Best phone in the US for 2020: the top 15 smartphones we've tested

Buying the best phone in 2020 is an expensive investment no matter if it comes from Samsung, Apple, or Google, meaning your decision is all the more important.

We're constantly updating our best phones list for this reason: to make sure you're buying the absolute top smartphone for your needs. The Samsung Galaxy S20 series shook up our rankings, but also consider the iPhone 11 or Galaxy Note 10.

Why we have more than one pick: We have a top pick, but not everyone looks for the same smartphone features. Some demand Apple's iMessage and FaceTime, so that means sticking with iOS 13 (and, soon, iOS 14), while others will want infinite customizations and Google Assistant, which is available in Android 10.

Likewise, AT&T plans, Verizon plans, or T-Mobile plans may sway your a preference; the best AT&T phone may not be available on Verizon, and vice-versa. We've seen more unlocked phones in the US, but not all of them are available for every carrier.

Almost all smartphone prices have crept up to – and above – $1,000 so you'll want to take your decision seriously. We're here to guide you through the top phone picks with all of the expertise we've gained doing phone reviews.

The best phone in 2020? It has a large display, yet is easy to handle; packs a camera suite capable of replacing a point-and-shoot; and has enough processor power and battery to get work done while you're on the go. You won't find slow smartphones with anything less than all-day battery life on this ranked phone list.

5G phones are becoming important and more prevalent, as Android handsets use the Snapdragon 865 chipset (we're still waiting on a 5G iPhone), and foldable phones will one day become a big deal. Maybe when the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2 gets here. Right now, they're too pricey.

Best phone at a glance:

1. Samsung Galaxy S20 / S20 Plus
2. iPhone 11
3. Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus
4. iPhone 11 Pro / Pro Max
5. Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra
6. Samsung Galaxy S10 / S10 Plus
7. OnePlus 7 Pro
8. Google Pixel 4 XL
9. Huawei P30 Pro
10. Samsung Galaxy S10e
11. iPhone XR
12. iPhone XS
13. Google Pixel 3 XL
14. Samsung Galaxy Note 9
15. Moto G7 Power

The Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus is the best phone you can buy today, while the smaller (and slightly less capable) Galaxy S20 is so similar that we've lumped to two together.

Why it's the best phone: Its the value-for-money that allows Samsung to win over Apple. The S20 Plus starts at $1,199 and the S20 starts at $999. Yes, it's a price increase from last year (and now matches what you'll pay for the Pro-level iPhones), but you're getting bigger screens, more internal storage, a microSD card slot for expandable storage and 5G – things that you won't find on Samsung's closest competitor.    

Screen: The Infinity-O AMOLED displays on both phones - 6.2 inches for the S20, 6.7 inches for the S20 Plus - are gorgeous. The notches are both centralized like the Note 10, but they're much smaller this time around, and the S20 Plus only has a single lens. The result: more screen. Also new this year is a 120Hz maximum refresh rate for silky-smooth media and gaming, though you'll mostly notice it while browsing – and you'll have to drop your display resolution down to FHD+ to enjoy it.  

Battery Life: The S20 packs a 4,000mAh battery, while the S20 Plus has 4,500mAh of capacity. That is, to put it lightly, a lot, and frequently got us through over a day without recharging. Keep in mind that battery life estimate will dip down if you set the refresh rate at 120Hz, use a ton of 5G connectivity or lend juice with Wireless PowerShare, so adapt accordingly if you're looking to keep your phone going longer. 

Camera: The S20 and S20 Plus have truly spectacular cameras. No, not their 12MP main shooters, which are fine – it's the 64MP telephoto that really shines with a 3x optical zoom (up from the usual 2x zoom). The camera can also crop zoom to a muddy 30x digital zoom – which means the interim intervals are still a good deal more impressive than the competition. The 12MP ultra-wide performs adequately, while the 10MP front-facing camera works great with fun filters. Another first-time bonus: 8K 24fps video from the rear camera.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S20 Plus review and Samsung Galaxy S20 review

The iPhone 11 isn't technically superior to the iPhone 11 Pro series, but it's priced so well (for an iPhone) and has most of the key features you'll won't need much else from an Apple device. It takes the place of the iPhone XR with the same 6.1-inch screen, but a new dual-lens camera on back.

