices as these can prevent a ton of cash, so long as no matter you purchase nonetheless receives safety updates.
- Maintain the telephone at a retailer first: You might love or hate the best way it seems and feels in particular person.
- Verify should you’re already invested: Have you ever already purchased a number of iPhone apps and iTunes motion pictures? Stick to an iPhone should you nonetheless need entry to them. Likewise, should you’ve invested in a great deal of Android apps, you will need to keep on that facet of the fence. In any other case, it is easy sufficient to switch platforms.
- Purchase a case and display protector: You may defend your telephone from pricey harm and can improve the telephone’s resale or trade-in worth for once you’re prepared to maneuver on. If you happen to’re cautious with how you utilize your telephone, it should last for years.
Smartphone efficiency vs. finances
Basically, efficiency strains up with price. The very newest, best expertise normally comes at a premium. Flagship telephones pack the very best cameras, essentially the most highly effective processors and should even sport cutting-edge tech like foldable displays. The excessive costs imply that these telephones are price contemplating solely by those that need absolutely the newest tech of their pockets.
Not everybody wants such prime tech, nevertheless, or might merely be unwilling to spend the $1,000 or extra usually required to get it. Fortunately, the midrange sector of the telephone world has been one of many fiercest battlegrounds for firms to compete in, leading to some superb telephones that will not break the financial institution. Options like wi-fi charging and cameras with a number of lenses that have been as soon as the area of flagships are actually commonplace on midrange telephones.
Even finances telephones will nonetheless provide first rate digicam high quality and sufficient energy so that you can take pleasure in all your on a regular basis internet shopping, WhatsApp-ing and Instagramming.
Display screen dimension
All telephones have gotten steadily larger over the previous couple of years, with the iPhone 17 Professional Max and Galaxy S25 Extremely measuring a whopping 6.9 inches. Small telephones aren’t that frequent anymore, with nearly no telephones measuring beneath six inches in dimension.
Apple killed off its iPhone Mini line, and whereas its 2022 iPhone SE remained the smallest iPhone you might purchase, the corporate changed it with the 6.1 inch iPhone 16E, which hardly qualifies as small. On the Android facet, the Google Pixel 8A’s 6.1-inch show makes it one of many higher smaller telephones, however just like the iPhone 16E, it is hardly what you’d name tiny. Google changed it with the Pixel 9A and in so doing elevated the display dimension to six.3 inches. Sorry, small telephone followers, seems such as you’re out of luck.
Software program help interval
A telephone stays protected to make use of solely so long as it receives safety updates from the producer to guard it from hackers. Up to now, this was an even bigger concern since most telephones have been supported for simply two or three years, leaving them with a brief shelf life. At the moment, nevertheless, prolonged help has change into a aggressive function, with Google now providing a powerful seven years of software program and safety updates on its newest telephones.
It means the latest Pixel 10 Professional will nonetheless be protected to make use of in 2032, whereas Samsung has promised an analogous help interval for its Galaxy S25 vary. Samsung’s Galaxy S20, launched in 2020, acquired its closing safety replace in 2024, nevertheless, so it is vital to verify how lengthy your telephone of alternative shall be protected to make use of, particularly should you’re shopping for an older telephone on the used market. An extended help interval not solely offers you higher worth for cash over the lifetime of the gadget, it is also higher for the planet, because it retains older, however nonetheless usable telephones out of landfill and reduces the variety of new units being made and shipped.
Digicam efficiency
Digicam options have been a significant level for bragging rights in latest telephones, with producers at all times wanting an even bigger, extra thrilling quantity, be it the variety of megapixels or amount of precise digicam lenses. Three rear cameras are actually frequent — an everyday lens, an ultrawide lens and a telephoto lens — with even budget-focused telephones packing a number of cameras.
Learn extra: Best Camera Phone to Buy in 2025
That is nice, as extra lenses imply extra capturing choices once you’re out and about. However that does not imply that any multilens digicam is pretty much as good as one other. As with processor efficiency, the extra you spend, the higher the outcomes you will usually get, with the very best cameras round normally being discovered on the costliest flagships.
