June is a great time to buy a new phone: a bunch of brand new devices have recently arrived on the market (yes, the exciting Galaxy S7 and S7 Edge are now available in stores, but also the G5 and new iPhone SE!). The new HTC 10 and Huawei P9 are the two most recent newcomers on the market. Basically, we have all important new phones already out with the next batch only coming around September-October, which is plenty of time to wait. Plus, many older devices are getting hugely discounted as the new arrivals come in.
There is no definite one-size-fits-all device, though, and that's why we explore all the options, trying to help you narrow down the choice to some outstanding devices that we think won't disappoint you. We're also breaking them down by categories: after all some people prefer a large, phablet-sized device, while others may want a more conventionally-sized pocket sidekick. We don't go into all that much detail (for those details, make sure to read our in-depth reviews), but we do focus on the most important highlights for each phone. With no further ado, here are the best phones you can buy right now.
Contents:
Regular-size
Big phones (phablets)
Super compact phones
Affordable phones
Exotic phones
Very best phone in a regular size from a brand you trust:
Apple iPhone 6s
(Price: $32.45 on monthly lease with free upgrade every year | $650 for full retail | Review)
| Display | 4.7" at 750 x 1334 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Apple A9 with 2GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP f/2.2 main cam with 4K video, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 1715 mAh |
PROS
- Solid design
- Excellent display
- Smooth and fast user experience
- Slightly better apps and games selection than on Android
- Fast and very well performing camera
CONS
- 16GB base model has too little storage, 64GB model is pricey
- No fast charging
- Closed ecosystem
- Less customization options than on Android
The Apple iPhone 6s is the world's fastest-selling smartphone, and it will certainly break quite a few records in sales.
It's an 's' upgrade meaning that it looks almost exactly like last year's iPhone 6, but looks are deceiving: the new iPhone brings two extremely cool and useful new features, 3D Touch and Live Photos. It also comes with a massively improved Apple A9 system chip and recent findings praise Apple for making the best of this new chip and squeezing even more battery life with the 6s. We have also learned that Apple uses a brand new type of storage that is not eMMC or UFS, but a much faster kind of storage that has a lot in common with the super-fast SSD used in full-fledged Macbooks. Put in simple words, the new iPhone has a much faster processor and memory. It also comes with a new, 12-megapixel camera that now is able to capture a more detailed images than before and records video in the trendy 4K resolution, plus it supports new slo-mo options. Add to this the rich iOS ecosystem that continues to secure the best apps and games first, and one starts to understand the huge appeal of the iPhone 6s.
Samsung Galaxy S7
(Price: $650 full retail | Review)
| Display | 5.1" at 1440 x 2560 pixels, Super AMOLED |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 820 with 4GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP main cam with Dual Pixel AF, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3000 mAh with Fast Charge |
PROS
- Gorgeous design with overall solid build quality
- Great battery life and very fast recharging
- Industry-leading camera quality and fastest auto-focus ever on a phone
- Base model has plentiful 32GB of storage, can be expanded via microSD cards
CONS
- TouchWiz still feels a bit stutter and lacking polish around the edges
- A ton of duplicate apps / services
- Body is a fingerprint magnet
The Samsung Galaxy S7 is a 5.1-inch device of style and beauty, inherited from the Galaxy S6: made of two pieces of Gorilla Glass 4 on the back and front, and a sturdy metal frame in the middle. The new thing is that its back is now curved on the side for a more comfortable fit. It's also about the changes under the hood: the Galaxy S7 now brings the latest and most powerful Snapdragon 820 system chip, a larger battery, a microSD card slot for expandable storage, and the very useful water-protection that requires no plugs. Samsung has done some great work on the camera and it's now a 12-megapixel rear shooter, capable of capturing very good looking images in low-light and featuring cool new shooting options like Motion Photo (similar to Apple's Live Photos), Motion Panorama and Hyperlapse. With a great and sharp display, swift performance and a custom Samsung UI that is now sleeker, the phone is a very well-rounded package. We also love the wireless charging option available right out of the box on the Galaxy S7.
