The best Android phone 2024 should have an incredibly fast processor and a stunning display. It should also have excellent cameras and battery life.
This year’s smallest Samsung Galaxy S model adds flat edges and a small screen but keeps the same amazing cameras, hidden pen and long battery life. It’s a great value.
Samsung Galaxy S24
The Samsung Galaxy S24 delivers what you’d expect from an Android flagship. It’s a premium phone with a beautiful display and all the AI-powered features that made its predecessor a hit. The S24 series is split into three models: the S24, S24 Plus and S24 Ultra. The smallest phone starts at 8GB of RAM, but the two larger ones both feature 12GB.
The phones also have bigger batteries than before. The S24 and S24 Plus have 4,000mAh cells, while the Ultra has a 5,000mAh cell. That’s enough for a day or two of heavy use, and we can see the difference in battery life when we test these phones.
Another new feature is Circle to Search, which lets you highlight text or images on the screen and find related content. Samsung has partnered with Google to make this better, so we’ll be interested to see if it sticks around as an important feature.
On the software side, the S24 is running on Android 14 with One UI 6.1 on top. That gives you advanced multitasking and access to Samsung DeX, the desktop environment that turns your phone into a productivity machine when you plug in a monitor, mouse and keyboard. Samsung is promising seven years of OS and security updates, which puts the S24 on par with Google Pixel devices in that regard.
Google Pixel 8
The Pixel 8 is one of Google’s standard flagship phones and debuted in October 2023. It’s a great phone for those who want a sleek design, fast performance and high-quality cameras. However, the Pixel 8’s price isn’t as low as some other Android smartphones.
The Google Pixel 8 is a significant improvement over the Pixel 7. It’s physically smaller, has a brighter display and a better battery life. Additionally, the camera has been upgraded to a more versatile array. Google’s also added features like article summaries, smart replies and Circle to Search with AI to make the phone more useful.
It’s worth noting that Google’s promise of seven years of software updates makes the Pixel 8 a very appealing smartphone if you plan to use it for a long time. This is a significant advantage over competing phones, especially Apple’s iPhones, which stop getting OS updates after three years.
Pricing for the Pixel 8 starts at $699, which is about $100 more than the price of the Pixel 7. There’s also a Pro version with a larger display and more advanced cameras. The Pro version will cost you $999. Both models have a fast charging battery that lasts all day and offer support for Qi wireless charging. They also have a headphone jack and support for fast Ethernet.
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
If you’re looking for a folding phone 2024 that’s actually worth your money, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the best choice on the market. It features a larger outer display and a foldable inner screen, as well as a fast Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy processor.
The big change this year is a new zero-gap hinge that promises to be as durable as the one on the Flip 4. Samsung also made the entire clamshell 2mm thinner, which feels substantial in hand and in pocket, and the main screen has slimmer bezels for a more immersive experience.
But the most significant change is in the Flex Window. This external display is now 278% bigger than the 1.9-inch panel on the last generation of the Flip, giving you more space to browse music, videos, and other content, as well as a better way to see notifications and take flex mode selfies. And it’s even more useful when you enable unsupported apps in the Labs menu, allowing you to play games and use other non-optimized experiences with this extra display.
As with last year, the battery is a hefty 3,700mAh cell that supports up to 25W wired charging. It’s a little smaller than the vanilla Galaxy S23’s battery, but it’s still an ample amount of power to keep the device going for hours.
OnePlus Foldable
While it’s not as polished as the Galaxy Z Fold 5, OnePlus’ debut foldable is one of the best available. Its big pros include a lower price, brilliant build quality and top performance. It’s also much more compact than rival foldables and has a less visible fold crease when closed.
OnePlus has packed in all the latest technology, including Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 mobile platform, over-the-top 16GB of RAM accelerated with OnePlus’ RAMVita software and 512GB of UFS 4.0 storage. There are three cameras on the back that were tuned by Hasselblad and a massive 4805mAh battery with fast 67W charging.
The Open also offers a unique dual-display experience when closed, allowing you to use it like a regular smartphone while keeping an eye on notifications. The inner screen has a higher refresh rate than the outer display so it can show a smoother video or play games. There’s also a triple-speaker spatial audio system that supports Dolby Atmos content and provides strong, precise haptics.
OnePlus’s aggressive trade-in offer is worth checking out and it can knock a minimum of $200 off the cost of the Open. This brings it in $100 under the price of the Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Pixel Fold at their starting models with half as much storage. OnePlus will only provide four years of Android updates and five years of security support, which falls short of the seven and 10 years offered by competitors.
