Best phones 2025: can the iPhone 17 Pro Max beat the finest Androids?

TechRadar

The best phones in 2025 might look similar to one another, but having tested well over 1,000 devices since 2005, we can assure you that no two models are the same.

Transcript

00:00we're now into the last few months of 2025 which means all of the biggest smartphone

00:07manufacturers have released their flagship phones for this year so what better time to compare the

00:11very best phones that money can buy in this video we'll be breaking down the key selling points of

00:15our favorite flagship phones and highlighting some alternative options if you're keen to step outside

00:19the mainstream we'll be running a separate video on the best foldable phones later this year but

00:22for now here's our roundup the best flagship phones of 2025. if you're looking for the best

00:29iphone money can buy the iphone 17 pro max is the easy choice it's essentially the same device as

00:34the regular pro but here you'll get a larger 6.9 inch screen a slightly bigger battery and up to

00:38two terabytes of internal storage which is quite frankly ridiculous starting with the design and

00:43the iphone 17 pro max boasts a stunning super xdr oled screen a new aluminium chassis a dedicated

00:48camera control button and all of the usual bells and whistles that we've come to expect from apple's

00:52best iphones this is the joint biggest phone on our list and it's arguably the most powerful with

00:56apple's new a19 pro chipset matching the snapdragon 8 elite in some benchmark tests and even surpassing

01:01it in others apple has paired this new chipset with 12 gigabytes of ram and a dedicated vapor

01:06cooling chamber meaning the iphone 17 pro max can handle 4k video editing and triple a games with

01:10ease apple's new ai features also run seamlessly and while the iphone 17 pro max isn't as ai packed

01:15as the competition apple has upped its game with things like visual intelligence and live translation

01:20which are genuinely useful additions to the iphone experience on the camera's front you'll get

01:23three 48 megapixel lenses that support a wide range of shooting styles our favorite of the trio is a

01:284x telephoto which also offers access to an impressive 8x zoom by way of a sensor crop at

01:33the shorter zoom lengths the iphone 17 pro max is ridiculously good but for anything beyond 10x you'll

01:37get slightly better results from other phones on this list apple's latest pro max iphone is also a

01:41battery champion lasting well beyond 30 hours in our testing and offering support for chi 2 wireless

01:46charging all told then this is the most technologically advanced iphone apple has ever made and if you're

01:51already embedded in the apple ecosystem this is the best flagship phone you can buy

01:57next up is samsung and the pick of the bunch is the samsung galaxy s25 ultra for the first time

02:02in a few generations samsung's latest galaxy flagship feels like part of the wider galaxy

02:06family not only does it share prominent design cues with its siblings the galaxy s25 and s25 plus but

02:11it also boasts the same market-leading chipset and the same suite of galaxy ai features so why should

02:16you go ultra this year well quite simply because the galaxy s25 ultra remains the biggest and baddest

02:20android phone on the block if you're looking for a feature pack device that can double as a laptop

02:24a drawing tablet or even a dslr level camera this is the model for you for starters the screen on

02:29galaxy s25 ultra measures 6.9 inches up from 6.8 inches on the galaxy s24 ultra and indeed the galaxy

02:35s25 plus the display itself is a quad hd plus panel that auto switches from 1 to 120 hertz on an as

02:41needed basis and the ultra also benefits from a new pro scalar technology that upscales lower

02:46resolution content using ai as mentioned the ultra's design has been tweaked to feel more

02:50aligned with the rest of the galaxy s25 lineup but the phone still feels distinctly premium thanks to

02:54its titanium construction boxier appearance and of course the included s pen which is a usp that you

02:59won't find elsewhere on this list under the hood a bespoke version of qualcomm's snapdragon 8 elite

03:04chipset provides enough power to juggle a gazillion apps and run console quality games not to mention

03:08samsung's new and improved suite of galaxy ai features which range from the usual photo editing tools

03:13to now brief an audio eraser as for cameras the s24 ultra's 200 megapixel wide sensor returns for

03:18the s25 ultra but the former's 12 megapixel ultra wide has been replaced by a more powerful 50 megapixel

03:24lens in layman's terms that means better low light performance for ultra wide shots and more detailed

03:28macro shots while the phone's unchanged 50 megapixel and 10 megapixel telephoto cameras offer 5 and 3x zoom

03:34respectively so the galaxy s25 ultra is indisputably the best samsung phone money can buy and it rivals the

03:39iphone 17 pro max in all the areas that matter if you want a physical camera control button go for

03:44the iphone but for the best zoom performance and useful ai features the s25 ultra is our pick of the

03:48bunch google's pixel 10 pro xl is the best pixel phone yet not only does it boast the best hardware

