The best Android phones in the 2024 Black Friday sales
Looking for a new Android phone? These are the best Google-powered handsets we've tested to date
We’ve tested a vast number of the most popular smartphones over the years, and in this article we’ve picked the freshest and best Android phones ranging from budget buys to flagship luxury. Read on and you’ll find quick buying advice, key information and links to our in-depth reviews where you can peruse all of our testing and benchmark results.
If our favourite all-round Android phone, the Google Pixel 8, doesn’t quite hit the spot, then you can explore all of our recommendations below where you’ll find quick summaries of our top-rated phones and quick links to our buying advice further down the page.
Looking for iPhones and Android phones?How we test Android phones
- Performance: We compare relative performance with the Geekbench (CPU) and GFXBench (GPU) applications.
- Display quality: We use an X-Rite colorimeter to measure brightness, contrast and colour accuracy.
- Battery life: We test with repeatable in-house benchmarks.
- Camera quality: We test all of the phones’ available lenses in a variety of settings.
- User experience: We use the phone as our day-to-day handset, and evaluate whether the manufacturer has made useful (or unhelpful) tweaks to the standard Android UI.
You can read more about our in-depth testing methodology in our detailed explanation of how we test smartphones.
Google Pixel 8 | ~£689
 | Great design; Superb cameras; Guaranteed updates until October 2030 | ||
 | Performance down on pricier flagships; £100 pricier than the outgoing Pixel 7 | ||
Screen: 6.3in, 2,400 x 1,080 | Processor: Google Tensor G3 | Cameras: 50MP, 12MP (wide) | Storage: 128GB, 256GB | Android 14
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It’s perhaps unsurprising that the best Android smartphone is the one made by Google. A great showcase for the platform, the Pixel 8 matches other companies’ flagships for quality while cutting the price.
Not only is the Pixel 8’s stripped-back Android 14 experience as refined and effortlessly simple as ever, but what really sets the Pixel 8 apart this year are its dual cameras, which are simply in a class of their own. No matter what we were shooting, and no matter the lighting conditions, the Pixel 8 produced top-notch images and video.
Performance isn’t quite up there with the pricier flagships in our tests, but it’s unlikely you’ll notice in daily usage. More usefully, battery life takes a serious step forward from the previous generation courtesy of improvements to Google’s second-gen Tensor G3 chipset.
At this price, this is the Android phone we’d recommend above all others.
Read our in-depth Google Pixel 8 review
Motorola Moto G54 5G | ~£179
| Quality 1080p display; Impressive performance | ||
| Only one guaranteed Android OS update; Camera struggles in low light | ||
Screen: 6.5in, 2,400 x 1,080 | Processor: MediaTek Dimensity 7020 | Cameras: 50MP, 2MP (macro) | Storage: 256GB | Android 13
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In our books, the Motorola Moto G54 5G is the best value Android phone on the market. It undercuts its predecessor on price while delivering improvements to the display, performance and camera suite.
We were pleased to see that the display has been bumped back up to 1080p, and the contrast and colour accuracy have been given a welcome boost, too, making it one of the best budget phone displays around.
Performance is also very impressive, with the G54 5G scoring alongside phones that cost a fair bit more. As a result, battery life takes a small hit compared to the previous generation, but what you get here is still very competitive for the price.
On the negatives, Motorola has only committed to one OS update, and low light photography is a low point, too. For a phone costing under £200. however, we’re inclined to be forgiving; despite the odd hiccup, the Motorola Moto G54 5G remains the best budget Android phone around.
Read our in-depth Motorola Moto G54 5G review
Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra | ~£1,249
| Stunning design; Class-leading performance and battery life | ||
| Expensive; Galaxy S24 and S24 Plus are better value | ||
Screen: 6.8in, 3,120 x 1,440 | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy | Cameras: 200MP, 50MP (5x zoom), 10MP (3x zoom), 12MP (ultrawide) | Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Android 14
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If you want the best of the best, Samsung’s Galaxy S24 Ultra is the flagship to beat. Performance is outstanding in every area, with class-leading performance from the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy chipset, and the best battery life of any smartphone we’ve tested thus far.
