Whether you’re looking for a big or small phone, entry-level or top-of-the-line, Android offers options for everyone. And unlike Apple’s rigid release cycle, Google’s hardware partners unleash an endless stream of new devices year-round. And therein lies the problem: With so many options out there, how do you settle on the right one? Lucky for you, we test and review nearly every smartphone available from all the major US carriers.
Keep in mind that though some of the devices listed here may not show your carrier of choice, you can buy most of these phones unlocked and use them with multiple US carriers. Read on for what to look for, as well as our top picks for Android phones.
The Best Black Friday Android Phone Deals This Week*
*Deals are selected by our commerce team
Samsung Galaxy S22+
Best Android Flagship
Why We Picked It
The Samsung Galaxy S22+ currently strikes the best balance of power, connectivity, and price for Android phones. With an excellent camera, a bright screen, a fast processor, and stellar 5G reception, it’s the mainstream leader.
Who It’s For
This is the no-brainer choice for anyone looking for a mainstream, high-quality Android phone right now. Just be careful to shop around for the best price with promotions and trade-ins; a lot of discounts are usually available for this phone.
PROS
- Top-of-the-line performance
- Excellent cellular reception
- True 3x zoom camera
CONS
- Photos can look a little washed out
- 45W charging doesn’t make a big difference in speed
Google Pixel 7
Best Software Experience
Why We Picked It
The Pixel 7 is fast, durable, and has great battery life, but the real draw here is the pure Google software. Pixel phones get new Android features first, and their applications tend to work harmoniously together in a way more similar to iPhones than other Android phones. However, you still get Android’s open ecosystem that lets you sideload apps and make the phone your own.
Who It’s For
This phone is perfect for photographers and anyone who wants stock Google software. The Pixel 7 is also perfect for anyone who doesn’t want to spend tons of money on their phone, as it packs many flagship features at a reasonable price.
PROS
- Fantastic value
- Incredible cameras
- Excellent performance
- Great-looking display
- Smooth Android 13 experience
Google Pixel 7 Pro
Best High-End Pixel Phone
Why We Picked It
The Pixel 7 Pro takes everything we like about the base Pixel 7 and makes it better. It adds a high-end telephoto camera, more RAM, and a bigger, faster screen. It maintains the stock Pixel software experience we love, which makes it worth considering for die-hard Android fans.
Who It’s For
If you want a larger phone, the best-possible mobile camera, and demand the pure Android experience offered by Google Pixel phones, this is the one to buy. While the base Pixel 7 provides a better value, the Pixel 7 Pro takes everything to the nth degree.
PROS
- Excellent photography features
- Powerful software tools
- Fast, pixel-rich display
CONS
- Shorter battery life than the Pixel 7
- Connectivity could be better
Google Pixel 6a
Best Affordable Pixel Phone
Why We Picked It
Google’s software is the choice of the techno-elite for its speed, elegance, and simplicity. The Pixel 6a brings you that software—along with years of Android updates before anyone else gets them—at an affordable price. Although the Pixel 6a is available from carriers, we encourage you to look at pairing an unlocked model with an alternative (but still reliable) carrier like Google Fi or US Mobile to save money.
Who It’s For
Folks whose taste outpaces their budget. Google’s Pixel phones aren’t the best-selling Android models (Samsung models are more popular), but many people still prefer these phones because of the speed and elegance of their software.
PROS
- Excellent overall value
- Fantastic battery life
- Vibrant OLED display
- Solid camera
CONS
- Lacks microSD card slot and 3.5mm headphone jack
- Doesn’t support wireless charging
- Weak cellular performance in some areas
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4
Best Foldable Phone
Why We Picked It
Samsung leads the way in the foldable phone space and its excellent Galaxy Z Fold 4 offers the best experience yet. It has fantastic specs, the biggest screen, and the latest 5G connectivity, all of which propel it to the top of the market.
Who It’s For
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is ideal for people who like the idea of a large-screen device that folds downs into something more manageable. It’s expensive and a bit bulky, but you won’t find anything else quite like it. It’s a killer device for those who want or need to multitask, or wish to use a stylus with their device.
PROS
- Fast and powerful
- Useful multi-window mode
- Excellent signal strength
- Fully usable with one hand
CONS
- Very expensive
- Heavy
- Some applications are buggy
Moto G Power (2022)
Best Battery Life
Why We Picked It
Battery anxiety is real. Battery life is always one of the top concerns in every poll of smartphone users. The Moto G Power line packs a gigantic battery that lasts two or three days of regular use.
Who It’s For
People who forget to charge their phones. The Moto G Power actually charges pretty slowly—you should charge it overnight—but you won’t have to charge it nearly as often as most other phones. That’s a big plus.
PROS
- Long battery life
- Solid performance
- 90Hz refresh rate
CONS
- Ships with Android 11
- Noticeable pixelation on 720p display
- Underwhelming audio
Moto G Pure
Best Affordable Android Phone
Why We Picked It
Many people want a basic smartphone for under $200. Although some more-powerful phones are discounted below this price, the Moto G Pure lists at $159.99. You can get it for even less through a carrier or buy an unlocked unit to use with your favorite low-cost cell phone plan. It has a bright screen, good battery life, and decent connectivity. It’s reliable enough to make calls and get you online.
