The best Android phones (July 2020)

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Samsung Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus

What makes it “the best”

• The Note 10 Plus is one of the best Android phones overall thanks to a great mix of features, performance, and beautiful design.

Although the Galaxy S family is the most popular line of Samsung devices, the Galaxy Note line takes the power and versatility of the S line a few steps further. This is especially true with the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus.

Featuring the Snapdragon 855 (or the Exynos 9825, depending on market), 12GB of RAM, and a 6.8-inch AMOLED panel with the Infinity-O punch hole, this is a powerful phone. The design is equally attractive, though not necessarily massively different from the S line. On the downside, Note 10 Plus doesn’t offer a 1TB option, but the 256 and 512GB options should be more than enough for most.

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For those who love the S Pen, the Note 10 Plus continues to excel. This time around the S Pen even gets a few new tricks like gesture controls that let you do things like control your smartphone camera remotely just by waving your hand in certain ways.

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Google Pixel 4 and Google Pixel 4 XL

What makes it “the best”

• One of the best Android camera phones thanks to a combination of great camera software and a quality camera sensor. That’s even more impressive considering its one of the few single-camera setups left on the market.

The Pixel 4 family pack high-end specs like the Snapdragon 855 (paired with 6GB of RAM), but that’s not what makes these phones stand out. The Pixel series has always been great at photography and this continues with the Pixel 4 and Pixel 4 XL. The Pixel 4/XL camera captures more detail than the Pixel 3 series, handles white balance even better, and improves on HDR, portrait mode, and selfies.

Night Sight (Google’s name for night mode) is also better this time around than it was in the Pixel 3 series, and Google now offers a killer feature called astrophotography mode.

The Google Pixel 4 XL takes stunning photos, even if you’re a novice

When in Night Mode, if the Pixel 4 detects the light is low enough and the sky is visible it will enter astrophotography mode automatically. It then takes up to sixteen 15-second-long exposures, aligns and tweaks them in the background and pops out the kind of astrophotography you normally only get from a fancy DSLR and a lot of editing. The results speak for themselves and are truly incredible.

On the downside, there’s no ultra-wide sensor, unlike the iPhone 11 series and many flagship Android devices. Google also doesn’t prioritize video. While the iPhone 11 has 4K at 60fps on its front-facing camera, the Pixel 4 still doesn’t even support it on its primary camera. The Pixel 4/XL shoots decent looking 1080p video at 30, 60, and 120fps but you can only shoot 4K at 30fps. Bottom-line, if video is important to you, the Pixel 4 XL might not be the best option.

As for the rest of the experience? The Pixel 4 and 4 XL would be nearly perfect but suffer from well below-average battery life.

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Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro

What makes it “the best”

• One of the better Android phones overall thanks to powerful hardware, solid cameras, and a long-lasting battery.
• The quadruple-camera setup is very, very good.

The Mi 10 Pro is a flagship phone that competes with the Oppo Find X2, Huawei P40 Pro, and Samsung S20 family. It’s a heavy hitter designed to appeal to those who want the whole package: good looks and top performance.

The Xiaomi Mi 10 Pro sees the company focusing on four major tentpoles: the display, processor performance, battery life, and the camera. If these are the core features that might get you to part with your cash, Xiaomi has them in spades.

Xiaomi kept its design chops in check with the Mi 10 Pro, an unassuming, stealthy flagship that under promises and over delivers. The 90Hz display, fast battery, and quad-camera array make the Mi 10 Pro a serious contender in the premium space.

This $999 flagship seemingly has it all. Moreover, everyday usability is great thanks to the comfortable hardware, and the quality is top-notch. Of course those in the US won’t be able to officially get this phone, though it’s easy enough to find an imported version online.

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LG V60 ThinQ

What makes the LG V60 “the best”

• One of the best Android phones for audio hanks to LG’s DAC and its decision to keep the headphone jack in a world where few other flagships have it.

The LG V60 is very similar to the previously released G8x, at least in terms of basic principle. The phone is a massive device with its 6.9-inch pOLED display, as opposed to the G8x’s 6.4-inch screen. Other specs and features of the LG V60 include an in-display fingerprint scanner, wireless charging, IP68 water/dust resistance, and the Snapdragon 865 chipset. The phone also has stereo speakers and a humongous 5,000mAh battery.

For music lovers, LG is always a great option and this remains true with the LG V60. Not only does it sport a headphone jack, but it also offers a Hi-Fi Quad DAC for an improved audio experience.

The LG V60 is a major upgrade to its predecessor, the V50. It offers a fresh design that doesn’t make the same mistakes as other flagships, such as the Galaxy S20 series. It also offers a detachable second screen in the box for those looking for a dual-screen experience. The second display is exactly the same as the main display, meaning it measures 6.8 inches and offers Full HD+ resolution. It even has a notch, although it’s just for uniformity, as it lacks a selfie camera. It’s also much less costly than a true folding phone.

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OnePlus 8/8 Pro

What makes them “the best”

• One of the better value Android phone series thanks to competitive price tags and a big step up in overall features and quality.

OnePlus went for broke. Rather than bring new flagship killers to market, it made some killer flagships. The OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8 Pro are formidable handsets thanks to a bevy of features. The metal-and-glass designs are classy and the Snapdragon 865 processor means they have plenty of power to push through all the apps you can throw at them.

The three-camera system is capable, perhaps the most capable from OnePlus to date. It’s not quite up to the level of the Google Pixel 4 series, but the camera is close to the S20 and V60. Battery life on both handsets is excellent. Speaking of the battery, the OnePlus 8 Pro adopts wireless charging for the first time. Moreover, both phones introduce waterproof chassis for the first time.

These did, however, raise the prices a bit compared to previous generations. Where the OnePlus 7T series cost in the $600 – $800 range, the OnePlus 8 series costs in the $700 – $1,000 range. Budget flagships no more, but flagships nonetheless.

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Realme X3 Superzoom

What makes the Realme X3 Superzoom “the best”

• This phone provides a solid all-around experience at a reasonable price.

Inside, you will find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Plus processor, along with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of UFS 3.0 storage. You also get a big 6.6-inch FullHD+ IPS LCD display with a 120Hz refresh rate. There’s a 4,200mAh battery that should last about a day on a single charge, and you also get a 30W Dart fast charger that should charge the phone up in about an hour.

All of those impressive features come in a phone that costs just €499 in Europe, and £469 in the UK. If you want to get a handset that offers near-flagship hardware at about half the price, the Realme X3 Superzoom is an excellent choice. 

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That’s it for our list of the best Android phones you can buy, but it’s only a fraction of what’s out there. We also want to give a shout out to the Google Pixel 3a and 3a XL, which we recently removed from this list. While they are both still great phones, the Pixel 4a is just around the corner and that makes it kind of hard to recommend.

If you’re a gamer you might want to consider a gaming phone. Budget shoppers will want to check out our guide to the best cheap Android phones. Want to know what your carrier is offering? Check out our guides to the best Verizon phones, best AT&T phones, best Sprint, and best T-Mobile Android phones. Or, if you’re in the market for a new tablet, check out our list of best Android tablets.

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