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What is the best smartphone to buy in 2023? After a few years of incremental advances – a brighter screen here, a better selfie camera there – we are starting to see real differences again as AI transforms what mobile phones can do. Google have been the first to capitalise on it, with the result that their remarkable Pixel 8 Pro has overtaken the iPhone at the top of our rankings. But it can’t be long before Apple and Samsung strike back.

This year, the choice is further complicated with the proliferation of , which are very impressive but shockingly expensive. When is upgrading the right choice for you?

Despite the amazing things that some 2023 phones can do, if you find a good deal on an even older model it will still be worth considering. If it’s less than about five years old, you’ll find a very good camera, lots of storage for photos and videos, a fully stocked app store and a good screen.

Below are Rob Waugh and Jack Rear’s reviews of the best smartphones in 2023, followed by an FAQ section and a guide to some of the jargon you’ll come across when phone shopping. But if you’re in a hurry, here’s a quick look at their current top five:

Which are the best smartphones in 2023? At a glance

• Best overall: Google Pixel 8 Pro
• Best value: Apple iPhone 15 Plus
• Best camera phone: Samsung Galaxy S23
• Best budget phone: iPhone SE
• Best folding phone: Samsung Z Flip 5

How to find the best smartphone deal

Smartphone buying is not getting cheaper: the Google Pixel Fold reviewed below is nearly £1,800. Although most come cheaper than that, they’re all a significant investment, so getting the right model is more important than ever.

There are some good mobile phone deals allowing you to buy your phone through a network on a two- or three-year payment plan, but in our opinion you’re best buying a phone outright and taking on a sim-only deal. The prices we give below are based on this. Buying the phone outright gives you more choice when it comes to data plans and the ability to jump between providers when they offer cut-price deals.

Best smartphones

1. Google Pixel 8 Pro

£999 for 128GB model, John Lewis, also available at Google and Very

Best overall, 10/10

We like: new AI features make a great phone even better

Worth upgrading from Pixel 7? Free AI upgrades up to 2030 make this a no-brainer

• Also available in 256GB (£1,059) and 512GB (£1,179) models
• Operating system: Android 14
• Screen: 6.7in OLED 489ppi, 120 Hz refresh rate
• Cameras: 50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP 5x telephoto, 10.5MP selfie camera
• Battery life: 36 hours
• Processor: Google Tensor G3

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

As far as signature tricks go, it’s hard to beat Google’s AI wallpaper on the new Pixel Pro 8. You select from a list of predetermined options to come up with instructions like ‘a painting of robots in the expressionist style’, press the button, and after a pregnant pause, new wallpaper appears, created on the fly by artificial intelligence. 

It’s the sort of amusing feature that you find yourself showing off to friends, and which my children are instantly obsessed with, as well as a good way to stand out in an increasingly samey smartphone market. 

The Pixel 8 Pro is a solid update, dealing with the major bugbear of its predecessor, with vastly improved battery life. Google says it is 36 hours. In practice it means that you’re not fretting about always being near a USB-C charger, which was a daily problem with the Pixel 7 Pro. 

As ever, you get a lot of phone for your money with Pixel, even at a fairly steep £1,179 for the 512GB model. The 6.7-inch 120Hz OLED screen is gorgeous, the build of the phone is very pleasant in the hand, witih a newly flat screen compared to the curvy panels on previous models. 

The phone’s trademark AI-infused camera has now been upgraded with even more AI, with the new Magic Editor offering the ability to remove people from photos and replace them with AI-generated backgrounds. You can ask the Magic Editor to create four different ‘takes’ on a photo, then select the best one. The new ‘Best Take’ feature combines the ‘best’ faces in group shots to create one good image - and more AI-enabled features are coming soon. 

As ever, the camera itself is stellar: it’s an incremental upgrade from last year’s already-excellent camera, and the Pixel still remains the undisputed champion of low-effort photography. If you’re a less confident photographer, or just want a phone that does the work for you, this is very hard to beat. 

The other major innovation is that the phone has seven years of software support, up until 2030, which beats any other Android out there. Google also promises more and more AI features delivered to the phone over the coming months, with American users already having access to an app which reads and summarises websites for you, powered by AI. 