Why it's ranked 2nd: It's not as good of a value as Samsung's top-ranked handset, but the iPhone 11 is the best iPhone for most people simply because is that it costs $699. That's cheaper than the XR at launch a year ago, and much more affordable than the iPhone 11 Pro, which starts at $1,000 and goes up. And, unlike the iPhone SE 2020, which we praise for being a good value later, you're getting most of the features found on the Pro-level handsets like the camera's stunning Night Mode. 

Screen: The 6.1-inch screen fits in between the iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro Max sizes, making it an appealing choice if you want a large screen, but not the biggest. While it doesn't have the perks of the OLED display on the Pro models, some people won't notice a difference unless you see all of the phones side-by-side. It's still a brilliant-looking phone, if you don't mind the notch.

Battery life: This iPhone can delivery all-day battery life, and it's slightly better than the iPhone XR battery, which we thought was stellar last year. What are you going to be missing? While the pricier iPhone 11 Pro series does last a bit longer and comes with a fast charger in the box, this iPhone 11 does not.

Camera: This is close to the best iPhone camera, with both a 12MP main camera and a new 12MP ultra-wide camera to cram more into the frame.  It's missing the triple-lens camera on the Pro models, which adds in a telephoto lens, but you're getting the two essential cameras from that pairing, and it includes a long exposure night mode that will automatically brighten up dark photos.

Read more: iPhone 11 review

This is Samsung's most expensive non-foldable phone, and the big perk is that it comes with the handy S Pen that does new tricks. The screen is the most exquisite part of this really big phone, but you'll have to be able to handle its large size and equally big starting price.

Why it's ranked 3rd: The Note 10 Plus is impressive and certainly impressively big. The S Pen has always been a unique selling point and, these days, it's used for more than taking notes; you can trigger its camera shutter remotely and pull off a new gesture controls from afar. They won't sell you on such an expensive phone. They're nice-to-haves. What will tempt you is that immersive screen and great battery life.

Screen: Can you handle a phone with a 6.8-inch display? If the answer is yes, then you'll really enjoy this big-and-tall curved Infinity Display. It's immersive and easy to ignore the small front-facing camera hole at the center-top of the screen. It's the best display we've seen on a big phone.

Battery life: The Note 10 Plus has a 4,300mAh battery, and we found that it goes a day and a half with normal use without a problem. Samsung has improved its underlying battery saving tech and it's also equipped its phone with a 25W fast charger in the box and, there's compatibility with 15W fast wireless charging now.

Camera: This is where the Note 10 Plus shines, even if it isn't the best camera phone – it's the camera we had the most fun playing with. Some of that it thanks to the five cameras: four on the back and one on the front. You have the standard wide lens, the 123 degree field-of-view ultra-wide lens, and the 2x optical zoom telephoto lens. But we really liked the selfie camera here thanks to fun filters like Color Point that keep you in color but isolate the background in black-and-white.

Read our in-depth: Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus review

The iPhone 11 Pro and 11 Pro are almost exactly the same, save for different screen and battery sizes, as well as prices. So we're lumping them together, while nothing that your choice will depend on how large your grip and budget are.

Why it's ranked 4th: The iPhone 11 Pro Max is Apple's biggest and most powerful smartphone to date, and it's also the company's most expensive. While the same amount of money could buy you a Samsung phone with a bigger screen and more storage at the base level, most iOS users don't want to deal with Android. Instead, they can look forward to big upgrades compared to the iPhone XS Max, like the improved triple-lens rear camera and boosted internal power. 

Screen: Apple's 6.5-inch OLED screen on the iPhone 11 Pro Max really grabbed our attention – it's fantastic for video streaming and gaming, even if it's set to 60Hz while other phones are pushing 90Hz and even 120Hz refresh rates. Yes, the notch cut out at the top is still here, but we find it to be easy to ignore after a while (at least until we see the rumored iPhone 12 make the notch smaller – then we'll notice it a lot).

Battery life: This is some of the best battery life we've ever experienced on an iPhone, with further optimizations within iOS and a larger cell inside the phone itself. It's still not game-changing, but it's better than other Apple handsets.

Camera: The triple camera setup on the iPhone 11 Pro Max is fantastic. This is the first time Apple has implemented three rear cameras, and it offers a great experience. Plus, it can be fun to use.

Mini verdict: If your hands are as big as your bank balance, the iPhone 11 Pro Max takes Apple's smartphone to a whole new level with an improved camera and more.

Read our in-depth iPhone 11 Pro Max review and iPhone 11 Pro review

The OnePlus 8 Pro blew us away when we reviewed it, and the company is chasing Samsung and Apple on our best phones list for that very reason. While the OnePlus 8 is also an option, it's missing many, many of the features we like about the Pro, which we outline below.

