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The best Android phones of 2023
If you’re looking for a new mobile, we’ve tested and ranked the best Android phones on the market. Here’s what you should consider before getting your next phone.
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Finder's expert team has tested and reviewed dozens of phones to come up with our list of the best Android smartphones. During testing, we consider the performance, battery life, cameras, design and overall value for money.
Our editorial team selected the phones on this list based on their overall quality and value compared to other phones on the market. The selection and order are not based on review scores. If you are willing to consider an Apple iPhone, you can also compare our full list of the best phones of 2022.
If you want the best in overall Android performance, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the phone to buy, particularly if you enjoy mobile gaming.
It's powered by an overclocked Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor with a top speed of 3.36GHz. In our benchmarks, it beat every other phone for graphics performance, meaning it will handle any app you throw at it without crashing.
For photography buffs it boasts a 200MP camera, which can not only produce poster-size prints but will let you crop and reframe shots in great detail. If you want to take selfies, you'll be able to do so with a 12MP front camera.
The S23 Ultra comes equipped with a 5,000mAh battery that purports to last 13 hours between charges. In our tests, we typically got through a full day with 30% battery life remaining, which is a solid result.
What really sets the Galaxy S23 Ultra apart from other Androids is the Galaxy S Pen. This is an inbuilt stylus that can be used with a host of writing and drawing applications. For creative types and certain professionals, this is an extremely handy tool to have.
More than 40,000 customers on Amazon, Google reviews, The Good Guys, Product Review and JB Hi-Fi gave the phone a perfect rating of 5 stars. This result is hardly surprising given the features listed above.
Despite launching in February 2023, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is still incredibly expensive. You're looking at a street price of around $2,000 for the 256GB model, although it does regularly go on sale.
The Nokia XR21 doesn't come with the fancy perks of other phones on this list. In fact, it even lacks a few basics such as wireless charging and USB-C.
What the phone does offer is ultra-sturdy construction. With a polymer composite back and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus front, the Nokia XR21 is one of the toughest phones on the market.
It's resistant to scratching, drops, water and dust, making it a great choice for people who lead adventurous lifestyles (or are just exceptionally clumsy).
Nokia claims its phone is able to withstand drops of up to 1.8 metres onto hard surfaces. The IP68 waterproof rating means it can survive 60 minutes at depths of up to 1.5 metres.
It will continue to work in temperatures between -21 and 55 degrees Celsius which covers most of the inhabited world.
Other noteworthy features include robust dual speakers, a 64-megapixel AI camera, ongoing monthly security updates and an impressive 2-day battery life.
It also comes with a 3-year warranty in the unlikely event you manage to break this phone.
If photography is important to you, it is hard to look past the Samsung Galaxy S23 series, of which the S23 Ultra is the pick of the bunch.
It boasts a massive 200MP primary camera which far exceeds any of its competitors. This allows you to take crispy images, no matter the light. The high megapixel count is particularly useful for post-shot editing – you can crop to your heart's content with minimal loss in picture quality.
Adding to this is an AI-enhanced Nightography mode, which allows you to capture 30fps 8K video at night without compromise. There is a marked improvement in low-light photography compared to the S22 Ultra.
Alongside the primary wide 200MP sensor, the Galaxy S23 Ultra also features a 12MP front-facing selfie camera, 12MP ultra-wide and dual 10MP telephoto lenses at 3x and 10x optical zoom respectively.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has the added bonus of a 100x zoom meaning you'll be able to capture all of life's moments regardless of how far away you are.
For those who are on a bit more of a budget you can't go past the Oppo A17. With over 8,000 positive reviews across Google reviews, Product Review and Amazon, this phone offers plenty of value to customers.
The Oppo A17 provides excellent bang for buck, with an original RRP of just $259. You can now find it even cheaper, with most stores selling the device for $229 or under.
So what do you get for your 200-odd dollarydoos? Quite a lot, as it turns out.
The phone's 720p, 60Hz display is surprisingly good, as is the overall build quality. We especially like the look and feel of the pleather back, which is not something you typically see on a budget phone.
Featuring a 50MP rear camera, you'll be able to capture high-quality images, even in dark areas. Just don't expect flagship-level results – this is a budget camera, after all.
Another handy perk of the Oppo A 17 is its long battery life. You can expect around 20 hours on a full charge, which should easily get you through a day of heavy usage.
