Ranking: Best smartphones reviewed by Notebookcheck

The ROG Phone 9 Pro is a high-end gaming smartphone that impresses with its enormous performance and special gaming features. Powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite, it offers 24 GB of RAM and a 6.78-inch AMOLED display with 185 Hz, delivering a peak brightness of 2,500 cd/m².

Special features include the ROG GameCool 9 cooling system and the AeroActive Cooler X, which improves the gaming experience and prevents overheating with additional physical buttons. The device is robustly built, with Gorilla Glass Victus 2 and IP68 certification. Practical additional functions such as AirTrigger and two USB-C ports make it versatile.

Technically, the Asus ROG Phone 9 Pro is of the highest standard. However, compromises have to be made with the cameras and the update supply. 
 

The camera equipment is solid, with the Sony Lytia 700 sensor delivering usable results even in difficult lighting conditions. The 5,800 mAh battery supports fast wired and wireless charging, although the energy consumption in gaming mode is high. One point of criticism is that Asus only provides two guaranteed Android updates. 
 

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra presents itself as a powerful smartphone with a special focus on its camera features. The device has a Leica quad camera, consisting of a 50-megapixel main camera with 1-inch sensor, a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera, a 50-megapixel telephoto lens with triple zoom and a 200-megapixel periscope telephoto lens with 4.3x zoom.

The Xiaomi 15 Ultra impresses with its powerful camera and wide range of functions, which should appeal to photography enthusiasts in particular.

The 6.73-inch LTPO AMOLED display offers a resolution of 3,200 x 1,440 pixels and a variable refresh rate of 1 Hz to 120 Hz. The smartphone is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, supported by fast LPDDR5x RAM and UFS 4.1 flash memory. The 6,000 mAh battery can be charged via USB-C with up to 90 watts or wirelessly with 80 watts.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra focuses on artificial intelligence (AI) and brings moderate hardware improvements compared to its predecessor. The camera equipment includes a 50-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera with the Samsung GN3 sensor, which is also used for macro shots. The main camera has a 200-megapixel sensor that produces 12-megapixel photos through pixel binning. There is also a 3x and a 5x optical zoom lens. The image stabilization is remarkable, especially with the 5x zoom. Videos can be recorded in resolutions from 720p to 8K, with new functions such as "Audio Eraser" to reduce background noise and "Nightography" for better recordings in low light conditions.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra offers a strong overall package with 7 years of updates.

The smartphone is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor, supported by 12 GB of RAM. The device shows excellent performance in benchmarks, but performance is reduced under continuous load to prevent overheating. Overall, the Galaxy S25 Ultra impresses with its strong performance and AI-supported functions, while the hardware improvements are moderate compared to the predecessor model.

The Honor Magic7 Pro offers proven technology such as a fast USB 3.2 port, NFC and an IR transmitter, but neither UWB nor Bluetooth LE. The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor works precisely, while the software is based on MagicOS 9.0, which integrates numerous AI functions such as live translations and image editing. With IP69 certification, the device is not only dust and waterproof, but can also withstand high-pressure and steam jet cleaning.

The OLED display offers dynamic 120 Hz, high brightness values and precise color accuracy. Circular polarized light and high-frequency PWM dimming are easy on the eyes. The Snapdragon 8 Elite delivers strong performance, but the Honor smartphone is slightly inferior to the competition in benchmarks, presumably due to the cooling.

The Honor Magic7 Pro offers a lot for a greatly reduced price right from the start.

The camera equipment is a highlight: the 50 MP main camera offers variable apertures, an improved portrait function and good results in low light. The 200 MP zoom lens enables lossless magnification up to a 6x zoom, while the ultra-wide angle also impresses as a macro. Videos can be recorded in 4K with 60 FPS. The front camera also offers 50 MP and UHD recordings.

The battery life is good despite the smaller EU model (5,270 mAh). Fast charging options with up to 100 watts wired and 80 watts wireless enable short charging times.

The Google Pixel 10 Pro has a high-quality glass and aluminum casing with IP68 certification. Inside is the Tensor G5 processor with 16 GB of RAM, which runs smoothly in everyday use but lags behind the competition in benchmarks. The storage offers up to 1 TB capacity, but achieves lower transfer rates than expected despite the UFS 4.0 specification.

The Google Pixel 10 Pro impresses with a strong display, excellent camera and long update guarantee, but shows weaknesses in performance, PWM flickering and storage speed.

The 6.3-inch LTPO OLED display with 2,856 × 1,280 pixels achieves peak brightness of up to 3,200 cd/m² and a 120 Hz refresh rate, but uses PWM with a low frequency. Features include Wi-Fi 7, Bluetooth 6.0, UWB, NFC and dual-band GNSS. The latter is not very precise indoors.

