2023 is upon us and we expect a ton of great new phones in the coming months, and we’ve already added two excellent new entry early doors from Samsung and OnePlus.
Thankfully, 2022 gave us some absolute stunners, the best of which we’ve ranked alongside the latest phones in this article. Whether you’re looking for performance, camera smarts, or value, our definitive list of the ten best phones has it all. Some of the prices will pleasantly surprise you.
The top phone on this rundown won’t be the ideal phone for everybody so make sure to check out all ten. The best phone for you is out there, depending on what you value most – camera, battery life, design, specs, price, and more to boot come into play.
Samsung and Apple feature here of course, but looking further afield to Android competitors such as OnePlus, Google, Oppo, and Xiaomi could mean you find your ideal pocket partner. Trust us, these phones all deliver – just all a little differently, and that’s a great thing. Good competition means better phones for everyone!
The best phone in 2023 is a jack of all trades, and a master of everything. Nothing less than excellence will be accepted, because the competition is fierce, and you can find great performance, amazing photography, and top-notch design at every price point, and on every platform.
While tight budgets are a top concern this year, we can’t help but marvel at the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra and everything it can do. It’s too expensive for most people, but thankfully the performance and features trickle down into the more affordable Samsung tiers. Forgiving the price, there isn’t a better phone you can buy right now.
Our second-place phone costs a fraction of the price of our number one, but the Google Pixel 6a will amaze you with its great photo skills, snappy performance, and unique features that only Google Pixel phones with the Tensor chipset inside can manage. Also, the price is truly unbelievable for a smartphone this good.
Don’t worry, iPhone fans, we also have you covered with the iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max, essentially the same phone in every way except the screen size and battery. We also have our pick among the less expensive iPhones, if you want to jump into Apple’s walled garden for a bit less.
One thing we don’t have on our list is phones that you can’t buy everywhere. If there are significant regional sales restrictions, we won’t be including those phones until all of our readers can buy one. We’ve also removed any phones that you can’t buy new right now, though refurbished and used phones can represent a great deal.
Once you’re done reading this overall list, you can dig into the best smartphone brands. We’ve reviewed all of the greatest phones and gathered up the best Samsung phones, best iPhones, and best Google Pixel phones you can buy.
While you're thinking about purchasing one of the best phones, don't forget to add on one of the best power banks too if you need one.
The Best Phone 2023
1. Google Pixel 7 – Best for most people
Pros
- Good value for money
- Excellent cameras
- Nice 90Hz screen
- Easy to use software
Cons
- Slow charging speeds
- Face Unlock is basic
We think the best phone for most people is the Google Pixel 7. It’s the best Pixel phone yet, and has tons of premium features for the frankly incredible price of $599/£599/€649.
For less than the cost of any iPhone 14 or Galaxy S23 model you get a lovely 6.3in 90Hz OLED display, bright and customisable Android 13 software, a premium glass finish with wireless charging and amazingly good main and ultrawide cameras on the back. That main camera is the best point-and-shoot phone camera on the market, with stunning photos whatever you point it at thanks to the 50Mp sensor and Google’s top level photo processing.
You also get fun software tricks like Magic Eraser to rub out unwanted people or objects from your photos, and other Pixel-exclusive things such as call screening and a call holding feature so you dont have to sit on hold for ages with businesses – though several of these call perks are US-only.
You could opt for the Pixel 7 Pro if you want a bigger screen, better battery life, and an extra optical telephoto zoom lens.
2. iPhone 14 Pro – Best iPhone
Pros
- Dynamic Island is genuinely great
- First iPhone with always-on display
- Phenomenal cameras
- 120Hz display
Cons
- Battery life same as 13 Pro
- No fast charging
- More expensive in the UK
The regular iPhone 14 is a very minor update over the iPhone 13, so it’s a pleasant surprise that the iPhone 14 Pro is such a leap over its predecessor. Some of the change is only skin deep, but when such a visual overhaul as the Dynamic Island makes its debut, it’s hard not to notice.
Apple has shrunk its famous screen notch into a pill and circular shape below the top bezel but filled in the blank space with black pixels, and then used animations to have notifications and updates from apps originate from the space, creating a use for the cut outs now seen for cameras on most phone screens. It is very clever, and means you can see what music playing, timers, weather and more constantly at the top of the screen without having to hop into the app.
The phone’s cameras are also exceptionally good, with the first 48Mp sensor on an iPhone allowing for 2x zoom cropping in addition to the 3x telephoto lens and a capable ultrawide. Apple has also finally introduced an always-on display that simply dims your lock screen and pleasingly doesn’t affect battery life, in our testing at least. It’s not a huge upgrade on the 13 Pro but if your phone is three or four years old this iPhone will feel lightyears into the future.
3. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra – The phone with everything
Pros
- Outstandingly fast
- Very good cameras
- Excellent battery life
- Lovely premium object
Cons
- Slow 45W charging
- Poor selfie camera
- Huge premium object
If you want the phone on the market with the most features possible, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is it. It’s a big, expensive phone but you get every possible feature you could want in a smartphone in 2023 with incredibly good triple cameras, very good battery life that lasts well over a day, performance as fast as any rival phone, and of course, the now-unique S-Pen stylus tucked away in the phone for when you need it.
It’s one of few phones out there with a squared off body and screen, but it feels good to hold thanks to top build quality and nicely tapered edges and screen. This design rewards you with the best screen of any phone, perfect for any app you can throw at it, and superlative for watching videos.
The 200Mp main camera is outstanding, particularly if you like slightly saturated colours that pop more than they do in real life. That’s not to say they look artificial though – the quality is superb with the versatility of an ultrawide and two separate 3x and 10 optical telephoto lenses that are all excellent. It;s a shame the selife camera is terrible in low light.
4. Google Pixel 6a – Best value Android
Pros
- Great performance
- Solid battery life
- Very good camera
Cons
- 60Hz display
- Slow charging
- Back plastic scratches easily
Although the Pixel 6 and 6 Pro have bigger, better screens and improved cameras, the $449/£399/€459 6a is better value and the Pixel phone most people should buy.
For the asking price you get the Google Tensor chip, the same as the 6 and 6 Pro, resulting in flagship level performance. Older A-series Pixels were sluggish – not this one.
You only get a 60Hz refresh rate screen, slow 18W charging, and a plastic back that we found scratches quite easily. There’s also only a 12.2Mp main camera, the same as on the Pixel 5, rather than the Pixel 6’s 50Mp shooter.
But aside from that this is close to the full Pixel experience at a superb price, with three years of Android OS updates and five years of security updates.
5. OnePlus 11 – Best value flagship
Pros
- Excellent screen
- Fast performance
- Competitive price
- Strong cameras
- Five years of software support
Cons
- No wireless charging
- Not fully waterproof
OnePlus has nailed the balance with the OnePlus 11, bringing a fully-featured premium smartphone for an outstanding price. At $699/£729/€849, the only things it noticeably misses out on are wireless charging and full waterproofing (we are more annoyed about the latter than the former).
If you can forgo those nice-to-haves then you’ll find yourself with a phone that has everything else you could want: amazingly fast performance, an excellent display, strong cameras including a very good main 50Mp lens, and four years of Android updates and five of security updates. That’s only matched in the Android world by Samsung and Fairphone (iPhones get the longest software support at more than five years).
The OnePlus 11 is also a slim and svelte phone despite its 6.7in screen, which isn’t the case with other huge phones. You can go for the green glossy model or the black version that has a matt, almost-silk like finish to the back glass. It means it gets zero fingerprints, but it’s one of the slipperiest phones out there.
So long as you don’t mind the slight laboured newer version of OxygenOS that often changes Android for change sake, then this is a great phone at a price that ensures you’ll get your money’s worth if you can make it last five years.
6. iPhone 14 – Superb all-rounder
Pros
- Outstanding battery life
- Great performance
- Superb dual cameras
- Top build quality
Cons
- 60Hz display
- Slow charging
- No RAW photo shooting
The iPhone 14 isn’t as good as the iPhone 14 Pro but it costs less – even if it is pretty much an iPhone 13 with a new name. The only things of note it adds to the 13 is a very slightly improved main camera and the admittedly impressed stablisation video mode called Action Mode.
There’s also car crash detection, which you will hopefully never have to use – the bottom line is, don’t upgrade from an iPhone 13, but otherwise this is the go-to iPhone for most people right now. The battery life is excellent and it has great performance, while the cameras are top notch despite not having a telephoto lens.
As ever with Apple, built quality is the best in the business, and iOS is extremely stable software. You’ll also get software updates for about five years, and can get a repair done at any Apple Store. If you want a larger screen and more battery, you could opt for the iPhone 14 Plus, but we prefer this smaller model.
7. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 – Best foldable
Pros
- Superb performance
- Solid battery life
- Folds in half
Cons
- Durability questions
- 'Slow' 25W charging
- No telephoto camera
Samsung has addressed the Z Flip 3’s issues of bad battery life and middling camera performance for the price and made the Z Flip 4 an all-day phone with the same main and ultrawide cameras as the Galaxy S22 and S22 Plus.
It means this is the best foldable phone you can buy today, at a price similar to flagship slab smartphones. While durability questions remain over the display and the crease in it, we can’t test that – but Samsung says the Flip will last for at least 200,000 open and close motions, which roughly equates to five years of average use.