Who It’s For
People on a tight budget, occasional phone users, or kids getting their first smartphone. Yes, the kids will probably ask for iPhones, but it’s your wallet and they’ll get used to Android quickly.
PROS
- Good performance for the price
- Long battery life
- Solid LTE connectivity
CONS
- Low amount of storage
- No fast charging
OnePlus 10T
Best Reception
Why We Picked It
The OnePlus 10T offers speedy performance and stellar cellular reception for a price that’s lower than Samsung’s flagships. It doesn’t dethrone them, however. That’s partially because the handset’s camera performance isn’t quite as good as the Galaxy S22’s. But the device still keeps you connected in challenging network conditions and offers great gaming performance.
Who It’s For
Performance buffs. The phone’s Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor is the fastest available. Ditto the super-fast-charging battery, the 120Hz screen, and the Qualcomm X65 5G modem. The OnePlus 10T takes you a little out of the mainstream, but its speed more than makes up for that.
PROS
- Powerful processor
- Excellent cellular reception
- Fastest wired charging of any US phone
CONS
- Camera quality isn’t on par with flagships
- No wireless charging support
- Current Android skin is overbearing and clunky
OnePlus Nord N20
Best Value for Speedy Performance
Why We Picked It
OnePlus has become a major Android alternative to Samsung on T-Mobile because it delivers decently fast phones for a respectably low price. If you’re upgrading from an old 4G phone, this device gets you onto T-Mobile’s speedy, better-coverage 5G network, sometimes for zero dollars upfront.
Who It’s For
T-Mobile or Metro users getting a discount. The OnePlus N20 is a good phone, not a great one, but the carrier promotions (T-Mobile wants you to use 5G) mean you can get a pretty great deal.
PROS
- Smooth and elegant software
- Sharp design
- Excellent battery life
- Supports fast charging
- Features headphone jack and microSD card slot
CONS
- Limited camera capabilities
- No upgrade path to OxygenOS 13
Samsung Galaxy S22
Best Small Phone
Why We Picked It
The Samsung Galaxy S22 series includes the nation’s best-selling flagship Android phones; these models have fast processors, good cameras, and excellent cellular reception. The standard Galaxy S22 gets you similar performance to the Editor’s Choice-winning S22+, but for less money and in a smaller body.
Who It’s For
If you have trouble operating a big phone or fitting one in your pocket, this is the smallest flagship Android phone currently available. It isn’t actually a small phone like the iPhone 13 mini or the old Samsung Galaxy S10e, but it’s still your best bet.
PROS
- Excellent signal strength
- Premium power
- True 3x zoom camera
- High-quality build and design
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
Best for Artists and Photographers
Why We Picked It
The Galaxy S22 Ultra scratches two specific itches: It has a built-in S Pen stylus (like the now-defunct Galaxy Note lineup) and a 10x optical zoom camera, with digital zoom to 100x. Although there are some other stylus-compatible phones, they aren’t flagships, and nothing else on the US market has that super-zoom camera. The S22 Ultra also has a terrific screen and class-leading cellular reception.
Who It’s For
If you think you’ll use one of its two special features, the stylus or the super-zoom camera, the Galaxy S22 Ultra should be your new phone. Artists and people who think visually tend to love the stylus; when I had one, I used it to take notes during meetings. The super-zoom camera can bring faraway things closer to you like no other phone does.
PROS
- S Pen integration
- Long battery life
- Bright screen
- Excellent reception in low-signal environments
CONS
- Very large
- Expensive
- Back scratches easily
- Few camera improvements over predecessor
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4
Best Pocket-Size Flip Phone
Why We Picked It
We love that the Galaxy Z Flip 4 lets you access quick bits of information and key notifications from the outer screen without even opening the phone. And when you do open it, you get access to a large screen with the full Samsung Galaxy experience.
Who It’s For
This handset is perfect for minimizing distractions and helping you spend more time in the real world. It’s also great if you want to take creative selfies because the folding screen works as a tripod of sorts. Finally, if you like to wear tight pants with small pockets, the Galaxy Z Flip 4’s verical folding design keeps it a lot more compact than the horizontal folding Galaxy Z Fold 4.
PROS
- Standout design
- Better battery life than previous model
- Excellent cellular reception
- Useful front screen
CONS
- Less-capable cameras than other premium phones
- Gaming performance throttles quickly
Buying Guide: The Best Android Phones for 2022
When to Buy a New Android Phone
The Android release cycle is perpetual and a new set of flagship phones arrive practically every month. We can expect to see fresh Galaxy S hardware from Samsung in February, which will be followed rapidly by new phones from OnePlus in April or May, and new foldables from Samsung in August. Let’s not forget the annual phone fest that is Mobile World Congress, which typically sees a slew of handsets announced the last week of February or early March.
What we’re saying here is that there’s almost always a new Android phone available and no bad time to buy. Keep an eye on our latest Android reviews to find the right phone for you.