HTC 10
(Price: $700 full retail | Review)
| Display | 5.2" at 1440 x 2560 pixels, Super LCD 5 |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 820 with 4GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP 1/2.3" camera with OIS, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3000 mAh |
PROS
- Premium design, solid build quality
- Very fast and responsive user interface
- One of the best cameras HTC has made
- Good battery life
- Plentiful 32GB of storage with microSD expansion option
- HTC has eliminated many of the duplicate apps
CONS
- Lacks exciting new features
- Comparatively expensive
HTC needed a savior and while we don't know whether the HTC 10 will be the one, we already know one thing: it's a damn good phone. With a solid all-around construction, a well-crafted (a bit heavy, though) aluminum body and a clean and fast build of Android, it checks nearly all the marks. What you should really ask, though, is has HTC managed to improve the camera? Luckily, yes! The new, 12-megapixel shooter on the HTC 10 is of a similar caliber to the best phone cameras out there - fast and taking good-looking pictures.
LG G5
(Price: $200 on contract | $700 full retail via Amazon | Review)
| Display | 5.3" at 1440 x 2560 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 820 with 4GB of RAM |
| Camera | 16MP Duo rear camera, 8MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 2800 mAh |
PROS
- Modular design is fun, but only swappable battery seems practical
- Very good camera, with fun wide-angle option
- Very fast recharging capability
CONS
- Lack of exciting modules, those that exist have questionable use
- Design seems generic
- Battery life is disappointing
- Always-on feature is too dim, not very usable
The LG G5 is a radical new step for LG: it's a bold move with a modular design that has the bottom part of the phone come off, so you can easily and quickly swap batteries, or use other modules like a camera grip and high-fidelity audio addition with a better DAC. The 5.3" G5 also features a brand new metal design and a quite rare dual-camera back system with the secondary rear camera used for taking wide-angle shots that you are probably used to seeing from a GoPro.
On the inside, the LG G5 is a beast powered by the Snapdragon 820 system chip, the latest and most powerful by Qualcomm. It sports the new LG custom UI on top of Android with a new visual style (but it features rather dull-looking teal color accents). While not the best looking phone around, if you like the tricks that it can pull, the G5 is a fun phone to have with no major setbacks.
Huawei P9
(Price: $630 | Review)
| Display | 5.2" at 1080 x 1920 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Kirin 955 with 3GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP Duo camera with Leica branding, 8MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3000 mAh |
PROS
- Solid design, quality steel build
- Great battery life
- Fast and reliable fingerprint reader
CONS
- Huawei's UI is a bit clunky
- Camera is over-rated, sometimes takes 5-10 seconds to start
- Display has a bit inaccurate colors
Huawei might not be a household name in the States, but it's worth learning more about: the company had phenomenal growth last year, finishing as the world's third-largest phone maker behind giants like Samsung and Apple.
The P9 is its most important phone for 2016, carrying flagship status and offering an innovative dual rear camera setup. It also features sleek metal design and huge aspirations. But there are a couple of downsides as well: most notably, the custom Huawei interface on top of Android is a polarizing feat that many will find hard to get used to. Then, the camera has a few gimmicks up its sleeve like the Leica brand (it's questionable whether Leica had much of an involvement with the lens here) and simulation of super wide-aperture, f/1.1 lens, but in reality those tricks are no replacement for great camera quality and the P9 is a step below this year's best cameraphones. Still, if you're in the search for a great regular-sized smartphone, the P9 has the performance and good looks to fit the bill. It's also much more affordable than the Samsungs and Apples of this world.
If you prefer a large phone with a great camera (phablets):
Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge
| Display | 5.5" at 1440 x 2560 pixels, Super AMOLED |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 820 with 4GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP camera with Dual Pixel AF, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3600 mAh |
PROS
- Gorgeous design with overall solid build quality, the Edge is a cool touch
- Great battery life and very fast recharging
- Industry-leading camera quality and fastest auto-focus ever on a phone
- Base model has plentiful 32GB of storage, can be expanded via microSD cards
CONS
- TouchWiz still feels a bit stutter and lacking polish around the edges
- A ton of duplicate apps / services
- Body is a fingerprint magnet
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge is a large phone that does not feel big. This alone is a big engineering achievement. With its futuristic and cool dual-curved display, the S7 Edge has very compact dimensions for its size and fits very comfortably in the hand thanks to its slight curves.
Its wrapped display comes with an updated and much more useful Samsung Edge UX. The Edge UX now features double the size and can fit 2 columns of icons: you can put your favorite contacts, essential apps, as well as some awesome new widgets to check out the weather, news, Twitter and so on.
The S7 Edge now also comes with a much larger than before, 3600mAh battery that is a great asset.
