Best premium all-rounders 2026 - buyer’s guide

The €700 Xiaomi 17T Pro is a solid all-rounder that's easy to recommend. It impresses with great camera hardware, excellent display, high-performance chipset and speedy wired and wireless charging. This year, the handset also stands out in the battery life race with solid endurance.

The Leica cooperation is paying off, as all rear cameras (50MP main, 50MP 5x tele/macro, 12MP UW) deliver outstanding photo and video quality day and night. Admittedly, if selfies are of utmost importance, one of the niche areas becomes more of a pressing issue.

Long story short - the Xiaomi 17T Pro is a very competent offering with a compelling set of flagship-grade capabilities and it’s one of the, if not the best phone you can get for about €700.

The Poco F9 Ultra is a very easy phone to like. The 6.9-inch AMOLED is one of the brightest displays we have measured and is an excellent panel in practically every other respect too. It is sharp, fast, HDR-capable and backed by Poco's dedicated display processing hardware for gaming. The 185Hz headline figure relates to a rather niche use, but the actual high-refresh-rate handling is still excellent.

Battery life is even more impressive. The huge 8,050mAh battery translates into chart-topping endurance, and managing to fit that much capacity into a body that is still recognizably a normal flagship smartphone is an achievement in itself.

The Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 remains immensely powerful, even if it is exactly the same chipset found in the F8 Ultra. Performance is certainly not something the F9 Ultra lacks, but thermal behavior is less convincing. The phone gets quite hot under sustained heavy loads and throttles noticeably. Real-world gaming should still be perfectly fine, but this is clearly not the best implementation of Qualcomm's flagship silicon.

The audio experience remains one of the F9 Ultra's more unusual strengths. The symmetrical stereo speakers and dedicated rear subwoofer produce genuinely excellent sound with unusually convincing low-end response for a phone. The whole 2.1 setup may no longer be new to the series, having debuted on the F8 Ultra, but it remains distinctive in the wider smartphone market.

The camera system is similarly capable without being exceptional in any way. The new 200MP main camera is the standout, producing excellent photos at both 1x and 2x, with very good low-light results and some genuine extra resolving potential if you are willing to work with the huge 200MP files. The 5x telephoto is reliable and useful, while selfies are very good too. The ultrawide remains the weak link, particularly because it still lacks autofocus and falls apart somewhat in low light. Video recording is strong overall, especially from the main and telephoto cameras, and the Pro video features are unusually extensive.

The Poco F9 Ultra is fast, beautifully built and has an exceptionally long-lasting battery, superb display, excellent speakers and a capable camera system. It is one of the better all-round flagship packages currently available

The Motorola Signature brings a well-rounded, premium experience with very few obvious weak spots and plenty of highlights that justify its top-tier positioning.

The design and build quality are excellent, with a sleek yet sturdy chassis and Motorola's typical attention to durability. The display is another standout - sharp, vibrant and highly capable, even if its manual brightness isn't class-leading. The stereo speakers are superb as well, delivering loud and rich audio that easily ranks among the best in the segment.

Performance is undeniably flagship-grade. While the Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 isn't the absolute fastest chip available right now, it is more than powerful enough for everyday use and gaming. The main drawback is sustained performance, as the phone throttles quite aggressively under prolonged load and can get noticeably warm.

Battery life is solid but not particularly exciting by modern flagship standards. Endurance is respectable, and the charging setup is versatile with fast wired and wireless options, but competitors are starting to push capacity further.

Where the Signature delivers a strong showing is in imaging. The quad 50MP camera system is versatile and capable across all focal lengths, with the main and telephoto cameras producing pleasing results in good lighting. That said, video tuning isn't perfect - daytime clips can look a bit contrasty on the main and telephoto cameras, while detail levels are only average, especially in lower light. The ultrawide camera also trails slightly behind the rest of the setup with softer output overall. Still, the system remains well-rounded and dependable for everyday shooting.

Motorola's clean Hello UI remains a major selling point. It's fast, uncluttered and packed with thoughtful extras like Smart Connect and Moto AI. The promise of up to seven major Android updates is also a huge confidence booster for long-term ownership.

While the Motorola Signature is undeniably well-rounded and easy to like, the competition in this segment is a notch above in terms of features. We wouldn't actively discourage anyone from picking one up, but we would advise you to carefully consider your options and weight the pros and cons.

Тhe Pixel 11 is a very good phone. It is well built, relatively compact, has a nice display, dependable battery life, a versatile camera setup and one of the best software support commitments around. Android 17 is smooth and polished, and the whole Pixel experience remains distinct enough to have an appeal of its own.

Google has essentially carried over the design, display, battery and wired charging from last year's model. The Pixel 11 does get a larger main camera sensor, the welcome move to 256GB of base storage and, of course, the new Tensor G6. Qi2.2 wireless charging is another meaningful upgrade. But taken together, these changes don't really make the Pixel 11 feel like a new generation of flagship hardware.

There are some rough edges, тоо. We'd have liked better 2x photos from the main camera, autofocus on the ultrawide and somewhat more convincing video stabilization while moving. Still, the camera experience as a whole remains one of the Pixel 11's stronger points. It may not have the most impressive camera hardware around, but the results are consistently dependable.

And that is perhaps the best way to describe the Pixel 11 in general: dependable. It doesn't really excel in many measurable areas, but there aren't many serious weaknesses either. The premium build is excellent, the ultrasonic fingerprint reader works well, the stereo speakers sound good, battery life is solid, the cameras are capable, and Google's seven-year software commitment is excellent.

