Best Smartphones 2026: 9 Compared (20 Sources)

What are the best smartphones in 2026?

Summary

Apple's September launch reset the top of the market. The iPhone 18 Pro Max is Tom's Guide's best phone overall, "an iterative update this time around — but it still overpowers the rest of the pack to take the top spot", and TechRadar puts the iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max at the top of its US list. CNET rates both 9.3/10 as "photography powerhouses", and ZDNET and Tech Advisor pick the smaller iPhone 18 Pro. Both add a variable-aperture main camera and the A20 Pro chip, and both cost $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro models they replace: Apple sold them from $1,199 and $1,299 when we checked on 2026-10-13, and its store no longer lists the iPhone 17 Pro Max, this card's previous top pick. [src1, src2, src3, src4, src5, src10, src12]

Most people do not need a Pro. CNET calls the iPhone 17 the best phone for most people, Tech Advisor its best value iPhone and Tom's Guide its best cheap iPhone: it has the Pros' 120Hz always-on screen, 48MP main and ultrawide cameras and 256GB of base storage, and gives up the telephoto and some battery life. On a tighter budget the Google Pixel 10a is the pick at all four US testing outlets we read — Tom's Guide, TechRadar, CNET and ZDNET — though Google raised it from $499 to $599 at the start of October. The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, TechRadar's best cheap phone, starts at $499, and the Motorola Moto G (2026), Tom's Guide's longest-lasting budget phone, costs $299 after a $100 rise. [src1, src2, src3, src4, src5, src6, src7, src11, src15, src19]

For Android, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra is Tom's Guide's best Android and best camera phone, TechRadar's best Android phone, Tech Advisor's No. 1 and ZDNET's best big phone, with a privacy display Tech Advisor calls a world first and a built-in S Pen. Google's Pixel 11 series had a cooler reception: Tech Advisor ranks the Pixel 11 Pro XL second and ZDNET names it its best camera phone, but Tom's Guide calls the Pixel 11 Pro "a disappointing phone, rather than a bad one" and Tech Advisor moved the XL down from its top spot because it is not much of a leap from the Pixel 10 Pro XL. CNET recommends the $899 Pixel 11 as one of the more iPhone-friendly Android phones. OnePlus has left the US, and its US store had sold out of the OnePlus 15 by early August 2026, so the OnePlus 15 and OnePlus 13 leave this card. The Pixel 10 Pro and Pixel 10 Pro XL leave it too, because none of the guides we cite picks them now; Google's store still listed the Pixel 10 Pro when we checked on 2026-10-13. [src1, src2, src3, src4, src5, src13, src16, src17]

Top 9 Models Compared

The price column is the last price the daily check saw at the linked listing; today's price and stock are in the picks table at the top. Prices in the text are the makers' own, or the outlets', with the date we checked them.

Best for Each Use Case

Top pick: Apple iPhone 18 Pro Max (from $1,299) — Check price

Tom's Guide names the iPhone 18 Pro Max its best phone overall: "an iterative update this time around — but it still overpowers the rest of the pack to take the top spot." The headline change is a mechanical variable aperture on the 48MP main camera (f/1.48 to f/4), beside a 48MP ultrawide and a 48MP 4x telephoto; CNET calls the iPhone 18 Pro models "photography powerhouses" and rates them 9.3/10, and TechRadar gives them five stars as its top pick. The A20 Pro chip beat Samsung's numbers "handily" in Tom's Guide's testing, the phone lasted 18 hours 27 minutes in the lab battery test Tom's Guide and TechRadar share, and CNET measured a 77% charge in 30 minutes. The costs: it is $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro Max was, from $1,299 at Apple when we checked on 2026-10-13, and at 249 grams it is heavy. Tom's Guide sees little reason to upgrade if you already have an iPhone 17 Pro Max. [src1, src2, src4, src10]

Best value: Apple iPhone 17 ($929 unlocked) — Check price

CNET calls the iPhone 17 the best phone for most people, ahead of the new Pros: it shares many camera features with the iPhone 17 Pro models and has a 1-120Hz always-on display, "albeit with slightly scaled-back battery life and cameras." Tech Advisor names it its best value iPhone, Tom's Guide its best cheap iPhone, and TechRadar calls it "probably the best value iPhone at the moment." Inside are the A19 chip, 48MP main and ultrawide cameras with an 18MP Center Stage selfie camera, and 256GB of storage as standard; it lasted 12 hours 47 minutes in Tom's Guide's battery test. What you give up is a telephoto lens. Apple raised the price by $100 after the iPhone 18 Pro launch, CNET reports: it was $929 unlocked, or $899 with carrier activation, at Apple when we checked on 2026-10-13. [src1, src2, src3, src4, src11]