The Best 5G Android Phones
Support for 5G has now become fairly standard across all price points. Pretty much any $200+ phone you buy will include 5G. Phones costing below $200 may or may not have 5G, but don’t stress out about it too much, as 4G networks are robust and still offer excellent performance. Top-tier phones will support the latest 5G technologies and coverage bands.
Speaking of bands, if you want the very best network speeds look for a phone with C-band (band n77). On T-Mobile and Verizon, C-band offers several times the speed of 4G. The number of phones with C-band support is growing quickly, but you should confirm that the particular phone you’re considering supports it. We detail whether a phone supports C-band in each of our reviews to make the process easier.
For more, you can find our favorite 5G handsets in our list of the best 5G phones.
What Is 5G?
What Is the Best Cheap Android Phone?
This list has phones from under $200 to nearly $2,000. On the low end, Motorola-branded phones tend to be excellent values for the money. Of note: carrier-branded phones (which don’t mention the name of their manufacturer) often aren’t very good and are to be avoided.
Most of the phones available in the US cost $600 or more because they’re sold on monthly payment plans that hide the cost over 24 to 36 months. But there’s also a thriving market, mostly in the prepaid space, of phones that cost $300 or less. Take a look at lower-end OnePlus phones or models from Motorola and Nokia at prepaid carriers for decent quality at a low price.
The pandemic caused some phone makers to reevaluate their sky-high flagship phone prices. The OnePlus 10T is an excellent example of a phone that offers flagship performance for well under $1,000.
For more, see our stories on the best cheap phones, the best cheap phone plans, and nine tips to get the best price on a cell phone.
What Size Android Phone Is Right for You?
There’s been a dramatic shift in Android phone shapes and sizes over the last few years. Many manufacturers have started to make their phones taller and narrower, resulting in one-hand-friendly models with improbably large screen sizes. We go into more detail on evolving form factors in our piece on how we need to measure phone screens now.
You can find Android phones with stated screen sizes from 3 inches (the Unihertz Jelly 2) to over 7 inches (the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4). With the new form factors, though, it’s very important to look at the width of the phone as well as the width of the screen. A tall, narrow phone can be much easier to handle than something wider, but it’s also a less common aspect ratio for apps to use.
In the end, don’t discount the value of handling several options in person at your local wireless shop.
Which Is the Best Android Version?
Generally speaking, the newest version of Android is the best version of Android. Android 13 is the most recent version of Google’s mobile platform at the time of this writing. Pixel phones already have access to Android 13, but most other phones do not. Android 13 should reach non-Google devices over the next six months, starting with Samsung’s flagships.
Whatever you do, don’t buy a phone that comes with anything below Android 11; the older the Android software version, the more likely it is to have security flaws. Also, check how many rounds of full operating system upgrades and security patches the manufacturer promises; Google and Samsung tend to lead the pack for multi-year upgrades.
Last, remember that not all experiences on Android are the same. Device manufacturers such as OnePlus and Samsung ship phones with their own custom versions of Android. If you want a pure Google experience, opt for a Pixel device—they’re the models that Google upgrades first. Motorola and Nokia also offer a mostly clean Android interface, though the companies lag on long-term software support. Samsung, OnePlus, TCL, and other phone makers ship their phones with skins that change to look and functionality of Android to some degree.
Recommended by Our Editors
What About Oppo, Vivo, or Xiaomi?
Three out of the world’s five biggest smartphone makers(Opens in a new window) don’t sell phones in the US (at least, via carriers), and PCMag primarily serves US consumers. In the cases of Oppo and Vivo, it’s because they’ve ceded the US market to their sibling brand OnePlus (Oppo and OnePlus have now essentially merged). Xiaomi has said several times that its business model, which relies heavily on advertising revenue and subscription services baked into its phones, won’t work in the US. Huawei, once near the top of the list, has been battered by sanctions that prohibit the company from using US components or software in its smartphones. The same is mostly true for ZTE, once a mainstay of US prepaid carriers.
We do not recommend importing foreign phones for use in the US because they often perform poorly on US carrier networks. Let’s not forget that you want your phone to function as a phone, and a poor connection will ruin the experience. When we tested the Oppo Find X5 Pro, for example, we couldn’t get it to connect to T-Mobile’s 5G system.
Is It Better to Buy an Android Phone Unlocked or Through a Carrier?
The US market is still dominated by carrier-sold phones, but buying your phone direct and unlocked gives you more freedom to switch carriers. Unlocked phones don’t feature carrier bloatware and are something you buy upfront, so you don’t have to worry about monthly payments.
You can buy every phone on this list directly, without any carrier involvement. But most people still buy their phones through carriers, which offer a single point for service and support, as well as monthly payment plans that dramatically lower the upfront price. Many even offer increased trade-in values on phones, even further lowering the price.
You should also make sure your carrier (especially if you’re using an MVNO) supports a phone fully before buying it. While you can always switch from MVNO to MVNO without penalty, if you’re happy with your current carrier it’s best to make sure the phone you buy is fully supported.
With that in mind, choosing Android as your mobile operating system is only half the battle, as you still need to pick the right phone. If you’re still on the fence, check out our list of the best phones, regardless of OS.
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