At first glance, the Motorola Edge 70 Max seems like a maxed-out model in the Edge 70 family. You get a large OLED screen, great gaming performance, excellent battery life and competitive fast charging, along with support for magnetic wireless charging.

However, the suboptimal camera experience is hard to ignore, especially when it's not difficult to find alternatives with better cameras across various price points. You could argue that Motorola focused on performance instead, and that’s the trade-off you are making if you choose the Max.

Long story short - the Motorola Edge 70 Max offers maximum performance at the expense of mediocre camera.

The Reno16 is a solid all-rounder with design, build and dimensions, and impressive battery life, being its key selling points. We have no complaints about the display and loudspeakers either. The camera performance is also pretty good, especially the selfie.

However, the less-than-impressive chipset in this class and the downgraded battery and charging (in Europe) put the Reno16 in a tough spot. There are much more powerful alternatives out there some of which have nicer cameras, too. The compact size and the impeccable build are quite tempting, though.

The Redmi Note 17 Pro Max is not your typical Redmi Note, yet it is the one to shape this series and the next. This Pro Max delivers on its promises for battery life and charging; it impressed us with its screen, and it even managed to squeeze the maximum photo and video quality from the otherwise basic cameras.

Even better, the Note 17 Pro Max offers an incredibly durable design, powerful speakers, and feature-rich HyperOS.

The chipset performance, however, is not a strong suit of the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max. In fact, the entire Redmi Note lineup has seen a notable decline in this aspect. It's not that the Max is lacking power, but it doesn't have the punch we are used to seeing.

Overall, the Redmi Note 17 Pro Max is attractive for its battery life, durability and its great OLED screen.

The Nothing Phone (4a) Pro ends up being a somewhat curious addition to the lineup. It's not a dramatic step up over the vanilla model, yet it still commands a noticeable price premium. What it does bring to the table is a more refined overall package - better build materials, a larger and smoother display, a more capable chipset (particularly on the GPU side) and the more advanced Glyph Matrix implementation, which remains one of the most distinctive features in the segment.

In day-to-day use, the phone feels polished and dependable. Battery life is excellent, thermals are well under control, and Nothing OS continues to be one of the cleanest and most visually cohesive Android skins around. The added AI features and deeper system integrations are interesting, even if not all of them feel essential yet.

However, the Phone (4a) Pro isn't without its compromises. Performance is solid, but not class-leading for the price, and the same can be said about charging speeds. The camera system is a bit of a mixed bag - the main camera is consistently good, and the telephoto performs very well in daylight, but overall consistency isn't its strongest suit, especially at certain zoom levels and in video recording. Video capabilities in particular feel underdeveloped compared to some rivals.

All things considered, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro is a well-rounded and likable mid-ranger with a unique identity, but it doesn't quite go far enough to clearly justify its "Pro" badge for most users. It's easy to recommend on its own merits, so it’s worth exploring if you like it.

Apple finally gave the vanilla iPhone, the iPhone 17 in this case, the two upgrades that matter most day-to-day: a premium 120 Hz LTPO display (with thin bezels) and usable base storage. A meaningfully better selfie camera, an upgraded 48 MP ultrawide (with AF for macro) and finally some progress in terms of charging speed make this the best rounded vanilla model Apple has ever made. It is also by far the easiest iPhone to recommend in the 2025 lineup.

It's not like it's flawless, but none of the downsides are actually deal-breakers. The A19's lack of a vapor chamber means noticeable heat and throttling under sustained load, but how often are you even going to push it that hard. The stereo speakers are quieter than last year's, the USB port still operates at 2.0 speeds, and Apple has effectively capped the brightness to 1,000 nits in what we assume is an attempt to extend battery life. iOS 26 brings Liquid Glass, but lacks polish.

Thus the overall package is very compelling: a phone with traditional Apple aesthetics, Pro-grade screen and performance, a capable camera and usable storage capacity was never this cheap. We'd be amazed if it's not by far the most popular option in Apple's 2025 lineup. Read full review

The Realme GT 8 Pro isn't exactly a new GT 7 Pro - it's looking like a slightly different kind of a proposition. This time around, Realme paid some special attention to the camera system - in addition to improving on the lineup's usual strong points. So yes, we have a super bright display that's even brighter than before, an extra large battery that's larger than last year, and, well, by definition, a better chipset.

But on top of that, we also get a high-end telephoto camera that's equally adept at closeups and distant subjects, and an ultrawide camera that doesn't look like it's coming from the previous decade (not that its lack of autofocus doesn't drag it down, but still). Realme chose a collaboration with Ricoh to spice things up and maybe that will draw in a customer or two, but we're not really seeing it as any sort of a real selling point.

Perhaps the most serious misstep of the GT 8 Pro is in its video stabilization, but it's not too bad? You could probably find a way to rationalize around that.

We're not sure how we feel about the whole camera bump accessorizing concept. It's unique, that's for sure. And the sampler set we received didn't strike us as particularly tacky or weird looking - maybe it's almost intriguing to be able to change things up a bit on what's by now become an extension of your hand.

Overall, the Realme GT 8 Pro feels like a proper flagship all-rounder ticking most of the right boxes. And if its feature set appeals to you, you will not regret buying this one.