Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Can you feel it? 2026 is rumbling in the distance, getting ever closer. That can only mean one thing: It’s time to figure out the best smartphone of 2025!
Here at Android Authority, we give out two major phone awards at the end of the year. One is our Editor’s Choice Award for the year’s best phone, which we decide internally based on a year’s worth of objective testing, data collection, and our general expertise. Our Editor’s Choice Award 2024 went to the Google Pixel 9 Pro.
The second major yearly award is the Reader’s Choice Award, which is completely determined by you, our readers. We have no say in this matter: We simply provide you the platform to speak your voice, and whichever device gets the most votes walks away with the trophy. You chose the Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra as the Reader’s Choice Award 2024 winner.
If you’ve been reading Android Authority for years now, you probably know the drill here. For everyone else, let me explain how things will go!
Best phone of 2025: How Reader’s Choice Award voting works There are three rounds for the Reader’s Choice Award voting. First, there’s the elimination round. In this round, 38 phones (!!) will duke it out to become one of the surviving four. Those final four will move onto the semi-final round. After that, only two will emerge, which will then make up the final round. The final round is where the magic happens, and will result in one phone walking away with the claim of being the best phone of 2025, as decided by you. Here is the voting schedule and where each vote takes place: Monday, December 15, 6:00 AM ET: The elimination round occurs here at Android Authority, exclusively in the poll below.
The elimination round occurs here at Android Authority, exclusively in the poll below. Tuesday, December 16, 6:00 AM ET: The semi-final round happens on this page, along with our YouTube, X, and Threads profiles. You can vote once in each place, giving you four chances to vote!
The semi-final round happens on this page, along with our YouTube, X, and Threads profiles. You can vote once in each place, giving you four chances to vote! Wednesday, December 17, 6:00 AM ET: The final round happens on this page, YouTube, X, and Threads, once again giving you four chances to make your voice heard. At 6:00 AM ET on Thursday, December 18, voting will close at all outlets. We will tally the votes and announce the big winner on Friday, December 19. The announcement includes a full breakdown of all the votes, which is always interesting to see!
Vote now for the best phone of 2025! Are you ready to vote? Before you do so, make sure you understand that, for this round, you can only vote once. In the poll below, pick the phone you think deserves to be phone of the year. Once you tap that phone, there are no take-backs — that’s your choice and it’s locked in! Once we whittle things down to the final four, you’ll have more chances to vote across more channels. Let’s vote!
Reader's Choice 2026: Elimination Round 90 votes Apple iPhone 17 3 % Apple iPhone 17 Pro 3 % CMF Phone 2 Pro 1 % Fairphone 6 2 % Google Pixel 9a 1 % Google Pixel 10 4 % Google Pixel 10 Pro 14 % Google Pixel 10 Pro XL 16 % Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold 1 % HONOR Magic 7 Pro 0 % HONOR Magic V5 1 % HUAWEI Pura 80 Ultra 1 % HUAWEI Mate X7 0 % Motorola Moto G Stylus (2025) 0 % Motorola Razr (2025) 1 % Motorola Razr Ultra 0 % Nothing Phone 3 2 % Nothing Phone 3a Pro 0 % OnePlus 13 8 % OnePlus 13R 0 % OnePlus 15 3 % OPPO Find X8 Ultra 0 % OPPO Find X9 Pro 11 % POCO F8 Ultra 0 % realme GT8 Pro 1 % Samsung Galaxy A16 5G 1 % Samsung Galaxy A26 5G 0 % Samsung Galaxy S25 FE 0 % Samsung Galaxy S25 2 % Samsung Galaxy S25 Plus 2 % Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra 11 % Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 0 % Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 3 % Sony Xperia 1 VII 0 % TECNO Pova 7 Pro 0 % vivo X300 Pro 3 % Xiaomi 15 0 % Xiaomi 15 Ultra 1 %
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