Ryan Haines / Android Authority
Android phones launch throughout the year, so there’s always a new phone to look forward to at any point. Thanks to this never-ending cycle and the ups and downs on discounts, phone recommendations are always in a state of flux—phones that are good to buy right now may not be the best choice later on, and phones that were skippable early in their release cycle can suddenly become insane value after a price drop. With a big chunk of Android flagship releases done for the year, we asked you what you thought was the worst phone to buy in August 2025, and there’s some pretty strong hate coming in for two recent releases: namely, the Motorola Moto G 2025 and the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge.
With over 15,000 total votes at the time of publishing this, this has been among our most-voted surveys yet. Unfortunately for the Motorola Moto G (2025), it got 3,700 votes for a 24.9% vote share, making it the least popular phone choice for this month. The Moto G (2025) doesn’t have a stellar spec sheet, but that’s to be expected from a $200 budget Android phone. Still, it’s a basic phone that does the job, right? As it turns out, it doesn’t, as my colleague Ryan Haines complained about its slow performance, disappointing cameras, poor water resistance, and a terrible software update policy in our Moto G (2025) review. Competitors like the Galaxy A16 5G ($199.99 at Samsung) do better, so the Moto G (2025) is the reader’s choice for the worst Android phone to buy this month.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge is the second-worst Android phone to buy in August 2025, with over 3,300 votes, and I honestly thought it would take the first spot. It has poor thermals on board, weak battery life, slow charging, and no telephoto camera — it’s almost like it’s 2015 again. What makes all of this even more unacceptable is the $1,100, and it’s like you’re paying the extra premium over other sane choices just to live with a bunch of compromises. As is the rule with all such first-generation products, you’re better off skipping it and waiting for the second generation, which would hopefully fix some of these shortcomings for a better-rounded experience.
The Galaxy A36 5G takes the third spot with over 2,600 votes, primarily because of the poor performance you get from the Snapdragon 6 Gen 3 on this $400 phone. You could spend that money elsewhere, like the Pixel 9a ($399 at Amazon), or the Moto G Stylus (2025) ($399.99 at Amazon).
I am genuinely surprised by how low down the list the Pixel 9 series, including the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, has appeared. Combined, the series would have gotten 26.45% votes and the top spot, but breaking down the series into non-Pro and Pro, the Pixel 9 got over 2,000 votes, while the Pixel 9 Pro, Pro XL, and Pro Fold combined got over 1,900 votes.
This result is surprising not because the Pixel 9 series has bad phones (they’re great phones), but because right now is objectively the worst time to buy them. The Pixel 10 series is just a week away, and you should absolutely wait a week or two to snag the older phones at heavier discounts. Some readers commented that you can already snag a great deal on the Pixel 9 series, so you might be waiting for nothing and potentially risking an out-of-stock situation.
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Do you agree with the public opinion on the worst Android phones to buy this month? Let us know your thoughts in the comments below!
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