This was the primary 12 months that an organization was capable of persuade me to modify my major telephone from an iPhone to Android. Google’s Pixel 9 Professional was arms down the perfect Android telephone this 12 months. With its seamless Gemini integration, stunning design, and wonderful options, it really 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 amazing 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 many of the higher foldable telephones this 12 months got here from manufacturers exterior of the U.S. Honor’s Magic V3 clearly made the perfect foldable this 12 months. After all, the telephone that constantly impresses me is the Razr Plus 2024, which was this 12 months’s greatest flip telephone winner.
This is what a few of my colleagues must say in regards to the winners. Congratulations!
Finest Android telephone: Google Pixel 9 Professional
Nick Sutrich: In a sea of telephones that really feel related, Google has completed a monumental job of creating a telephone that feels totally different — even when it seems to be slightly an excessive amount of like an iPhone on the surface for a few of us. The Google Pixel 9 Pro is Android Central’s favourite telephone of the 12 months due to its capability to pack the perfect 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 costliest Pixel telephones.
Not solely that, however Google’s capability 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 greatest — search — whereas enhancements to the general interface and person expertise with helpful AI options made this the favourite of most Android Central employees.
It may not have acquired the very best rating of all of the premium telephones we reviewed this 12 months, however there’s one thing particular in regards to the Pixel 9 Professional that saved 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 few 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 bought folks speaking in regards to the model once more, nevertheless it additionally bought them to begin shopping for OnePlus phones once more.
The whole lot about this telephone reveals the perfect 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 crucial eye-friendly OLEDs within the enterprise, it’s almost unimaginable to not love the OnePlus 12. That makes it our runner-up for greatest 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 the perfect mid-range telephone of 2024. It continues to have the perfect cameras on this class, and Google did an amazing job with the design this time — if something, I want it to the Pixel 9 Professional on this regard. Whereas the digicam modules aren’t the newest, Google excels at eking out the absolute 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 beneath harsh daylight. These are all optimistic enhancements, nevertheless it’s the software program that makes the Pixel 8a really 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 affordable Android phone.
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 correct name; the telephone has the perfect {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 significantly better at gaming, has a much bigger battery, and unmatched quick charging tech.
Finest digicam telephone: Vivo X100 sequence
Nick Sutrich: Android Central employees voted on the best phone camera of the 12 months, however the outcomes weren’t even shut. The Vivo X100 sequence took house 14 of our 20 complete votes, and it’s no shock, given how successfully the telephone can replace a DSLR-style camera in most conditions. Vivo’s software program is extraordinarily user-friendly but provides highly effective choices for folk who want it to do greater than they may count on from a telephone.
My favourite a part of the Vivo experience is the convincing portrait-style images the telephone creates from almost any zoom degree and with any topic. Taking images of your meals is abruptly remodeled right into a magazine-quality expertise, and all the pieces from group images to panorama photographs is just beautiful due to 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 usually win the perfect digicam in any given 12 months. The Google Pixel 9 Professional is the perfect digicam you should buy within the U.S., surely. Google’s picture high quality is all the time top-notch, and it is without doubt one of the most dependable digicam telephones you need to use. While you take a photograph with a Pixel, there’s virtually by no means a time it’s not a great picture.
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. Because of some glorious UI design and options which are constantly enjoyable to make use of, the Pixel 9 Professional is the digicam telephone to get should 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 “greatest 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 correct methods, beginning with a design that’s each extremely modern and lightweight. As famous in our overview, “The Galaxy S24 Extremely is 2g heavier than the Magic V3,” which is simply insane when you think about the V3 gives 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.” In addition to that, we now 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 important, 50MP periscope telephoto, and a 40MP ultrawide.
Runner-up: Google Pixel 9 Professional Fold
Coming in second place was the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, which Google took in a very surprising course. As a substitute of trying to refine the passport type from the unique Pixel Fold, the 9 Professional Fold is extra consistent with the OnePlus Open and the aforementioned Honor Magic V3.
The Pixel 9 Professional Fold’s cowl display is identical dimension because the Pixel 9 whereas unfolding to disclose a wonderful 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 incredible, 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 in recent times. 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 phone available on the market — 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 wished to place down since I bought my arms on it. The design feels so refined with a powerful hinge, IPX8 water resistance, and vegan leather-based on the again of each mannequin.
I even have virtually no complaints in regards to 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 major digicam takes images that I can truly use. Plus, the 4-inch cover screen 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 Mix Flip, which encompasses 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 sort of spectacular, with a shocking design, an amazing set of Leica-powered cameras, and a surprisingly giant battery for a flip telephone. The one drawback 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 fallacious within the final 12 months. The OnePlus Open remains 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 supply. That modified with the OnePlus 12, with the machine delivering much 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 the perfect flagships, in addition to mid-range telephones, makes it really deserving of the moniker of essentially the most improved model of 2024.