The cameras are superb, capturing plenty of detail in the hybrid zoom shots and rich colour from the main camera. There’s also a wealth of fun new features with Galaxy AI, bringing things like frame interpolation and generative fill to the camera software.
Android 14 is the OS of choice, and Samsung has confirmed that you can expect seven years of both security and OS updates, bringing the phone all the way up to 2031. There’s no doubt that it’s expensive, but for the best that an Android flagship can offer, we’d say that the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is unbeatable.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review
Google Pixel 8a | ~£499
| Phenomenal cameras; extensive software support; flawless display; strong performance across the board | ||
| £50 price increase; no improvements to charging speeds | ||
Screen: 6.1in, 2,400 x 1,080 | Processor: Google Tensor G3 | Cameras: 64MP and 13MP (wide) | Storage: 128GB, 256GB | Android 14
Check SIM-free price at John Lewis
If you fancy the Pixel 8 but your budget doesn’t quite stretch that far, the mid-range Google Pixel 8a is easily the best phone you can get in its price range. It uses the same Tensor G3 chipset as its bigger siblings, so performance is a cut above, and it’s even getting the same seven years of software support, which is pretty much unheard of at this price.
Perhaps best of all, however, is the quality of the camera suite. The Pixel a-series has always stood out in the mid-range for photography and the Pixel 8a is no different: images are bright and vibrant, with wonderful detail and dynamic range, regardless of the light conditions, while video shoots up to 4K at 60fps, with OIS keeping panning nice and smooth.
The £50 price increase on the Pixel 7a may sting a little but with improvements in every area, and even support for Google’s Gemini Nano AI thrown in, there’s no arguing that the Pixel 8a earns its slightly higher price tag.
Read our in-depth Google Pixel 8a review
Samsung Galaxy S24 | ~£699
| Compact design; Galaxy AI is brilliant; Competitive performance and battery life | ||
| Samsung’s software tweaks won’t appeal to everyone | ||
Screen: 6.2in, 2,340 x 1,080 | Processor: Samsung Exynos 2400 | Cameras: 50MP, 12MP (wide) and 10MP (3x telephoto) | Storage: 128GB, 256GB | Android 14
Check SIM-free price at John Lewis
For anyone whose budget, hands or both aren’t large enough for the S24 Ultra, the standard Samsung Galaxy S24 is a fantastic compact alternative. The big deal here is that the S24 offers the same Galaxy AI features as its bigger sibling, including live translation, circle to search and generated fill for rotated images.
Aside from the new AI features, our testing showed several key improvements over the S23, too; the 6.2in AMOLED display gets slightly brighter, the Exynos chipset proved a fair bit faster in the Geekbench 6 benchmarks, and the larger 4,000mAh battery lasted for around five hours longer in our video rundown test.
Samsung’s software still takes some getting used to, and the camera system offers no advancements from the S23, but they’re still terrific lenses, with the 3x telephoto camera in particular being a rarity at this price range. For a fully featured flagship in a manageable, compact frame, the Samsung Galaxy S24 is one of our all-time favourites.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S24 review
Motorola Moto G13 | ~£85
| Nice design; Good all-round performance for the money; Smooth 90Hz display | ||
| Camera struggles in low light; No 5G support | ||
Screen: 6.5in, 1,600 x 720 | Processor: MediaTek Helio G85 | Cameras: 50MP, 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) | Storage: 128GB | Android 13
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The cheapest of Motorola’s G-series budget smartphones offers outstanding value for anyone looking to pick up a solid handset for as little as possible. The Moto G13 managed to keep pace with its pricier sibling, the Moto G23, in both our performance and battery life tests, and the display, while only 720p, offers a slick 90Hz refresh rate – far from guaranteed at this price.
