Best Smartphones of 2023
Searching for a cell phone with great battery life? Awesome cameras? A reasonable price? Take a look at these options.
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Whether you’re looking for the latest and greatest flagship phone or a more modest model for talking and texting, there’s no shortage of well-made devices in our smartphone ratings (available to CR members).
Consumer Reports tests dozens of the best phones each year, checking the basics, including how long the batteries last and how bright the displays are, along with premium features such as multicamera setups and the hinges on foldable phones.
But even the most lackluster smartphones represent a leap in technology from a decade ago. And that means you don’t have to buy the No. 1-rated phone to get a great product.
All but 18 of the 58 smartphones currently in CR’s ratings have earned our recommendation. And the top 20 are separated by just a few points.
So which is the best smartphone for you? Well, that depends. Are you willing to spend a little or a lot? Is daylong battery life your top priority, or is it a cutting-edge camera setup?
To help you out, here are some smart options, based on our extensive lab testing.
Best iPhone
Overall Score: 86
List price: $1,100 and up
Apple’s latest supersized 6.7-inch flagship phone offers handy features such as an always-on display and what the company dubs the Dynamic Island, an interactive pill-shaped cutout at the top that can show system alerts and notifications.
CR testers give the iPhone 14 Pro Max’s cameras (front and back) top marks for selfie, still image, and video quality. The phone also has an impressive battery life, clocking in at 50 hours on one charge in our labs. That’s slightly less than the 52.5 hours logged for the iPhone 13 Pro Max, which has the longest battery life of the phones in our ratings but is no longer available directly from Apple.
On the flip side, the Pro Max is significantly heavier than the 6.1-inch 14 Pro and can be tough to use one-handed, even for people with long fingers. So if you’re wary of bulky phones, you might be happier with the Pro, which also performs admirably in CR’s tests and costs $100 less.
Interested in other iPhone models? Take a look at which iPhone you should buy.
Best Android Phone
Overall Score: 85
List price: $1,200 and up
Samsung’s top-of-the-line Galaxy S23 Ultra goes big with a 6.8-inch display you can scribble on like a real notepad with the phone’s built-in stylus.
The model also boasts a 200-megapixel main rear camera. For those keeping count, that’s nearly double the pixel count of the S22 Ultra. CR testers give the S23 Ultra top marks for rear still image quality, and the video and selfie image quality are also outstanding.
Lasting 45 hours on one charge, the S23 Ultra has one of the longest battery lives among the phones we’ve tested, too.
If you prefer a smaller phone or a lower price, the 6.6-inch S23+ and 6.1-inch S23 are great options as well. Both have 50-megapixel main rear cameras and smaller batteries than the S23 Ultra but rank among the top performers in our tests.
Prefer a phone not made by Samsung? Check out these other great Android smartphones.
Best Low-Priced (Under $500) Android Phone
Overall Score: 72
List price: $450 and up
Google’s entry-level smartphone offers a lot for a relatively small price. It has a bright 6.1-inch OLED display, two rear cameras instead of the one typically found in phones in this price range, and a clean and simple Android interface.
The Pixel 6a runs on the company’s home-brewed Tensor chipset, which Google says enables the phone to perform advanced tricks like digitally erasing people and objects from photos. CR testers give the phone high marks for still image and video quality, as well as for the device’s overall performance.
On the downside, the Pixel 6a lasted just 30.5 hours on a single charge in CR’s battery-life tests, which is significantly less than the now-discontinued Pixel 5a’s 43.5 hours.
We’ll soon have test results on the recently released Pixel 7a, but if you need an inexpensive Android phone right now, the 6a is still a steal—especially with the latest price drop.
Best Low-Priced (Under $500) iPhone
Overall Score: 75
List price: $430 and up
The iPhone SE has a 4.7-inch display and starts at $430, making this the smallest and least expensive model from Apple. But don’t let that relatively modest price fool you: The SE earns a strong rating overall.
The camera setup is pretty basic for an iPhone—just one 12-megapixel camera on the back and a 7-megapixel camera on the front—but the still image quality and video quality impressed CR’s testers.
What else do you give up at this price? The SE has a retro home button rather than support for Face ID to unlock the device, and it lacks Apple’s MagSafe technology for quickly connecting the device to wireless chargers and other accessories. Battery life is about average, at 30 hours.
Learn more about great low-priced smartphones.