For all else, it is identical to the Galaxy S7: it has the same Snapdragon 820 system chip that boasts impressive performance (the SoC in non-US markets is the Exynos 8890 and it features similar power), 4GB of RAM, and great-looking display. Yes, you also have a microSD card here for expandable storage and the neat waterproofing capabilities.
On top of that, the Galaxy S7 Edge is equipped with a very good 12-megapixel camera with a wide, f/1.7 that captures good-looking images even in very dim light, something that other phones typically fail in.
Apple iPhone 6s Plus
| Display | 5.5" at 1080 x 1920 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Apple A9 with 2GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP f/2.2 main cam with 4K video, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 2750 mAh |
PROS
- Well-adapted interface for the larger screen estate
- Great battery life
- Very good and consistently reliable and fast camera
- In many aspects, better app and game selection than on Android
CONS
- 16GB base model is insufficient, 64GB model is way too pricey
- Feels a bit on the bulky, oversized side
- Closed ecosystem
The iPhone 6s Plus is practically a larger iPhone with all the great novelty that comes in the iPhone 6s: the same impressive new 3D Touch functionality, the improved Apple A9 system chip and the much faster, SSD laptop-grade memory speeds, and finally, the new 12-megapixel iSight rear camera that takes more detailed images and captures 4K video.
Yes, it is slightly better: we like that you can use the interface in landscape mode, we love the presence of optical stabilization that contributes to even better images, and we love the larger battery and rock solid, nearly two-day battery life that you can get on Apple's phablet.
It is not just about the specs (even though this is one wicked fast iPhone), it's also about the ecosystem and Apple has got it locked: it is the first and most prolific company to support effortless payments with your phone with Apple Pay, it is the first to have a truly cohesive ecosystem with accent on fitness and well-being with the Health app and Apple Watch, and it is still the platform developers choose to release apps and games first and often exclusively. All of this together makes the iPhone 6s Plus one of the best large phones you can buy today.
| Display | 5.7" at 1440 x 2560 pixels, AMOLED |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 810 with 3GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP with laser AF, 8MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3450 mAh |
PROS
- Affordable price for the feature set
- Nice design
- Dual front-firing speakers
- Camera captures good-looking images
- Stock, pure Android and quick updates
CONS
- Performance turns a bit choppy after using it for a while
- Could be a bit too big for many
The Nexus 6P was not a surprise: what was a surprise was just how good it seems to be.
The phone is already available for purchase at the Google Store (shipping times are currently for November), and its biggest advantage is its pure, unaltered version of Android that runs buttery smooth. In early 2016, performance is still an issue for many top-tier Android phones that do stutter occasionally (much less than before, but still), and the Nexus 6P seems to be as close to not having those issues as possible.
Then, it's got the guarantee for quick updates and in the notoriously slow Android ecosystem, this is a huge plus for both those who care about security, and those who just want the latest features.
And the Nexus 6P is just rock solid when it comes to the spec sheet: a properly calibrated 5.7" Quad HD (1440 x 2560-pixel) Super AMOLED display, the most powerful chip on Android in the form of the Snapdragon 810, a new, super powerful 12.3-megapixel camera with large pixel and a promise for great shots in low light, a super svelte all-aluminum body and a very gentle hump on its back. Also, a larger than average battery and support for all the goodies: a native for Android fingerprint scanner, USB Type C, and dual front-firing speakers. What's more to want?
Samsung Galaxy Note 5 | Galaxy S6 Edge +
(Price: $300 on lease | $580 full retail on Amazon | Review)
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Samsung Galaxy Note 5
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| Display | 5.7" at 1440 x 2560 pixels, Super AMOLED |
| Hardware | Exynos 7 Octa with 4GB of RAM |
| Camera | 16MP cam with f/1.9 lens and OIS, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3000 mAh |
PROS
- Compact for the size
- Stylish design
- Great battery life, fast charging
CONS
- Body is a fingerprint magnet
- TouchWiz could feel a bit stuttery at times
The Samsung Galaxy Note 5 / Galaxy S6 Edge+ (we'll look at the two in one take as - save for the S Pen - they are identical) are beautiful: glass on the back and the front (a comfy-feeling curve on the S6 Edge+), a slim body and great color options. Samsung has really come a long way from the dark ages of its pimply, plastic, cheapo feeling Galaxy S5.
