Best phones in 2022: The top smartphones rated

We test and rate the best phones because you deserve a handset that has it all. The best phones deliver great cameras, the performance you need to multitask and enough battery life to last the whole day.

To help you pick the best smartphone for you, we test dozens of handsets in the lab and in the real world to bring you in-depth reviews and make recommendations you can trust. We also compare the best camera phones side by side to see which devices offer the best image quality.

With strong options available at all price levels, you don't have to spend a lot to get something great. You can get a solid mid-range phone that delivers all the features you need for under $500.

Our best phones list has something for everyone, including great bargains and amazing flagships for those willing to pay a premium. We've ranked all the top phones based on our testing. Here are the top smartphones right now.

What are the best phones?

Based on our testing, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is the best phone you can buy right now. It delivers a 120Hz ProMotion display along with the best cameras in a phone. This includes a new macro mode, Cinematic mode for video and brighter images in low light. Plus, you get over 12 hours of battery life in our testing. The iPhone 13 Pro is great as well if you prefer a smaller 6.1-inch display, as it has all the same features.

The regular iPhone 13 is the best phone under $800, as you get a brighter display than the iPhone 12 and improved wide and ultra-wide cameras that are a step ahead of Android phones, plus blistering performance from the A15 Bionic processor and long battery life.

If you prefer Android, the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the top premium phone, as it delivers the brightest and more colorful display we've tested, a built-in S Pen that's 70% faster than before and much improved cameras. The Galaxy S22 Plus is another solid choice if you don't need an S Pen or super powerful zoom.

But if you're looking for a great Android experience that's more affordable, try either the Pixel 6 or Pixel 6 Pro, which feature both Android 12 and a Google-built Tensor chip that enables smart AI features. And the relatively low prices are great.

Those on a budget should also stick with Google. The Google Pixel 5a offers a great camera for less than $500. The Moto G Power is another good bargain, as it offers the best battery life on the market.

The best phones you can buy today

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1. iPhone 13 Pro Max The best phone overall Specifications Display: 6.7-inch OLED (2778 x 1284) CPU: A15 Bionic RAM: 6GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB / No Rear camera: 12MP main (f/1.5), 12MP ultrawide (f/1.8), 12MP telephoto (f/2.8) with 3x Front camera: 12MP (f/2.2) Weight: 8.5 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 12:16 Today's Best Deals View at Best Buy View at Amazon View at Verizon Wireless Reasons to buy + Best-in-class cameras + 120Hz ProMotion display + Superior performance Reasons to avoid - Charging could be faster - No Touch ID

The iPhone 13 Pro Max earns the title of best phone thanks to a number of key upgrades. This includes a new 6.7-inch ProMotion display that scales up to 120Hz for silky smooth animations, awesome performance from the A15 Bionic chip and epic battery life of over 12 hours in our web surfing test.

The cameras on the iPhone 13 Pro Max are simply best in class, thanks to improved sensors that capture more light and a new Photographic styles feature that lets you tweak the look of your pics. But the coolest camera features are a new macro mode that helps you shoot awesome close-ups and a Cinematic mode for video that delivers a compelling bokeh effect along with automatic focusing between subjects.

The charging could be faster. But, overall, the iPhone 13 Pro Max is second to none among smartphones.

Read our full iPhone 13 Pro Max review.

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2. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra Samsung's best phone Specifications Display: 6.8-inch OLED (3200x1400; 1-120Hz) CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 RAM: 8GB, 12GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB Rear camera: 108MP wide (f/2.2), 12MP ultra wide (ƒ/2.2), 10MP telephoto (3x zoom, f/2.4), 10MP telephoto (10x zoom, f/2.4), laser AF sensor Front camera: 40MP (ƒ/2.2) Weight: 8.1 oz Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 10:13 Today's Best Deals View at Samsung View at Best Buy View at Verizon Wireless Reasons to buy + Best-in-class display + Built-in S Pen + Improved cameras with better Night mode + Faster 45W charging Reasons to avoid - Shorter battery life than S21 Ultra - Very expensive - Less RAM than previous model to start

The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the ultimate Android phone for power users. It delivers a built-in S Pen just like a Galaxy Note, and you get 70% less latency for smoother performance. The 6.8-inch display is simply the best we've tested, offering class-leading brightness and color saturation, making this panel easy to read outdoors in direct sunlight and fantastic for watching shows and movies.

