Like many other important purchases in our lives, the choice of smartphone often takes many items into consideration. Some people are looking for the best value for the price and don’t really care about all the bells and whistles or brand for that matter. Others are more concerned about design, memory, speed, OS or battery life.
Price is of lesser concern for these shoppers. They want the best money can buy. Then there are a great many shoppers who are looking for specific needs: Screen size, camera resolution, memory, memory expansion features, security features, etc. So shopping for a smartphone can be a very complicated and personal process.
With so many great smartphones on the market though, cutting through all the clutter can be a process all by itself. In rating the following smartphones, we considered price, speed, RAM, display size and resolution, storage, camera, and battery life. We applied a weight to each of these factors to come up with our list of the top 10 smartphones for 2020.
10. Google Pixel 3A
Price: $399
CPU: Snapdragon 670
RAM: 3 GB, 4 GB
Display Size/Resolution: 5.6 inches/2280×1080 pixels
Storage: 64 GB
Rear Camera: 12.0 MP
Front Camera: 8 MP
Battery Life: 11.59 hours
For the price, this phone beats the Pixel 3A. True, it is an older model but if you’re looking for a good phone at a low price compared to later models, this phone may be your best bet.
Google has done a great job building a great deal of feature/functionality into this phone for an incredible price. The Pixel 3A is one of those phones that does everything well and has a price that is unbeatable for what you get. Battery life is outstanding, the display on the Pixel 3A is sharp, the camera is fantastic as well. RAM is good and storage is comparable to other phones.
9. Samsung Galaxy S10e
Price: $549
CPU: Snapdragon 855
RAM: 6 GB, 8 GB
Display Size/Resolution: 5.8 inches/2160×1080 pixels
Storage: 128 GB/256 GB
Rear Camera: 16 MP
Front Camera: 12 MP
Battery Life: 9.41 hours
This is the lowest cost model in the Galaxy family of phones, but like the iPhone 11, it packs a lot of value into its lower price. The S10e carries the same CPU as its more expensive cousin but does sacrifice a bit on battery life, screen size and resolution. Still, if you’re looking for value while still owning a Galaxy, this may be the phone for you.
8. iPhone 11 Pro
Price: $999
CPU: A13 Bionic
RAM: Unknown
Display Size/Resolution: 5.8 inches/2436×1125 pixels
Storage: 64 GB/256 GB/512 GB
Removable Storage: none
Camera: Dual 12MP Ultra Wide and Wide cameras
Battery Life: 10.50 hours
The iPhone 11 Pro offers 3 rear cameras for giving you an ultra-wide lens, Night mode and extended dynamic range in video. The A13 Bionic processor means you’ll be buying one of the fastest phones with some of the best camera technology on the market today. One downside to the Pro is the battery life is a bit shorter than the iPhone 11 or the iPhone 11 Pro Max.
7. Huawei P30 Pro
Price: $699
CPU: Kirin 980
RAM: 6/8 GB
Display Size/Resolution: 6.74 inches/1080×2340 pixels
Storage: 128 GB/256 GB/256 GB
Rear Camera: 40 MP/20 MP/8 MP
Front Camera: 8 MP
Battery Life: 12.00 hours
The Huawei P30 Pro may not be a brand or phone you hear a lot about, but it packs a lot of value and features into the price. The screen is a 6.47-inch full HD AMOLED display. The phone is water resistant and, at 6 or 8 GB, there is plenty of RAM and storage at 128, 256 or 512 GB with removable storage that can add up to another 256 GB. However, what you’ll really like about the phone is the camera. If you’re a camera nut, you’ll love this phone. This is one of the best camera phones on the market.
6. OnePlus 7T Pro
Price: $850
CPU: Adreno 640
RAM: 12 GB
Display Size/Resolution: 6.67 inches/3120×1440 pixels
Storage: 256 GB
Rear Camera: 48.0 MP + 8.0 MP + 16 MP
Front Camera: 16 MP
Battery Life: 12.00 hours
For the price, it is hard to beat this phone, at least until the OnePlus 8 comes out. Sure, you’re not going to get all the bells and whistles but the OnePlus 7T Pro packs a lot of value into the price. Fast processor, full HD display, decent camera, excellent RAM and storage on the basic model. You would be hard pressed to find a better value for a smartphone.
5. Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus
Price: $1,099
CPU: Snapdragon 855
RAM: 12 GB
Display Size/Resolution: 6.8 inches/3040×1440 pixels
Storage: 256 GB/512 GB
Rear Camera: 16 MP ultrawide
Front Camera: 12 MP
Battery Life: 11.46 hours
The display on this phone is very large at 6.8 inches of OLED goodness and makes for a stunning impression for watching video, taking phones and using the S Pen for converting your handwriting to text among other functions. The Note Plus also boasts four rear cameras and some unique effects for video. All that performance doesn’t impact battery life which lasts about 12 hours in most tests.
4. Google Pixel 4 XL
Price: $899
CPU: Snapdragon 855
RAM: 4 GB
Display Size/Resolution: 6.4 inches/3040×1440 pixels
Storage: 64 GB/128 GB
Rear Camera: 8 MP
Front Camera: 16 MP/12 MP
Battery Life: 9:42 hours
The Google Pixel 4 XL is an excellent choice for those who love Android and want an excellent camera phone. Google has developed it’s own high res zoom technology along with night and low light modes that allow for users to take great pictures of the night sky and more. While the screen is 6.4 inches, the display is dimmer than competing phones in its price range.
3. iPhone 11 Pro Max
Price: $1,099
CPU: A13 Bionic
RAM: 4GB
Display Size/Resolution: 6.5 inches/2688×1242 pixels
Storage: 64 GB/256 GB/512 GB
Removable Storage: none
Camera: Dual 12MP Ultra Wide and Wide cameras
Battery Life: 11.44 hours
If you’re looking for the fastest iPhone yet, one of the best cameras yet with Night mode for low light photography and outstanding quality video the iPhone 11 Pro Max is hands-down the model to buy. The 6.5 inch OLED display is ultra clear and bright, making competing phones appear dull in comparison. But, like most things, quality will cost you–The iPhone 11 Pro Max starts at $1,099.
2. Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus
Price: $914
CPU: Snapdragon 855
RAM: 8/12 GB
Display Size/Resolution: 6.4 inches/1440×3040 pixels
Storage: 128 GB/512 GB/ 1 TB
Removable Storage: microSD support up to 512 GB
Rear Camera: 16 MP/12 MP/12 MP
Front Camera: 10 MP
Battery Life: 12.35 hours
Yep, another Samsung. We would have ranked this one higher but, like the iPhone 11 Pro Max, this is a pricey phone. It does have the big screen with stunning resolution, which we love, a ton of rich features and security, great battery life, an incredibly fast processor in the Snapdragon 855, a triple lens camera and expandable storage through a microSD card that supports up to 512 GB. What is not to love about this phone? Oh, the price.
1. iPhone 11
Price: $699
CPU: A13 Bionic
RAM: Unknown
Display Size/Resolution: 6.1 inches/1792×828 pixels
Storage: 64 GB/128 GB/256 GB
Removable Storage: none
Camera: Dual 12MP Ultra Wide and Wide cameras
Battery Life: 11.20 hours
The iPhone 11 is among the best reviewed phones for its overall value and one of the best dual cameras on the market. The 6.1 inch screen isn’t as big or bright as the Max and the Pro, but for the price, the iPhone 11 delivers great performance, 12 hours of battery life and fast charging.