03:56of any pixel device before it but it also utilizes ai in a way that doesn't feel gimmicky which is a

04:01rarity in the smartphone market as it stands today at the time of recording the pixel 10 pro xl and its

04:06smaller sibling the pixel 10 pro are indisputably the best ai phones google's multimodal gemini ai

04:11can answer all manner of questions with genuinely useful answers gemini live will let you talk about

04:15whatever you want with the phone's built-in voice assistant and ai photography features like best

04:19take can be downright magical when used correctly of course this all means that you'll have to be

04:23willing to embrace ai if you buy the pixel 10 pro xl if you couldn't care less you're better off

04:27reaching for another phone on this list especially as google's tensor g5 chipset can't keep pace with the

04:32latest chipsets from apple and samsung for raw power and battery efficiency mind you it is a

04:37formidable software brain that keeps all of the 10 pro xl's on-device processes feeling buttery smooth

04:41so it's only really gamers will notice this difference in performance the pixel 10 pro xl's

04:466.8 inch super actual display is also among the best mobile displays around as we noted in our review

04:51the phone screen is a joy to use in any situation and we've only chosen the xl model over the base model

04:56here because its incredible display is well bigger the pixel 10 pro xl's cameras are also

05:01supremely versatile even when not used in combination with those aforementioned ai editing features

05:05they deliver accurate colors and plenty of detail at every focal range and again

05:09you'll get great zoom shots with the phone's 48 megapixel telephoto lens with 5x optical zoom

05:13in other words the pixel 10 pro xl is a gorgeous looking feature-packed phone with great cameras

05:18if you're a key mobile gamer or you want the very best battery life you'll want to look elsewhere

05:22but for everything else the pixel 10 pro xl is a winner

05:24the one plus 13 really is your best option in 2025 if you're living in the us and you don't

05:31want a model from apple samsung or google to put it another way this is a phone for those who want to

05:35stand out from the crowd in our one plus 13 review we described one plus's latest flagship as more

05:40than just a pretty face and it earns that designation and then some yes its design is visually striking

05:44as well as impressively durable but the one plus 13 earns its place at the high table for its winning

05:49combination of hardware and software like the galaxy s25 ultra it boasts a super fast snapdragon 8 elite

05:54chipset as well as a vibrant 6.8 inch oled display and a class-leading 6000 milliamp battery the latter

05:59gives the one plus 13 some of the best battery life we've ever tested in a smartphone with only

06:03samsung and apple's latest iphone giving it a run for its money in the insurance department on the

06:07camera's front the one plus 13 packs a set of Hasselblad tuned sensors that deliver excellent

06:11selfie portrait and action shots making it one of the best camera phones for action photography

06:15however if you're after real photographic versatility you're better off going with the galaxy s25 ultra or

06:20the new iphone it's a similar story for ai the one plus 13 does feature a host

06:24of useful ai features for photo editing and query resolution but you won't find google or samsung's

06:28cutting-edge agentic software here all that said one plus doesn't ask that you pay more for an ultra

06:33or pro version of the one plus 13 and its latest flagship is significantly cheaper than the other

06:37models on this list so as far as value for money goes the one plus 13 is a winner

06:44of course the flagship phone market is not limited to the us so in this section we'll be rattling through

06:48some alternative options available in other markets the xiaomi 15 ultra is among the best camera

06:52phones we've ever tested and as xiaomi phones go it's the best model overall this all singing

06:56or dancing flagship bears all the hallmarks of a top-end android phone in 2025 but its real selling

07:01point just like its predecessor is its absolutely huge rear camera module which makes the xiaomi

07:0515 ultra an attractive option for on-the-go photographers like the xiaomi 15 ultra honor's

07:10magic 7 pro is another camera focused android smartphone but on his ios inspired software is a

07:14tad more accessible than that of its chinese rival what's more the magic 7 pro gets some truly unique

07:19ai features like deepfake detection and ai super zoom which helped this flagship stand out in a

07:23smartphone market saturated with gimmicky features next up is the oppo find x8 pro which is similar

07:28to the 1 plus 13 but not exactly the same device specifically you'll get a second telephoto camera

07:33on the oppo as well as a camera control style quick button and a media tech dimensity 9400 chipset

07:38instead of the snapdragon 8 elite the find x8 pro definitely takes lots of inspiration from apple's top

07:43end iphones but given how highly we rate those devices that's really not such a bad thing and there you

07:47have it our roundup of the best flagship phones you can buy in 2025. for our full reviews of each

07:51device head to techradar.com and let us know in the comments if there's anything we missed

Category

Transcript

Be the first to comment

Recommended