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Looking for an upgrade? These are the models to choose, according to a technology critic
Over the years, smartphones have changed in lots of ways – getting bigger, offering full-screen design, building in wireless charging, electronic payments, high-quality photography, big storage and access to music and video streaming services. Two things haven’t changed, though: smartphones remain one of the most essential gadgets you can own, and the battery never lasts long enough.
The latest models shoot video good enough for budding movie directors; host almost all your banking apps; offer meaningful additions for people with greater accessibility needs; and can share content between all your devices.
What are your priorities? A display big enough and high-resolution enough to stream movies in pristine quality, good enough that you don’t need a separate tablet? A phone with a processor fast enough that it can optimise your photos instantly, taking great shots even in low light? Or a phone that’s most compatible with what your friends have? Whatever the case may be, we’ve rounded up plenty of great choices, to help you find the best phone for you.
Ease of setup, simplicity of use, and performance with everyday apps has been tested to the full. The smartphone cameras have been checked out in different lighting situations, putting their flagship features to the test for stills and video. We studied how the screen performs: is it effective when you’re watching video, fast enough for playing games or smooth when you’re scrolling through menus? Is the phone solid and reliable, or would the slightest knock banjax it? Above all, we tested how long the battery would last: at least enough for a full day was deemed necessary.
The iPhone 15 pro max is a big change from the previous iPhone. The new model is lighter, thanks to a titanium chassis, and comes in four understated shades – the best of which is called natural titanium. The phone now has a gentle curve to its edges, making it more comfortable to grip, and there’s a new action button, which replaces the familiar mute/ring slider switch found on previous iPhones. The new button can be easily configured for one-touch access to the camera, torch, magnifier or even Translate.
The cameras have also been improved, with what Apple calls a “tetraprism” lens on the telephoto camera, which now has a 5x zoom equivalent, compared with the main camera. The smaller iPhone 15 pro, identical in almost all other regards, only has a 3x telephoto. The main camera has 48MP resolution, while the others are 12MP each, and new software has improved photos taken with the phone. The latest pro phone looks glorious, works wonderfully and has great battery life.
The Pixel 7a has the same industrial design as the Pixel 8 pro. When Google makes a phone with an ‘a’ in its name, it’s a value-driven version of the previous flagship. It looks very much like the Pixel 7, though a little smaller, and it has a fast, powerful processor.
The cameras are also on par with the Pixel 7. They are able to shoot in varying light levels, but there’s no telephoto lens. Light and good-looking, this is not far off flagship phone quality for a much lower price.
The latest Galaxy is tremendous. The design is similar to the S23 Ultra but the new phone has a titanium chassis, which looks great in a satin finish, while more rounded edges make it a more comfortable fit in the hand.
One of the two telephoto cameras has been upgraded: although the zoom equivalent has dropped from 10x the main camera to a frankly more useful 5x, but the resolution of the sensor has leapt to 50MP.
For all that, the big news on this phone is the implementation of artificial intelligence. It claims to improve photography, especially in lower light, for a start. And it adds features such as a smart Transcription Assist capability to make it easy to capture the minutes of a meeting, for instance. Best of all, a live translation option means you can make a phone call to someone in a language you don’t speak, as you’ll hear a spoken translation almost in real-time. A real all-round success.
Sony’s flagship smartphone includes a dazzling, high-resolution display – uniquely for smartphones, the resolution is 4K, matching that of a UHD TV. Sony also chooses a strikingly different look, thanks to a 21:9 aspect ratio, making it longer and narrower than other phones.
Sony has always featured long-lasting batteries, and you’ll easily find enough for a full day here. There’s also a 3.5mm headphone jack, which is rare on smartphones these days.
Sony makes camera sensors for many manufacturers, and the 52MP main sensor here is tremendous, delivering superbly faithful colours in photography and video. Making the most of the camera takes some expertise but it repays the work you put in.