Best budget: Google Pixel 10a ($599) — Check price

The Pixel 10a is the budget pick of every US outlet we read: Tom's Guide's best cheap phone overall, TechRadar's best budget phone, and CNET's and ZDNET's best budget phone. Tom's Guide calls it "the budget phone to beat with the most value": it runs most of Google's AI features on the Tensor G4, gets seven years of software and security updates, has a 6.3-inch 60-120Hz OLED and a flush 48MP main and 13MP ultrawide camera, and lasted 15 hours 16 minutes in Tom's Guide's battery test. It is little changed from the Pixel 9a, and most of those reviews were written at its old price: Google raised it from $499 to $599 for 128GB at the start of October 2026, Android Central reported. ZDNET kept it as its budget pick at $599. [src1, src2, src4, src5, src6, src15]

Best Android phone: Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra ($1,399.99 list) — Check price

Tom's Guide calls the Galaxy S26 Ultra "the best Android phone currently available" and its best camera phone; TechRadar names it its best Android phone, Tech Advisor ranks it first overall, CNET rates it 9.3/10 and ZDNET calls it its best big phone. Its 200MP f/1.4 main camera and 3x and 5x telephotos give it zoom that Tom's Guide says the iPhone 18 Pro Max still does not match, and Horizon Lock keeps video level. The Privacy Display hides your screen from people beside you, at some cost in brightness and viewing angle, and the S Pen is built in. It lasted 16 hours 10 minutes in the lab battery test and charges at 60W, but has no Qi2 magnets. Samsung raised its list price from $1,299.99 to $1,399.99 for 256GB on 2026-10-01, and 9to5Google reported Amazon and Best Buy had not yet followed; Samsung's own store had it at $1,199.99 when we checked on 2026-10-13. [src1, src2, src3, src4, src5, src14, src20]

Smaller Pro iPhone: Apple iPhone 18 Pro (from $1,199) — Check price

ZDNET names the iPhone 18 Pro its best phone overall and Tech Advisor its best iPhone: the same A20 Pro chip and three 48MP cameras with the variable-aperture main lens as the Pro Max, on a 6.3-inch screen. Tech Advisor finds that, aside from a small battery-life drop-off and its lower weight, "it's functionally identical to the Pro Max", and ZDNET notes both Pro models got heavier this year, "which makes the smaller Pro easier to recommend for most people." It lasted 16 hours 17 minutes in TechRadar's lab test, against the Pro Max's 18 hours 27 minutes, and weighs 211 grams. Apple sold it from $1,199 when we checked on 2026-10-13. [src2, src3, src5, src10]

Google's flagship: Google Pixel 11 Pro XL ($1,299 per Droid Life, 2026-08-28) — Check price

Tech Advisor ranks the Pixel 11 Pro XL second among all phones as its best Android alternative — "if you want a clean, iOS-like experience on Android but with top-of-the-line cameras, then you're better off with this Google flagship than the S26 Ultra" — and ZDNET names it its best camera phone. It has a 6.8-inch LTPO OLED that reaches 3,600 nits, the Tensor G6 chip, a 5,115mAh battery with 45W wired charging and seven years of Android updates. The reviews are mixed, though: Tech Advisor moved it down from its top spot because it is not much of a leap from the Pixel 10 Pro XL, ZDNET's own review found the camera "performs poorly in low light", base RAM fell from 16GB to 12GB, and it costs $100 more than last year's model, $1,299 for 256GB according to Droid Life's review of 2026-08-28. [src3, src5, src8, src9]

Switching from iPhone: Google Pixel 11 ($899) — Check price

CNET rates the Pixel 11 8.8/10 and calls it the best bridge from iPhone to Android: it adds a 10.8MP 5x telephoto to its 48MP main and 13MP ultrawide cameras, works with MagSafe accessories through its Pixelsnap magnets, and supports AirDrop through Android's Quick Share. ZDNET names it its best Google alternative, with a 3,000-nit display. It runs the Tensor G6 and costs $899 for 256GB, a price CNET says matches last year's storage equivalent. CNET's caution: Samsung's Galaxy S26 and Apple's iPhone 17 series have processors better suited to demanding games. [src4, src5]

Best cheap phone for features: Nothing Phone (4a) Pro (from $499) — Check price

TechRadar names the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro its best cheap phone and Tom's Guide picks it for the best features on a cheap phone: a 6.83-inch 144Hz AMOLED, a 50MP 3.5x telephoto beside the 50MP main camera, a Snapdragon 7 Gen 4 and an aluminum unibody with the Glyph Matrix lights. It lasted over 18 hours in Tom's Guide's battery test, though TechRadar's reviewer got less than Nothing's estimate. TechRadar says the Pixel 10a takes better photos and Tom's Guide finds the (4a) Pro slower than the Pixel 10a; TechRadar also warns that some of the fastest 5G bands are not supported by every US carrier. Nothing's US store listed it from $499 when we checked on 2026-10-13; our link is the 12GB/256GB model. [src6, src7, src19]