That’s something of a theme with the G13, as you also get an effective fingerprint reader embedded in the power button, a 3.5mm headphone jack and dual-SIM capacity, alongside a microSD slot that supports cards up to 512GB. That’s a whole lot of functionality for this price; we were more than pleasantly surprised.
Wrap all these positives up into an attractively low-key design and tack a serviceable camera suite on top, and you have a recipe for budget-priced success. With a street price which routinely skirts the £100 mark, the Motorola Moto G13 is an outstanding bargain.
Read our in-depth Motorola Moto G13 review
Samsung Galaxy A55 5G | ~£439
| Excellent performance; solid battery life; slightly cheaper than predecessor | ||
| Chunky design; no camera improvements | ||
Screen: 6.6in, 2,340 x 1,080 | Processor: Samsung Exynos 1480 | Cameras: 50MP12MP (wide) and 5MP (macro) | Storage: 128GB, 256GB | Android 14
Check SIM-free price at John Lewis
While Samsung’s top-end flagships may look the most exciting, you can still get excellent value from the brand without pushing past the £500 mark. The Samsung Galaxy A55 5G is a great performer in its field, outshining similarly priced rivals in our CPU benchmark tests and scoring on the better end of things in our battery life rundown test.
The cameras, though unchanged from the previous generation, are still very good, with excellent colour reproduction in good light conditions and one of the better night photography modes you can get at this price. The build is a little too chunky and heavy to seriously compete with the most stylish options at this price, but for sheer power and performance, the Galaxy A55 5G is the best value that Samsung has to offer.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy A55 5G review
Motorola Razr 50 Ultra | ~£1,000
| Slick design; Telephoto camera; Versatile 4in cover display | ||
| Performance still not the best; Only 4 OS updates | ||
Screen: 6.9in, 2,640 x 1,080 (cover: 4in, 1,272 x 1,080) | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 | Cameras: 50MP and 50MP (2x zoom) | Storage: 512GB | Android 14
Check SIM-free price at John Lewis
The Motorola Razr 50 Ultra introduces two folding phone firsts: its 4in cover screen is the largest on any flip phone to date and it’s also the first clamshell in the UK to offer a 2x telephoto camera. The former is easily the best in the business, letting you use any app you choose. The latter is a great addition to the camera suite, proving equally adept at capturing portrait images and detailed zoom shots.
The design is slick as ever, with barely any hinge crease to speak of and a new IPX8 water resistance rating. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 3 chipset delivers better performance than last year but it’s still no match for the 8 Gen 3 used in Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 and Samsung’s seven years of OS support also puts Motorola’s four to shame. For this price, however, the Motorola Razr 50 Ultra is exceptional value for money and the best clamshell phone you can buy.
Read our in-depth Motorola Razr 50 Ultra review
The best-value Android flagship
OnePlus 12 | ~£849
| Fantastic performance; Extensive battery life; Dazzling display | ||
| Not the highest IP rating; Minor photo overprocessing | ||
Screen: 6.82in, 3,168 x 1,440 | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Cameras: 50MP, 64MP (3x zoom) and 48MP (ultrawide) | Storage: 256GB, 512GB | Android 14
Check SIM-free price at OnePlus
Undercutting the competition by a couple of hundred pounds, the OnePlus 12 is easily the best-value flagship phone around right now. Despite the three-figure price, performance is outstanding thanks to the top-end Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, and battery life is some of the best you can get, lasting for nearly 30 hours in our standard test.
The display is crisp and bright, hitting over 1,500 nits when displaying HDR content during testing, and it’s also colour accurate, with each of the three colour profiles returning excellent Delta E colour variance scores.
The main camera is a very accomplished shooter, with particularly impressive low-light photography, and the telephoto camera now offers a 3x optical zoom. Some images looked a little over processed in our testing, and the IP65 rating is slightly behind other flagships, but otherwise, the OnePlus 12 is an incredibly well-kitted option.
