Searching for a New iPhone or Android Cellphone? Learn This Earlier than You Purchase
2025’s best phones, like the colourful orange iPhone 17 Pro, the Android all-rounder Google Pixel 10 Pro and the persistently high-perfoming Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra share many issues. All of them supply wonderful efficiency and include unimaginable digicam setups. Then there’s the huge, vibrant shows and the host of funky new AI expertise, all of which makes these flagship telephones the height of what cellular tech can supply. It is also no shock that these fan-favorite phones have one thing else in frequent, too: whopping worth tags.
Costing $1,000 and extra, at the moment’s greatest telephones are out of attain for a lot of — or are merely pointless for these of us who simply need an on a regular basis handset for retaining in contact with buddies or scrolling by Instagram on the bus. Fortunately, there’s an enormous array of choices on the market catering to all wants and budgets, whether or not you are in search of top-end mannequin or a extra inexpensive choice, just like the CNET Editors’ Alternative award-winning Nothing Phone 3A Pro.
You’d assume the huge variety of decisions would make purchasing easy. However the actuality is that generally all of the choices make it extra complicated. That will help you reduce by among the jargon and spend your cash sensibly, I’ve put collectively suggestions for getting a telephone.
The way to purchase a brand new telephone: High phone-buying suggestions
- Know what you care about most: Is it display dimension? Digital camera high quality? Battery life? It will assist slim down your decisions. Telephones just like the iPhone 17 Professional, Galaxy S25 Extremely or Xiaomi 15 Ultra, for instance, pack unimaginable cameras that nearly rival the standard you’d get from a mirrorless digicam. In the event you’re eager on images and all the time need to carry an excellent digicam for when inspiration strikes, then spending cash right here is a good suggestion. If not, you may seemingly save your self a bundle.
- Do not low cost the midrange: Options of final yr’s flagships all the time trickle right down to this yr’s midrange handsets.You will get an awesome telephone that does virtually every thing {that a} premium telephone can do for a fraction of the value. Google’s Pixel 10 Professional packs an awesome zoom digicam, however the base Pixel 10 has a lot of the similar key specs and comes at a extra cheap worth. Even lower-end telephones just like the Nothing Cellphone 3A Professional supply an awesome expertise and asks for little money in return.
- Store the gross sales: Search for deep reductions and promo offers round main holidays, particularly Amazon’s Prime Day and Black Friday. And discover out what your grace interval is in case you want a fast return or alternate.
- Think about final yr’s telephones: They will typically be an awesome deal, too. Await this yr’s launch to get final yr’s telephone for much less, when shops and carriers could also be making an attempt to dump their present inventory. You must also test for used choices as these can prevent a ton of cash, so long as no matter you purchase nonetheless receives safety updates.
- Maintain the telephone at a retailer first: Chances are you’ll love or hate the way in which it seems and feels in particular person.
- Test when you’re already invested: Have you ever already purchased numerous iPhone apps and iTunes films? Stick to an iPhone when you nonetheless need entry to them. Likewise, when you’ve invested in a great deal of Android apps, you will need to keep on that facet of the fence. In any other case, it is easy sufficient to switch platforms.
- Purchase a case and display protector: You will shield your telephone from expensive injury and can improve the telephone’s resale or trade-in worth for whenever you’re prepared to maneuver on. In the event you’re cautious with how you employ your telephone, it should last for years.
Smartphone efficiency vs. price range
Typically, efficiency strains up with value. The very newest, best know-how often comes at a premium. Flagship telephones pack the perfect cameras, probably the most highly effective processors and should even sport cutting-edge tech like foldable displays. The excessive costs imply that these telephones are price contemplating solely by those that need absolutely the newest tech of their pockets.
Not everybody wants such high tech, nonetheless, or might merely be unwilling to spend the $1,000 or extra sometimes required to get it. Fortunately, the midrange sector of the telephone world has been one of many fiercest battlegrounds for firms to compete in, leading to some wonderful telephones that will not break the financial institution. Options like wi-fi charging and cameras with a number of lenses that have been as soon as the area of flagships at the moment are commonplace on midrange telephones.
Even price range telephones will nonetheless supply first rate digicam high quality and sufficient energy so that you can get pleasure from your whole on a regular basis internet shopping, WhatsApp-ing and Instagramming.
Display screen dimension
All telephones have gotten steadily larger over the previous few years, with the iPhone 17 Professional Max and Galaxy S25 Extremely measuring a whopping 6.9 inches. Small telephones aren’t that frequent anymore, with virtually no telephones measuring beneath six inches in dimension.
Apple killed off its iPhone Mini line, and whereas its 2022 iPhone SE remained the smallest iPhone you may purchase, the corporate changed it with the 6.1 inch iPhone 16E, which hardly qualifies as small. On the Android facet, the Google Pixel 8A’s 6.1-inch show makes it one of many higher smaller telephones, however just like the iPhone 16E, it is hardly what you’d name tiny. Google changed it with the Pixel 9A and in so doing elevated the display dimension to six.3 inches. Sorry, small telephone followers, seems such as you’re out of luck.
Software program assist interval
A telephone stays protected to make use of solely so long as it receives safety updates from the producer to guard it from hackers. Prior to now, this was a much bigger concern since most telephones have been supported for simply two or three years, leaving them with a brief shelf life. Right now, nonetheless, prolonged assist has change into a aggressive function, with Google now providing a powerful seven years of software program and safety updates on its newest telephones.
