Smartphone Awards 2025: Something for everyone amongst the best phones

YouTuber MKBHD has revealed his picks for the best smartphones of 2025. (Image source: Marques Brownlee)

December has arrived, bringing with it the usual wave of year-end reviews. The smartphone industry hasn’t been this exciting in years. Recently, Europe has even been graced by flagship phones originally expected to launch in 2026, such as the Vivo X300 Pro, OnePlus 15 and Oppo Find X9 Pro. As in previous years, YouTuber MKBHD has unveiled his top smartphone picks for 2025 – though, naturally, not everyone will agree with his choices.

Alexander Fagot (translated by Zhiwei Zhuang), Published 12/09/2025 🇩🇪

The year 2025 has been eventful for smartphones. In particular, Chinese phone manufacturers really turned up the heat towards year’s end, giving us a glimpse of things to come in 2026 with the OnePlus 15, Oppo Find X9 Pro and Vivo X300 Pro. This marks the first time Chinese flagship devices have debuted in Europe so soon after their launch in China. Despite being unavailable in the US, some of these phones have also been nominated by American YouTuber Marques Brownlee for best smartphones of the year – a promising sign that the Apple-Samsung duopoly may be reaching its limit even in the “land of endless possibilities”. You can watch MKBHD’s video first to avoid spoilers. In the following section, we have compiled a complete list of winners across all ten categories.

MKBHD's best smartphones of 2025

Best big phone: Xiaomi 17 Pro Max
Best compact phone: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip7
Best camera: Oppo Find X9 Pro
Best value: CMF Phone 2 Pro by Nothing
Best battery: OnePlus 15
Best design: Apple iPhone Air
Best foldable: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7
Most improved: Apple iPhone 17
Most disappointing: Apple iPhone 16e
Smartphone of the year: Apple iPhone 17

Of course, not everyone will agree with his picks. For example, after testing the Vivo X300 Pro’s cameras in Cyprus for several weeks, we believe the device deserves a spot on the list. Given the wide range of iPhone competitors available in Europe, crowning the iPhone 17 phone of the year may also seem like an oversight, though this is probably influenced by the YouTuber’s location. Aside from OnePlus and Nothing, many smartphone brands popular in Europe, such as Xiaomi, Oppo and Vivo, remain largely unavailable in the US.

Source(s)

MKBHD YouTube

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Editor of the original article: Alexander Fagot - Managing Editor News - 11178 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2016

As a young tech enthusiast with a history involving assembling and overclocking projects, I ended up working as a projectionist with good old 35-mm films before I entered the computer world at a professional level. I assisted customers at an Austrian IT service provider called Iphos IT Solutions for seven years, working as a Windows client and server administrator as well as a project manager. As a freelancer who travels a lot, I have been able to write for Notebookcheck from all corners of the world since 2016. My articles cover brand-new mobile technologies in smartphones, laptops, and gadgets of all kinds.

contact me via: @alfawien

Translator: Zhiwei Zhuang - Translator - 516 articles published on Notebookcheck since 2022

After graduating with a bachelor’s degree in environmental engineering, I moved from Singapore to Cologne in 2014 and began pursuing a career as a freelance translator. Much of my translation work focuses on science, engineering and technology. My fascination with computers and mobile electronics began when I was young. And I have fond memories reading countless tech and gaming magazines. Working with Notebookcheck gives me the opportunity to incorporate my personal interests into my professional work.

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