2. Apple iPhone 15 Plus

£899, John Lewis, also available at Apple and Very

Best value, 9/10

We like: long battery life and no more Apple-only charging cables

Worth upgrading from iPhone 14? Yes, for the massive camera upgrade from 12MP to 48MP

• Also available in 256GB (£999) and 512GB (£1,199) models
• Operating system: iOS 17
• Screen: 6.7in Super Retina OLED, 60hz refresh rate
• Cameras: Camera: dual 48MP Main, 12MP selfie camera
• Battery life: 26 hours of video playback
• Processor: Apple A16 Bionic chip

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

The iPhone 15 Plus is Apple’s lower-priced big smartphone, and this year’s model offers a lot of new reasons to buy, chief among which is the switch to USB-C charging, meaning that iPhones no longer require a cable of their own and take the same one as every other tablet, phone and games console in the home. 

What you get here is a big phone with a great battery life for a pretty reasonable price, just lacking a few of the bells and whistles you get with the Max series. The chief thing that’s lacking here is a new processor. You’re stuck with the year-old A16 rather than the newer chips, but many consumers may not even notice. The screen is also 60Hz, rather than 120Hz, which aggravates certain phone buyers, but not others. 

The 6.7-inch OLED screen is big and beautiful, with newly upgraded brightness matching last year’s Pro models. It’s certainly big enough to make watching videos or playing games very enjoyable. 

Crucially, the battery life is great. Apple says you can watch videos for 26 hours straight and the battery lasted a full day’s heavy use without conking out in our tests. If you’re the sort of absent-minded user who doesn’t always carry a cable with them, this phone is an excellent choice, lasting for multiple days if used lightly. 

This year’s model has the Dynamic Island on the screen (a floating island found on last year’s Pro models, which users can use to deal with notifications without opening the app). On the camera front, this has a mere two lenses rather than the three on the Pro models, but it has had a serious upgrade on last year’s phone with the main processor jumping from 12 megapixels up to 48. Photos are absolutely gorgeous, and look great on screen too. 

If what you are after is a big screen with a long-lasting battery, it’s hard to fault this year’s model - and the switch to USB-C makes it easier for Android users to contemplate ‘switching sides’.

3. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra 

£1,249 for 256GB model, Samsung, also available at Carphone Warehouse and Mobile Phones Direct

Best camera phone, 9/10

We like: the ultimate Android camera phone

Worth upgrading from S22? For keen photographers, definitely (especially while the prices are, bizarrely, the same)

• Also available in 512GB (£1,399) and 1TB (£1,599) models
• Operating system: Android 13
• Screen: 6.9 inch AMOLED 2X, 120Hz refresh rate
• Cameras: 12MP selfie camera, 12MP ultra Wide (F2.2), 200MP Wide (F1.7), 10MP Telephoto (F4.9)
• Battery life: 13 hours
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

Samsung has really thrown the kitchen sink at its flagship S23 Ultra, with a phone that comes armed with not only the best Android processor on the market but also a frankly bonkers array of cameras including a 200-megapixel sensor on the back, which puts this phone basically in a class of its own.

Looks-wise, it’s not massively different from the previous year’s S22 Ultra (in other words, it’s gorgeous if you don’t mind a fairly hefty device with five cameras staring out of the back). But the camera and processor upgrades alone are enough to make this definitely worth the purchase - especially if you’re a keen photographer. There’s also the option for more storage in the handset if you’re looking for a place to store all those 200-megapixel snaps. 

Like Samsung’s old, discontinued Note handsets, this comes with a stylus which you slide out of the body of the phone to doodle on screen and browse (you can also use it wirelessly to remotely trigger selfies by clicking on the side, which is a very cool feature).

The 120Hz screen is bright and colourful, beating any Android on the market hands-down and equalling even the top-end iPhones. But the reason you’d go for a pricey handset like this (it’s £1,249 for the 256GB model, or an eye-watering £1,599 for the top-end 1TB model) is the photography. The S23 Ultra delivers on this score unlike anything else on the market right now. 

If you’re looking for camera ease of use, go for Google’s Pixel for its AI-boosted point-and-shoot, but if you’re looking to get serious, this is your best choice, with a bewildering array of options in the Expert RAW app that allow you to set your inner photography geek free. 

