Smartphone is your most important possession and this website exists to help you quickly focus on finding the best phone for your needs…
I rate phones – I don’t review them. Rating is measuring and comparing values while reviewing is expressing one’s opinion. I will spare you my opinions except where fully flagged with an EDITORIAL: badge. I rank each phone based on 10 categories – things that every one of us wants and values in a smartphone. For details on how I rate each phone and to contact me, please visit the About page > .
My home page > (PAGE 1) shows all the data I have collected over time. This page (PAGE 2) uses that data to help you find the best phone for your situation. PAGE 2 is designed to (1) quickly help you narrow down your choices (with TOP 10 lists), (2) understand your preferred phone(s) position in the current market (see: current MARKET REPORT) and time your purchase better by considering when is the new version of your top pick coming out (see the Phone RELEASE SCHEDULE). My lists include 10 phones to choose from because there is a chance that not every phone will be available in your market.
the TOP 10 lists
Finding the best phone for yourself is difficult because there are so many variables with each phone and because your needs and preferences are unique too.
You will greatly simplify your search if consider what are the most important things you need from a smartphone. I organize TOP 10 lists by the main preferences: PERFORMANCE & BATTERY, PERFORMANCE & SCREEN, PERFORMANCE & CAMERA, BATTERY & SCREEN, BATTERY & CAMERA and SCREEN & CAMERA . In addition, the are lists of TOP 10 phones by these categories: COMPACT, GAMING, FOLDABLE or MIDRANGER .
The TOP 10 lists are coming soon. Please come to see them after September 15th.
Phone MARKET REPORT
(updated January 5, 2026) 2026 is starting with a release of Xiaomi’s 17 Ultra, the first ever phone with a physical zoom ring around it’s back camera cluster, teasing us with what else is possible in phone innovation. The AI-tication of a smartphone is well on it’s way and in addition of basic AI tricks we are seeing more phones come with dedicated AI buttons and AI folders to quickly add, analyze and access information. Battery life of phones coming from China is naw significantly better (average of 36hr vs 20hr) then what Apple, Samsung and Google offer and this gap will grow until everyone upgrades to Silicone diode (or better) battery design. The computational photography, led by Vivo and Huawei is evolving very fast and promises to put camera phone images above those from cameras, at least for vast majority of users.
Chinese phone makers are imitating iOS design more then ever. The fluidity, animations, icon and UI design – even creating the iPhone-like selfie island where there is no need for one. They are also making their Android skins “talk” to IPads, Macs and iPhones to easily share files, open apps and use each other’s services in effort to break into Apple’s walled-off garden.
In terms of market share, we’re eagerly expecting 25Q4 report. It will probably show good iPhone 17 performance, a decline in Samsung and Pixel’s share and a steady growth for Vivo, Xiaomi and to some extent Oppo. Samsung will release it’s flagships in February, long after all other phone makers did. I hope for great phones but expect the innovation to lack as it has for the most of the last 6 years. Since 2019 Samsung choose to follow Apple’s strategy in focusing on closing the echo-system and diversifying it’s product line to now include phones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, smart rings, headphones and buds, smart home appliances and more. Phone innovation suffered and what once were some of the World’s best phones now compete on marketing, promotion and efficient global supply chain more then quality and innovation.
Xiaomi and other top Chinese phone makers lead the innovation effort for the past several years. It took them a long time to produce fully water and dust resistant phones and to start making compacts that Apple , Samsung and Sony first created and excelled at. But last year finally opened the floodgates for Chinese compacts and that means meaningfull technology advance for phones of all sizes. Chinese makers were quick to adopt Silicone diode Lithium battery tech and now produce phones with longest battery endurance and the fastest charging. It is strange that Apple , Samsung and Google haven’t released a single phone with a Silicone diode battery yet and very hard to justify from customer’s point of view. We are now seeing 2 day battery endurance phones from Oppo, Honor , Xiaomi, Vivo, and OnePlus .
Google released it’s 2025 Pixel lineup. Pixel was the first camera phone to heavily focus on image processing and camera software. Google seems to have decided to give up competing in computational photography and move on to AI and Android improvements instead. This year’s Pixels are losing another step in the phone camera race that is now led by Vivo and Huawei.
Midrangers from all companies seem to grow in size, specifically body width. It looks like compact phones will become the space of flagship phones and midrangers will focus on battery, screen and camera in bigger (wider) bodies.
Motorola, Sony and Nothing Phone are at different stages of trying to interrupt and secure their own space under the sun. Motorola has the best chance with a long lineup of good products but limited market access. Sony, the biggest phone camera sensor maker (along with Samsung) has been losing market share and is now struggling to justify producing phones. Over the years, it’s hardware work has brought amazing innovation while software R&D investment is clearly lacking. Nothing Phone is a newomer trying to fill the “flagship killer” niche vacated by OnePlus but also trying to offer real value beyond UI design.
Happy and prosperous 2026 everyone!
Phone RELEASE SCHEDULE …
EDITORIAL: It takes thousands of people and so much money to design and produce one smartphone. So most companies create a model and then subject it to an incremental, usually yearly upgrade path. Updates focus on processor and/or camera tech. The screen and battery generally improve slower, following maker’s philosophy rather then the latest technology.
