10 best Android phones 2019: which should you buy?

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If you're looking out for the best Android phone you can buy, this is the place to be, as we've put all the biggest and best Google-powered handsets through their paces to come up with this rundown of all the best Android smartphones.

If you're an Android fan, you'll certainly appreciate the key way in which Android is hugely different from its Apple-branded smartphone competition – the sheer number of devices out there running Google's mobile operating system (OS).

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The big names are all here. The many variations in screen size, processor power, software features and design makes finding the best Android phone for you extremely tough.

If you're keen to part your money on a new phone, though, it may be worth holding on to your cash for just a tiny while longer. The end of 2019 brings with it many new phone releases too like Google's latest Google Pixel 4, and possibly the Huawei Mate 30 too.

We've already seen the Samsung Galaxy Note 10, which we've yet to fully review but is sure to give the new iPhone a run for its money. Will these new Android phones work their way into the list? Only time will tell.

• Best Samsung Phone | Best Huawei Phone | Best Moto Phone | Best Sony Phone | Best Nokia Phone | Best iPhone

To help find the most fitting Android phone for you, we've rounded up the best Android handsets out there today, rating the phones on hardware performance, OS upgrade potential and, of course, how shiny and nice they are to have and boast about to work colleagues.

So here they are - the best Android phones money can buy today.

The Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus is the best Android phone you can buy right now, packing the best of what Samsung has to offer.

It's a big phone that's designed for big hands - and it takes the very best of what's on the smartphone market and puts it together in a compelling package that we've loved testing.

The Super AMOLED 6.4-inch display has been measured as the very best around, with super colours, plus there's a fingerprint scanner embedded in the display.

Battery life is an improvement over the S9 Plus, thanks to the larger 4,100mAh battery inside and you also get Samsung's new Wireless PowerShare, allowing you to wirelessly charge other devices on the rear of the handset.

The trio of cameras on the rear of the Galaxy S10 Plus are among the best on the market, offering more features, shooting modes and overall clarity. 

Read more: Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus review

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The Huawei P30 Pro could be the best Android phone we've used when it comes to photography. Its 5x and 10x zoom capabilities are staggeringly good. It also performs fantastically well in low light.

For those who really want to get up close to their subject, the P30 Pro also offers a 50x digital zoom, and although quality is reduced it's still impressive.

You also get plenty of power under the hood, an in-display fingerprint scanner, premium design and wireless charging with the ability to wireless charge other devices from the back of the P30 Pro.

It's a top, top Android phone and only narrowly misses out on top spot due to the Galaxy S10 Plus' overall slicker and more rounded smartphone experience.

Read more: Huawei P30 Pro review

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It's close at the top, with Huawei snapping at Samsung's heels it's never been tougher for the South Korean firm, but the Galaxy S10 still manages to muscle its way into number three spot.

The bigger S10 Plus is by far Samsung's best phone, but the standard S10 backs almost all the same top-end features into a more compact form factor and slightly lower price tag (but still steep).

The Samsung Galaxy S10 gets proper under-the-hood upgrades. You’ll like all of these powerful features, while your friends will like the new Wireless PowerShare perk – it helps them out more than you. 

Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S10 review

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The Huawei Mate 20 Pro offers up a heady mix of design, power and performance with a party piece in the form of an in-display fingerprint scanner thrown in too.

The Mate 20 Pro packs a huge 6.39-inch display giving you a lots of space for gaming and movies, and its QHD resolution and HDR10 support ensures everything looks great.

It also comes with three rear cameras, nabbing the excellent 40MP wide-angle and 8MP telephoto lenses from the P20 Pro - but the third sensor is new. It's an ultra-wide 16MP snapper allowing you to cram even more of your surroundings into each shot.

The Mate 20 Pro is a full-featured phone for a full-featured price - it even has a few tricks you won’t see elsewhere, and more powerful specs than most of its competitors.

Read more: Huawei Mate 20 Pro review

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The South Korean features again with Galaxy Note 9 in at five in our best Android phones lists.

The Galaxy Note 9 boasts a huge screen and a huge amount of power under the hood, plus there's the iconic S Pen stylus which slides into the body of the phone for safe keeping.

It means the Note 9 offers a huge array of productivity functions few phones can compete with, but the overall package isn't quite as finessed as the Galaxy S10 Plus - not to mention its high price tag.

For power users who want a phone that will doing pretty much anything they ask of it, the Galaxy Note 9 is a top choice.

Read the full review: Samsung Galaxy Note 9

What's next? Samsung has just announced the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus. When we've tried these properly for our full review, they're likely to feature in this list.

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What's this? Another Huawei phone in the top ten? Your eyes do not deceive you, the Huawei P30 really is sixth in our best Android phone rundown.

It has a smaller screen than the P30 Pro, and makes do with just the three rear cameras (rather than four) and a maximum zoom of 30x, but it's still a great Android phone.

There's heaps of power, a handy headphone jack (something the Pro can't boast) and a more manageable form factor for one-handed use. And of course, it's a little cheaper too.

Read our full Huawei P30 review

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For the first time OnePlus released two top-end phones at the same time, and the OnePlus 7 Pro is the far more exciting device.

Rather than sporting a notch, OnePlus has managed to supply an all-screen front with the help of a pop-up selfie camera that only appears when you switch the shooter on.

It's hard to demonstrate here, but the 90Hz screen refresh rate is better than most other phones on this list. It allows for a more fluid viewing experience in video as well as when you're scrolling through your social media feeds.

The price isn't as low as it was for the first few devices from OnePlus, but this is one of the best Android phones that money can buy right now with an attractive design and top-end spec.

Read more: OnePlus 7 Pro review

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If you're looking for a the best camera phone on the market, look no further. The single rear snapper on the Google Pixel 3 XL (and the smaller Pixel 3) is the best we've come across.

You also get a big screen, decent battery life and plenty of power under the hood, making the Google Pixel 3 XL a great all-round flagship smartphone.

The Google Pixel 3 XL marries the best camera phone we’ve ever tested with a sizable OLED screen. It’s the right fit for people who don’t mind the notch cut out at the top and have already adjusted their grip for bigger smartphones in the past.

Read more: Google Pixel 3 XL review

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Like the look of the new S10 and S10 Plus, but not a fan of their lofty price tags? Well fear not, as Samsung has catered for you with the Galaxy S10e.

The Galaxy S10e has many of the flagship features of its pricier siblings, while offering a more palm-friendly size and a few compromises to help keep the cost down.

It’s hard not to recommend the S10e to anyone who prefers a smaller phone. Size queens, look elsewhere - this smartphone is for folks who want to text and browse apps one-handed without compromising performance.

Read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S10e review

The Honor View 20 is the best phone to come out of the Chinese brand, with a striking rear design (which may divide opinion), plenty of power under the hood, an impressive 48MP camera and a 'punch-hole' display which ushers in the post-notch revolution.

There's a huge 6.4-inch display on the View 20, giving you plenty of space to play with. It's the location of the front-facing, 25MP camera within the screen which is the real talking point though, as rather than appearing in a bezel or a notch which juts into the screen, it's surround by screen. 

The Honor View 20 has a big 4,000mAh and the result is a battery which will comfortably last through an entire day and into the next on a single charge. It's also the world's first smartphone to boast a 48MP rear camera, as the firm has used Sony's new sensor to provide a camera which really packs a punch.

An ultra-high-resolution camera and punch hole screen are the highlights on the Honor View 20, and they set a standard this year’s more expensive phones will need to match.

Read more: Honor View 20 review

• Best smartphone: the 15 top phones we've tested 

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