The 200 megapixel camera combines 16 pixels into one 12.5 megapixel shot in standard mode, delivering incredibly bright and colourful images. If you want to zoom and crop, shoot in full 200-megapixel mode. Night photography, boosted by AI, is incredible, and the two telephoto cameras deliver incredible zoomed-in shots. That includes a 100x zoom shot of the surface of the moon which elicited a, ‘Wow’ from Elon Musk (although the this feature has been accused of using existing shots of the moon to fill in the fine details).

Controversies aside, this is a gorgeous phone with a fast processor that makes mincemeat of games and video (it can also shoot in 8K, four times sharper than the display of even the latest tellies). But the reason you’ll stay is for the camera. For anyone serious about smartphone photography, this is the ultimate choice.

4. Sony Xperia 1 V 

£1,299 for 256GB model, Mobile Phones Direct, also available at Sony and Very

Best smartphone for watching videos, 9/10

We like: the cinema-style 4K screen is the best you’ll find

Worth upgrading from Xperia 1 IV? Yes, the camera’s much better and it doesn’t get as hot

• Only 256GB model available
• Operating system: Android 13
• Screen: 6.5-inch 4K OLED
• Battery life: 20 hours of video playback
• Camera: 12-megapixel selfie camera, 52MP main rear camera, 12MP telephoto, 12MP ultrawide
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

Sony’s smartphones plough their own furrow, with a distinctive ‘long’ look and a 21:9 aspect ratio – plus other now-exotic luxuries such as a headphone socket. The latest Xperia 1 V is a drop-dead gorgeous handset, with the slim form making it pleasing in the hand (without losing screen acreage), and a ridged finish which adds to the classy, distinctive look. In a world where every smartphone looks broadly the same, this doesn’t. 

It all feels very ‘Sony’ with square edges and not a whisper of curved glass anywhere. I tested the black model but there’s also khaki and metallic ones on offer. It’s rated IP65/IP68 (ie, very good) for dust and water resistance and has Gorilla Glass Victus 2, so it won’t give up the ghost too easily if dropped. 

The on button also doubles as a fast and effective fingerprint sensor. Compared to the Xperia 1 IV – which you will now be able to pick up for about £300 less – the body is the same (bar a new ribbed ‘grip’ surface on the sides) and there’s an upgraded camera array on the back, with a new 52-megapixel EXMOR T sensor, plus an upgrade to the chip which means the new phone runs much cooler. 

Sony has its fingers in many pies, from televisions to cameras, and there’s a lot of tech know-how and innovation brought to bear here, with an incredibly sharp 4K screen with deep blacks and the same resolution as their home TVs, while that 21:9 aspect ratio lets you watch films as they’re meant to be enjoyed. There’s no other phone on Earth that can match the screen resolution here – although it’s not quite as bright as other rivals. 

There’s a lot of old-school cool, with a headphone jack prompting me to dig out an old pair of headphones and remember how much better they sound than Bluetooth ones. The SIM tray allows you to add microSD expandable storage as you please (something that used to be fairly common in phones, until manufacturers realised they prefer charging an arm and a leg for built-in storage). 

The camera is excellent, with a new, expanded sensor and a 24mm wide-angle and an 85-125mm periscope telephoto. The best part is that there’s a real, physical camera button. Sony have – again – opted for the road less travelled, and rather than relying on AI to boost image quality, there’s a huge amount of manual tinkering options in the device’s default Photo Pro and Video Pro apps. 

The Videography Pro app is based on tech from Sony’s professional-grade video cameras.  For a certain sort of consumer, this will be fantastic, but for the less camera-obsessed, it’s a little bewildering. Video Pro is superb, recording in 4K up to 120 frames per second, but there are so many numbers and options on screen it feels like you’ve been given a job as a cameraman without any training. 

The screen is the big sell here, and it’s utterly gorgeous (as well as the slim, unconventional look of the handset itself and the option to use ‘proper’ wired headphones) but even with the smorgasbord of high-quality components on offer here, it’s still hard to justify the price. At £1,299 it’s higher than almost any Android, and up there with the top-end iPhones. Whether the unique square look and a few extra pixels are worth the price is down to individual preference.

