The best smartphones, spring 2026 - 26 phones compared

When we tested the Xiaomi 17 Ultra, it was only available to purchase in China. The phone is now easy to obtain in the EU.

Priced at around 1,500 euros (e.g. at Amazon.de), it offers excellent features such as its extremely bright OLED display, great stereo sound and plenty of computing power. Flagship feel and look come included as well.

The rear camera system with its 1-inch primary sensor, great light sensitivity and good optical zoom is the icing on the cake of a truly first-class smartphone.

The Magic8 Pro grabs the silver medal. Our tests show this as an almost perfect Android flagship, well-made, IP69K-certified, and with a bright LTPO OLED display to boot.

That being said, its fast Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 throttles noticeably under longer loads. To make up for it, the rear camera setup delivers good images with strong telephoto zoom, although some details end up being a little too vivid.

Our test unit not being a Chinese market model, it had the smaller 6,270-mAh battery. Still, this ensures very good runtimes and recharges quickly. Some weaknesses for the reader to be aware of include the lack of UWB, slow Wi-Fi 7 performance, and SoC performance drops as mentioned above, but overall the Honor Magic8 Pro remains an attractive high-end smartphone with a plethora of features.

It is available from Amazon.de for less than 1,000 euros, among other options.

The iQOO 15 left us impressed. This is a powerful Android smartphone with flagship features at a comparatively low price, including Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, a large 7,000-mAh battery, a fast 144-Hz OLED display and IP69 certification.

In everyday use, it delivers long runtimes and strong performance, even when gaming, although noticeable heat build-up can occur despite the supposedly advanced internal cooling tech. The phone's main camera delivers surprisingly good images for a gaming phone, and the ultrasonic fingerprint sensor is both quick and reliable.

Some weaknesses to keep in mind are higher-than-expected temperatures, rather mediocre speakers, and limited availability, but overall the iQOO 15 is attractive and worth the price.

In the EU, the phone is only available from overseas sellers. Our partner TradingShenzhen has it in stock, among others.

Xiaomi's Poco F8 Ultra packs powerful hardware such as the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 processor, a large 6.9-inch OLED display and a 2.1-channel audio system with Bose-branded subwoofer. This is a comparatively affordable flagship.

Its rear camera setup with three 50-MP sensors does a good job, while the 6,500-mAh battery delivers solid runtimes.

Under longer loads, the рhone can get rather warm both on the inside and outside, resulting in a drop in performance. Still, even with warmer-than-desired temperatures and the lack of 6-GHz Wi-Fi taken into consideration, the F8 Ultra is a successful product with few weaknesses.

Above all, the X300 Pro is noteworthy for its strong cameras. It features a versatile triple-sensor setup delivering very good photo and video quality. Then, there is the bright LTPO AMOLED display and solid performance.

The issues that our tests uncovered include significant performance throttling under longer loads, mediocre speakers, and battery runtimes that fall short of expectations.

Overall, despite some compromises, the high-quality device remains a strong flagship camera smartphone for demanding users and enthusiasts.

The compact Vivo X300 impresses with an outstanding 200-megapixel main camera sensor, which delivers very high photo and video quality for a smaller premium smartphone.

Its MediaTek Dimensity 9500 SoC ensures high-end performance, although thermal throttling is possible if subjected to longer loads. The casing looks high-quality, the display is bright and overall, the product is well-equipped, even its battery and telephoto/ultra-wide-angle cameras are not as impressive as certain rivals.

Overall, the X300 is both attractive, and relatively compact.

Motorola's Signature is a very slim and lightweight premium flagship that scores points above all with its bright AMOLED display, an excellent camera setup and a 7-year update guarantee.

Its Sony LYTIA camera system is one of the best available, even beating some phones from Apple and Samsung. The Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 5 chip delivers solid performance, but tends to overheat during intensive use. Battery life is only average.

Overall, the Signature shows that Motorola can once again hold its own in the high-end segment, even if it does not achieve top scores in some areas.

Honor's Win is an unusual gaming smartphone with a built-in fan and a huge 10,000-mAh battery, which enables very long runtimes and stable performance even under intensive use.

The active cooling keeps the performance of the Snapdragon chip high for longer at the cost of introducing some noise. The user is free to switched it off if required.

The phone offers a very bright AMOLED display, solid cameras and fast charging features, but has no Widevine L1 certification or eSIM support.

Despite these limitations, the Honor Win remains an interesting overall option as an imported gaming phone for power users that has few real weaknesses. Acquiring one is possible via TradingShenzhen, among other options, starting from 557 euros.

For the Editors' Choice Award, we ask Notebookcheck editors which phones warmed their hearts the most in recent months. The device's review rating is not the deciding factor here.

And so, everything works - from rugged phones with unusual features to exceptionally well-equipped budget phones, to mid-range bargains. Anything that our editors want to put the spotlight on once again.

In our tests, the Moto G57 Power (and its large 7,000-mAh battery) impressed with very long runtimes, a bright 120-Hz display without PWM flickering, and an attractive, sturdy casing.

With the Qualcomm Snapdragon 6s Gen 4 chip, the phone feels snappy while also offering stable Wi-Fi performance, many 5G bands, a reliable fingerprint sensor, eSIM support and a classic 3.5-mm headphone jack.

Its cameras and speakers are decent, but not outstanding, and updates won't be coming for long, but it's still an attractive product overall, especially by mid-range standards.

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The table above shows all smartphones tested in the period under review with their overall ratings and subratings, as well as a selection of important specs and benchmark scores. Full results and details can be found in the linked reviews.