I rate phones – I don’t review them. Rating is measuring and comparing values while reviewing is expressing one’s opinion. I will spare you my opinions except where fully flagged with an EDITORIAL: badge. I rank each phone based on 10 categories – things that every one of us wants and values in a smartphone. For details on how I rate each phone and to contact me, please visit the About page > .
My home page > (PAGE 1) shows all the data I have collected over time. This page (PAGE 2) uses that data to help you find the best phone for your situation. PAGE 2 is designed to (1) quickly help you narrow down your choices (with TOP 10 lists), (2) understand your preferred phone(s) position in the current market (see: current MARKET REPORT) and time your purchase better by considering when is the new version of your top pick coming out (see the Phone RELEASE SCHEDULE). My lists include 10 phones to choose from because there is a chance that not every phone will be available in your market.

The TOP 10 lists are coming soon. Please come to see them after September 15th.

Shortly after Apple , Qualcomm and Mediatec will release their next-gen top processors and phone makers will follow with upgraded phones.
Apple created what we consider a modern smartphone and has retained the market leadership despite modest innovation and aggressive effort to lock it’s customers into it’s echo-system. It has lost the race to AI integration to Google but it’s loyal user base seems to be willing to tolerate 2nd class products for a while.
Samsung releases their best phones in January (S series) and July (Z foldables) and has since 2019 followed Apple’s lead in focusing on closing it’s echo-system and diversifying it’s product line to include phones, tablets, laptops, smartwatches, headphones and buds, smart home appliances and more. Phone innovation suffered and what once were some of the World’s best phones now compete on marketing, promotion and efficient global supply chain instead of quality and innovation.
Xiaomi and other top Chinese phone makers lead the innovation effort for the past several years. It took them a long time to produce fully water and dust resistant phones and to start making compacts that Apple , Samsung and Sony first created and used to excell at. But last year finally opened the floodgates for Chinese compacts and that means meaningfull technology advanced for phones of all sizes. Chinese makers also created and quickly adopted Silicone diode battery tech and now produce phones with longest battery endurance and the fastest charging. It is strange that Apple , Samsung and Google haven’t yet released a phone with a Silicone diode battery and hard to justify from the phone consumer’s point of view. Expect the rest of 2025 to bring excellent new models from Xiaomi, Vivo, Oppo, Honor and OnePlus while Huawei progresses it’s recovery from the devastating loss of Google services and new technologies.
Google just released it’s 2025 Pixel lineup. Pixel was the first camera phone to heavily focus on image processing and camera software but Google has decided to move on to AI and Android improvements instead. This years Pixels are losing another step in the phone camera race that is now or by Vivo and Huawei.
Midrangers from all companies seem to grow in size. It is to see if compact phones will become the space of flagship phones and midrangers will keep improving on battery, screen and camera in bigger bodies.
Motorola, Sony and Nothing Phone are at different stages of trying to interrupt and secure their own space under the sun. Motorola has the best chance with a long lineup of good products but limited market access. Sony, the biggest phone camera sensor maker (along with Samsung) has been losing market share and is struggling to justify producing phones. Over the years, it’s hardware work has brought amazing innovation while software R&D investment is clearly lacking. Nothing Phone is a newomer trying to fill the “flagship killer” niche vacated by OnePlus.

major phone models. In parenthesis are release months of the last 3 iterations. Highlighted are phones expected to arrive in the next two months.