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Motorola Moto X Pure
(Price: $350 full retail | Review)
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Motorola Moto X Pure
|
| Display | 5.7" at 1440 x 2560 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 808 with 3GB of RAM |
| Camera | 21MP with f/2.0 lens, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3000 mAh |
PROS
- Very affordable
- Good looking design
- Fast and nearly stock version of Android
- Good battery life
CONS
- Lacks exciting new features
- Camera interface is a bit underwhelming
The Motorola Moto X Pure is another amazing large phone that you can buy right away: as its name implies, it runs on nearly stock Android 5.1 Lollipop with the promise of very quick update as long as Android 6.0 Marshmallow is out.
It's got what has become a nearly standard spec sheet for high-end Android phablets: a 5.7-inch Super AMOLED display with a resolution of 1440 x 2560 pixels (Quad HD) and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8xx chip (it's the Snapdragon 808 here, it's what allows for the lower price). The Moto X Pure ships with a 21-megapixel camera that records 4K videos and it's got a 5-megapixel snapper for selfies. It also has a rather average-sized, 3000mAh battery.
What makes it special really is the killer combination of a $400 price, the quality behind the Motorola logo, and the nearly stock Android it runs on.
If you want something more compact:
Apple iPhone SE
(Price: $400 | $500 full retail, 16GB and 64GB | Review)
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Apple iPhone SE
|
| Display | 4.0" at 640 x 1136 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Apple A9 |
| Camera | 12MP main cam with 4K video, 1.2MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 1624 mAh |
PROS
- Very compact and light
- Unprecedented power at this form factor
- Smooth and reliable software experience
- Good battery life
CONS
- Design feels dated, at least - not exciting
- Loudspeaker lacks depth
- 16GB of storage is not enough, 64GB model is not that affordable
Big phones are just not everyone's cup of tea (at least not yet), and that's why there is still a market for extremely compact devices that you can easily use with a single hand.
The iPhone SE is one of the best such phones you can get at the moment: in fact, it's the only phone of such small sizes. It stands out not just with its size: even among Android compacts, it offers the fastest performance with a great and consistently reliable 12-megapixel camera that can capture 4K video and supports the fun Live Photos.
On top of that, the small iPhone SE features better battery life than even the iPhone 6s and 6: its smaller screen size and newer silicon allow for more effective use of battery. Add to that the affordable (at least in the US) price, and you have quite the appealing small phone.
Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
(Price: $444 full retail | Review)
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Sony Xperia Z5 Compact
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| Display | 4.6" at 720 x 1280 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 810 with 2GB of RAM |
| Camera | 23MP 1/2.3" main cam, 5MP selfie shooter |
| Battery | 2700 mAh |
PROS
- Very compact for the screen size
- Screen has high brightness
- Good battery life
CONS
- Camera is sub-par
- Screen has cold-looking colors
- Mediocre speaker
The most notable alternative to the iPhone SE in the compact phone market is the Sony Xperia Z5 Compact.
Rather unfortunately for many, the way of evolution has proven to be towards larger and larger screen sizes and now it's hard to get a contemporary Android phone with good performance under a 5" envelope. The Xperia Z5 Compact, however, does deliver just that: a no-compromise performance courtesy of the top-of-the-line Snapdragon 810 system chip and Sony's best 23-megapixel camera.
The Sony Xperia Z5 Compact features a 4.6-inch screen with slim bezels that make it a very compact device for its size, it has that signature eye-catching Sony design and remains usable with a single hand.
For those on a budget:
Nexus 5X
(Price: $329 full retail | Review)
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Nexus 5X
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| Display | 5.2" at 1080 x 1920 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 808 with 2GB of RAM |
| Camera | 12MP main cam, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 2700 mAh |
PROS
- Very affordable price
- Stock Android, quick updates
- Very good-looking display
- Fast and accurate fingerprint reader
CONS
- Plastic, uninspiring design
- No expandable storage
- Video capture is very shaky
The Google Nexus is back.
After a lackluster year for the Nexus series with the overwhelmingly gigantic Nexus 6 that even Google admits failed the modest sales expectations, this year Google brings the successor to one of the most demanded Nexus phones of all times: the LG Nexus 5. The new Nexus 5X is also made by LG and it shows the way forward for Android: it runs on the latest Android 6.0 Marshmallow, finally has a native fingerprint scanner and charges via the fast and reversible USB Type C connector. Those all pale in comparison with its biggest promise, though: a hugely improved camera. The Nexus 5X is the first phone to ship with the 12.3-megapixel Sony IMX377 image sensor, a 1/2.3" sensor, one of the largest ever on an Android phone. It has large pixel and aspirations to be among the very best smartphone cameras. If that wasn't enough, Google has priced the Nexus 5X at a very alluring price: just $380 for the 16GB model and $430 for the 32GB version.