The other big reason to buy the Galaxy S22 Ultra is the camera improvements. There's a larger main 108MP sensor that lets in more light, which means brighter pictures without having to use Night mode. And when you do engage Night mode, you'll get even better pics in some scenarios than the iPhone 13 Pro Max. Add in faster 45W charging and a sleek design and you have a winner. We just wish the battery life were a bit longer

See our full Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review.

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3. iPhone 13 The best phone for the money Specifications Display: 6.1-inch OLED (2532 x 1170) CPU: A15 Bionic RAM: 4GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB / No Rear cameras: 12MP main (f/1.6), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.4) Front camera: 12MP (f/2.2) Weight: 6.1 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 10:33 Today's Best Deals View at Best Buy View at Verizon Wireless View at Amazon Reasons to buy + Best-in-class cameras + A15 Bionic blows away Android phones + Brighter display + Long battery life Reasons to avoid - Charging could be faster - No telephoto zoom or 120Hz screen

The best phone for the money, the iPhone 13 delivers a fantastic camera experience in a compact design. The main camera gathers more light now and the ultra-wide camera captures more of the scene. And the Cinematic mode for video gives you Hollywood-like depth of focus in your footage, thanks to the powerful new A15 Bionic processor.

Other highlights include a brighter 6.1-inch display and a smaller notch up top so you get more screen real estate. The biggest improvement is battery life, as we saw about 10.5 hours of endurance, which is an improvement of over 1.5 hours from the iPhone 12. Add in a base 128GB of storage for your $799 and you can’t go wrong with this iPhone.

Read our full iPhone 13 review.

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4. Google Pixel 6 The best Android experience for a great price Specifications Display: 6.4-inch OLED (2400x1080) CPU: Google Tensor RAM: 8GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB / No Rear camera: 50MP main (f/1.85), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2) Front camera: 8MP (f/2.0) Weight: 7.3 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 8:13 Today's Best Deals View at Amazon View at Best Buy View at Verizon Wireless Reasons to buy + Tensor chip adds smarts to the phone + Excellent photo-editing features + Android 12 is a welcome update Reasons to avoid - Battery life can be short over 5G - Lacks telephoto lens and 120Hz display of Pixel 6 Pro

The Google Pixel 6 is the best smartphone to get if you want the ultimate Android experience, especially now that Google has started using its own Tensor chipset to power the phone. Tensor keeps pace with the Snapdragon 888 inside most of the other top Android phones, but more importantly, it powers the kind of machine learning-driven experiences that make Google's phones unique.

The cameras feature a 50MP main lens, but the real story remains the software, where Tensor helps power features like Magic Eraser for easily removing people from the background of your shots and Motion Mode for making action shots look more dynamic. If you want a telephoto lens and a bigger display, you can always upgrade to the Pixel 6 Pro for $899.

That's $300 more than the starting price for the Pixel 6, and that cost happens to be one of the better features of the phone. It's hard to find a better starting price for such a premium device.

Read our full Google Pixel 6 review.

