It is easy to assume that the very best telephones in 2025 are rising stale. The product class has matured over the previous twenty years, and plenty of updates are incremental. As an illustration, the latest Samsung Galaxy S25 sequence seems to be just like the Galaxy S24 lineup with a couple of tweaks. Comparable issues may be stated concerning the newest iPhones and latest Pixels, to a lesser diploma.
In actual fact, Android Central’s resident telephone skilled, Nicholas Sutrich, previewed the marketplace for smartphones in 2025 on the finish of final yr with an outlook that could possibly be described as miserable. He is proper. For many telephone patrons in North America, this yr shall be similar to the final one — full of incremental updates, rising costs, and little selection.
This is the factor: it would not should be this fashion. Smartphone patrons within the U.S. particularly silo themselves when shopping for their handsets, typically sticking to a handful of cellular carriers and even fewer telephone manufacturers. It is a phenomenon that appears to solely exist in North America.
Put merely, shopping for smartphones by service contracts is a foul thought. It limits your choices, restricts your flexibility, and may find yourself costing you extra in the long term. It is easy to see how.
Samsung routinely provides boosted trade-in values for telephones, however you’ll be able to’t make the most of them until your telephone is paid off. Wish to pay your telephone off early to maximise your trade-in worth? You will seemingly lose all of the reductions and promotions you bought once you purchased your present telephone out of your service.
The same state of affairs happens should you break your telephone and do not have insurance coverage. Say your telephone is just too broken to repair and also you want a brand new one — you can be hit with a large invoice that features the quantity wanted to repay your present telephone, plus the worth of a brand new one and any service charges that apply.
These are only a few causes that you simply may wish to contemplate shopping for a telephone outright in 2025 relatively than buying it from a cellular community supplier — like AT&T, T-Cell, or Verizon. However there are different causes, like the provision of extra telephone manufacturers and fashions past what you see in your service shops. Primarily based on what I’ve seen from the telephone market in late 2024 and early 2025, there are many thrilling and enjoyable smartphones accessible should you look past the restrictions imposed by carriers.
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The OnePlus 13 and OnePlus 13R are two nice telephones to begin with as a result of they’re wise choices. The OnePlus 13 is a $900 telephone with {hardware} that may match or beat the $1,299 Samsung Galaxy S25 Extremely, which is fairly thrilling to me. On high of that, the telephone has IP68 and IP69 safety towards mud and water ingress. In different phrases, you’ll be able to stick the OnePlus 13 in a dishwasher, and it ought to survive (although we do not suggest you attempt it).
The OnePlus 13 is not the one telephone in 2025 that may survive a dishwasher run. The Honor Magic 7 Professional is dishwasher-safe as effectively, and I noticed it used as a chopping board, too. If that is not enjoyable, I truthfully do not know what’s.
Again to the wise nature of this part, it is exhausting to overlook the OnePlus 13R. It delivers flagship specs for $600, and that is downright cool. I believe there are lots of individuals in North America which were conditioned by Apple and Samsung to assume that flagships should price $1,000 or above. In 2025, that could not be extra flawed. There has by no means been a time when $500 or $600 may get you extra in a smartphone.
As a telephone reviewer, I typically check out a wide range of assessment items annually. However I additionally purchase manner too many telephones and different devices with my very own cash, and I’ve by no means been extra conflicted about which one to purchase. The OnePlus 13 is the wise choice, like I stated, though there are lots of others that match the “enjoyable” invoice higher.
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A type of units is the ASUS ROG Telephone 9 Professional. It got here to the U.S. in January and is just a beastly and distinctive gaming telephone. The ROG Telephone 9 Professional has a loud design with nods to ASUS’ gaming aesthetic, however issues actually get loopy with “Anime Imaginative and prescient.” That is what ASUS calls the LED show on the again of ROG Telephone 9 Professional, which incorporates 648 particular person white and crimson LEDs.
You may put logos, textual content, and different designs on the again of your smartphone with the ROG Telephone 9 Professional. Should you’re not impressed but, the ROG Telephone 9 Professional’s again LED show can really be used to play retro-style mini-games and present your telephone’s battery proportion. From a {hardware} perspective, the ROG Telephone 9 Professional has a 3.5mm headphone jack and two USB-C ports designed to connect with equipment like controllers or a cooling fan.
Severely, anybody who thinks telephones aren’t enjoyable these days is not trying exhausting sufficient. The ASUS ROG Telephone 9 Professional is likely one of the most enjoyable units I’ve ever seen, and I would pay over $1,000 simply to get my fingers on one.
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Lastly, I believe it is price emphasizing how a lot aptitude and customization may be added to telephones, particularly these bought outdoors the U.S. For instance, the TECNO Spark 30 Bumblebee Version is designed like a Transformer, which is insanely cool for robotic nerds like myself. If superheroes are extra your fashion, there’s the Poco X7 Professional Iron Man version, which wants no introduction.
It doesn’t matter what type of smartphone purchaser you’re, there is a “enjoyable” gadget for you in 2025. Like a brilliant sturdy smartphone? The OnePlus 13 is best for you. Want a flagship on a funds? Do not rely out the OnePlus 13R. Need a telephone so cool it will get into ludicrous {hardware} territory? That is the ASUS ROG Telephone 9 Professional, plain and easy. Wish to categorical your fandoms with no case or pores and skin? The Bumblebee or Iron Man telephones are insanely neat.
It is true that the greatest Android telephones from manufacturers like Samsung or Google can get boring. Nonetheless, it could be a mistake to restrict your self to these corporations or to no matter your mobile service provides. There’s an entire lot of telephones on the market, they usually’re extra enjoyable than ever.
