Apple
iPhone 13 Pro Max
Test score
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22A great mobile phone will take the place of your camera, keep you informed and entertained on the move and still leave you with enough battery when you get home.
But it's not easy to find a model that can succeed on all counts. With prices rising and more than ever to choose from, it's important to spend your money wisely on a phone that will last.
Read our in-depth guide for advice on choosing the right operating system, brand and additional features that you'll really use.
Or head straight to the mobile phones reviews that have gone through our tough tests.
Which? is bringing legal action against Qualcomm. If you bought an Apple or Samsung phone after 1 October 2015, you could be affected.
We've rounded up some of the very best premium phones you can buy that are great all-rounders. If you want to pay less, scroll down for some excellent options for under £500 and under £250.
Released in early 2021, this phone excelled in our tests. The 6.2-inch OLED screen is highly detailed with balanced colours. It's 5G ready and the cameras really impressed - with vivid colours, a brilliant flash and a high-quality zoom. However, the battery life could be better, giving you between 22.5 and 25.5 hours in total.
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This phone did not disappoint in our tests. The cameras are fantastic value for money and the 6.4-inch display is outstanding. The battery life isn't perfect, giving you up to 29 hours, but this will be partly down to powering the awesome screen. With five years of security support guaranteed, you can rely on keeping this phone for longer.
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This high-scoring phone has the holy trinity: a super-fast processor, stunning cameras and excellent battery life. It's an older model, but you won't have to make compromises with it's vibrant display and decent sounding speakers.
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This phone delivers a fabulous 6.4-inch screen with excellent rear cameras. It's 5G ready with a wicked-fast processor. It takes a while to charge but will give you up to 34 hours of battery - a decent result.
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Pricing, recommendations and test scores correct as of March 2022.
Haven't found the product for you? Browse all of our mobile phone reviews.
A cheaper handset won't just save you money if you're buying outright, but will also result in a cheaper contract. Avoiding a top-of-the-line £800 handset in favour of one that costs £500 and under can save you as much as £50 per month, depending on how much you pay up front.
This phone's display is a knockout with the phone's OLED screen giving you a premium-feel at a good price. The battery life is fine giving you between 28.5 and 33 hours, and it only takes one hour to fully charge. Camera quality is a little underwhelming, but rear-cameras videos are especially good and pictures are detailed.
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This 5G-connected phone impressed across a number of our tests. It has excellent cameras and the battery life will get you through the day easily.
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This powerful phone gives you a lot of perks for a reasonable price. It's best features include a high-quality 6.7-inch display and up to 39 hours battery life. The cameras could be better but they produce pictures with decent colours and contrast in good light conditions.
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Pricing, recommendations and test scores correct as of March 2022.
We test mobile phones at every price point, and while some inexpensive models are definite Don’t Buys, there are plenty of affordable gems worth considering.
To help you get the most for your money, we've put together the best-value models – including what we think is the best choice if you want to spend no more than £100.
The photos and videos aren’t perfect but this phone performs brilliantly in every other area. It’s easy to use, has a great battery life and is impressive on a quick 15-minute charge. It is worth bearing in mind that it doesn’t have 5G.
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This bargain phone's main strengths include a long battery life and user-friendly interface. It doesn't have the best camera or display, but it might be worth considering for the price.
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Pricing, recommendations and test scores correct as of March 2022.
Love a bargain? We round up the best mobile phone deals each month to highlight some great discounts.
You could spend over £1,000 on a smartphone, but fortunately over recent years we've seen excellent models for a fraction of the price.
Expect to spend a little over £200 for a Best Buy. It may not have all the bells and whistles of premium competitors, but any phone good enough to be a Best Buy is guaranteed to tick a lot of boxes.
What you're typically missing out on versus the flagship models are high end cameras and high resolution video, a less sharp or colourful display, and less premium materials in the phone's construction.
What you can get, regardless of price, are perfectly capable and versatile cameras that take great photos, impressive battery life, and processors that are more than fast enough for most day to day tasks.
Looking for a bargain? Read our full list of the best mobile phone deals, or compare mobile phones and Sim-only contracts and find out how much you could save.
One important consideration for any phone purchase is how long it'll received important security updates from the manufacturer. This is where brand can make a difference. Apple traditionally supports smartphones for the longest, at around 5 or 6 years. Android brands vary considerable, from 2 to over 4 years.
This isn't always easy to work out, and you need to remember that support durations start from when the phone is released, not when you buy it. To help inform a purchase, enter a phone into the tool below to see our estimate of the minimum remaining support.
For more information on keeping a smartphone safe from hackers, read our guide to mobile phone security.
The operating system (OS) is the software that powers your phone. It shapes what the phone interface looks like and what apps it can run, and plays a large part in how easy it is to use. There are two main players to choose from: iOS (Apple iPhones) and Android.
Android
Android is designed by Google and is used by a range of manufacturers, from bigger brands such as Samsung and Motorola to growing brands like OnePlus and Oppo. Android looks and behaves slightly differently depending on who manufactures the smartphone handset, but the basics are essentially the same.
Apple iOS
All iPhones use iOS and, unlike Android, the experience of using the operating system is broadly similar whichever iPhone you buy. New updates to iOS are released each year, but some older iPhones may be able to run only older versions, which means you'll miss out on some of the latest features and security patches.
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Smartphones are getting bigger, with the latest high-end models measuring between 5.5 and 6.5 inches or more. While bigger phones are great for watching films and browsing the web, they won’t suit everyone. Some people find them too large and awkward to hold, and would prefer a model they can comfortably use with one hand.
The best way to find out which handset size is right for you is to try holding a few in a shop. Also pay attention to the physical dimensions of the phone. Screen sizes are available at different aspect ratios, and different phones have different sized bezels. A phone with a 6-inch screen may ultimately be smaller than one with a 5.5-inch screen.
You might be tempted to think that phones with larger batteries have a better battery life. While battery size is a good indicator, that's not always the case. There are multiple things that can drain a phone's battery, including screen size, resolution and refresh rate, and the type of processor.
We put all phones through a rigorous battery test to find out how long they last under real usage conditions – watching videos, browsing the internet, making calls, using the camera and more, and we factor in idle time as well, to give a realistic usage time, and attribute a star rating.
If battery is the most important thing to you, you can browse all our mobile phone reviews to find a model that lasts.
This is a key buying decision. It can be tempting to opt for a lower monthly fee rather than pay a lot outright for a new phone, but this could cost more in the long term. Use our phone contract calculator to find the best way to buy.
One way to get a good discount on a phone is to buy second-hand, or a refurbished model – which is usually a phone that has been used but restored to 'as new' condition, or graded to a certain level of quality. The second hand phone market is a popular one, but you do need to be careful what you buy. Read more in our guide to buying a second-hand or refurbished mobile phone.
The biggest fault people have with mobile phones is related to battery, with almost one in five reporting issues with phones refusing to charge, or quickly losing charge.
We collect reliability data on all the big brand smartphones so you have all the very best advice before you buy. Read our guide to the most reliable mobile phone brands for more.
When buying a mobile phone, make sure you're handing your money over to a reputable seller. Check the retailer's returns policy and pay attention to customer feedback and reviews. For more details on shopping online safely and arranging refunds for faulty products, see our advice on shopping online.
Mobile Phones Direct, Argos and Carphone Warehouse are some of the most searched-for mobile phone retailers at the time of writing. We’ve included links to these retailers handpicked because of their stock availability, best value price or warranty options.