Cheapest pick: Motorola Moto G (2026) ($299) — Check price

The Moto G (2026) held out for 19 hours 11 minutes in Tom's Guide's battery test, "making it the longest-lasting budget phone we've ever tested", and it is Tom's Guide's best cheap phone under $300. It is otherwise basic: a MediaTek Dimensity 6300 with 4GB of RAM, a dim 6.7-inch 120Hz LCD, a 50MP main camera, and two years of Android updates plus a third year of software support. Tom's Guide now recommends it with a caveat: it launched at $199, rose by $100, and at $299 is "a slightly trickier phone to recommend" — buy it if you find it at its old price, or consider a refurbished older flagship. [src6, src18]

Key Market Trends (2026)

• A new Pro iPhone at the top, and a higher price: The iPhone 18 Pro and 18 Pro Max added a variable-aperture main camera, the A20 Pro chip and Siri AI on iOS 27, and cost $100 more than the iPhone 17 Pro models: $1,199 and $1,299. CNET reports the standard iPhone 18 is now expected early next year, so the iPhone 17 remains Apple's standard model, and Apple's store no longer lists the iPhone 17 Pro or 17 Pro Max (checked 2026-10-13). Apple's store also sells the foldable iPhone Duo; foldables are covered in consumer-electronics/phones/foldable-phones/2026. [src1, src2, src3, src4, src10, src12]
• Memory costs pushed prices up across the market: Samsung raised the whole Galaxy S26 series by $100 on 2026-10-01, Google raised the Pixel 10a from $499 to $599 the next day, Apple raised the iPhone 17 by $100 after the iPhone 18 Pro launch, and ZDNET notes both Pixel 11 Pro models cost $100 more than last year's. Android Central and 9to5Google both point to rising memory costs. Retailer prices can lag a list-price rise: Samsung's own store had the S26 Ultra at $1,199.99 when we checked on 2026-10-13. [src4, src5, src14, src15, src20]
• The Pixel 11 is an incremental update: Tom's Guide calls the Pixel 11 Pro "barely changed since last year's model", and Tech Advisor moved the Pixel 11 Pro XL down from its top spot for the same reason, though it still ranks it second and ZDNET names it its best camera phone. CNET prefers the cheaper Pixel 11. When we checked on 2026-10-13, Google's store sold the Pixel 11, 11 Pro, 11 Pro XL, 11 Pro Fold and Pixel 10a, and still listed the Pixel 10 Pro. [src1, src3, src4, src5, src13]
• OnePlus has left the US: OnePlus confirmed in July 2026 that it is leaving the US market, and by early August its US store had sold out of the OnePlus 15; TechRadar removed the phone from its US list for that reason, while ZDNET still names it its best phone for battery life. Existing phones keep software updates and warranties, XDA reported. [src2, src5, src16, src17]
• Battery life: Among the phones on this card, the Motorola Moto G (2026) lasted longest in Tom's Guide's test (19 hours 11 minutes), ahead of the iPhone 18 Pro Max (18 hours 27 minutes) and the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro (over 18 hours). Tom's Guide's own battery pick, the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro (20 hours 34 minutes), is a gaming phone released in late 2024 whose software support ends in 2026, so it is not on this card. [src1, src6, src18]
• Some top picks abroad are not on US lists: Tech Advisor, a UK outlet, names the Oppo Find X9 Ultra its best camera phone and the Xiaomi 17 its best compact flagship; neither appears in the US guides from Tom's Guide, TechRadar, CNET or ZDNET, and this card follows those. [src1, src2, src3, src4, src5]

Important Caveats

• Prices on this card are US prices with their source and date; the live price and stock of each linked listing are in the picks table at the top. Each link points at one colour and storage configuration (for example the Black 256GB iPhone 18 Pro Max and the 12GB/256GB Nothing Phone (4a) Pro), and other configurations cost more or less.
• Tom's Guide and TechRadar publish the same lab battery results (TechRadar calls it the Future Labs test), so a battery figure credited to both is one measurement. Real-world battery life depends on use, signal and screen brightness.
• The outlets split on which size of iPhone 18 Pro to recommend: Tom's Guide picks the iPhone 18 Pro Max, ZDNET and Tech Advisor pick the iPhone 18 Pro, and TechRadar and CNET recommend both. The card's top pick is the Pro Max; the 18 Pro is listed beside it.
• The Google Pixel 11 Pro XL has mixed reviews: Tech Advisor and ZDNET recommend it, but ZDNET's own review found its camera weak in low light and Tom's Guide calls the smaller Pixel 11 Pro disappointing.
• Several reviews were written before October's price rises: Tom's Guide still describes the Pixel 10a at $499 and the Galaxy S26 Ultra at $1,299. The prices on this card are the current ones with their dates.
• Siri AI on the iPhone 18 Pro models was available only in the US when TechRadar reviewed them, and TechRadar warns that the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro does not support some of the fastest 5G bands on every US carrier.