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5. Google Pixel 5a The best budget camera phone Specifications Display: 6.43 -inch OLED (2400 x 1800) CPU: Snapdragon 765G RAM: 6GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB / No Rear camera: 12.2MP (f/1.7), 16MP (f/2.2) ultrawide Front camera: 8MP (ƒ/2.0) Weight: 6.5 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 9:45 Today's Best Deals View at Amazon View at Google Store View at Google Store Reasons to buy + Spectacular cameras + Big, bright display + IP67 water resistance Reasons to avoid - Same chipset as Pixel 4a 5G - Limited to U.S. and Japan

The Google Pixel 5a is the best sub-$500 phone you can buy right now, as it offers the best photography available on a mid-range phone. If you don't want to spring for a pricey flagship device, the Pixel 5a is your best alternative, particularly for fans of Android.

With the Pixel 5a, Google adds a second rear lens to its budget phone — a 16MP ultrawide shooter to augment the 12.2MP main camera. That expands the Pixel 5a's flexibility over previous models, while the phone continues to benefit from Google's prowess with computational photography. The Pixel 5a's display is big and bright, and this phone offers IP67 water resistance, something missing from past A series models.

You will pay $100 more for the Pixel 5a than the Pixel 4a's bargain basement price, but Google has added 5G connectivity and an improved processor to this model. (The Pixel 5a also costs $50 less than last year's Pixel 4a 5G.) The Tensor ship in the Pixel 6 delivers a better overall experience, and it's only $150 more than the Pixel 5a, but Google's least expensive new phone remains an outstanding option for bargain hunters.

Read our full Google Pixel 5a review.

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6. iPhone 13 Pro A powerhouse flagship with great battery life Specifications Display: 6.1-inch OLED (2532 x 1170) CPU: A15 Bionic RAM: 6GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB / No Rear cameras: 12MP main (f/1.5), 12MP ultrawide (f/1.8), 12MP telephoto (f/2.8) with 3x Front camera: 12MP (f/2.2) Weight: 7.2 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 11:42 Today's Best Deals View at Best Buy View at Amazon View at Verizon Wireless Reasons to buy + Fast A15 Bionic performance + Stellar cameras + Long battery life Reasons to avoid - Relatively slow charging - No Touch ID

If you want the power of the iPhone 13 Pro Max in something more compact, the 6.1-inch iPhone 13 Pro is the best phone for you. This flagship packs all of the same great features and performance as its bigger brother, including a new 3x telephoto zoom camera, 120Hz ProMotion display and support for ProRes video.

The iPhone 13 Pro also benefits from longer battery life, as this iPhone lasted over 11 hours on our web surfing battery test. We just wish the charging was faster. Add in a brighter display, a slick Cinematic mode for video and impressive new macro photography and you have a superb all-around phone.

Read our full iPhone 13 Pro review

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7. Google Pixel 6 Pro A very good flagship value Specifications Display: 6.71-inch OLED (3120 x 1440) CPU: Tensor RAM: 12GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB / No Rear cameras: 50MP (f/1.85) main, 12MP (f/2.2) ultrawide, 48MP (f/3.5) 4x telephoto Front camera: 11MP (f/2.2) Weight: 7.4 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 7:49 (Adaptive) / 7:55 (60Hz) Today's Best Deals View at Amazon View at Best Buy View at Verizon Wireless Reasons to buy + Incredible cameras + Tensor performs well + Cheaper than other flagships + Attractive new design Reasons to avoid - Disappointing battery life

While the Galaxy S22 Ultra may be the most premium Android phone around, the true flagship handset for the OS is the Google Pixel 6 Pro. Google turned a page last year with the Pixel 6 series, introducing a wholly new design and an in-house chipset. The Tensor system-on-chip specializes in AI and machine learning applications.

You also get the trademark class-leading Pixel camera experience. The Pixel 6 Pro packs in three rear cameras, including a telephoto with 4x optical zoom. The front-facing camera can zoom out for ultrawide selfies. But the Pixel 6 Pro’s biggest failing is its disappointing battery life. It’s possible that an older 5G modem is to blame.

Plus, the Pixel 6 Pro is at the front of the line for the latest Android updates (and will be eligible for the Android 13 betas later this year).

Read our full Google Pixel 6 Pro review .