The 4,870 mAh battery can be charged at up to 30 W wired and 15 W wirelessly. The triple camera with 50, 48 and 48 MP delivers impressive photos. The ultrasonic fingerprint sensor reacts quickly and the vibration motor provides precise feedback.

The Galaxy S25 is a compact flagship smartphone with a screen size of 6.2 inches. It comes equipped with the Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy, which promises a significant increase in performance compared to the previous model. The device offers 12 GB of RAM and is available in storage variants of 128 GB, 256 GB and 512 GB.

The AMOLED display supports an adaptive refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and offers a Full HD+ resolution. The camera equipment includes a main camera with optical image stabilization, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle camera and a telephoto lens with triple optical zoom.

The Samsung Galaxy S25 is positioned as a powerful and compact flagship smartphone with modern AI functions, but with few changes compared to its predecessors.

The 4,000-mAh battery supports wired charging at 25 watts as well as wireless charging via Fast Wireless Charging 2.0. The device is IP68-certified, which offers protection against water and dust. Despite its high-quality features, the Galaxy S25 remains light and compact at 162 grams. The Galaxy S25 also offers advanced AI functions, including the Google Gemini Assistant.

The Galaxy S25 Plus is a slightly larger and better equipped variant.

The iPhone 16 Pro and the iPhone 16 Pro Max are almost identical in most regards, with the display used, as well case and battery size, being the differentiating factors. Both models are powered by Apple's A18 Pro which provides a lot of computing, AI and gaming power. The display gets very bright while also boasting true-to-life color reproduction. Thanks to the LTPO technology, refresh rates are dynamically adjusted with up to 120 Hz possible.

The iPhone 16 Pro makes for a powerful proposition (just like the Pro Max) with only a few shortcomings.

The triple rear camera offers good to very good image quality with all lenses. In particular, its videography talents deserve some kind words, with Ultra HD video capture at up to 120 frames per second now supported, as well as Dolby Vision. Rival phones are left biting the dust for the time being.

The drawbacks to consider are the lack of support for 320-MHz Wi-Fi as well as absence of high-res Bluetooth audio codecs.

The Xperia 1 VII is a high-end smartphone for photo and video professionals. It uses the Snapdragon 8 Elite with 12-GB RAM and offers a 6.5-inch OLED display (4K, 120 Hz). The panel can be as bright as 1,979 cd/m², and 240-Hz PWM dimming is supported. The triple camera comprises a 48-MP main lens, 48-MP ultra-wide-angle lens and 12-MP telephoto lens with continuous 3.5x to 7.1x zoom. It delivers high-quality results, especially in Pro mode, but the automatic mode is not great.

Sony's Xperia 1 VII impresses with its brilliant 4K OLED display, professional camera with continuous zoom, and strong battery life, but shows weaknesses in charging speed and digital telephoto zoom performance.

The Sony phone has 256 GB of storage, micro-SD card support, a 3.5-mm jack, USB-C video output and Wi-Fi 7. The 5,000-mAh battery offers long runtimes, but only charges at 30 W. On the software side, the device ships with Android 15 and receives four years of system updates and six years of security updates. Overall, the Xperia 1 VII impresses with its precise technology, excellent display and professional camera options, but is weaker when it comes to charging speeds and the automatic camera modes.

Xiaomi's 15 is a compact flagship smartphone with a 6.36-inch display that offers top performance despite its compact size. It uses the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC from Qualcomm. Its LTPO OLED display is characterized by exceptional brightness; we saw over 3,500 cd/m² with HDR content in our testing.

The Xiaomi 15 sets new standards in terms of performance and battery life in the compact flagship smartphone category.

Another highlight is the battery life. Thanks to a large battery with a silicon-carbon anode, which enables a higher energy density, the Xiaomi 15 delivers almost 23 hours of simulated Web surfing. That's over four hours more than its predecessor. The triple rear camera with three 50-MP sensors has seen some downgrades; the telephoto lens is now good for 2.6x optical zoom instead of last year model's 3.2x, reducing the flexibility of the Leica camera system somewhat.

The ultra-slim Galaxy S25 Edge is 5.85-mm-thick with a robust finish on its titanium frame, Gorilla Glass Ceramic 2 in charge of protecting the display, and IP68 certification. Despite the size and weight reduction, the 163-g-lightweight product is surprisingly torsion-resistant. It also relies on modern technology: A bright 6.7″ LTPO OLED panel with 120 Hz and the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite chip with 12 GB of RAM.

Samsung delivers an impressively thin, yet powerful flagship with the Galaxy S25 Edge.

Other features include Wi-Fi 7, UWB, dual eSIM, USB 3.2 and up to seven years of software updates. In terms of the camera system, Samsung uses the same 200 MP main camera here as in the Ultra model. A 12 MP ultra-wide angle camera is onboard as well, whereas a telephoto lens is missing due to the thin nature of the phone. The battery only has a capacity of 3,900 mAh, but still delivers solid runtimes in everyday use.