This was the primary 12 months that an organization was capable of persuade me to change my main telephone from an iPhone to Android. Google’s Pixel 9 Professional was fingers down one of the best Android telephone this 12 months. With its seamless Gemini integration, stunning design, and superb options, it actually was the telephone that beat all telephones this 12 months.
We will’t low cost the OnePlus 12 as a result of not solely was it an incredible telephone, nevertheless it additionally helped Android Central decide that OnePlus actually has been essentially the most improved Android model of the 12 months.
I feel what shocked me essentially the most was that there weren’t that many nice foldable releases from Google or Samsung, and a lot of the higher foldable telephones this 12 months got here from manufacturers exterior of the U.S. Honor’s Magic V3 clearly made one of the best foldable this 12 months. After all, the telephone that persistently impresses me is the Razr Plus 2024, which was this 12 months’s finest flip telephone winner.
This is what a few of my colleagues must say concerning the winners. Congratulations!
Finest Android telephone: Google Pixel 9 Professional
Nick Sutrich: In a sea of telephones that really feel related, Google has performed a monumental job of constructing a telephone that feels totally different — even when it appears somewhat an excessive amount of like an iPhone on the skin for a few of us. The Google Pixel 9 Professional is Android Central’s favourite telephone of the 12 months due to its capacity to pack one of the best of the Pixel 9 Professional XL in a smaller physique, together with the killer triple rear cameras that used to solely come on the most important and most costly Pixel telephones.
Not solely that, however Google’s capacity to make use of Gemini on the core of the Pixel expertise to distinguish it from the pack is one thing to rejoice. Nice new apps like Pixel Screenshots are recreation changers for what Google does finest — search — whereas enhancements to the general interface and consumer expertise with helpful AI options made this the favourite of most Android Central workers.
It won’t have obtained the very best rating of all of the premium telephones we reviewed this 12 months, however there’s one thing particular concerning the Pixel 9 Professional that stored us coming again and wanting extra regardless of the faults we discovered with it.
Runner-up: OnePlus 12
Our runner-up is the OnePlus 12. I’ll admit it: I haven’t cared a couple of OnePlus telephone in years, and based mostly on the numbers, most of you haven’t both. However the OnePlus 12 modified all that, and it not solely received folks speaking concerning the model once more, nevertheless it additionally received them to start out shopping for OnePlus telephones once more.
All the pieces about this telephone displays one of the best of OnePlus. From feature-rich software program that’s blazing quick and smoother than every other telephone to stupidly quick charging that will get you a top-up in minutes and even one of the eye-friendly OLEDs within the enterprise, it’s almost inconceivable to not love the OnePlus 12. That makes it our runner-up for finest telephone of the 12 months.
Finest worth telephone: Google Pixel 8a
Harish Jonnalagadda: It ought to come as no shock that the Pixel 8a is one of the best mid-range telephone of 2024. It continues to have one of the best cameras on this class, and Google did an incredible job with the design this time — if something, I favor it to the Pixel 9 Professional on this regard. Whereas the digicam modules aren’t the most recent, Google excels at eking out the very best images and movies; there are different telephones that come near the Pixel 8a, however none can meet its consistency.
Google additionally made optimistic strides with the OLED panel, and it now goes as much as 120Hz and will get considerably brighter even underneath harsh daylight. These are all optimistic enhancements, nevertheless it’s the software program that makes the Pixel 8a actually stand out — it’s the solely mid-range telephone with a clear interface and long-term replace assure. With Google promising seven years of Android OS updates, it is going to keep related till 2031, which is not the case with every other inexpensive Android telephone.
Runner-up: OnePlus 12R
Coming in second is the OnePlus 12R. OnePlus determined to promote the telephone globally beginning this 12 months, and that finally turned out to be the fitting name; the telephone has one of the best {hardware} package deal on this section, and though I nonetheless give the sting to the Pixel 8a due to its software program, the 12R is a lot better at gaming, has a much bigger battery, and unmatched quick charging tech.
Finest digicam telephone: Vivo X100 collection
Nick Sutrich: Android Central workers voted on the finest telephone digicam of the 12 months, however the outcomes weren’t even shut. The Vivo X100 collection took house 14 of our 20 complete votes, and it’s no shock, given how successfully the telephone can change a DSLR-style digicam in most conditions. Vivo’s software program is extraordinarily user-friendly but provides highly effective choices for people who want it to do greater than they could anticipate from a telephone.
My favourite a part of the Vivo expertise is the convincing portrait-style images the telephone creates from almost any zoom stage and with any topic. Taking images of your meals is all of a sudden remodeled right into a magazine-quality expertise, and all the pieces from group images to panorama pictures is solely beautiful because of the telephone’s correct colours, crisp particulars, and talent to seize movement with out that telltale smartphone blur.