£1299

5.  iPhone SE 

£429 for 64GB model, Apple, also available at John Lewis and Currys

Best budget smartphone, 8/10

We like: smaller, lighter and easy to use than any of the phones above

Worth saving money over iPhone 15? Only if you don’t mind constantly recharging

• Also available in 128GB (£499) and 256GB (£609) models
• Operating system:  iOS 16
• Screen: 4.7-inch Retina HD
• Battery life: up to 15 hours video playback
• Camera:  7MP selfie camera, 12MP main rear camera
• Processor:  A15 Bionic chip

Reviewed by Jack Rear

A few years Apple made the courageous decision to admit to itself that some of its would-be customers aren’t CEOs with bulging wallets and created the iPhone SE line for those with a slightly tighter budget. Starting from £449, the iPhone SE is not exactly bargain-basement, but does come with Apple’s luxury cachet. It’s also smaller and lighter than most modern phones, which is an underrated virtue. 

Unlike the iPhone 14, the SE comes with a fingerprint scanner rather than a face scanner, which personally I prefer. The 12MP main camera is outgunned by the similarly-priced Google Pixel and there is only one, so Apple’s prodigious image optimisation software has less to work with than on two-camera and three-camera phones. 

One huge difference between this and the iPhone 14 is the feeble battery. A day’s charge is the absolute maximum you’re going to get. Even with moderate usage, I was down to the low 20% range by 6pm. The blame lies with Apple’s powerful A15 bionic chip, the same one as used in the iPhone 14 above. It makes the phone’s software running very quick and smooth, but unfortunately the smaller battery is simply unable to cope. 

For those who don’t use their phone very often or work in an office with access to chargers nearby, the iPhone SE will do the job. Otherwise, I’d be tempted to spend a bit more and plump for a mainline iPhone. 

6. Nothing Phone (2)

Currently £549 for 256GB model, Amazon, also available at Currys and Carphone Warehouse

Best looking smartphone, 7/10

We like: very cool ‘glyph’ lights on the back

We don’t like: the camera tech isn’t quite first rate

• 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB models available
• Operating system: Android 13
• Screen: 6.55 inch OLED, 120Hz refresh rate
• Cameras: 50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, 32MP selfie
• Battery life: 20-45 hrs depending on use
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1

Reviewed by Jack Rear

I was quite taken with the Nothing Phone (2)’s predecessor, the Nothing Phone (1). Just when it seemed as if all smartphone design had coalesced around the same basic form, along came this spunky British challenger (designed by a former Apple designer), with a clear chassis exposing the phone’s inner workings and light-up ‘glyphs’ whenever you got a text. 

You can set these glyphs so that different apps light them up in different ways. You could choose for a call from your partner to light up everything, while a call from your boss only lights up one glyph, for example. 

This second generation has more lights, allowing you to customise the glyphs a bit further. There are also more apps to use them with. You can now use the glyphs as a light to help with night shooting, which is helpful. 

Another big upgrade is the selfie camera, whose resolution has been doubled to 32MP, complementing the returning 50MP main and ultrawide angle cameras. Images are sharp, detailed and bright. Still, given that most of the ‘quality’ of modern smartphone camera pictures come from algorithmic tweaks between pressing the button and the image appearing in your gallery, Nothing still doesn’t quite rival the more established smartphones in the image quality department. 

One area it does beat the Pixel 8 (above) by a country mile is the battery life. With a jumbo 4,700mAh batter,y the Nothing phone comfortably lasted me all day with a good 40 percent to spare, in contrast to my Pixel 8 Pro which normally needs recharging by 5pm. Plus, a full charge takes just an hour. 

The final thing to say is that the price is roughly £200 more than what it was for the original Nothing phone. The new phone is an upgrade, but not a huge one. If you see the older model at a discount, I say go for it.

7. Oppo Find X5 Pro

£600 for 256GB model, Amazon

Best smartphone camera, 7/10

We like: exceptional camera lenses by Hasselblad

We don’t like: not everyone wants their pictures to look this pure and natural

• Operating system: Android 12
• Screen: 6.7 inch AMOLEd, 120Hz refresh rate
• Cameras: 50MP main, 50MP wide, 32MP selfie
• Battery life: 24-48 hours, depending on use
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8

Reviewed by Jack Rear

There are dozens of things to recommend about Chinese manufacturer Oppo’s Find X5, including the blazingly fast charging: 0-100 percent in 47 minutes. iPhones can take two hours to charge. If you’re the type of person who uses their phone and battery-draining apps a lot, this should be a huge-selling point. 

