Flagship

Strong gains in battery, charging and gaming performance, but the AI speedup and variable aperture feel underwhelming in daily use.

A really good phone with excellent battery life, big performance headroom and much better image processing, though not an exciting upgrade…

An iPhone in a rugged case survived the drop test better than the rugged phone, so he prefers that route.

His pick for best camera and co-smartphone of the year, thanks to the 5x zoom, 24MP shots, portrait conversion, battery and USB-C.

The best choice for anyone wanting a big screen and battery now the Plus is gone, especially in eSIM-only countries.

Conflicted over the lack of camera and battery upgrades, but he concludes it is the most complete Android phone and a great all-rounder for…

Faster sensor captures high-resolution photos much quicker than the 15 Pro Max, though everyday image quality is similar.

Capable phone with great cameras, thermals and battery, but the upgrades feel incomplete and it is an optional upgrade for most people.

Winner of the glow-up award, with a much better screen and doubled storage for the same price.

Used only as a stabilisation benchmark, where its footage looked shaky next to the Honor's.

Subtle hardware improvements, with misleading marketing claims and a $100 price hike.

Same modest upgrades as the Pro, with smaller charging gains than advertised and a price of $1,299.

Only four small hardware changes and a $100 price rise, so the software is the real draw.

Safe and fine, but worse in every way than the S25 Ultra.

World-class software and Gemini features, but less powerful, worse for gaming and shorter on battery than rivals.

Exceptional rear cameras and smarter software, but weak front camera, patchy apps and no Apple ecosystem made it unworkable as his main pho…

Keeps the headphone jack, microSD slot and great speakers, but the camera is less dependable than Samsung's.

The most stale ultra phone he has seen, with boring design, software, display and cameras.

Balanced, dependable and tied into a strong ecosystem, which he decided matters more to him than the Oppo's camera strengths.

Runner-up for the why-does-this-exist award: not bad but a disappointing spec bump with a less cool dotty screen at $800.

A delightful, tough and fast phone with a much improved camera, but he says most people should hold off because the AI pricing is unknown a…

Throttles badly, so the so-called A19 Pro Air is slower than the cheaper iPhone 17, and it has a weak single speaker and a weaker portrait…

Its marketed 6,000 nit peak brightness looks no different from a Galaxy S25 Ultra in everyday use.

Finished fifth, with the global version underperforming its huge 6,800mAh capacity because of a restricted cell.