Runner-up: Google Pixel 9 Professional
The runner-up isn’t any shock as a result of Google Pixel telephones sometimes win one of the best digicam in any given 12 months. The Google Pixel 9 Professional is one of the best digicam you should buy within the U.S., no doubt. Google’s photograph high quality is all the time top-notch, and it is among the most dependable digicam telephones you should use. While you take a photograph with a Pixel, there’s virtually by no means a time it’s not a superb photograph.
Google ramped issues up a notch this 12 months with superior new options like Add Me, which assist get the photographer within the group shot by cleverly utilizing AI to sew two footage collectively. Due to some wonderful UI design and options which are persistently enjoyable to make use of, the Pixel 9 Professional is the digicam telephone to get when you can’t get a Vivo X100.
Finest foldable telephone: Honor Magic V3
Andrew Myrick: Effectively, would not you understand it? Neither Samsung nor Google will take house the “finest foldable telephone” crown in 2024. As a substitute, it is the Honor Magic V3 that continues to show heads and impress regardless of not even being out there in North America.
The Magic V3 packs a punch in all the fitting methods, beginning with a design that’s each extremely glossy and light-weight. As famous in our assessment, “The Galaxy S24 Extremely is 2g heavier than the Magic V3,” which is simply insane when you think about the V3 supplies a 6.43-inch cowl show and a 7.92-inch inside display.
Honor made only a few sacrifices with the Magic V3, with the most important situation being the “common battery life.” Moreover that, now we have flagship specs throughout the board, with the V3 being powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. Honor did not skimp on the cameras both, with the array comprised of a 50MP principal, 50MP periscope telephoto, and a 40MP ultrawide.
Runner-up: Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold
Coming in second place was the Pixel 9 Professional Fold, which Google took in a very surprising route. As a substitute of making an attempt to refine the passport model from the unique Pixel Fold, the 9 Professional Fold is extra according to the OnePlus Open and the aforementioned Honor Magic V3.
The Pixel 9 Professional Fold’s cowl display is identical measurement because the Pixel 9 whereas unfolding to disclose a stupendous 8-inch AMOLED show. It is powered by Google’s newest Tensor G4, paired with 16GB of RAM and as much as 512GB of storage. Even the battery life is improbable, simply lasting for greater than a day with common use. We simply actually want it had the identical cameras because the Pixel 9 Professional and 9 Professional XL.
Finest flip telephone: Motorola Razr Plus 2024
Derrek Lee: Motorola has had one thing of a resurgence lately. Whereas Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip lineup has been fairly same-y for the previous couple of generations, Motorola got here out of left discipline with a revamped Razr in 2023, then gave it a fairly substantial improve in 2024.
The Motorola Razr Plus 2024 is technically not essentially the most highly effective flip telephone in the marketplace — that distinction goes to the Galaxy Z Flip 6 and its extra highly effective chipset — nevertheless, Motorola makes up for it in different methods, with the general expertise culminating in a telephone that I haven’t needed to place down since I received my fingers on it. The design feels so refined with a robust hinge, IPX8 water resistance, and vegan leather-based on the again of each mannequin.
I even have virtually no complaints concerning the specs; the Snapdragon 8S Gen 3 and 12GB of RAM really feel loads speedy, the 4,000mAh battery doesn’t make me really feel nervous, and the brand new 50MP main digicam takes images that I can truly use. Plus, the 4-inch cowl display is a blast to make use of, with entry to almost all your apps.
Runner-up: Xiaomi Combine Flip
Whereas the Razr Plus 2024 gained almost unanimously, the runner-up was the Xiaomi Combine Flip, which includes a extra highly effective Snapdragon chipset and an equally giant (though larger by 0.01 inches) cowl display. As Xiaomi’s first flip telephone, the Combine Flip is kind of spectacular, with a shocking design, an incredible set of Leica-powered cameras, and an incredibly giant battery for a flip telephone. The one downside is that the telephone isn’t out there in North America or Australia.
Most improved Android model: OnePlus
Harish Jonnalagadda: OnePlus had a standout 2024, and the producer did not put a foot mistaken within the final 12 months. The OnePlus Open continues to be top-of-the-line foldables round, the OnePlus Pad 2 is a terrific mid-range pill, and the OnePlus 12R is a viable various to the Pixel 8a.
Nevertheless it’s the OnePlus 12 that is significantly notable. Whereas OnePlus rolled out flagships for the higher a part of a decade, its earlier efforts could not fairly measure as much as what Samsung, Xiaomi, Vivo, and Google needed to provide. That modified with the OnePlus 12, with the machine delivering a lot better cameras, a brighter AMOLED with eye-friendly tech, and class-leading battery life.
OnePlus managed to deal with a number of of its shortcomings this 12 months, and the truth that it now has gadgets to tackle one of the best flagships, in addition to mid-range telephones, makes it actually deserving of the moniker of essentially the most improved model of 2024.
