Best Android phone 2024: The top affordable, mid-range and high-end phones
Want a great Android smartphone? These are the only phones worth considering
Our smartphone experts have tested a vast number of the most popular smartphones, and in this article we’ve selected the best Android phones at a wide range of prices. 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.
Right now, in 2024, the best Android phone is the brilliant Google Pixel 8 (~£709). This sturdy, stylish 6.2in handset serves up flagship performance and features for significantly less than its rivals – it’s by far the best all-round Android phone money can buy.
If that doesn’t quite fit the bill, you can explore all of our recommendations below where you’ll find quick summaries of our top-rated phones and links to our buying advice further down the page.
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.
Google Pixel 8 | ~£709
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: 3GHz Google Tensor G3 | Cameras: 50MP, 12MP (wide) | Storage: 128GB, 256GB | Android 14
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 you’re taking pictures of, and no matter the lighting conditions, the Pixel 8’s images and video are absolutely top-notch, and easily the best you can buy right now.
Performance isn’t quite up there with the pricier flagships, 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, no other Android phone offers more for your money.
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: Octa-core 2.2GHz MediaTek Dimensity 7020 | Cameras: 50MP, 2MP (macro) | Storage: 256GB | Android 13
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.
It’s great 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, but even considering this, the Motorola Moto G54 5G is still 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: Octa-core 3.39GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy | Cameras: 200MP, 50MP (5x zoom), 10MP (3x zoom), 12MP (ultrawide) | Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB | Android 14
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, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is unbeatable.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review
Samsung Galaxy S24 | ~£859
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
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 the way to go.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S24 review
Motorola Moto G13 | ~£100
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: Octa-core 2GHz MediaTek Helio G85 | Cameras: 50MP, 2MP (macro), 2MP (depth) | Storage: 128GB | Android 13
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 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, and when you wrap it up in an attractively low-key design and tack a serviceable camera suite on top, the Motorola Moto G13 is an outstanding bargain at this price.
Read our in-depth Motorola Moto G13 review
Nothing Phone (2a) | ~£349
Class-leading battery life; Useful Android customisations; Bright 120Hz AMOLED display; Great main camera | |||
Performance could be better |
Screen: 6.7in, 2,412 x 1,080 | Processor: Mediatek Dimensity 7200 Pro | Cameras: 50MP and 50MP (wide) | Storage: 128GB, 256GB | Android 14
The Phone (2a) is Nothing’s cheapest handset yet, offering the transparent style and “Glyph” notification system for less money than ever. A redesigned camera bump adds further to the iconic aesthetic, with the twin lenses sitting centrally like a pair of googly eyes. The 50MP main camera is a terrific performer, with especially strong low-light photography.
The bold style extends to the software, as well, populating the homescreen with convenient widgets that are designed to reduce the time you spend endlessly scrolling through apps. When you do have to scroll, it feels nice and smooth thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate, and between the 1080p resolution and the excellent contrast of the AMOLED panel, everything looks sharp and bold.
Performance didn’t wow us in our tests, but it’s still no slouch, and while the ultrawide camera fails to match the quality of the main lens, it’s unfair to be too picky at this price.
I you want a mid-range Android phone that stands out from the pack, the Nothing Phone (2a) is the way to go.
Read our in-depth Nothing Phone (2a) review
Samsung’s best-value phone yet
Samsung Galaxy A54 5G | ~£349
Great design; Nippy performance; Impressive main camera; Long battery life | |||
Rivals such as the Nothing Phone (2a) are better value overall |
Screen: 6.4in, 2,340 x 1,080 | Processor: 2.4GHz Samsung Exynos 1380 | Cameras: 50MP, 12MP (wide), 5MP (macro) | Storage: 128GB, 256GB | Android 13
Despite what Samsung’s slick adverts would have you believe, your smartphone buying options aren’t limited to £1,000+ flagships. Yes, some expensive Samsung phones make this list, but if you’re after something with a softer impact on your wallet, then the Galaxy A54 5G is just the ticket.
The Galaxy A54 5G is a 6.4in handset with swish looks and features that are more befitting of handsets that cost twice the price. It’s powered by a reasonably powerful Exynos 1380 processor, and it also has a 50MP camera with a 12MP ultrawide and a 5MP macro sensor. Big, powerful, and good-looking, Samsung’s Galaxy A54 5G is a no-brainer for the budget-conscious buyer.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy A54 5G review
The best folding phone
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 | ~£1,049
A foldable to convince the cynics; Glorious displays; Improved design | |||
Software still needs refinement |
Screen: 6.7in, 2,640 x 1,080 (cover: 3.4in, 748 x 720) | Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 | Cameras: 12MP and 12MP (wide) | Storage: 256GB, 512GB | Android 13
The Galaxy Z Flip is back and it’s yet again the best folding phone you can buy. With IPX8-rated waterproofing, upgraded performance and a gigantic new cover display, the Z Flip 5 is well worth buying, especially if you’re growing bored of conventional handsets.
The overall design has been improved throughout. The cover display has expanded by a massive 278% to a 3.4in square; the folded thickness has shrunk from 17.1mm to 15.1mm, and the folding mechanism now presses the top and bottom halves of the phone flush where the previous generation left an annoying gap.
The Dynamic AMOLED 2X display is really quite special, with its 120Hz refresh rate going hand in hand with top-notch colour accuracy in our tests.
For the price of a bog-standard flagship smartphone, the Z Flip 5 is as unique as it gets, and you don’t even have to pay extra for the privilege.
Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5 review
Shopping for a foldable phone?
Read our best foldable phones guide
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.