The cameras are the biggest draw, however: two swanky 50MP main and ultra-wide-angle cameras on the back and a 32MP front camera. Oppo and its sister-company OnePlus have been working with Swedish camera manufacturer Hasselblad. The partnership has been a huge success, elevating their camera technology from just okay to genuinely great. In pure hardware terms, I’d say that Oppo and OnePlus phones have the best cameras on the market. Their wide-angle lens is jaw-dropping.

However, I still say Google’s Pixel phones are the go-to for snappers. It all comes back to that image optimisation. Oppo’s cameras are based on Hasselblad’s ‘Natural Colour Calibration’ to use more natural and accurate colours. I’m sure it’s more professional, but compared to the ones I took on my Pixel 6 Pro, they just felt ever so slightly washed out and dull. I can’t help favouring the Pixel. 

Oppo also make a standard model Find X5 which currently goes for £400 and a budget Find X5 Lite at £300. The Lite doesn’t have the swanky camera but, for my money, it’s still better than pretty much anything else in the same price bracket. For the average customer it’s a strong choice.

There is a more recent Oppo Find X6, by the way, but it’s only available in China.

Best foldable phones

8. Samsung Z Flip 5

£1,049 for 256MB model, John Lewis

Best folding phone, 9/10

We like: huge improvement over previous model

We don’t like: the camera is decent but not world-changing

• Also available with 512GB storage for £1,149
• Operating system Android 13
• Folding screen 6.7-inch AMOLED with 120Hz refresh rate, cover screen 3.4-inch AMOLED
• Cameras: 10MP front-facing, dual 12MP rear
• Battery life: up to 11 hours use, 35 hours standby
• Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

What a difference a year makes. Samsung’s Z Flip 5 has finally ironed out the issues of its predecessors and is a grown-up, gorgeous handset which makes you feel that flip phones are definitely here to stay. It’s about the most eye-catching foldable there is. A redesigned hinge means it feels pleasingly sturdy as you fold and unfold and it folds completely flat. The gap in previous handsets (and in most rivals) always made foldables feel breakable and slightly toytown: now it’s gone.

The other glaring problem of early folding phones has been literally ironed out here: the screen barely has a wrinkle when the phone is folded out, and you wouldn’t guess you were using a folding phone just from looking at it (although it is still softer to the touch). The metal-bordered design also looks seriously cute when folded up, like a phone from the long-gone days when devices actually fitted in pockets. 

The main 6.7-inch screen here is a sterling performer, but what sets this apart from the folding pack is that it’s got a state-of-the-art Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 chip, so it’s pretty much as fast as any phone on the market today. Pair that with an 120Hz screen, and it feels as good as a lot of flagships - just with an extra screen on the back. 

And what a screen that is. The 3.5-inch screen here has been massively upgraded so it’s actually useful, with the option to reply to texts and WhatsApps without opening the phone, as well as a variety of useful and semi-useful widgets such as calculators. It definitely cuts down the amount of times you open your phone per day, preventing you from losing time down a social media rabbit hole when all you wanted to do was see what that ping meant. 

It’s a breathtaking improvement over last year’s Z Flip 4, which only had a relatively tiny 1.9-inch screen with far less functionality. In every way, the Z Flip 5 trounces its predecessor, from the processor right through the feel of the phone. The only thing that’s largely unchanged is the camera, which is perfectly respectable but not world-beating. 

It’s fully waterproof and will go around 35 hours between charges. Previously generations of Samsung flip-phones (and their various rivals) have tended towards, ‘It’s great, but…’ Here, the ‘but’ is largely gone: this is a well-engineered, finished product which suggests that folding devices will make up a big part of the future of smartphones. All that needs to change is the price - this one is still £1,049, £50 more than last year’s - meaning it’s still in flagship territory.