The improved battery is likely down the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 chipset with its improved energy efficiency, meaning you no longer have to charge the Flip halfway through the day. 8GB RAM is more than enough, though you might want to spend a little more to get 256GB storage. We also love the side mounted fingerprint sensor.
For all intents and purposes, this is an S22 with a better processor that folds down to half its size. It’s compelling, and one of the best phones full stop.
8. Motorola Moto G62 – Best budget option
Pros
- Tidy hardware & software
- 120Hz display
- 5G connectivity
- Strong battery life
Cons
- Performance isn’t 120Hz-worthy
- Slow 15W charging
- Camera struggles in less than optimal lighting
The phone that sits atop our best budget phone round up should rightly get a mention as one of the best phones overall – not every great phone has to cost the earth.
The Moto G62 is a sub-£200 handset with all the basics covered – a solid 120Hz screen, attractively simple Android software, very good two-day battery life and a chipset with a processor strong enough to keep up with normal everyday phone tasks (unlike other cheaper phones).
A 50Mp main camera is also nice to find at this price, but there’s no stablisation tech so you’ll need a steady hand, while the ultrawide and macro lenses aren’t anything to write home about. But at this price, a camera that takes bright, sharp images in daylight is all you could want.
With 5G built in then you’re set for a few years of use on new networks, though we don’t expect the G62 to get many software updates. Motorola doesn’t sell this phone in the US, but it sells plenty of equivalent solid Moto phones for around the $200 price point.
9. Vivo X80 Pro – Outstanding cameras
Pros
- Truly outstanding camera
- Fast wired and wireless charging
- Superb battery life
Cons
- Awkward camera design
- No Gorilla Glass
- Frustrating software
Vivo has knocked it out of the park with the X80 Pro, a phone whose camera is truly excellent, rivalling the best Apple, Samsung, and Google have to offer.
A Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip powers four rear lenses, the main being a wonderfully capable 50Mp sensor. Every lens benefits from Vivo’s V1+ image processing chip, and there’s gimbal stabilisation on the telephoto lens to aid clarity of zoom shots. It’s an incredibly full feature set, and low-light photography is outstanding. Add to that excellent video modes with cinema-wide aspect ratios and a film-like grain and you’ve got a powerhouse camera in your pocket.
The phone is a big one so you’ll have to be happy with a 6.78in AMOLED. It’s a 120Hz LTPO (with variable refresh rate) and QHD+ resolution.
Downsides to the phone are the lack of Gorilla Glass for proven scratch and crack protection to the front and back, and the frustrating software. But overall this is another leap forward for Vivo that you should seriously consider if you want a premium camera on the back of your phone.
10. Asus Zenfone 9 – Smallest premium Android
Pros
- Distinctive, compact design
- Fantastic battery life
- Strong specs
- Excellent low light photography
Cons
- Overheating issues
- Only two Android updates promised
- No mmWave support
If you want a genuinely small Android phone with flagship level specs, then this is the phone for you. It’s more premium – and physically smaller – than the Google Pixel 6a, but packs in a better chipset, amazingly good battery life for a phone of its size, and very good cameras. Bravo, Asus.
The back is not glass but instead a plastic composite that feels a little like textured paper. There’s no wireless charging here, but you might prefer the fact your phone is more durable instead.
Camera-wise, you get a 50Mp main sensor which is very good and even has gimbal stabilisation that means this phone punches above its weight with suerb low-light photos and stable video. We couldn’t believe how much Asus has stuffed into such a tiny phone, though we did find that the hadnset runs slightly hot at times.
If you don’t mind that, along with the fact Asus is only promising to update the software for two years, then you’ll love the little Zenfone 9, one of the last truly pocketable smartphones around.
Your buying guide for the best phones in 2023
When choosing a phone you should consider these things: build quality and design, ease of use, features, performance, and value.
Generally speaking, a flagship phone in 2023 will start at around $700/£700 but can cost over $1,000/£1,000 in some cases. On contract, you’re looking at between £30 and £50-per-month on average in the UK but you can spend a lot more if you want an expensive phone and lots of mobile data.
In the US you can often find very good contract deals on phones, better than in the UK and Europe.
It’s worth noting that while this list highlights the best smartphones available right now, that doesn’t explicitly mean flagships (even though they do feature heavily here). There are entries that cross over with our mid-range and budget phone charts too, but earnt their place here, based on the capabilities and quality on offer, relative to their price.
Buying a phone outright will usually give you the best value, but we appreciate finances in the real world don’t always accommodate such big one-off purchases. If you can, you’ll obviously need a SIM card and plan, as well as the phone. If you don’t already have one, check out our best SIM-only deals.