Why it's ranked 5th: It's amazing that with Apple and Samsung's top phones out of the way, we have the at-one-time-little-known OnePlus doing so well that it's claimed a spot within the top 5 phones of 2020. While this version is more expensive than prior OnePlus phones, it doesn't cut corners. You're getting 5G, a 120Hz screen refresh rate, a great camera with 3x optical zoom, and super fast wireless charging. It's a bit tall and only comes in one size (with the smaller OnePlus 8 a very different experience), and, to be expected, the camera is good but not good enough to rival the phones ranked ahead of it.

Screen: This 6.78-inch has the ability to impress you more than an iPhone for one simple reason: the 'Fluid Display' that sets the refresh rate to 120Hz. Not only does it make game look better, but simply scrolling the web looks smoother. You'll also find nice upscaling and HDR10+ here, though false touches along the screen edges did give us trouble at times. 

Battery life: If you need your phone battery to last all day long, the OnePlus 8 Pro achieves that, according to our tests. Its 4,510 battery capacity isn't the biggest next to what Samsung's phones are touting, but when setting the resolution to FullHD+, we did get by on a single charge very easily. We also took advantage of OnePlus (finally) adding wireless charging – in fact, it's the fastest wirelessly charging device we've ever tested.

Camera: OnePlus has always lagged behind when it came to its cameras, though the OnePlus 8 Pro closes the gap. Its quad-lens array on the back of the phone allows for fine 48MP photos and a 3x optical zoom along with a 30x digital zoom. We can't call it the best camera phone on the market, but it's among the best cameras on an Android in this price range.

Read more: OnePlus Pro 8 review

The iPhone SE 2020 is the sequel to the one-hand-friendly iPhone from 2016, and it takes the power and specs we loved from the iPhone 11 series and crams them into the design of the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8.

Why it's ranked 6th: This isn't Apple's most powerful iPhone, but it's the best value for people who want to stick with iOS 13 without paying through the nose. Its screen technology won't wow you like an iPhone 11 Pro, and there's just one camera on the back, but starting $399 means this is hard to be if you're on a budget and don't want to switch to Android. 

Screen: This new iPhone SE has a 4.7-inch screen borrowed from the iPhone 7 and iPhone 8, so it's bigger than the original iPhone SE, but remains one-hand-friendly. That's become important for people who have been demanding a smaller phone. This is the one to get, even if the resolution and bezel won't wow anyone.

Battery life: As long as you aren't a power user (who would likely opt for the iPhone 11 series anyway), then you'll be OK with what Apple offers in terms of battery life. It's not going to last you any longer than a day, though, with generally the same amount of power as we saw on the iPhone 8, which had a 1,821mAh battery capacity.

Camera: For the money, the iPhone SE 2020 takes perfectly fine photos in good light. You won't notice much of a difference outside of it occasionally failing to nail perfect exposure levels and depth of field outdoors during the daytime. Dim the lights, however, and you'll notice one glaring omission: the night mode that's on the more powerful iPhones. That requires an upgrade to at least the iPhone 11.

Read more: iPhone SE 2020 review

The Galaxy S20 Ultra is, indeed, ultra – billed as the ultimate Samsung phone thanks to top-of-the-line specs on paper. It's an evolution of the max-specced Samsung Galaxy S10 5G from last year, though the Ultra's execution isn't the best.

Why it's ranked 7th: The S20 Ultra truly cutting-edge, with a 100x 'Space Zoom' and, yes 5G, capabilities compatible with both mmWave and sub-6 networks. But you'll pay a premium for the privilege: the phone starts at $1,399, and while its camera has unbelievable specs, like a 108MP sensor, it doesn't always get exposure or autofocus right, leading us to recommend the S20 Plus.

Screen: The 6.9-inch Infinity-O AMOLED screen is the sharpest we've seen, coming in at a whopping 3200 x 1440 resolution (WQHD+) given the model's slim bezels and the narrowest punch-hole we've ever seen. Plus its maximum refresh rate has been bumped up to 120Hz (though only if you bump the resolution down to FHD+) and touch sensor improved to 240Hz. It retains an in-screen fingerprint sensor, leaving the phone's back unblemished.

Battery life: The Galaxy S20 Ultra has a massive 5,000mAh battery, which should help with the drains from the 120Hz and 5G connectivity, along with whatever Wireless PowerSharing and mundane binging or gaming you're doing. It should last you a day or more, though we still haven't hit the two-day battery life threshold yet. 

