Here’s What Phone You Need to Get Next

Despite my known vocal arguments in favor of Android and Windows devices, I’m still (quietly) an iPhone person. And this is the iPhone I would recommend. After testing all four phones in the iPhone 16 lineup, this the one I’ve chosen to use as my everyday phone.

It’s fast, got a smooth 120 hertz screen (something the regular iPhone 16 lacks), and has one of the best cameras you can get on a phone. If there’s one upgrade I truly feel each time I get a new phone every other gen, it’s the camera. The set on the 16 Pro models are no exception, with crystal clear resolution at even 5x zoom.

I wrote these features at length in my comparison, but the sapphire crystal Camera Button is a classy, functional addition that makes taking one-handed photos as natural as can be. And the Action Button can now be reprogrammed with any number of quick actions, from silent mode to Shazam to Apple’s new Visual Intelligence AI camera.

No matter which previous iPhone you’re coming to this from, the 16 Pro will be an upgrade.

I feel like I went long with the iPhone 16 Pro description, so I’ll spare you the verbiage this time around. This phone is very similar to the iPhone 16 Pro, but for the extra cost it does provide value that goes further than simply sporting a larger display. Yes, the added size makes the phone better for watching YouTube, doing spreadsheets, and playing Candy Crush. But that’s not all this offers.

In addition to all the software and hardware upgrades (well, mostly upgrades) of the 16 lineup, the Pro Max also excels in efficiency—boasting the longest battery life of the four phones. It also technically has a higher resolution screen, although at a larger size and the same pixel density, the differences are negligible.

If getting the best of the best is always your number one priority, this is the iPhone to get.

I just got done reviewing the Galaxy S25 Ultra and let me tell you—it’s one hell of a phone. After using it for weeks, it finally unlocked for me the appeal of the “phablet” or at least the oversized smartphone. I was watching TV and playing games on the train on the vivid 6.9 inch OLED and not finding it as awkward to balance in my hand(s) as even the iPhone 16 Pro Max. Something about that square shape does it for me more than the rounded edges on larger phones.

I might also just love it because it comes with a free S Pen (and the pen lives inside the phone so it never gets lost). The stylus is excellent and the integration into the phone’s UI is almost always seamless. Or is it because I can 10x zoom on the phone’s camera and get a remarkably clear, telescopically close image? Either way, it feels like the S25 Ultra knows what Android users want in a premium phone and delivers on all counts.

If you’re of the Android persuasion, it’s hard to not see the iPhone 16 Pro as the other team’s Google Pixel 9 Pro. I mean on a pure specs level (which Android people are categorically more likely to give a shit about), it’s a better phone. Higher resolution, higher pixel density and the highest res front-facing camera a smartphone can offer. And a whole gram lighter! Serious sarcasm aside, though, it’s not the iPhone users who need this phone. It’s everyone currently suffering on an older Pixel model or worse, some no-name Android phone.

Compared to the other Android offerings out there, the Pixel 9 Pro is in elite territory. It’s fast, got that smooth refresh rate a high-end phone should and, like I just said, holy shit is the camera something. Plus our entertainment editor Brady Langmann, whose been using the phone for months, won’t shut up about how much he loves the Gemini AI assistant. Finally a “smart” assistant that lives up to the moniker.

For $500 ($400 at the time of writing if you buy on Amazon), this is the most affordable big-name smartphone. There are plenty of Androids in the 200-300 dollar range, but by and large they aren’t meant to last. They are poorly made stop-gaps to get you to something like the Google Pixel 8a.

A lot of what we said about the Pixel 9 Pro does still apply here. Not the selfie cam or battery life (sadly), but all the latest OS features like Gemini and the invaluable Call Screening feature that automatically detects spam, are present on the $500 and work the same as on the devices that cost twice as much. And while the front-facing camera isn’t mind-blowing compared to the 9 series Pixels, it does still rock a very impressive wide angle back camera that offers more variation than the iPhone equivalent.

The newest addition to the iPhone lineup (and the newest phone on this list period) is the 16e. It’s a replacement for our commerce editor’s favorite iPhone, the SE, and it’s pretty much everything an affordable phone should be. The only thing is that affordable for Apple is still $600, though most phone plans will get spread out across months or years. This phone is still worth it if you’re an iPhone user that doesn’t need a full upgrade. It’s also a great bare-bones starter iPhone for your teenager.

This is the lightest iPhone yet. Going between it and the Galaxy S25 Ultra I’ve been testing has really emphasized the truth in that marketing statistic. It’s got the Action Button from the 16 lineup, but does lack the Camera Control. That exclusion plays into my pet theory that this is the iPhone for people who take photos for personal use, not showing off on Instagram. It explains the extremely basic camera with only two zoom options—not especially high tech even compared to the Pixel 8a.

The other omission of note is the lack of MagSafe functionality. The 16e supports wireless Qi charging, but it does not magnetize the way every iPhone since the 12 (barring the SE line) has. Once again, I don’t think this matters to the core audience for this phone, so it’s less of a flaw and more of a way Apple has honed in on exactly the audience it wants to hit for this one.