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8. Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus A great big screen Galaxy Specifications Display: 6.6-inch Dynamic AMOLED (2340 x 1080) CPU: Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 RAM: 8GB Storage / Expandable: 128GB, 256GB / No Rear cameras: 50MP wide (f/1.8); 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2); 10MP telephoto (f/2.4) with 3x optical zoom Front camera: 10MP (f/2.2) Weight: 6.9 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 9:46 (adaptive), 9:57 (60Hz) Today's Best Deals View at Samsung Check Amazon Reasons to buy + Beautiful and very bright display + Powerful performance + Faster 45W charging + Strong telephoto camera Reasons to avoid - Battery life barely better than last year

The Galaxy S22 Plus, despite being merely an iterative upgrade, is nonetheless a great Android phone. From the beautiful and bright display to the beefy performance and improved cameras, the middle child of the Galaxy S22 family is a beast.

While it does quite a bit right, the Galaxy S22 Plus struggles to wow us with its battery life. In fact, it just barely beats out its predecessor in the Tom’s Guide test. But the rest of the phone more than makes up for it. The cameras are great and we love the bright display.

For $999, the Galaxy S22 Plus has a lot of competition (like the Pixel 6 Pro), but if you want the big screen Galaxy experience but don’t want to spring for the Galaxy S22 Ultra, the Plus is the next best option.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus review .

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9. OnePlus 9 Pro A powerful Android option Specifications Display: 6.7-inch AMOLED (3168 x 1440) CPU: Snapdragon 888 RAM: 12GB Storage / Expandable: 256GB / No Rear cameras: 48MP wide (ƒ/1.8), 50MP ultrawide (ƒ/2.2), 8MP telephoto with 3x optical (ƒ/2.4), 2MP monochrome Front camera: 16MP (ƒ/2.4) Weight: 6.95 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 10:40 Today's Best Deals View at Amazon View at Best Buy View at OnePlus US & Canada Reasons to buy + Empty List Reasons to avoid - Empty List

The OnePlus 9 Pro features the best cameras ever included with a OnePlus phone. With help from camera specialist Hasselblad, the OnePlus 9 features an excellent array of lenses that capture color accurately and produce photos that rival what you get from leading camera phones, as you can see in our OnePlus 9 Pro camera face-off.

There are other features beyond the cameras that make the OnePlus 9 Pro a great challenger to the Galaxy S21 Ultra. You get a display with a dynamically adjusting refresh rate, scaling between 1 and 120Hz. That helps with battery life, as the OnePlus 9 Pro lasted more than 10.5 hours on our battery test. OnePlus’ WarpCharge 65T technology means your phone can be fully charged in a little more than 30 minutes. Throw in a Snapdragon 888 processor and lots of RAM, and you have one of the best performing Android phones around.

A successor, the OnePlus 10 Pro, makes its debut in China on January 14. It will come to other countries after that, so we're anticipating a new phone to take the OnePlus 9 Pro's place.

Read our full OnePlus 9 Pro review.

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10. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 The best phone with a foldable screen Specifications Display: Interior: 7.6 inch OLED (2208 x 1768; 120Hz); Exterior: 6.2 inches (2268 x 832; 120Hz) CPU: Snapdragon 888 RAM: 12GB Storage / Expandable: 256GB, 512GB / No Rear camera: 12MP wide (f/1.8), 12MP ultrawide (f/2.2), 12MP telephoto (f/2.4) Front camera: 10MP (f/2.2), 4MP under-display (f/1.8) Weight: 9.55 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 7:52 (60Hz), 6:35 (120Hz) Today's Best Deals View at Amazon View at Walmart View at Best Buy Reasons to buy + More durable, water resistant design + Dual 120Hz displays + Improved mutitasking Reasons to avoid - S Pen isn't included - Still pricey

Samsung continues trying to make foldable phones more appealing to mainstream shoppers, and the Galaxy Z Fold 3 is a big step forward in that regard. While the $1,799 price is still a lot to pay for a phone, it’s $200 lower than the Galaxy Z Fold 2’s debut cost. And the phone is more durable than ever with an IPX8 water-resistance rating, Armor Aluminum Frame and Gorilla Glass Victus display.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 also introduces new features such as displays with 120Hz refresh rates (both inside and out), an under-display camera on that interior screen and S Pen support. That latter feature is optional, though, meaning you’ll need to pay extra for the stylus.