It means the latest Pixel 10 Professional will nonetheless be protected to make use of in 2032, whereas Samsung has promised an identical assist interval for its Galaxy S25 vary. Samsung’s Galaxy S20, launched in 2020, acquired its ultimate safety replace in 2024, nonetheless, so it is essential to verify how lengthy your telephone of alternative shall be protected to make use of, particularly when you’re shopping for an older telephone on the used market. An extended assist interval not solely offers you higher worth for cash over the lifetime of the machine, it is also higher for the planet, because it retains older, however nonetheless usable telephones out of landfill and reduces the variety of new gadgets being made and shipped.
Digital camera efficiency
Digital camera options have been a serious level for bragging rights in latest telephones, with producers all the time wanting a much bigger, extra thrilling quantity, be it the variety of megapixels or amount of precise digicam lenses. Three rear cameras at the moment are frequent — a daily lens, an ultrawide lens and a telephoto lens — with even budget-focused telephones packing a number of cameras.
Learn extra: Best Camera Phone to Buy in 2025
That is nice, as extra lenses imply extra capturing choices whenever you’re out and about. However that does not imply that any multilens digicam is nearly as good as one other. As with processor efficiency, the extra you spend, the higher the outcomes you will sometimes get, with the very best cameras round often being discovered on the costliest flagships.
Look out for options like optical (reasonably than digital) zooms, night time mode for higher low-light pictures, and optical picture stabilization. Generally these options may not be clear, and it isn’t potential to evaluate a digicam’s efficiency simply by trying on the specs. In the event you actually care about your telephone’s images expertise, then take a while to take a look at the evaluations and see how its digicam performs earlier than you spend your cash.
Battery life
Most telephones, from the price range finish by to elite flagships, can final most of a day on a single cost. Greater telephones may need larger batteries, however additionally they have larger screens and sometimes extra highly effective processors, so that they suck that further juice down rapidly. Few telephones gives you greater than a day of use. Listed here are some issues to remember:
- All the time plan on giving your telephone a full cost in a single day.
- Search for options like quick charging, that enable your telephone to tackle numerous energy in a brief area of time. Some telephones, just like the OnePlus 15, assist 80W quick charging that can take it from empty to full in round half-hour. Test to see in case your telephone comes with a appropriate quick charger although, as an previous USB plug seemingly will not supply the ability output required.
- Your battery will last more when you keep away from extra demanding duties corresponding to gaming or video streaming. Maintaining the display brightness down will assist too and when you’re actually making an attempt to eke out that previous few p.c to assist get you house, turning off Wifi and Bluetooth can even assist.
Processor efficiency
High-end telephones pack highly effective processors together with 12GB of RAM or much more. It is sufficient to make these telephones run any activity with out breaking a sweat, however you needn’t spend flagship degree cash to get nice efficiency.
Most first rate midrange telephones supply sufficient energy to deal with your whole on a regular basis wants. You will nonetheless be capable of play virtually any recreation from the Google Play retailer and edit your high-resolution photos in apps corresponding to Snapseed or Adobe Lightroom. There’s little you may throw at most midrange telephones that they would not be capable of deal with.
As you progress into the price range finish of the spectrum, that is whenever you’ll begin to discover some slowdown with issues like gaming. Extra demanding 3D video games would possibly look extra stuttery and should even unexpectedly give up. Nonetheless, primary duties corresponding to sending emails, listening to Spotify and shopping Instagram should not be an issue.
4G or 5G?
5G is the most recent customary that guarantees lightning-fast cellular knowledge speeds whenever you’re out and about. Whereas 5G protection nonetheless is not all over the place but, it is widespread sufficient that you need to completely look towards a 5G telephone. And that is straightforward, as virtually all of them are, from top-end flagships right down to entry-level price range telephones.
The one cause you need to think about shopping for a 4G telephone now could be when you’re trying on the used market and you’ve got discovered deal on an older-generation mannequin that can tide you over for a few years.
How a lot telephone storage do you want?
Most telephones, even the price range ones, include at the least 64GB of storage, of which 10 could also be taken up by preinstalled apps and the telephone’s working system. In the event you do not plan on recording video, and gaming is not your factor, 64GB could be sufficient, however in any other case you need to think about 128GB to be a safer minimal.
Greater-end telephones — notably these that may report prime quality 4K video — supply capacities of 256GB or extra. With that a lot area, you will barely have to assume twice about having to filter out previous recordsdata.
If the telephone helps microSD playing cards then it is a totally different matter, as you may decide up 32GB microSD playing cards (or larger) for little or no cash lately and popping one into your telephone will dramatically improve the quantity of storage you will have entry to. Sadly, expandable storage is a really uncommon function on telephones lately. Nonetheless, most telephones will assist exterior storage over USB-C, so when you’re happening vacation and need to shoot numerous high-resolution video, taking a small SSD drive to dump your footage to could be a good suggestion.
Bonus options
Many of those options at the moment are frequent on telephones at varied worth factors and are price retaining in thoughts whenever you’re purchasing.
- Fingerprint scanner or face unlock: A scanner could also be on the again and even invisibly constructed into the show. Biometric safety, because it’s known as, is safer than having to recollect a PIN.
- Water resistant: Do you typically take calls within the rain? Search for a telephone with at the least an IP67 ranking to maintain it protected from water and spilled drinks. That is fairly frequent on most higher-end telephones lately.
- Wi-fi charging: That is obtainable on many telephones, with some now providing quicker wi-fi charging speeds, so long as you employ a appropriate charging pad.
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