The fine margins of success in the smartphone world became even finer in 2025, with hardware upgrades taking a continued backseat to ever-expanding, AI-powered software ambitions. However, that doesn’t mean there weren’t a few standout devices, and that’s what we’re here to talk about today.
Between all of our day-to-day reporting and hunting for exclusive information to bring to you, our readers, we’ve also been trialing and testing dozens of smartphones from all the biggest brands. There are plenty of top contenders, but only one can be crowned as Android Authority‘s Editor’s Choice smartphone of the year 2025 — join us as we list off our top five and the overall winner!
How we chose our winner
Before we get to the fun part, though, let’s quickly go over our selection and voting process.
Over the past year, we’ve tested more than 40 smartphones, putting each through rigorous performance, battery, and charging benchmarks alongside hands-on evaluations of cameras, design, software features, update commitments, and far more.
Our experienced reviewers spend countless hours uncovering what truly sets each device apart, and while personal preferences naturally vary, choosing the best of the year is a collaborative effort. To do that, our senior editors and product testers come together to review and discuss the highest-rated phones, reaching a consensus as a panel of experts and narrowing our list down to a group of 20 potential winners.
Over 40+ phones went through our tests and critical reviews in 2025, but only one can win our top annual prize...
The class of 2025 represented 12 different smartphone brands, and our jury of 13 editors assigned votes to their top five picks in our typical ranked voting system. A fifth-place vote earns a device a single point, fourth place earns two, and so on, up to a maximum of five points for a first-place pick.
The phone that received the most points took home the grand prize, and this year, that phone was somehow both completely expected and utterly bizarre in equal measure…
Android Authority‘s Editor’s Choice phone of the year 2025: OnePlus 13
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