Every few years we see changes in the release schedule. In 2024, many companies made adjustments to release their flagship models as soon as the top processors were released in the fall. Below are the expected release months for…
major phone models. In parenthesis are the release months of at least last 3 iterations. Highlighted are phones expected to arrive in January and February.
• Apple iPhone 18 : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Sep ’24, Sep ’23)
• Apple iPhone Air : Sep ’26 (first edition Sep ’25)
• Apple iPhone e : Spring ’26 (Feb ’25, Mar ’22, Apr ’20)
• Asus Zenfone 13 : Spring ’26 (Feb ’25, Apr ’24, Jul ’23)
• Asus ROG 10 : hasn’t arrived in ’25 (Nov ’24, Jan ’24, May ’23)
• Fairphone 7 : Summer ’27 (Jun ’25, Sep ’23, Oct ’21, Sep ’19)
• Google Pixel 10a : January ’26 (Apr ’25, May ’24, May ’23, Jul ’22)
• Google Pixel 11 : August ’26 (Aug ’25, Aug ’24, Oct ’23, Oct ’22)
• Honor Magic 8 : October ’26 (Oct ’25, Nov ’24, Jan ’24, Mar ’23)
• Honor V6 : July ’26 (Jul ’25, Jul ’24, Jul ’23, Dec ’22)
• Honor Magic Flip V3 : August ’26 (Aug ’25, Jun ’24)
• Honor 500 : November ’25 (May ’25, Dec ’24, May ’24)
• Huawei Pura 90 (was “P”) : June ’26 (Jun ’25, Apr ’24, Mar ’23, Oct ’21)
• Huawei Mate 80 : November ’25 (Nov ’24, Aug ’23, Sep ’22)
• Huawei Nova 16 : May ’26 (May ’25, Oct ’24, Jan ’24, Apr ’23)
• Motorola Moto X70 Air : October ’25 (first edition)
• Motorola Edge 70 : October ’25 (Apr ’25, Aug ’24, May ’23)
• Motorola Razr 70 : April ’26 (Apr ’25, Jun ’24, Jun ’23)
• Nothing Phone (4) : Summer ’26 (first edition Jul ’25)
• Nothing Phone (4a) : March ’26 (Mar ’25, Mar ’24, Jul ’23)
• Nothing CMF Phone 3 : Spring ’26 (Apr ’25, Jul ’24)
• OnePlus 16 : October ’26 (Oct ’25, Nov ’24, Dec ’23, Jan ’23)
• OnePlus Nord 6 : July ’26 (Jul ’25, Aug ’24, Jul ’23, Jul ’21)
• Oppo Find X10 : October ’26 (Oct ’25, Oct ’24, Jan ’24, Mar ’23)
• Oppo Find N6 : February ’26 (Feb ’25, Oct ’23, Dec ’22)
• Oppo Find X9 Ultra : April ’26 (Apr ’25, Jan 24)
• Oppo Find X9s : April ’26 (first edition Apr ’25)
• Oppo Reno 16 : May ’26 (Nov ’25, May ’25, Nov ’24, Jun ’24)
• (Oppo) Realme GT9 Pro : November ’26 (Nov ’25, Nov ’24)
• (Oppo) Realme 16 : March ’26 (Sep ’25, Mar ’25, Sep ’24, Mar ’24)
• Samsung S26 : February ’26 (Feb ’25, Jan ’24, Feb ’23)
• Samsung S26 Edge : Spring ’26 (first edition May ’25)
• Samsung Z8 : July ’26 (Jul ’25, Jul ’24, Aug ’23, Aug ’22)
• Samsung A57 : March ’26 (Mar ’25, Mar ’24, Mar ’23)
• Samsung A37 : March ’26 (Mar ’25, Mar ’24, Mar ’23)
• Sony 1 VIII : Spring ’26 (May ’25, Jun 24, Jul 23)
• Sony 5 VI : not expected (none in ’25 &’24, Sep ’23, Sep ’22)
• Sony 10 VIII : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Jun ’24, Jul ’23)
• Vivo X400 : October ’26 (Oct ’25, Oct ’24, Nov ’23, Nov ’22)
• Vivo X Fold 6 : Q226 (Jul ’25, Apr ’24, Apr ’23, Apr ’22)
• Vivo X300 Ultra : April ’26 (Apr ’25, May ’24)
• Vivo V70 : February ’26 (Aug ’25, Feb ’25, Jul ’24, Mar ’24)
• (Vivo) IQOO 16 : October ’26 (Oct ’25, Nov ’24, Nov ’23, Dec ’22)
• Xiaomi 17 Ultra : December ’26 (Feb ’25, Feb ’24, Apr ’23)
• Xiaomi 18 : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Oct ’24, Nov ’23, Dec ’22)
• Xiaomi 17S : Jun ’26 (first edition Jun ’25)
• Xiaomi 17T : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Sep ’24, Sep ’23, Oct ’22)
• (Xiaomi) Poco F8 : November ’25 (Jun ’25, May ’24, May ’23, Jun ’22)
• (Xiaomi) Poco X8 : January ’26 (Jan ’25, Jan ’24, Feb ’23)
• (Xiaomi) Redmi Note 16 : January ’26 (Aug ’25, Jan ’25, Jan ’24, Jan ’23)
This list offers “best guesses”, sometime confirmed ahead of time by the manufacturer. Despite every effort, the info above may be incorrect.