9. Motorola RAZR 40 Ultra

£849.99 for 256GB model, John Lewis, also available at Carphone Warehouse and Very

Best flip phone, 9/10

We like: perfectly balanced folding phone

We don’t like: high price compared to non-folding varieties

• Only 256GB model available so far
• Operating system Android 13
• Screen: 3.6-inch external AMOLED, internal 6.9-inch AMOLED
• Battery: up to 33 hours talk time
• Cameras: 32MP selfie camera, 12MP main rear camera and 13MP ultrawide
• Processor Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

Motorola’s RAZR phones ruled the world back in the early 2000s, with the phone perfecting the flip phone aesthetic with its ultra-slim form, becoming an iconic device which sold 130 million units. Paris Hilton was rarely to be seen without her pink RAZR back in its heyday. 

Now the RAZR brand has returned as a 2023-style flip phone (opening into a vertical touchscreen, as opposed to folding phones like Google’s Pixel Fold, whose interior screens are horizontal). It’s a serious performer too, thanks to a 3.6 inch, 1,44Hz second screen which lets you interact with apps, see notifications and check basic information such as weather and time. It’s the biggest on a ‘flip’ phone  and it makes the device far more usable and a far more attractive choice. 

The interior 6.9-inch screen is gorgeous, and the phone has a fast Snapdragon 8 Plus Gen 1 processor. The camera, as with many folding phones, is fairly mediocre given the price, but there’s some nice extras. For instance, you can use the exterior display as a ‘mirror’ for your subjects to see themselves in. 

Aesthetically, it’s a winner. It’s gloriously thin (what else would you expect from a RAZR handset?) and folds into a neat, thin square when not in use. 

As with many folding phones, the issue here is the price tag: you’ll pay £1,049 for this, which is more than (for example) Google’s flagship Pixel 7 Pro. 

9. Google Pixel Fold

£1,449 for 256GB model, Google, also available at Mobiles.co.uk

Best foldable phone, 10/10

We like: Gorgeous premium finish and great camera

We don’t like: very expensive indeed

• Also available with 512GB storage for £1,869
• Operating system: Android 13
• Screens: 5.8-inch outside, 7.6-inch inside
• Battery life 24 hours
• Cameras: 9.5 MP selfie camera, rear 48MP main camera with wide lens, 10.8MP ultrawide lens and 10.8MP telephoto lens
• Processor Google Tensor G2

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

Google’s Pixel Fold is a different take on the folding phone idea. It folds out into a huge square, pretty much a full-fledged tablet, with a 7.6-inch screen which is great for watching videos or doing work. What’s more, it’s got a full-blown screen on the front, which you can interact with just like you would a normal phone. This means you can (for example) fire off a reply to an email without having to unfurl the full width of the screen.

The fly in the ointment here is that the Fold comes in at an eye-watering £1,749 compared with just £699 for Google’s own non-folding Pixel 8. Is it more than twice as good?  

Well, it is an incredibly fun device to use. It feels great in the hand: it’s extremely thin, closing without a gap, and to be fair to the phone, it feels more premium than others in this category with a pleasingly posh aluminium, glass and stainless steel finish. 

As always with Google Pixel devices, the camera is sterling (something that’s not guaranteed in the folding market), and the 7.6-inch screen here is crisp and gorgeous. 

As with anything that’s relatively ground-breaking (there are similar Samsung devices, but nothing with this square-ish shape of screen) there are occasional apps which refuse to play ball, but it feels fresh, innovative, and delightful to use. As always with Pixel devices, it’s not loaded with weird bloatware apps that no one wants, so it’s simple enough even for iPhone fans to switch to. Expensive, but gorgeous. 

10. Oppo Find N2 Flip

£533.80, Amazon

Best value folding phone, 8/10

We like: tempting price for a folding phone

We don’t like: the camera is fine, but not cutting-edge

• Only available in 256GB
• Operating system Android 13
• Screens: 3.26-inch AMOLED outside, 6.8-inch AMOLED inside
• Battery life: 4.5 hours screen time, 36 hours standby
• Cameras: 32MP selfie camera, 50MP main rear camera
• Processor Mediatek Dimensity 9000+

Reviewed by Rob Waugh

Early adopters of new technology become resigned to the fact you’ll always pay for the privilege of turning heads - and the emerging folding phone market is proof of this. You won’t find many budget phones in this category, and the closest you’ll get to a mid-priced handset is this, priced at £849. 