Camera: The massive 108MP main shooter allows you to crop into photos after the fact without as much distortion. However, the appeal is limited. Serious creatives with time on their hands may get use out of this feature more than most people. While there is a 16MP ultra-wide lens roughly akin to that from last year's phone, it's the zoom capabilities that take the cake. The 100x 'Space Zoom' is mostly for showing off, as photos at that zoom are muddied - but scan it back out and it will blow other phones out of the water, especially since the competition typically maxes out at 10x. Here, see our massive S20 Ultra camera test for a deep dive.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra review

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus (specs above) is still a top choice right now, and the Samsung Galaxy S10 is also a strong contender if you want a smaller screen, and you can get them cheaper than their launch prices, which were $999 and up originally.

Why it's ranked 8th: The S10 Plus is a year older than our top pick, but now an even better value than when it launched at full price in March 2019. There's a reason why it's was our No. 1 best phone for most of 2019. The Snapdragon 855 chipset performed well (and still does), the 6.4-inch screen impressive with sharp curves on the right and left sides, and the camera was among the top-ranked all last year. It takes a backseat to the best 2020 phones, but is still a value-for-money choice.

Screen: The 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display on the S10 Plus is gorgeous, but that's not surprising. it's the same size as the Galaxy Note 9's screen, and far larger than the Galaxy S9 Plus' 6.2-inch display. The 'Infinity O' display ditches the notch for a punch-hole in the top right corner. Yes, it's twice as wide as the hole in the S10 and S10e, but how else will you fit in the extra selfie camera? This choice (and thin bezels) enable a stunning 93.1% screen-to-body ratio, which keeps the phone as slim as possible. The standard S10's 6.1-inch screen is likewise great, with a single punch-hole and lens poking through.

Battery Life: The S10 Plus' 4,100mAh battery still pretty large, just nudging past the Note 9's 4,000mAh and far beyond the 3,500mAh one in the Galaxy S9 Plus. While that didn't lead the new phone's battery life to outpace its predecessors, it still kept it going through the full day with 10%-30% to spare in our casual testing. This is, of course, with standard settings: bump up the resolution from Full HD+ to QHD+, brighten the display or keep it on longer, and the battery will drain faster. It's noticeably larger than the standard S10's 3,400mAh capacity.

Camera: The S10 and S10 Plus have the same three cameras on the back: a 12MP regular lens, a 12MP optically zoomed telephoto lens, and a new 16MP ultra-wide lens. We found the photo quality to be a bit variable – perhaps due to the dual-aperture main lens – with good but not consistent low-light performance. It's not quite up to par with the Google Pixel 3's Night Vision mode, but it still outpaces most other phone cameras on the market. The only difference between the two phones: the S10 Plus' dual front-facing cameras allow depth for Portrait mode-style photos, which is worth the wider punch-hole gap in the display, and more depth than the single shooter in the S10.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus review, and for comparison, Samsung Galaxy S10 review

The OnePlus 7 Pro is the second OnePlus handset on our best phones list, and that's simply because it's now at a really good price where you can still find it on sale, and the pop-up selfie camera is something we miss from the newer OnePlus 8 Pro.

Why it's ranked 9th: The OnePlus 7 Pro has the wow factor missing from phones thanks to what's on the screen (90Hz fluidity) and what's not (a camera notch). It looks the part of a flagship phone and acts more expensive than it really in part because of its top-shelf specs. As long as you don't want the best camera phone and are OK with last year's specs and no wireless charging, the price is right for this one.

Screen: This is the main draw. Thanks to a mechanical pop-up selfie camera, the OnePlus 7 Pro has the best screen we've tested. No notch and punch-hole camera in sight, and it stretches from edge to edge. Even better, its 90Hz screen refresh rate gives it more fluid movement, though Samsung's S20 series and the OnePlus 8 series top it with a 120Hz refresh rate these days.

Battery life: The OnePlus 7 has fairly good, but not great battery life thanks to its 4,000mAh battery. It'll get you through a whole day, but not much more than that. The real news is its Warp Charge 30 adapter that allows this phone to go from 0% to 100% in a little over an hour. It's very fast.

Camera: The camera has always been the weakest part of the OnePlus lineup, but we've experienced better phones from the OnePlus 7 Pro. It's not going to top our best camera phones list, but the triple lens (regular, ultra-wide and telephoto) did a fine job in proper light. Nightscape mode has been improved, but begs for a tripod in mixed light (any lights in dark scene tend to smear). 