Read our in-depth OnePlus 12 review
The best book-style folding phone
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 | ~£1,799
| Brighter displays; Refined design; Excellent performance | ||
| Yet another price increase; Still no bundled S Pen | ||
Screen: 7.6in, 2,160 x 1,856 (cover: 6.3in, 2,376 x 968) | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 | Cameras: 50MP, 12MP (ultrawide) and 10MP (3x zoom) | Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Android 14
Check SIM-free price at Samsung
The Galaxy Z Fold 6 further improves the design of Samsung’s top-end foldable, with a reengineered hinge, a more robust IP48 dust and water resistance rating and a lighter weight of 239g. Both displays are shorter and wider than last year and both get improved brightness, peaking at 2,600 nits.
Performance is unsurprisingly excellent, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset delivering class-leading results in both our CPU and GPU benchmark tests. Unfortunately, Samsung still isn’t taking advantage of the large display by bundling an S Pen stylus in the box and with this latest price increase, the Z Fold 6 is Samsung’s most expensive foldable yet.
It’s certainly a high asking price, but as far as book-style foldable phones go, the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 remains the safe bet. It’s an incredibly powerful handset and the design updates, though subtle, make it sleeker than ever.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 review
How to pick the right Android Phone for you
How much should I be spending?
Android phones stretch from sub-£100 budget handsets to four-figure flagships, so the answer to this is really how much you are willing to spend. You can get a very competent Android phone for not very much money, but if you want all of the latest and most advanced features, expect to spend more for the privilege.
It’s also worth noting that the pricier handsets tend to receive more years of software support, keeping them up to date with the latest security updates, the latest features and the newest versions of Android for longer than their more affordable counterparts. It may be worth spending more upfront to get a phone that’ll remain up to date and usable for longer than a cheaper alternative.
What features should I look out for?
Putting aside more niche functions such as wireless charging and integrated AI, these are the main things to bear in mind when choosing your new Android smartphone:
Display: There are two main types of display you’ll see here – LCD panels are more common on cheaper phones, while AMOLED’s tend to be pricier, but offer better contrast and a deeper black level. You can tell a lot about a phone’s display from its specifications – resolution tells you how sharp it is, refresh rate will indicate how smooth it is to interact with – but crucial elements such as brightness and colour accuracy require hands-on testing. We evaluate both of these during the review process, and you can see the exact results for individual handsets by checking the full reviews.
Cameras: There’s one area in phone cameras which is mostly exclusive to flagships, and that’s telephoto zoom lenses. If you want crisp, highly detailed zoom images, you’ll simply have to spend a little more. Everyone else, however, can find some excellent cameras in the more affordable ranges too; we include camera samples in all of our standalone reviews which you’ll find links for on this page, so check the images out before you settle on your new phone.
Battery life: Smartphone battery life has improved over the years, but we’re still living in a world where a charge may only just get you through the day. Phone battery sizes are measured in milliamps-per-hour (mAh) and while larger cells tend to last for longer, that’s not always the case. We test every phone with the same battery test, so if in doubt, check out the full review to see how well a phone compares to its competitors.
Performance: As a general rule of thumb, more expensive phones will tend to come with higher-performing chipsets. However, budget and mid-range platforms have improved to a point where you don’t need the most expensive phone on the market to enjoy a smooth, hitch-free user experience. Unless you plan on regularly playing graphics-intensive phone games or running multiple demanding apps at once, don’t feel pressured into going for the biggest and most expensive handsets.
Software: These phones are all Android devices, but they can look and feel quite different. Certain manufacturers – notably Samsung, OnePlus, Honor and Xiaomi – put their own customised “skin” on top of the Android OS, while the likes of Google and Motorola use stock Android (or near-stock) to deliver a more consistent experience for their users. All the phones on this list run the same apps, however, so this is mostly a case of personal preference.
Storage: Cheaper phones will tend to offer one or two storage varieties, usually 128GB or 256GB, while more expensive models can get 512GB or even 1TB variants. While it can be tempting to go for the bigger capacity models for future-proofing, watch out for models that also let you add a microSD card – the maximum capacity for these is usually up to 1TB, so this can be a more cost-effective way to expand your phone storage.