Still, it’s a great little performer for the money, with a crisp 5.25-inch AMOLED screen and a cute little three-inch screen on the outside which lets you keep up with notifications and interact with a few widgets (not full apps, though). 

For the money, it’s a great performer, although, the ColorOS operating system feels slightly alien compared to the comfortable ‘clean’ Android of Google’s Pixel phone: Oppo is a Chinese company which has only started making phones for the Western market relatively recently, and this comes with the usual weird ‘extra’ app store and Oppo apps which don’t really add a great deal to the user experience. 

The 50-megapixel camera and 32-megapixel selfie camera here are OK, but only OK, lagging behind other phones you’d pay this much money for. It’s pleasingly slim, though, and has the ‘wow’ factor you expect from a folding device, so it’s a good entry-level choice. 

FAQ

Your smartphone questions answered, by Jack Rear

How do I know if the camera is good?

Most current smartphones will take great pictures and high-end models compete to offer the best cameras. Camera resolution is measured in megapixels (MP). Pixels are the tiny dots on your screen which make up images. There are a million of them in a megapixel. A camera with more megapixels can take bigger and higher quality photos and show more detail. 

Resolutions these days range from around 12MP to 50MP. However, megapixels aren’t everything. Increasingly, phones use AI to enhance and improve the images. Many people would choose a phone with superior AI (such as the Google Pixel) over one with a superior camera.

What is a good amount of storage?

Expect a minimum of 128GB (gigabytes) of storage; 256GB is becoming the standard. 1TB (one terabyte) is available on some phones, but you will only need that much storage if you want a lot of music, games or videos available on your phone at all times (rather than stored in the cloud).

What is the best screen size?

Measured diagonally from the top corner to the bottom corner, current screen sizes range from just under five inches to close to seven inches. Larger screens can be uncomfortable to hold in the hand or fit in the pocket, but are better for reading and watching video.

How long should the battery life be?

Any phone with significantly more than 24 hours is considered very good. Many manufacturers will judge battery on “talk time”, but the phones will actually last days if left on standby.

What is the processor?

Sometimes known as the Central Processing Unit or CPU, this is the bit of the phone which decides how fast the phone will load. That’s everything from loading apps to loading video. It’s also about how many apps the phone can have running at once. A better processor means a faster phone, basically.

What is refresh rate?

Measured in Hertz (Hz), this is how many times per second the image on your screen changes, as you scroll or watch content. A 60Hz refresh rate was once the standard, but we’ve started to see phones with 90Hz or even 120Hz refresh rates coming out. In short, it just makes the things you watch smoother, and scrolling through long articles glide more easily. You’d probably notice the difference going from a 60Hz screen to a 120Hz screen or vice versa, but it’s shouldn’t be a deal-breaker for most people. 

What is a good amount of RAM?

RAM (Random Access Memory) is the space in which your phone will store all the information it needs right now. Essentially, this is how many apps you can have running at once before they slow their phone down. Most phones come with 6GB or 8GB of RAM.

Is Android better than iOS?

iOS is Apple’s operating system, used on all iPhones. Android OS is Google’s operating system, now used on almost all non-Apple devices including phones from Samsung, Sony and OnePlus. Android can be customised by the manufacturer so that a Samsung Android will likely work a bit differently to a OnePlus Android.

Android has the benefit of Google’s immense algorithmic brain power and seamless interaction with the overarching Google suite of products. On the downside, most Android phones effectively double-up on apps, so you might have a Samsung music player and Google Play Music, or a standard gallery and Google Photos. This can cause Android devices to feel somewhat cluttered. In addition, Android updates have to be rolled out across dozens of different devices from different manufacturers, meaning that they take a long time to prepare. 

Some users prefer the choice you get with Android, and there has probably never been a better time to buy an Android phone due to the choice and variety available. That said, the more reliable security updates from Apple have kept it popular, despite some battery troubles on older devices.

How to protect your smartphone data

It’s worth reading our guide to the best anti-virus software to protect your smartphone from cybercrime and the best VPNs to keep your details safe from prying eyes when using a smartphone on public Wi-Fi. 

Or you could go the safe route and avoid the ‘smart’ part of smartphone altogether. Read our guides to the best dumbphones and the best cordless home phones to find the best one for you.) 

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