We look at the best Android phones available to buy right now
Google Android is now the most popular mobile operating system in the world. There are a vast array of Android smartphones on the market from a whole host of manufacturers and with more Android phones being released every week a consumer’s choice becomes ever more bewildering.
When buying an Android phone, a consumer has a variety of manufacturers to choose from who each have their own range of devices with different size displays, price-points, features and specs. Choosing between a Sony Xperia, Samsung Galaxy, HTC, LG and all the other Android smartphones isn't an easy task.
To help you decide we've picked out the best Android phones available to buy right now. Every one of the smartphones on the list is great in its own right and they were picked after considering every aspect of the phone including design, performance and price.
Google’s Android is the most widely used operating system in the world, topping both Windows 10 and Apple’s iOS for popularity.
Part of the appeal of Android is the sheer range of handsets running it. Whatever your budget, and whatever you look for in a phone, you can guarantee there’ll be an Android phone for you.
To illustrate that fact, we’ve rounded up some of the finest Android smartphones on the market. We think you’ll find there’s something for everyone here.
One of the most appealing things about Android these days is that you no longer need to pay top dollar for a classy and accomplished phone.
Case in point: The Honor 8. It’s truly beautiful, with a uniquely shimmering glass and metal design.
Add in a crisp 5.2-inch 1080p display, a capable octa-core CPU, and an effective dual-lens camera, and you have a mid-range phone with a number of upper class credentials.
Our verdict
There are faster and sharper phones on this list, but few that offer such eye-catching features for such an impressive price.
HTC was the Android phone maker that pioneered the currently fashionable all-metal design, and the first to make phones that were as beautiful as Apple’s.
All that design know-how is on display in the HTC 10, a quietly classy phone with an angled metal unibody.
It’s not lacking for features either, with a pixel-packed 5.2-inch QHD display and a speedy Snapdragon 820 CPU. Elsewhere, a 12P camera optical image stabilisation takes strong pictures in a variety of lighting conditions.
Our verdict
A classy and capable phone from the original Android design masters.
You might not think of Huawei as a household name like Samsung and Apple, but it’s currently the third biggest smartphone maker in the world. The Huawei Mate 9 demonstrates how that status has been earned.
This is a well equipped, keenly priced phablet with an all-metal design and a huge 5.9-inch 1080p display and a powerful Kirin 960 CPU.
However, the Mate 9’s stand-out feature has to be its dual-camera system, which has been provided in conjunction with German camera specialist Leica. It’s capable of taking pin-sharp images, and you can even refocus certain pictures after they’ve been taken.
Our verdict
The Huawei Mate 9 goes big with its display, design, performance and camera capabilities.
OnePlus doesn’t make its phones particularly easy to obtain compared to other manufacturers, but you can see why some people are willing to jump through hoops to get the OnePlus 3T.
Here’s a phone that bests pretty much every other Android phone on the market for performance thanks to a Snapdragon 821 CPU and 6GB of RAM. It also matches most of them on the design front, with a sleek metal body.
Despite this, it’s available for hundreds less than most flagship rivals - albeit only up front and online.
Our verdict
If you can manage to lay your hands on one, the OnePlus 3T provides possibly the highest bangs-to-bucks ratio of any phone.
The fact that the Samsung Galaxy S7 remains one of the fastest, most attractive, and most feature-rich smartphones on the market despite arriving in early 2016 shows just how ahead of the game it was.
Its 5.1-inch QHD Super AMOLED display is arguably the best on the market, while Samsung’s custom Exynos 8890 CPU continues to put rivals to shame on the performance front.
Topping it all off, the Galaxy S7 has one of the finest smartphone cameras out there, particularly when it comes to low-light performance.
Our verdict
Samsung’s early 2016 flagship was built to last, and it’s still putting rivals in their place approaching a year on from release.
The Google Pixel XL doesn’t come cheap, but it’s the closest thing the Android platform has to the iPhone 7 Plus. This is because Google, the maker of Android, has also taken control of the phone’s hardware design, making for a highly optimised and fluid experience.
Beside that, the Google Pixel XL is simply an extremely accomplished phone, with the latest Snapdragon 821 CPU, a beautiful 5.5-inch QHD AMOLED display, and what some feel is the best smartphone camera in the business.
This is also the first and best phone to make use of Google’s Daydream VR platform, which you can expect to hear a lot more from in 2017.
Our verdict
The Pixel XL’s similarity to the iPhone 7 Plus goes well beyond its price and appearance - it also represents a seamless integration of hardware and software that’s positively Apple-like.
Take what we said about the Samsung Galaxy S7 and add an even larger, dual-curved display and you have the Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge. It’s nothing less than the most beautiful smartphone money can buy.
It’s deceptively tough too, as like the Galaxy S7 it’s highly water and dust resistant.
Add in that custom Exynos 8890 CPU and Samsung’s market-leading 12MP camera, and you have arguably the finest all-round Android phone of them all.
Our verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S7 Edge mixes it with the very best in terms of performance and camera quality, but it stands alone when it comes to design and display quality.
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