The latest-generation Pixel boasts a powerful Google Tensor G3 processor and an AMOLED display with a 1–120Hz refresh rate making it the brightest screen in a smartphone yet.
Google also had a big focus on its camera this year, with a 50MP main camera, 48MP ultra-wide and 48MP 5x telephoto packed into the rear of the camera. Naturally, there's also a 10.5MP selfie camera, offering 21% more light sensitivity than its predecessor.
But where the camera system really shines is with its editing software, which uses generative AI to help you bring your photos to life. Photos will be especially enamoured by the Magic Editor tool which allows you to remove people and objects, adjust lighting and merge photos at the stroke of a finger.
For the first time ever in a Pixel phone, Google has also added a thermometer feature so you can quickly get the temperature of things by scanning them.
The Pixel 8 Pro boasts 72-hour battery life with Extreme Battery Saver enabled, or around 24 hours in its normal mode. In practice, you can expect it to get through a full day of heavy usage between charges.
If you prefer to hold onto the same phone for as long as possible, the Pixel 8 Pro is your best option. As of 2023, Google is committing to 7 years of full software support, including ongoing OS and security updates. That's better than any other phone on the market.
Unsurprisingly, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra was also chosen as the best Samsung phone.
The flagship Samsung phone is a hit with its customers based on a number of cool features. Firstly it has a 200MP camera, meaning you'll be able to take and print poster-size photos.
It also makes gaming easier, with its Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 Galaxy processor, meaning faster speeds for the phone.
Finally, it has a number of user-friendly features such as the mighty S pen, a 6.8-inch screen and an ultra display that is bright even in sunlight meaning you can use your phone pretty much anywhere.
The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has over 40,000 positive customer reviews on popular websites such as Google reviews, Product Review, JB Hi-Fi and Amazon.
With its striking design, gorgeous QHD+ display and one of the market's top cameras, it should come as no surprise that the Find X5 Pro is our pick for best Oppo phone.
Having originally launched in 2022, the Oppo Find X5 Pro is beginning to show its age. However, there's a very good reason we didn't choose the newer X6 Pro – it's a Chinese-only model with no English software support.
The Find X5 Pro is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chipset that originally debuted back in 2021. While playing the latest AAA games might cause lag issues, for most apps the CPU continues to hold up well.
Where the Oppo Find X5 Pro really shines is its camera which was created in partnership with Swedish photography giant Hasselblad. It packs in a 50MP wide, 50MP ultra-wide and 13MP telephoto lenses, as well as a 32MP selfie cam.
The main camera excels in dim environments, pulling in as much light as possible and highlighting subjects with little to no graininess. On the downside, you're limited to a 2x optical zoom which is seriously underpowered.
The 6.7-inch 3,216 x 1,440 display boasts an impressive 97% screen-to-body ratio. With a pixel density of 525ppi, a peak brightness of 1,300 nits and a smooth 120Hz refresh rate, the Find X5 Pro is one of the best phones on the market when it comes to video playback. The picture is crystal clear and colours really pop.
If you're in the market for an Android and want something other than a Samsung or Pixel, the Oppo Find X5 Pro is a solid option.
Why you should compare the best Android phones in Australia
Google's Android operating system runs more phones than any other, having entirely seen off Windows Phone and taken significant market share from Apple's iOS. It's where we see the most innovation, year in and year out – whether it's in battery capacity, new camera features or consumer-friendly ways to make each Android device your own.
That means it's much more than just a game of comparing specifications, especially as the vast majority of premium phones run off the same OS and mostly the same core processors. Premium Android phones bring features such as improved camera optics, wireless charging, large high-resolution displays and stylish finishes with robust glass.
AMOLED displays don't need a backlight – screen pixels are actually turned off to produce blacks, which can save energy. Super AMOLED has improved visibility in direct sunlight. LCDs use a backlight, which reduces contrast. An IPS LCD has truer colour reproduction and looks better when you view the screen at an angle.
RAM
RAM is your phone's short-term memory. When you use an app, instead of writing data to your phone's internal storage or SD card (long-term memory), the data is stored in the device's RAM so it can be recalled quickly and easily when it's needed. The more RAM, the better – and in the premium space, that typically means 4GB or more. When the RAM reaches capacity on an Android phone, RAM is recycled through a memory-heavy process called garbage collection.
Megapixels
MP is short for megapixels and is generally accepted as a guide for image quality. More megapixels doesn't mean a better-looking photo. Megapixels are about the maximum size of the image in relation to image quality. The more megapixels, the larger you can blow up your picture without it becoming distorted.