Honor 5X
(Price: $200 | Review)
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Honor 5X
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| Display | 5.5" at 1080 x 1920 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 616 with 3GB of RAM |
| Camera | 13MP f/2.0 main cam, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3000 mAh |
PROS
- Very affordable price
- Good-looking metal design, solid build
- Fast and responsive fingerprint reader
CONS
- Interface can be unintuitive and does not feel fully polished
- Bluish display
- Call quality is sub-par
The Honor 5X is a newcomer to the U.S. market and it does enter with a bang. Honor, a sub-brand of Chinese Huawei, delivers a stylish metal phone with a 5.5" 1080p display, a fingerprint scanner and the very decent Snapdragon 615 system chip for a very alluring price.
The only downside to this phone is the somewhat unusual and a bit clunky user interface, but for all else this is a really good-looking device that packs much more style than other affordable phones and is worth consideration.
If you want to be different than all the rest with something exotic:
Xiaomi Mi 5
(Price: $400 full retail | Review)
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Xiaomi Mi 5
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| Display | 5.2" at 1080 x 1920 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 820 with 4GB of RAM |
| Camera | 16MP f/2.0 cam with 4-axis stabilization, 4MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 3000 mAh |
PROS
- Sleek and light, very alluring design
- Excellent, very fast performance
- Very competitive price
CONS
- Video recording quality is sub-par
- Parts of the MIUI experience are not fully translated to Western markets
- No expandable storage
Xiaomi is big in China, but unfortunately, its phones - known for their great value for the money - are not available in the United States.
The Mi 5 is particularly impressive: it's the most affordable phone that has the powerful Snapdragon 820 system chip, it features an original and very good-looking design, and the feature-rich MIUI custom skin on top of Android 6. The Mi 5 also features very capable camera that can shoot good-looking images in low-light and features a very advanced optical stabilization (OIS) system.
Xiaomi Redmi 3 | Note 3
(Price: $160 | $200 | Review)
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Xiaomi Redmi 3
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| Display | 5.0" at 720 x 1280 pixels, LCD |
| Hardware | Snapdragon 616 with 2GB of RAM |
| Camera | 13MP f/2.0 main cam, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 4100 mAh |
PROS
- Outstanding battery life
- Very affordable price
- MIUI skin is rich in options
CONS
- Both feel very thick and bulky
- MIUI skin is not fully localized
- Hard to get
The Xiaomi Redmi 3 and Note 3 series are the most affordable phones by Chinese Xiaomi and they are two impressive devices.
The 5" Redmi 3 stands out with a truly outworldly battery life, as it has a super big, 4100mAh battery that will easily last you two days in the common case, and even more with scarcer usage.
The 5.5" Redmi Note 3 features a larger and sharper display (1080p vs 720p on the smaller one), and it also adds a fingerprint scanner on the back.
Both phones run on the feature-rich MIUI custom Android skin and sport a solid camera, checking all the essentials when it comes to the user experience.
Meizu Pro 6
(Price: $470 full retail)
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Meizu Pro 6
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| Display | 5.2" at 1080 x 1920 pixels, Super AMOLED with 3D Press |
| Hardware | MediaTek Helio X25 with 4GB of RAM |
| Camera | 21MP phase-detection, laser AF cam, 5MP selfie cam |
| Battery | 2560 mAh |
PROS
- Solid design, nice size
- 3D Press works well (but only with first-party apps)
- Flyme skin performs smoothly
- Competitive price
CONS
- Feels like an iPhone too much
- Lacks firepower in comparison to others
The Pro 5 is a device with a sturdy all-aluminum frame that exudes a premium feel, it features a very typical for Meizu design and the clean and good-looking Flyme user interface. With curved glass around the edges and a fairly sleek profile, the Pro 5 is definitely a catchy gadget. In terms of the technical details, it's equipped with a 5.7-inch AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 1920 and it's powered by the Exynos 7 Octa system chip, the same powerful SoC used in the Galaxy S6. The weak part of the Meizu Pro 5 seems to be the camera: it is fast to focus and does well in daylight, but struggles in low-lit conditions.
