Best Android phones in 2019
What is the best Android phone to buy in late 2019 and early 2020?
Premium: $900 and up
Samsung Galaxy Note 10+
Price: from $1,099
Samsung Galaxy Note 10
Price: from $949
The “small” Note 10 was a kind of an off-shoot this year that only added fuel to the controversy of the Note line “cutting back on features”. The Note 10 is a smaller, with a few feature downgrades and an easier-to-swallow price-tag.
It still has an S Pen and the full software suite, all in a body that’s only slightly bigger than the standard Galaxy S10. In other words, it’s thin and feels light as a feather. It lacks a ToF camera, a microSD slot, and its screen resolution has been downgraded to 1080p. In all fairness, that still makes for a very crisp, 400 pixels per inch image, but it just doesn’t look good when Samsung has been using a QHD resolution on its flagships for 5 years now.
In any case, if you want a smaller, lighter version of the Note 10+ that still has an S Pen, an outstanding camera, and the same pretty design — the Note 10 is available for $150 less than its bigger sibling.
LG V50 ThinQ
Price: around $999
The V40 also runs on LG’s custom software on top of Android and it’s a strange thing that has evolved, but still feels a bit cartoony and not quite on par with the refinement and convenience of other skins. The thing you might be worried about even more, though, is the smaller than average, 3,300mAh battery inside the V40. Battery life is mediocre, below what you can get from other flagship phones, especially at this high price. Speaking of price, the V40 costs somewhere between $920 and $980 at launch.
Google Pixel 4 XL
Price: from $899
Both phones are still a bit on the expensive side and be warned that Google no longer gives you free Original Quality storage for its Photos service. You will either need to pay for Drive space or compress the photos down to High Quality like the rest of us.
Asus ROG Phone II
Price: $899
Its gamer aesthetic might not be for everybody, but at least you can tone it down on the software end with a “Classic” theme that’s pre-installed. The phone does have a plethora of gaming-oriented accessories you can buy for it, but you can also get by perfectly with its physical shoulder triggers.
High-end: Around $700
Samsung Galaxy S10
Price: around $700
Also, the S10 series happens to be the last top-tier Samsung device line to have a headphone jack… or at least that’s how it appears it’ll go down in history.
Sony Xperia 5
Price: $749 – $799
The Xperia 5 is Sony’s 2019 take on a somewhat “compact” flagship. Yes, its screen diagonal measures at 6.1 inches, but Sony now uses an extra-long 21:9 aspect ratio. This means the Xperia 5’s display is actually rather narrow and the phone’s body measures at 2.68 inches across. In other words, it’s pretty easy to use with one hand save for those moments when you need to reach something at the top of the screen.
The phone has flagship-grade, top-tier internals and really great cameras. Where we found it lacking was in the software — we witnessed a certain amount of bugs or crashes, which we found to be inexcusable on a $800 handset. The fingerprint scanner experience is also next to abysmal.
Yet, the Xperia 5 is a representative of a very, very narrow niche of smartphones — one for compact devices with top-tier specs. Kudos to Sony for keeping it alive.
Price: around $700
In general, the G8X ThinQ is good bang for the buck, especially considering the secondary screen is included. It’s a good alternative to the Galaxy S10 if you are getting a bit tired of the curved screens, but be aware that the G8X only has a dual camera module with wide-angle and ultra-wide-angle lenses; no telephoto.
Upper mid-range: Around $500
OnePlus 7 Pro
Price: from $549
The OnePlus 7 Pro is absolutely no joke — it packs powerful internals and a beautiful AMOLED screen with a 90 Hz refresh rate. Its cameras are also quite good — maybe not the best, but definitely way above average. To top it off, it charges up insanely fast (as long as you use its stock wallplug) — you can get from 0% to 60% in just 30 minutes. All of that starting at $550 is just insane for 2019.
Price: from $499
Pictures taken with the phone are not bad, provided you have plenty of light, and the camera experience is kind of underwhelming. But with that aside, the ZenFone 6 is a pretty solid handset that went under the radar for most of the smartphone community.
Motorola One Zoom
Price: $449
Motorola launched a few midrangers that each specialize in one thing or another. The Moto One Zoom’s super-power is a 10x hybrid zoom, which gave us some surprisingly sharp results. On the design front, it has a beautiful and bold look with a glowing Moto logo on the back. As for the internals — it’s not a heavy performer, but a pretty decent midranger.
You will notice that it does have a quad camera setup. One sensor is used solely for depth detection and the other is a sub-par ultra-wide-angle camera. The telephoto lens delivers the previously mentioned zoom, which we found to be pretty decent, and the main 48 MP camera is quite OK.
Google Pixel 3a XL
Price: $479
And yes, we did list the Pixel 3a XL here, but if you want to get a more compact phone, or save up some cash, the Pixel 3a is just as great and priced at $399!