Read more: OnePlus 7 Pro review

The Google Pixel 4 XL came out in October, bringing a long-awaited second camera lens, new radar technology with face unlock, and a better screen. Note: the Google Pixel 4 didn't even make it into the top 15 best phones due to weak battery life.

Why it's 10th: The Pixel 4 XL is powerful and its camera capability is still great, but the loss of the rear fingerprint sensor and middling new features like the erratic Face Unlock and aerial gesture control Motion Sense makes this Pixel iteration less of a generational leap than its predecessors. Google’s knack for photo optimization still makes this phone a good choice for photographers, but that's not enough to break into the top half of the order.

Screen: The Pixel 4 XL has the same 6.3-inch screen as the Pixel 3 XL, though it's been stretched to a 19:9 aspect ratio and its refresh rate has been upped to 90Hz for smoother app browsing and gaming. Last year's notch has been ditched for a return to a solid black bar. Colors are rich on the OLED display, and thanks to the dual front-facing speakers, it makes for a handy streaming device.

Battery life: While the 3,700mAh capacity sounds like a lot, we found the battery lasted less than a day with even moderate use - any extreme GPS or photo sessions will drain it even faster. If you’re not taking a lot of photos, it may be easier to get a full day of battery, but with such a good camera, it may be tough to avoid.

Camera: The Pixel 4 XL’s cameras are its best selling point. On back, the 12.2MP sensor paired with Google’s brilliant software optimization make for stunning photos in most situations, and the added 16MP telephoto enables respectable hybrid zoom clarity with its Super Res Zoom feature. Best of all, the Night Sight mode has been improved - and can even snap shots of the heavens with its Astrophotography function.

Read more: Google Pixel 4 XL review

The Samsung S10e is the littlest (and least pricey) sibling of the S10 line in both size and features. While it loses out on a few of the cutting-edge features like in-screen fingerprint scanner and a telephoto lens, its remaining arsenal of flagship specs, ultrawide camera and good interface make the S10e a standout at a discount. Plus, it's small enough to use one-handed.

Why it's ranked 11th: The S10e is a fantastic little phone, perfect for anyone who wants some of the features of last year's Samsung devices in a one-handed-friendly package and at a lower price. While it's still more expensive than midrange phones, the S10e has more features and cutting-edge specs to push it beyond the competition at this discounted price.

Screen: The 5.8-inch AMOLED screen is crisp and sharp, with enough bright colors and customization options to tweak to your liking. While it's nice that the budget flagship of the S10 line has an OLED screen (unlike the iPhone XR with its LCD display), it's not as high resolution as its bigger siblings, capping out at 1080 x 2280 pixels to the S10 and S10 Plus' 1440 x 3040 pixel maximum. 

Battery life: A 3,100mAh capacity isn't the biggest battery on the market, but it will see you through the day, and may last longer than you think thanks to the phone's smaller screen. You'll need to stretch it out if you plan to use Wireless PowerShare, the S10 line's new feature that lets you donate battery charge to another Qi-charging device. Don't worry, it won't drain yours to oblivion: the feature shuts down when your phone hits 30% battery.

Camera: Considering the standard Galaxy S9 had a single lens, the S10e is a major upgrade with its two useful cameras. The first is the standard 12 MP, f/1.5-2.4 Dual Aperture lens found in the phone's predecessor (switching between the two in day/night shots), while the second is a 16MP f/2.2 ultrawide lens that manages 123-degree field of view. While the phone misses the 2x telephoto of the other S10 phones, its ultrawide is far more useful.

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S10e review

Image Credit: TechRadar

Here in the US, Huawei phones are not as familiar to shoppers as Apple and Samsung's best phones. But, that doesn't mean they don't have as much to offer. From Hauwei's Mate line to it's P series, it is making some of the very best phones, and the P30 Pro is is a true champion from the Chinese manufacturer.

Why it's ranked 12th: If you're after a phone with great looks and a camera that's ready for just about anything, then the Huawei P30 Pro is an excellent option. It also offers a price that stays below a lot of its competition. However, availability concerns in the US hold it back a bit. It'll still get Google's Android security updates, but who knows when software support will end for this impressive camera phone.  

Screen: The P30 Pro has a large, 6.47-inch display with only a thin chin bezel at the bottom of the screen and a teardrop notch at the top. It's a sharp OLED display, and though it doesn't have as high a resolution as some others, we'd be hard pressed to see the difference.