Sensor size
Too many megapixels for a small image sensor will ruin the image quality.
Amazon prices last updated on 5 December, 2023 at 08:01 ameBay prices last updated on 5 December, 2023 at 09:13 am
How did we pick this list?
150+ Mobile phones reviewed
10,000+ Hours spent testing
7 Best Android phones ranked
We've spent thousands of hours testing and reviewing mobile phones.
Our editorial team has a combined 60+ years of experience writing about tech and reviewing the latest devices.
The phones on this list are chosen by our editorial team and are not based on commercial relationships.
Why you can trust our picks
For every phone we test, we consider the design, including screen quality, layout, the presence or absence of features like removable storage or headphone jacks and security features like facial ID or fingerprint scanners.
We also test and weigh up all aspects of phone camera performance, including how well any special camera features work and how they each compare to similarly priced phones in terms of capturing harder subjects such as fast-moving objects and shots in low light. Both front and rear cameras are carefully considered.
We use a range of benchmarks and real-world tests to evaluate how the phone's performance compares to other available phones. Benchmarks can give us a comparative picture of where a phone might sit relative to other devices. However, it's only in using a phone to its full capacity, including any device-specific software, and evaluating how well it works for everyday tasks like web browsing or social media, that we can get a fully rounded performance picture. We also look at network features, including call quality and support for network standards like 4G and 5G, when making our evaluations.
Manufacturer battery life claims don't always reflect real-life results. That's why for each phone, we test with a standardised video test in order to get a comparative feel of how each phone handles battery stress as well as using it over multiple days to see how it stands up to regular usage. As part of our battery testing, we also consider charging options, including charging rates for those phones that can take a larger wattage.
Finally, with every other consideration tested and ranked, we also look at the price of the phone relative to other similar devices available at the time of testing. The best phones in the market aren't going to be the cheapest. But with a trend towards ever more expensive handsets, it's never been more vital to ensure that you're getting value for money, which is why we factor in the cost of a phone only after we've considered every other performance aspect. We have consciously included several non-flagship models so there is an option for most budgets.
We value our editorial independence, basing our comparison results, content and reviews on objective analysis without bias. But Finder may receive compensation when you click links on our site. Learn more about how we make money from our partners.
Frequently asked questions
The Samsung Galaxy S23 series is the pick of the Android phones, although it is in a hotly contested market. The Galaxy series wins on its powerhouse performance, excellent camera, built-in S pen and stylish design. However, there are a spate of Android phones that offer different features and come in at different costs. As such, you should weigh up what you want in a device and match it to costs.
Regardless of which Android you choose it won't feel exactly the same, although the Pixel 8 comes pretty close. If you're looking to switch from iOS this is the perfect starter phone.
iOS is the operating system specifically designed for Apple devices such as iPhones, MacBooks and iPads. Android is a mobile operating system designed for tablets and smartphones. All companies can use Android on their devices, while iOS is mostly exclusive to Apple products.
Because many companies use Android as a mobile operating system, many hackers target these devices. Since it's also easy to customise, Android users can unintentionally create a weakness in their devices that hackers might exploit.
Android devices usually have the necessary features to secure your phone from viruses and other security risks. But you can still download and install separate antivirus software for extra protection.
To better protect your Android phone, use 2-factor authentication and phone locks. Download apps only from the Google Play Store and don't use unknown Wi-Fi and Bluetooth connections.
Chris Jager is the editorial lead for shopping at Finder. With over 16 years of experience as a full-time journalist, Chris has provided expertise to many leading technology publications, including PC World, Australian Gamepro, Good Gear Guide, ARN, IT News, PC Authority, CRN, GameSpy, Gizmodo, Business Insider, MSN, Kotaku, Lifehacker Australia, Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.
Before joining Finder, Chris was the editor of Lifehacker Australia for 5 years. He has a Bachelor of Communications in Journalism from the University of Western Sydney. Outside of Finder, you'll find him playing with retro '80s computers while juggling 3 TikTok-obsessed daughters.
We've gone snap-happy to sort and rank the very best phones for photographers, whether you're a seasoned pro or just somebody who wants the sharpest photos every time you hit the shutter button.
Looking for an alternative to your iPhone? We've rounded up the best smartphone alternatives whether your passion is for better photography or more battery life.
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