Honor’s Magic 5 Pro has a dazzlingly good display that curves off every edge and looks gorgeous. The design of the phone is equally eye-catching, especially in the meadow green finish.
The trio of 50MP cameras on board is very good, not least because the sensor of the main snapper is big, so it can draw in light very quickly. Meanwhile, the super-fast processor inside means it can do everything it needs to at speed, never keeping you waiting. It has more storage than many phones at this price and battery life is very good. It recharges fast, too.
Google’s own-brand Pixel phones have a highly distinctive design, thanks to a camera panel that stretches across the entire width of the handset. In that wide panel, there are three cameras, and all are good (the cheaper Pixel 8 has two snappers). The panel does jut out a bit, but the main phone body is slim enough to fit in the hand comfortably.
Meanwhile, the Pixel 8 and Pixel 8 Pro are promised seven years of operating system updates, which is very impressive. The Pro phone has an improved facial recognition unlock, which works alongside the fingerprint sensor, and there’s also a temperature sensor on the back of the phone – though, this feels more like a novelty than anything else.
The fad for folding phones reaches new heights with this good-looking model from OnePlus. It looks especially great in its sultry green finish, and it works like a dream. It feels sturdy, which is not something you can say about all foldables, and it is thinner than some rivals. The OLED panels look tremendous, inside and out, with a matte screen protector helpfully minimising reflections.
Some folding phones make do with a sub-par camera but, here, the rear panel with three cameras offers great performance. The main 48MP camera is especially good, and the company’s link-up with Hasselblad helps to create great results. The other cameras are a 48MP ultrawide and a 64MP periscope zoom lens.
There’s another kind of folding phone, and this one’s better, to our mind. Instead of folding out from the size of a regular phone – essentially turning it into a small tablet – this kind starts out as a normal phone and folds in half, clam-shell-like, to be the best fit in a pocket.
What sets this phone apart from earlier Samsung Flips is the big, 3.4in screen that’s visible when the phone is folded. This touchscreen is easy to see and so fully functional you often don’t even need to unfold the phone. It’s especially useful when you’re taking a photo with the rear cameras. With one tap, you activate the external screen so your subject can see themselves before you shoot, allowing them to ensure they look just right. If they’re not happy, well, they only have themselves to blame, right?
Apple’s Pro series delivers the brand’s most powerful phones but, arguably, 2023’s regular iPhones had the biggest update. The iPhone 15 and its larger sibling, the iPhone 15 Plus, now have the clever Dynamic Island previously exclusive to Pro models. The name given to the area around the front camera, the Dynamic Island expands and reshapes to deliver extra information in an attractive, useful way.
Where the iPhone 14’s main camera had a 12MP sensor, the latest model has a 48MP snapper that takes outstanding photos. Battery life is strong, easily enough for a full day, though, for even longer battery life, the iPhone 15 Plus is outstanding. Both the iPhone 15 and the Pro models now charge using USB-C instead of Apple’s proprietary lightning system, which is much more convenient if your household already has these cables for your laptop, camera or iPad, for instance.
Nothing is the brainchild of Carl Pei, co-founder of OnePlus. He brings to the new brand a determination to create technology that’s different and fun. And it really is, thanks to the transparent back that enables you to see where components such as the wireless charging coil sit.
The back is also filled with LEDs that light up in different patterns – so you can see who’s calling without turning over the phone. You can even use this system to show how far away your Uber is, as the LED lights count down. It’s an Android phone but Nothing’s clever overlay looks funky and enticing. Much of it is monochrome, which looks splendid and is designed so as not to draw you in to using your phone endlessly. The two rear cameras have 50MP resolution and are good, if not quite a match for some other phones in our list.
The latest phones offer power, photographic excellence and great batteries. The Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best iPhone yet, with really outstanding cameras and a slick new design. However, the Google Pixel 8 Pro gives the iPhone a run for its money, with tremendous performance, while the Sony Xperia 1 V has a display that is eye-poppingly good.
Protect your new smartphone with the best iPhone 15 phone cases