More apps than ever before support the Galaxy Z Fold, so chances are, the apps you use on a daily basis will benefit from the phone’s support for multitasking. The Galaxy Z Fold 3 isn’t for everyone, but it’s the best foldable phone Samsung’s released yet.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 review .

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11. iPhone 12 Still a great iPhone Specifications Display: 6.1-inch OLED (​​2532 x 1170) CPU: A14 Bionic RAM: 4GB Storage / Expandable: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB / No Rear cameras: 12MP (f/1.6) main, 12MP (f/2.4) ultrawide Front camera: 12MP (f/2.2) Weight: 5.78 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 8:25 Today's Best Deals View at AT&T View at Verizon Wireless View at Visible Reasons to buy + Attractive new design with MagSafe + Comprehensive 5G coverage + Impressive dual cameras Reasons to avoid - Only 64GB of base storage - Subpar battery life

The iPhone 12 may be over a year old, but it’s still a solid choice since you can probably find one on a good discount. It introduced 5G to the Apple smartphone lineup, but that came at the cost of the excellent battery life we saw with the iPhone 11 . But the iPhone 12 also brought us a new design language for iPhones. We hope you like squared-off edges.

You also get a very nice 6.1-inch OLED display, meaning that colors are punchier and blacks are deeper. Unfortunately, Apple waited until the iPhone 13 to introduce 128GB as the base model’s storage. The iPhone 12 starts off at 64GB, which lags behind other competitors.

Of course, with iOS 15 , your iPhone 12 will shine with all of the new features. It’s a great phone despite releasing in the tumultuous 2020.

Read our full Apple iPhone 12 review .

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12. Moto G Power (2021) The phone with the best battery life Specifications Display: 6.6-inch LCD (1600x720) CPU: Snapdragon 662 RAM: 3GB, 4GB Storage / Expandable: 32GB, 64GB / No Rear camera: 48MP main (ƒ/1.7); 2MP macro (ƒ/2.4); 2MP depth (ƒ/2.4) Front camera: 8MP (ƒ/2.0) Weight: 7.3 oz Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 14:04 Today's Best Deals View at Target View at Visible View at Amazon Reasons to buy + All-day battery life + Low price including a sub-$200 model Reasons to avoid - Only one Android software update

When you want a long lasting phone, get one of Motorola’s Moto G Power models. That continues with the latest version of this budget phone, which rides its 5,000 mAh battery to 14-hour-plus result on our battery test. That places the Moto G Power (2021) near the top of our list for best phone battery life, alongside last year’s edition.

There’s more to the Moto G Power than just a big battery. The cameras are decent for a budget phone, even the macro lens. And Motorola now offers a cheaper version if you don’t mind living with less RAM and storage: the 3GB/32GB model costs $199, while the 4GB/64GB model has that familiar $249 price tag. You can get more storage for $199 with the newer Moto G Power (2022), but that device suffers from a less powerful chipset, so we think the 2021 is still the top choice for budget phone fans.

Read our full Moto G Power (2021) review.

