Best smartphones of 2023 - buyer’s guide
Last updated: November 14, 2023
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
Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 769.99 |
$ 832.50 |
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 920.00 |
$ 949.98 |
The Galaxy S23 Ultra takes its rightful spot as our top pick in the Best flagship category - it's an unmatched package that includes pretty much everything you could think of wanting in a smartphone.
Continue readingFlagship killers
Xiaomi 13T
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 430.00 |
$ 469.50 |
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 440.00 |
$ 549.99 |
The Xiaomi 13T is in an excellent spot right now as it offers a substantial upgrade over its predecessor with a minimal price hike and there just aren't many direct competitors in this particular price bracket. Even though the Xiaomi 13T is a few weeks-old now, we already see a significant price drop. The handset initially launched at €650 but is now easy to find for about €530. That's highly competitive in the current market conditions.
Continue readingCamera phones
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 1,199.99 |
$ 1,199.99 |
| 512GB 8GB RAM | $ 1,399.99 |
$ 1,399.99 |
Apple has significantly improved its camera this year with the new iPhone 15 Pro Max and we believe it is the best phones for photography on the go right now. It delivers superb photo and videoe quality across the board, its 2x zoomed prowess is great and it has some neat features like Dolby Vision and Cinematic video capturing, ProRAW, cool automation like auto portraits and auto night mode.
Continue readingGaming phones
Asus ROG Phone 7
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 645.00 |
£ 856.23 |
| 512GB 16GB RAM | $ 885.00 |
C$ 2,055.00 |
Nobody does smartphone gaming quite like Asus. Four iterations into the ROG Phone line, that remains a fact.
Continue readingBattery life champions
Apple iPhone 15 Plus
| 128GB 6GB RAM | $ 839.99 |
$ 929.99 |
| 256GB 6GB RAM | $ 928.99 |
$ 1,029.99 |
Overall, the iPhone 15 Plus boasts a significant upgrade over its predecessor in a couple of key departments - display, battery life, performance, main camera and charging.
Continue readingCompact phones
Apple iPhone 13 mini
| 128GB 4GB RAM | $ 445.00 |
C$ 748.99 |
| 256GB 4GB RAM | $ 488.68 |
C$ 1,049.00 |
The new Apple iPhone 13 mini is a smaller version of the iPhone 13 and it's lost nothing. The most important updates over the 12 mini are the larger battery capacity, the smaller screen notch, and the doubled base storage. We sure don't think iPhone 12 mini owners should update, but we do consider the 13 mini as the best compact phone there is right now!
Continue readingPremium all-rounders
Xiaomi 13T Pro
| 512GB 12GB RAM | $ 595.00 |
$ 677.50 |
| 1TB 16GB RAM | $ 675.00 |
$ 814.99 |
The Xiaomi 13T Pro is among the best phones you can get for €700-€800. It delivers on every single promise and has plenty of flagship-grade, class-leading features. The new IP68-rated design, especially the one with the vegan leather back, is classy and stunning.
Continue readingMidrange phones (around €400)
Xiaomi Poco F5
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 366.11 |
£ 370.13 |
| 256GB 12GB RAM | $ 357.00 |
$ 399.50 |
The Poco F5 is our top recommendation if your budget is around €400 as it offers the best all-round package.
Continue readingMidrange phones (around €300)
Xiaomi 12 Lite
| 128GB 6GB RAM | $ 335.00 |
€ 289.41 |
| 128GB 8GB RAM | $ 361.30 |
€ 269.00 |
The Xiaomi 12 Lite is quite affordable nowadays at €280, which makes it the ideal recommendation in this category. It is a lightweight device with an incredible OLED panel with 12-bit color depth, 120Hz refresh, and Dolby Vision support. The Snapdragon 778G 5G chipset is more than capable to handle even HFR games
Continue readingMidrange phones (around €200)
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12
| 128GB 4GB RAM | $ 179.99 |
£ 169.00 |
| 128GB 6GB RAM | $ 212.50 |
$ 225.00 |
The €200 Redmi Note 12 5G is a great all-rounder with little to complain about. It has a solid OLED panel, decent battery life, although we expected more, competitive fast charging, a dependable main camera and a dedicated microSD card slot.
Continue readingEntry-level phones
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 4G
| 128GB 4GB RAM | $ 139.00 |
$ 142.69 |
| 128GB 6GB RAM | $ 155.00 |
$ 163.66 |
Xiaomi has struck a pretty nice balance with this year's Redmi Note 12 4G. The handset has an excellent display, long battery life, sufficiently fast charging, adequate performance, the latest MIUI + Android combo (unlike its siblings) and, although largely unimpressive camera performance, it's still rather decent for the price bracket.
Continue readingUS market phones
Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
| 256GB 8GB RAM | $ 1,199.99 |
$ 1,199.99 |
| 512GB 8GB RAM | $ 1,399.99 |
$ 1,399.99 |
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 2023 - buyer’s guide - Reader comments
- Anonymous
- bas
Almost every modern DAP runs circles around the LG DAC. There's literally no point to it. Additionally, almost every external DAC is better than LGs DAC. My point is that it's old tech and using the word "audiophile" is cringe AF....
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