Ranking: Best compact smartphones reviewed by Notebookcheck

The Apple iPhone 16 is surprisingly ahead of the Pro model in our overall ranking, which is mainly due to its lower weight. It offers a fast SoC and a bright display, but has to make do with a meagre 60 Hz refresh rate.

The iPhone 16 is a great smartphone if the relatively low 60 Hz refresh rate is not a turn-off for you.

Although the dual camera has to make do without optical zoom, at least the 2x magnification works almost issue-free in everyday use thanks to the sensor crop. The limitations of the Pro models also apply here, and there is no USB 3 (only USB 2.0) which is a bit disappointing considering the price.

The Apple iPhone 16 Pro is powered by the Apple A18 Pro chip, which provides plenty of computing, AI and gaming power. The display is not only very bright, but also boasts accurate color reproduction. Thanks to the LTPO technology, the refresh rate gets dynamically adjusted, with up to 120 Hz possible.

The iPhone 16 Pro is a powerful overall package with only a few shortcomings.

The triple camera offers good to very good image quality no matter the lens. In particular, the phone's videography skills deserve praise, which now also support recording videos in Ultra HD with up to 120 frames per second as well as Dolby Vision. Apple has no competition in this regard.

The only things worth a scowl are the lack of 320 MHz Wi-Fi and high-res Bluetooth audio codecs.

The Google Pixel 9 has a 6.3-inch OLED display, which has a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz and can be very bright. The dual camera on the back takes beautiful photos, but has no optical zoom.

The Pixel 9 not only offers a compact form factor, but also comes with seven years of updates.

The features are rounded off by Wi-Fi 7, 5G with wide frequency coverage, USB 3.2, wireless charging and IP68 certification. However, the SoC is the slowest you can find in the high-end phone world and the charging speed also leaves a lot to be desired.

The foldable Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 is just as large as its predecessor and scores with its improved camera, larger battery and powerful SoC. It has a 6.7-inch AMOLED display with a dynamic refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, which offers impressive brightness. The 4.3-inch external display is useful for widgets and selfies, but could be larger.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 5G is a strong overall package, it's only in terms of the visual design that there is a standstill.

The smartphone supports 5G, Wi-Fi 6E, and Bluetooth 5.3, but forgoes more advanced technologies such as UWB and Wi-Fi 7. The main camera system offers solid performance, although it lacks a telephoto lens, and the battery capacity got a bump to 3,700 mAh, which ensures a good battery life. However, the DeX mode is missing and there are no significant design changes compared to the predecessor. Nevertheless, the device remains one of the best options in the foldable smartphone sector due to its good overall performance and long software support.

The Xiaomi Mix Flip is a promising foldable smartphone. It scores with a Leica camera, which offers a telephoto lens with 50 MPix instead of the usual ultra-wide angle lens, and a large battery with 4,780 mAh. The main display measures 6.86 inches across and offers a refresh rate of 120 Hz along with a high brightness of up to 1,600 cd/m², which is particularly advantageous for consuming media content.

The Xiaomi Mix Flip is a very modern concept that shows weaknesses in the details.

In the review, the generously sized external display and the fast SoC were particularly impressive. However, the latter throttles quite heavily under prolonged loads. The cameras also fall short of expectations and one also has to bid farewell to wireless charging and eSIM support.

The Google Pixel 8a has a comparatively compact form factor with a 6.1-inch AMOLED display. This has a resolution of Full HD+ and works with a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. The Google Phone is powered by an in-house Tensor SoC, which has access to 8 GB of RAM. The internal memory is either 128 or 256 GB and cannot be expanded.

The Google Pixel 8a is a good overall package with seven years of updates.

The dual camera on the back offers an ultra-wide angle lens. The main sensor takes really good photos. In the testing, we criticized its slow charging speed and the somewhat wide display edges, among other things.

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo is characterized by its compact design and offers a 6.4-inch pOLED display with a very high pixel density and a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz. It is powered by a mid-range SoC from MediaTek, which has access to a generous 12 GB of RAM. Storage is generous here at 512 GB, too but cannot be expanded.

The Motorola Edge 50 Neo comes with a stylish design and also offers unusual Pantone colors.

The triple camera on the back offers an ultra-wide angle lens with macro function and an optical zoom lens with OIS. The Motorola smartphone is also IP68 and MIL-STD 810H certified. Fast charging at 68 watts is also onboard, as is wireless charging. In the testing, the battery life fell short of expectations just slightly, but is still at a good level.

The Sony Xperia 10 VI is a compact, lightweight smartphone with a special 21:9 display that will appeal to fans of elongated screens. This is an OLED display with a size of 6.1 inches and a comparatively low refresh rate of 60 Hz. The IP68 certification, which makes the device waterproof and dustproof, is nice to have. Its battery life is very good, making the device attractive for users with high endurance requirements.

The Sony Xperia 10 VI impresses with its slim design, long battery life and features such as microSD support and the audio jack.

In terms of the camera, the Xperia 10 VI does a solid job, but is not outstanding. The camera performance cannot quite keep up with mid-range devices from other manufacturers, especially in poor lighting conditions.