Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra

Last year's Ultra is far cheaper and will get most of the new software features, making it the better value choice.

Used as a baseline, with the S25 Ultra improving on its video, zoom and night shots.

Last year's model, used as the baseline; its screen and One UI upgrade were highlights.

Samsung's hero phone with useful AI, great battery, built-in S Pen and an excellent display, and the AI trophy winner.

Best battery of any phone he has put through his tests, beating every iPhone, and he has used it as his main phone.

Still wins on zoom, portraits and AI editing, but loses on video, noise, shooting speed and everyday photo quality.

Used as the benchmark: faster and longer-lasting than the Pixel, with similar detail but a better portrait mode, though beaten on AI zoom.

His benchmark phone: better cameras, battery and S Pen at about half the price of the Fold 6.

His phone, which he really likes and whose battery never lets him down, though juggling ecosystems with Apple gear is harder each year.

His daily phone and the overall winner, with better battery life, cooler running, longer updates and more AI features than the Xiaomi.

Mentioned as the $1,200 phone he prefers to the Nothing Phone (2a), though the gap feels smaller than the price difference.

Best Samsung flagship yet, with a standout anti-reflective screen, polished software, useful AI features and great battery life, though the camera output is barely improved and signal and Instagram video quality disappointed him.

Wins the camera battle 6.5 to 4.5 thanks to slow-mo, a much better camera app, strong editing tools and portraits, but noise in dark video and weaker long-range zoom hold it back.

A fascinating flagship with solid hardware upgrades and genuinely useful Galaxy AI, though some AI features are rough and the 100x zoom is not much better.