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13. iPhone SE The cheapest iPhone you can buy Specifications Display: 4.7-inch LCD (1334x750) CPU: A13 Bionic RAM: 3GB Storage/Expandable: 64GB, 128GB, 256GB / No Rear camera: 12MP wide (ƒ/1.8) Front camera: 7MP (ƒ/2.2) Weight: 5.22 ounces Battery life (Hrs:Mins): 9:18 Today's Best Deals View at Walmart View at Apple View at Verizon Wireless Reasons to buy + Affordable price + Fast A13 Bionic performance + Very good cameras Reasons to avoid - Big bezels - No Night mode

You don't have to spend big bucks to get your hands on an Apple phone. The iPhone SE brings just about everything you like about Apple's devices but at a lower $399 price. That's $300 less than the iPhone 12 mini, and $50 cheaper than Google's Pixel 5a.

You get an older, iPhone 8-inspired design with noticeable bezels around the LCD screen, but fans of compact phones will like the iPhone SE's small size and the fact that it's powered by an A13 Bionic processor — still capable of outperforming far more expensive Android devices. The single rear lens on the iPhone SE also delivers great photos, thanks in no small part to Apple's excellent computational photography.

Rumors about Apple's 2022 plans include a new iPhone SE model shipping in the first three months of the year. The iPhone SE 3 is expected to offer the 5G connectivity missing from the current version.

Read our iPhone SE review.

How to choose the best smartphone for you

Android or iPhone? Android phones give you more choice in terms of price, size and innovative designs. However, iPhones offer speedier software updates, better games and apps and better security and privacy. See our iPhone vs Android face-off.

Android phones give you more choice in terms of price, size and innovative designs. However, iPhones offer speedier software updates, better games and apps and better security and privacy. See our iPhone vs Android face-off. Unlocked or carrier? Most shoppers in the U.S. buy new phones through their wireless carrier. But an unlocked phone gives you the freedom to buy the device without any sort of contract and then bring it to the provider you want to use.

Most shoppers in the U.S. buy new phones through their wireless carrier. But an unlocked phone gives you the freedom to buy the device without any sort of contract and then bring it to the provider you want to use. Screen size: If you're looking for a big phone, 6 inches and up is a good place to start. The biggest phones are 6.5 to 6.8 inches. If you want something you can easily use with one hand, go with one of the best small phones with a screen under 6 inches.

If you're looking for a big phone, 6 inches and up is a good place to start. The biggest phones are 6.5 to 6.8 inches. If you want something you can easily use with one hand, go with one of the best small phones with a screen under 6 inches. Cameras: Don't pay attention to the megapixel count. Instead, look at camera face-offs between phones to see the photo quality and look for special features like Night Mode to get better quality in low light. Also see our best camera phone roundup.

Don't pay attention to the megapixel count. Instead, look at camera face-offs between phones to see the photo quality and look for special features like Night Mode to get better quality in low light. Also see our best camera phone roundup. Battery life: Generally, phones with larger batteries (measured in mAh) offer the longest battery life, but that's not always the case. That's why we run our own battery test.

How we test smartphones

In order for a smartphone to make our best phone list, it needs to excel on several tests that we run on every handset. We perform some of these tests in our labs and some in the real world.

When it comes to performance, we rely on such synthetic benchmarks as Geekbench 5 and GFXBench to measure graphics performance. These tests allow us to compare performance across iPhones and Android devices. We also run a real-world video transcoding test on each phone using the Adobe Premiere Rush app and time the result.

To measure the quality of a phone's display, we perform lab tests to determine the brightness of the panel (in nits), as well as how colorful each screen is (DCI-P3 color gamut). In these cases, higher numbers are better. We also measure color accuracy of each panel with a Delta-E rating, where lower numbers are better and score of 0 is perfect.

One of the most important tests we run is the Tom's Guide battery test. We run a web surfing test over 5G or 4G at 150 nits of screen brightness until the battery gives out. In general, a phone that lasts 10 hours or more is good, and anything above 11 hours makes our list of the best phone battery life.

Last but not least, we take the best phones out in the field to take photos outdoors, indoors and at night in low light to see how they perform versus their closest competitors. We take shots of landscapes, food, portraits and more, and also allow you to be the judge with side-by-side comparisons in our reviews.