Summary
Highlights
The host welcomes viewers to the Smartphone Awards 2025, noting the continued importance of smartphones amid new AI devices and XR headsets. The awards will recognize the best and most notable phones released in 2025 across several categories, with a main winner and honorable mentions for each.
This category recognizes the best large-screen phone that effectively utilizes its size. The Oppo Find X9 Pro (6.8-inch, triple camera with 200MP telephoto, 7500mAh silicon-carbon battery) is a runner-up. The winner is the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max (6.9-inch, Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, 7500mAh silicon-carbon battery, triple 50MP cameras, and a 3-inch, 3000-nit 120Hz secondary screen on the back), praised for its comprehensive features and innovative design.
In an era where most phones are large, this award highlights devices that maximize utility in a compact form factor. The OnePlus 13S and smaller iPhone 17 and 17 Pro models are mentioned. The winner is the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7, which offers a full 6.9-inch screen when unfolded but is highly usable when folded, thanks to its 4.1-inch cover screen, preventing distractions while handling essential tasks.
This category celebrates innovation and performance in smartphone photography. The winner is the Oppo Find X9 Pro, featuring a 50MP main, 50MP ultrawide, and 200MP telephoto camera (plus a true color sensor). It delivers consistently great photos, fast performance, and unique features like stage lighting and a Hasselblad telephoto attachment. Runner-up is the iPhone 17 Pro for its improved main sensor, 4x telephoto, and continued dominance in video, especially with new genlock support. The Vivo X300 Pro also received an honorable mention for its impressive camera hardware.
This award goes to the phone that offers the most features and quality for its price. The winner is the CMF Phone 2 Pro ($279), praised for feeling like a much more expensive phone. It boasts a 6.8-inch 120Hz screen, 5000mAh battery, three cameras, solid specs, and optimized software, all wrapped in a fun, modular design. Honorable mentions include the Moto G Play ($180) for its large screen, battery, and overall value, the Pixel 9a ($499, often found for $399) for its compact size, battery life, and Pixel software/cameras, and the base iPhone 17 for finally offering flagship-level features at a more accessible price point.
This year saw significant advancements in smartphone battery technology, particularly with silicon-carbon batteries. The OnePlus 15 is the winner, offering a 7300mAh silicon-carbon battery that provides three days of heavy use and over 10 hours of screen-on time, along with 120W wired and 50W wireless charging. The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max (7500mAh battery and 22.5W reverse wireless charging) and the Doogee S200 Ultra (11000mAh silicon-carbon battery) were also recognized for their exceptional battery performance.
This category celebrates innovative and risk-taking designs. While many phones offer subtle design elements, the award goes to the most unique and impactful. The winner is the iPhone Air, a controversial but stunningly thin and light phone that feels like jewelry, despite compromises in battery and camera. Runner-ups include the Xiaomi 17 Pro Max for its functional rear display, the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge for its brutalist, ultra-thin design (with flagship camera), and the Fairphone 6 for its repairability, sustainability, and modularity.
This year saw many foldables become significantly thinner. The winner is the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7, chosen for its overall solidity as a daily driver. It features excellent software, good battery life, useful multi-tasking features for its 8-inch display, and a dramatically better closed-use experience thanks to its ultra-thin form factor. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold for its closed-use experience mirroring a regular Pixel phone, and the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 7 (for reasons mentioned in the 'Best Small Phone' category) were also acknowledged.
This award highlights phones that made significant leaps from their previous generations. The winner is the iPhone 17, which finally became a complete, well-rounded phone. It received a new chip, a high refresh rate 120Hz display, a massively upgraded selfie camera, and doubled base storage, making it the easiest iPhone to recommend. The OnePlus 15 is a runner-up for its substantial improvements in power, battery, and design over the OnePlus 13. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 was also mentioned for its ultra-thin design while maintaining battery size.
This award goes to the phone that failed to meet expectations or delivered a confusing experience. The winner is the iPhone 16. Intended as a new entry-level iPhone, it stripped away too many features (older chip, 60Hz screen, single camera, no color options, no Wi-Fi 6E/7, no UWB, no MagSafe) for its starting price of $599 (or up to $900 for higher storage). The Nothing Phone 3 is a runner-up for disappointing its passionate fanbase with a wonky design and downgrading a popular feature into a tiny pixelated display.
This is the ultimate award for the phone that best represents the year's story. The winner is the iPhone 17. It was praised for making the base iPhone a complete and great deal by finally including a high refresh rate display, a significantly upgraded selfie camera, and double the base storage at the same price. This made it an 8-out-of-10 in every category with great battery, cameras, software, and long-term support. The Xiaomi 17 Pro Max is the runner-up, praised for its one-upping approach to the iPhone 17 Pro Max with superior design, battery, power, and a functional rear display, all at a lower price.
The host reveals his most-used phones throughout the year, starting with the Galaxy S25 Ultra, then the Pixel 10 Pro, and currently the OnePlus 15. The video concludes by inviting viewers to comment on their own award picks and disagreements.