Best smartphones of 2025 - buyer’s guide
Last updated: October 19, 2025
Welcome to the always-up-to-date GSMArena Smartphone Buyer's Guide where we round up the best smartphones you can buy.
You will find the different categories of phones below with our top pick as a highlight. Click on the category to see the other suggested options.
Flagship phones
Honor Magic V5
| 512GB 16GB RAM | $ 1,649.00 |
$ 151.16 |
The Honor Magic V5 is, without a doubt, one of the most compelling foldables we've tested this year. It combines an impressively thin and lightweight design with premium materials, a robust hinge, and class-leading IP58/IP59 ingress protection - a rare achievement in this segment. Both displays are large, sharp and feature-packed, with stylus support and Dolby Vision certification, while the nice stereo speakers round out the excellent multimedia experience.
Continue readingFlagship killers
Xiaomi Poco F7 Ultra
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 712.50 |
£ 528.68 |
| 512GB 16GB RAM | $ 745.00 |
£ 559.00 |
As Poco F-series phones go, this one is Ultra alright, with the Elite performance the most expensive phones offer.
Continue readingCamera phones
Xiaomi 15 Ultra
| 512GB 16GB RAM | $ 1,347.75 |
£ 899.00 |
The Xiaomi 15 Ultra is a truly great option and the best cameraphone in 2025. Its unique design is beautiful, iconic even. Then there is one of the best displays in the industry - a 1440p LTPO OLED with 12-bit color depth, dynamic 120Hz refresh, and Dolby Vision support.
Continue readingGaming phones
Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro
| 512GB 16GB RAM | $ 1,250.00 |
£ 1,222.06 |
| 1TB 24GB RAM | £ 2,549.00 |
If you want nothing short of the best mobile gaming experience, we believe that the ROG Phone line is still the way to go. The ROG Phone 9 family has the most in-depth and comprehensive set of gaming features on top of excellent and, in many ways, specifically crafted hardware.
Continue readingBattery life champions
Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 1,449.99 |
£ 1,199.00 |
| 512GB 12GB RAM | $ 1,700.00 |
£ 1,399.00 |
The new Max iPhone once again aces our battery life test and together with its premium package it becomes the new top pick in this category.
Continue readingCompact phones
Motorola Razr 60 Ultra
| 512GB 16GB RAM | $ 449.00 |
£ 738.05 |
Once an iPhone mini domain, nowadays the top pick in this category has been a reserved spot for the Moto Razrs. Indeed, the new Motorola Razr 60 Ultra offers a ton of flagship features in its super compact body.
Continue readingPremium all-rounders
Xiaomi 15T Pro
| 512GB 12GB RAM | $ 869.50 |
$ 777.38 |
| 1TB 12GB RAM | $ 1,097.80 |
€ 761.34 |
The Xiaomi 15T Pro is a solid all-rounder that's easy to recommend. It is an excellent phone that can deliver impressive value for your money. It offers superb performance, great display, stellar battery life and an excellent camera - meaning top marks in each of the big 4.
Continue readingMidrange phones (around €400)
Xiaomi Poco F7
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 529.99 |
$ 396.42 |
| 512GB 12GB RAM | $ 529.99 |
$ 457.00 |
The €400 Poco F7 is an easy recommendation. It is the same phone as our top pick from the previous price category – the Poco X7 Pro, but with an even faster chip – the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4. The phone lives up to the F-series legacy with yet another well-balanced, performance-first offering that's hard to ignore. The Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset delivers excellent overall performance, whether gaming or just navigating the UI.
Continue readingMidrange phones (around €300)
Xiaomi Poco X7 Pro
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 335.00 |
£ 208.99 |
| 512GB 12GB RAM | $ 370.00 |
£ 249.00 |
The €300 Poco X7 Pro turned out to be an excellent bang for the buck offer as it offers unmatched flagship performance for its price class. It also has a cool and stylish design, a great AMOLED screen and an attractive design with a solid build. The battery life and the charging are quite alright, and so are the speakers.
Continue readingMidrange phones (around €200)
Xiaomi Poco X7
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 282.99 |
£ 169.00 |
| 512GB 12GB RAM | $ 275.00 |
£ 199.00 |
The Poco X7 is not a major step up from the Poco X6, but still a very good offer. It is also a reworked version of the recent Redmi Note 14 Pro 5G and since it is cheaper than its Redmi counterpart, it easily made it to the top spot in this category.
Continue readingEntry-level phones
Xiaomi Poco M7 Pro 5G
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 225.99 |
€ 154.74 |
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 219.50 |
£ 198.00 |
The Poco M7 Pro 5G is a good interpretation of a familiar budget phone. It has the essential features to get you hassle-free through your daily tasks, and it offers them on a very attractive budget price
Continue readingUS market phones
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 574.79 |
C$ 961.56 |
| 512GB 8GB RAM | $ 649.33 |
C$ 1,026.46 |
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is Apple's current best iPhone and we think it’s the best phone you can buy in the US. The iPhone 15 Pro Max is worth getting for its well-rounded user experience, luxurious design, its premium services and warranty, for its clockwork iOS, and for its versatile camera performance with great photos and exceptional videos. The great battery life doesn't hurt, and the introduction of USB-C means one fewer built-in shortcoming too.
Continue readingBest phones by category
Best smartphones of 2025 - buyer’s guide - Reader comments
- akubewae
- X}m
the iphone battery capacity is under 5000mah but the screen time is on par with phones with 6500-7500mah batteries, that is why. i'am a happy user of Xiaomi 15T Pro with 5500mah battery.
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