1. Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra: Best smartphone overall
Price when reviewed: £1,249 | Check price at Amazon
- Great for… exceptional telephoto cameras and unrivalled battery life
- Not so great for… shoppers on a budget
The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra gets almost everything right. Yes, it’s very expensive, but for the price you get unparalleled performance with blistering speeds from the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy processor. The S24 Ultra also has the best battery life that we’ve measured on any smartphone to date.
All of that power comes encased in a sturdy and wonderfully tactile titanium frame, which feels as sturdy as any iPhone. And Samsung’s latest generation of phones debuts Galaxy AI, which adds smart features such as generative fill for rotated images, frame interpolation for video, and circle to search. For more details on Galaxy AI, read our full review (linked below); in summary, we found the convenience and efficacy of features on offer to be very impressive.
Top it all off with a robust camera suite that surpassed our already high expectations, a bright and beautiful QHD+ display and a new S Pen stylus and there’s no doubt about it – if you have the money, the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra is the best smartphone you can buy right now.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra review for more details
Key specs – Processor: Octa-core 3.39GHz Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 for Galaxy; Screen: 6.8in, 3,120 x 1,440; Camera: 200MP, 50MP (5x zoom), 10MP (3x zoom), 12MP (wide); Storage: 256GB, 512GB, 1TB; Operating system: Android 14
2. Motorola Moto G54 5G: Best budget buy
Price when reviewed: £149 | Check price at Amazon
- Great for… impressive performance and striking display
- Not so great for… long-term support and night photography
Motorola makes some excellent budget phones, and the Moto G54 5G might just be its best yet. The display is particularly impressive, hitting a level of colour accuracy and contrast in our testing that’s unusual in this price range. Performance punches well above its weight too, with CPU scores rivalling handsets that cost a lot more.
The camera works well in good lighting conditions, producing natural-looking images with a good tonal balance and plenty of detail – but it can struggle a little in low light. We were also disappointed to note that Motorola hasn’t committed to future OS updates beyond Android 14, so you shouldn’t expect to get any major new features after this year’s release.
Even so, the Moto G54 5G is a great deal. It has one of the best displays of any budget smartphone, strong performance and a solid main camera – for a ridiculously affordable price.
Key specs – Processor: Octa-core 2.2GHz MediaTek Dimensity 7020; Screen: 6.5in, 2,400 x 1,080; Camera: 50MP, 2MP (macro); Storage: 256GB; Operating system: Android 13
Apple till the end
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