• Apple iPhone 18 : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Sep ’24, Sep ’23)
• Apple iPhone Air : September ’25 (first edition)
• Apple iPhone e : Spring ’26 (Feb ’25, Mar ’22, Apr ’20)
• Asus Zenfone 12 : Spring ’26 (Feb ’25, Apr ’24, Jul ’23)
• Asus ROG 10 : November ’25 (Nov ’24, Jan ’24, May ’23)
• Fairphone 7 : Summer ’27 (Jun ’25, Sep ’23, Oct ’21, Sep ’19)
• Google Pixel 10a : April ’26 (Apr ’25, May ’24, May ’23, Jul ’22)
• Google Pixel 11 : August ’26 (Aug ’25, Aug ’24, Oct ’23, Oct ’22)
• Honor Magic 8 : October ’25 (Nov ’24, Jan ’24, Mar ’23)
• Honor V5 : July ’26 (Jul ’25, Jul ’24, Jul ’23, Dec ’22)
• Honor Magic Flip V3 : August ’26 (Aug ’25, Jun ’24)
• Honor 400 : November ’25 (May ’25, Dec ’24, May ’24)
• Huawei Pura 90 (was “P”) : June ’26 (Jun ’25, Apr ’24, Mar ’23, Oct ’21)
• Huawei Mate 80 : November ’25 (Nov ’24, Aug ’23, Sep ’22)
• Huawei Nova 14 : Feb ’26 (May ’25, Oct ’24, Jan ’24, Apr ’23)
• Motorola Moto X70 Air : October ’25 (first edition)
• Motorola Edge 70 : April ’26 (Apr ’25, Aug ’24, May ’23)
• Motorola Razr 70 : April ’26 (Apr ’25, Jun ’24, Jun ’23)
• Nothing Phone (4) : Spring ’26 (first edition Jul ’25)
• Nothing Phone (4a) : October ’25 (Mar ’25, Mar ’24, Jul ’23)
• Nothing CMF Phone : January ’26 (Apr ’25, Jul ’24)
• OnePlus 15 : October ’25 (Nov ’24, Dec ’23, Jan ’23)
• OnePlus Nord 5 : June ’25 (Aug ’24, Jul ’23, Jul ’21)
• Oppo Find X9 : October ’25 (Oct ’24, Jan ’24, Mar ’23)
• Oppo Find N6 : February ’26 (Feb ’25, Oct ’23, Dec ’22)
• Oppo Find X8 Ultra : April ’26 (Apr ’25, Jan 24)
• Oppo Find X8s : April ’26 (first edition Apr ’25)
• Oppo Reno 15 : November ’25 (May ’25, Nov ’24, Jun ’24)
• (Oppo) Realme GT8 Pro : November ’25 (Nov ’24)
• (Oppo) Realme GT8 : November ’25 (Nov ’24, Dec ’23, Jan ’22)
• (Oppo) Realme 15 : September ’25 (Mar ’25, Sep ’24, Mar ’24)
• Samsung S26 : January ’26 (Feb ’25, Jan ’24, Feb ’23)
• Samsung S26 Edge : January ’26 (May ’25)
• Samsung Z8 : July ’26 (Jul ’25, Jul ’24, Aug ’23, Aug ’22)
• Samsung A56 : March ’26 (Mar ’25, Mar ’24, Mar ’23)
• Samsung A36 : March ’26 (Mar ’25, Mar ’24, Mar ’23)
• Sony 1 VIII : May ’26 (May ’25, Jun 24, Jul 23)
• Sony 5 VI : seems Discontinued (none in ’25 &’24, Sep ’23, Sep ’22)
• Sony 10 VIII : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Jun ’24, Jul ’23)
• Vivo X300 : October ’25 (Oct ’24, Nov ’23, Nov ’22)
• Vivo X Fold 6 : July ’26 (Jul ’25, Apr ’24, Apr ’23, Apr ’22)
• Vivo X300 Ultra : April ’26 (Apr ’25, May ’24)
• Vivo V60 : February ’26 (Aug ’25, Feb ’25, Jul ’24, Mar ’24)
• (Vivo) IQOO 14 : October ’25 (Nov ’24, Nov ’23, Dec ’22)
• Xiaomi 17 Ultra : February ’26 (Feb ’25, Feb ’24, Apr ’23)
• Xiaomi 18 : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Oct ’24, Nov ’23, Dec ’22)
• Xiaomi 17S : Jun ’26 (first edition Jun ’25)
• Xiaomi 17T : September ’26 (Sep ’25, Sep ’24, Sep ’23, Oct ’22)
• (Xiaomi) Poco F8 : June ’26 (Jun ’25, May ’24, May ’23, Jun ’22)
• (Xiaomi) Poco X8 : January ’26 (Jan ’25, Jan ’24, Feb ’23)
• (Xiaomi) Redmi Note 16 : January ’26 (Aug ’25, Jan ’25, Jan ’24, Jan ’23)

This list offers “best guesses”, sometime confirmed ahead of time by the manufacturer. Despite every effort, the info above may be incorrect.