Battery life: The Huawei P30 Pro turns up in the battery department with a 4,200mAh cell. That's easily enough for a whole day, and can pull through a day in a half comfortably or even two days with light use. There's enough power there that Huawei enabled reverse wireless charging to let the P30 Pro power other phones.

Camera: While plenty about the P30 Pro is of flagship quality, the cameras are where it really stands out. Its suite of cameras make it among the very best camera phones in the world. It combines a high-resolution main camera, a camera with powerful zoom, an ultra-wide angle camera, and a time-of-flight sensor to handle depth. This makes it incredibly versatile, capable of taking better long-distance and low-light photos than most other phones.

Read more: Huawei P30 Pro review

Apple’s iPhone XR was a little bit late to launch after the iPhone XS and XS Max that launched a bit earlier. But thanks to its lower price point (and the fact that it's even cheaper more than a year later), it makes for a more affordable option than the XS models.

Why it's ranked 13th: The iPhone XR has all the performance of its more expensive XS and XS Max siblings on the inside. It’s camera and screen may not be as impressive, but where it truly dazzles is in the battery life. And, yes, it's been dethroned by the even more powerful iPhone 11, which launched at an even better price, but the iPhone XR price dropped even further. Apple doesn't sell it anymore at its stores, but if you can find this phone, you'll be impressed with the value.

Screen: The iPhone XR screen isn’t its strongest selling point, as it’s a notable downgrade. It’s resolution falls short of Full HD, and it’s not a battery-friendly OLED. Still, the Liquid Retina LCD display used still has good sharpness and brilliant colors.That said, the 6.1-inch display offers plenty of real estate.

Battery life: Though this is the more affordable iPhone to come out in Apple’s latest batch, its battery life stands out. Thanks to the A12 Bionic and chipset and lower resolution, the battery performance is great, making it the first iPhone that could comfortably get through a whole day of use in our testing without us worrying about.

Camera: While the other iPhones have dual rear cameras, the iPhone XR has just one sensor. For normal photo shooting, it does a great job though. The lack of a second camera also reduces the quality of Portrait Mode photos. But, the detractors came largely in comparison to other top cameras. 

Read more: iPhone XR review

iPhone XS was a minor, but important upgrade over the completely redesigned iPhone X. It's noticeably faster and has an improved dual-lens camera to make it a good choice, if you can still find it on sale.

Why it's ranked 14th: The iPhone XS is the best phone for someone who wants an iPhone with a dual-lens camera and the latest version of iOS, but doesn't want to pay full price for an iPhone from the last 24 months. It's hardly the best iPhone option out there – it's no longer top-of-the-line like it was in late 2018 and it's not the cheapest like the iPhone 11 or iPhone SE 2020 – but its 5.8-inch screen remains impressive, as does the price you can get it at.

Screen: The 5.8-inch OLED on this iPhone is big, but not a turn off for some people who literally can't handle the 6.5-inch iPhone XS Max (which we like a bit more in our big mitts). This phone size isn't too much bigger than your old 4.7-inch iPhone 7 or iPhone 6 thanks to its reduced bezel – though you'll miss the Touch ID home button. You'll forget about that when staring into the color-rich OLED that's dreamier than the old iPhone LCD.

Battery life: The iPhone XS has about the same battery life as the iPhone X, so you'll get all-day battery life with normal use. Power users may struggle a bit without one of the best power banks, and although Apple says it has 30 minutes more battery life than the iPhone X, the smaller capacity and our tests show it's shy of that claim.

Camera: This is where you'll see differences in the otherwise familiar-looking iPhone XS. Its dual-lens camera offers Smart HDR and optical image stabilization (OIS). It's not as vivid as the cameras on a Google Pixel 2 or Samsung Galaxy S9, but you'll get true-to-life photos that make the 2018 iPhone's a worthy upgrade.

Read more: iPhone XS review

The Moto G7 Power is our favorite from Motorola's budget G7 series because it fills  a very particular niche: the biggest battery you can find this side of a 5G phone, and for much cheaper than a flagship.

The 5,000mAh battery really is the standout feature here, which should last you days plural. Everything else isn't bad, with a Snapdragon 632 processor and 3 or 4GB. The 32GB baseline storage (64GB upgraded) isn't great, but it's expandable via microSD  up to 1TB. 

In other words, aside from a decent but not spectacular 12MP camera, the phone has few obvious shortcomings at its price ($249 at launch in February 2019, but can be had for cheaper by now).  

Read our Moto G7 Power review