Look out for options like optical (fairly than digital) zooms, evening mode for higher low-light pictures, and optical picture stabilization. Generally these options won’t be clear, and it isn’t attainable to guage a digicam’s efficiency simply by trying on the specs. If you happen to actually care about your telephone’s pictures expertise, then take a while to have a look at the evaluations and see how its digicam performs earlier than you spend your cash.
Battery life
Most telephones, from the finances finish by means of to elite flagships, can final most of a day on a single cost. Larger telephones might need larger batteries, however additionally they have larger screens and infrequently extra highly effective processors, in order that they suck that additional juice down shortly. Few telephones provides you with greater than a day of use. Listed here are some issues to remember:
- At all times plan on giving your telephone a full cost in a single day.
- Search for options like quick charging, that permit your telephone to tackle a number of energy in a brief house of time. Some telephones, just like the OnePlus 15, help 80W quick charging that may take it from empty to full in round half-hour. Verify to see in case your telephone comes with a suitable quick charger although, as an previous USB plug doubtless will not provide the facility output required.
- Your battery will last more should you keep away from extra demanding duties resembling gaming or video streaming. Protecting the display brightness down will assist too and should you’re actually making an attempt to eke out that previous couple of % to assist get you house, turning off Wifi and Bluetooth may also assist.
Processor efficiency
Prime-end telephones pack highly effective processors together with 12GB of RAM or much more. It is sufficient to make these telephones run any activity with out breaking a sweat, however you needn’t spend flagship degree cash to get nice efficiency.
Most first rate midrange telephones provide sufficient energy to deal with all your on a regular basis wants. You may nonetheless have the ability to play nearly any sport from the Google Play retailer and edit your high-resolution photos in apps resembling Snapseed or Adobe Lightroom. There’s little you might throw at most midrange telephones that they would not have the ability to deal with.
As you progress into the finances finish of the spectrum, that is once you’ll begin to discover some slowdown with issues like gaming. Extra demanding 3D video games would possibly look extra stuttery and should even unexpectedly stop. Nevertheless, fundamental duties resembling sending emails, listening to Spotify and shopping Instagram should not be an issue.
4G or 5G?
5G is the newest commonplace that guarantees lightning-fast cellular knowledge speeds once you’re out and about. Whereas 5G protection nonetheless is not in every single place but, it is widespread sufficient that it’s best to completely look towards a 5G telephone. And that is straightforward, as nearly all of them are, from top-end flagships all the way down to entry-level finances telephones.
The one motive it’s best to take into account shopping for a 4G telephone now’s should you’re trying on the used market and you’ve got discovered deal on an older-generation mannequin that may tide you over for a few years.
How a lot telephone storage do you want?
Most telephones, even the finances ones, include not less than 64GB of storage, of which 10 could also be taken up by preinstalled apps and the telephone’s working system. If you happen to do not plan on recording video, and gaming is not your factor, 64GB could be sufficient, however in any other case it’s best to take into account 128GB to be a safer minimal.
Larger-end telephones — notably these that may file prime quality 4K video — provide capacities of 256GB or extra. With that a lot house, you will barely must suppose twice about having to filter previous recordsdata.
If the telephone helps microSD playing cards then it is a completely different matter, as you possibly can choose up 32GB microSD playing cards (or larger) for little or no cash nowadays and popping one into your telephone will dramatically improve the quantity of storage you will have entry to. Sadly, expandable storage is a really uncommon function on telephones nowadays. Nevertheless, most telephones will help exterior storage over USB-C, so should you’re happening vacation and need to shoot a number of high-resolution video, taking a small SSD drive to dump your footage to could be a good suggestion.
Bonus options
Many of those options are actually frequent on telephones at numerous worth factors and are price preserving in thoughts once you’re buying.
- Fingerprint scanner or face unlock: A scanner could also be on the again and even invisibly constructed into the show. Biometric safety, because it’s known as, is safer than having to recollect a PIN.
- Water resistant: Do you usually take calls within the rain? Search for a telephone with not less than an IP67 ranking to maintain it protected from water and spilled drinks. That is fairly frequent on most higher-end telephones nowadays.
- Wi-fi charging: That is out there on many telephones, with some now providing quicker wi-fi charging speeds, so long as you utilize a suitable charging pad.
