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Top rated
- best buy
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The best mobile phones will take the place of your camera, keep you informed and entertained on the move, and still leave you with enough battery when you get home.
But it's not easy to find a model that can succeed on all counts. With prices rising and more than ever to choose from, it's important to spend your money wisely on a phone that will last.
Read our in-depth guide for advice on choosing the best mobile phone with the top operating system, brand and additional features that you'll really use.
Discover our pick of the best mobile phone and Sim-only deals, and best iPhone deals for 2024.
We've rounded up some of the very best premium phones you can buy that are great all-rounders. If you want to pay less, scroll down for some excellent options for under £500 and under £300.
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Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
A cheaper handset won't just save you money if you're buying outright, but will also result in a cheaper contract.
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
We test mobile phones at every price point, and while some inexpensive models are definite Don’t Buys, there are plenty of affordable gems worth considering. Our Great Value handsets score 60% or more in our tests and they're at least 20% cheaper than the average price for all mobile phones we review. They might not have the very best cameras or displays, but they're solid performers and often have long battery lives.
Great Value handsets must also have around two years of security support remaining. Regular security updates are important to prevent vulnerabilities in your phone being exploited. Find out more in our mobile phones security guide.
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
Full Access first month £5, then £10.99 per month, cancel at any time
It can be tempting to opt for a lower monthly fee rather than pay a lot outright, but this could cost more in the long term. Use our phone contract calculator to find the best way to buy.
Pros: Spreads the costs over time, may offer additional perks and benefits.
Cons: Susceptible to inflation, could end up costing you more, less flexibility on Sim package.
Buying on contract can make even the priciest handsets seem affordable. The key here is to run the numbers to find out how much you’ll be paying compared to the other options below. Aside from potentially costing more, mobile contracts may be susceptible to mobile contract inflation, which could be significant. However, benefits such as perks provided by some mobile providers can be tempting if you’ll use them.
Another thing to look out for is contract length. Many providers now use 36 month contracts for repayment of the handset, plus a two year Sim package. You can choose your own Sim deal for the remaining year at the same or a different provider. Use our mobile phone contract calculator to work out exactly how much you’ll end up paying in these scenarios.
Get a great deal on a mobile phone contract, or browse Sim-only deals starting from around just £5 a month
See how much you could savePros: Spreads the costs over time, ensures you won't overpay for a handset (with an interest-free loan), inflation-proof, flexibility on Sim and provider.
Cons: may not get the best price on a handset, must keep up repayments.
Some manufacturers allow you to buy phones on credit, with the best offering interest-free repayments. With Apple you can pay for an iPhone monthly at 0% APR with the option to upgrade before the end of the contract, Samsung offers 0% interest options, as does Giffgaff, both through Klarna. However, it's less likely you'll get a good discount on the handset compared to hunting for a deal separately, and you must keep up with repayments. Retailers often offer finance options too, but check carefully as you may have to pay interest.
Pros: No need to worry about paying it off, easier to make savings on a handset, flexibility on Sim and provider.
Cons: High upfront cost.
If you have the money to pay for a handset upfront, it's often the cheapest option. It also gives you the most flexibility in terms of choosing and switching your Sim plan. Buying a phone outright obviously involves a more significant upfront expense, but you don't need to spent a lot for a very capable smartphone. Alternatively consider a 0% purchase credit card that won't charge interest on purchases for an initial period, usually between three and 22 months. You'll need to keep up with repayments or you'll be charged the card's standard APR – typically around 24%.
You could spend over £1,000 on a smartphone, but fortunately we've seen excellent models for a fraction of the price.
Expect to spend from around £350 for a Best Buy. It may not have all the bells and whistles of premium competitors, but any phone good enough to be a Best Buy is guaranteed to tick a lot of boxes. We have Great Value models for as little as £200. These might not be as powerful as our Best Buys, but you're certainly getting a lot for your money including premium displays and long battery lives.
Find out our picks of the best mobile phone and sim-free deals.
The operating system (OS) is the software that powers your phone. It shapes what the phone interface looks like and what apps it can run, and plays a large part in how easy it is to use. There are two main players to choose from: iOS (Apple iPhones) and Android.
Android is designed by Google and is used by a range of manufacturers, from Samsung and Motorola to OnePlus and Oppo. Android looks and behaves slightly differently depending on the manufacturer, but the basics are essentially the same.
All iPhones use iOS and the experience of using the operating system is broadly similar whichever iPhone you buy. New updates to iOS are released each year, but some older iPhones may be able to run only older versions, which means you'll miss out on some of the latest features and security patches.
Read our guide on Apple iPhones vs Samsung Galaxy for more.
We collect reliability data on all the big brand smartphones so you have all the very best advice before you buy. Read our guide to the most reliable mobile phone brands for more.
One important consideration for any phone purchase is how long it'll received important security updates from the manufacturer. We estimate the 'lifetime' of a smartphone – the average time we’d expect one to last before it breaks down or deteriorates significantly – is 5.6 years. This is based on robust analysis of recent product surveys and is a conservative estimate, so we’re confident that the genuine average is above this value.
We asked popular mobile phone brands how long they'd support devices with updates after launch, and as you can see, too many are still falling short of this measure.
While you may not be at immediate risk if you're using a device that's unsupported, it's obviously desirable to buy and use a device that you know will receive update support for a good period of time. These policies aren't always easy to work out for individual phones, and you need to remember that support durations start from when the phone is released, not when you buy it.
Head to our guide to mobile phone security to check how long your mobile phone will remain supported.
Mobile antivirus can help protect you against phishing scams, where criminals trick you into clicking a dodgy link and revealing your personal details on a fake website. In our tests, we checked the effectiveness of free and paid-for mobile antivirus apps against the built-in security that comes with Apple and Android phones, and found many to be significantly more effective.
Read out guide to the best mobile antivirus software for more.
One way to get a good discount on a phone is to buy second-hand, or a refurbished model – which is usually a phone that has been used but restored to 'as new' condition, or graded to a certain level of quality.
Read our reviews of mobile phones now only available on the second-hand market. We don’t award Best Buys or Great Value to phones now only available second-hand because the performance of a second-hand or refurbished phone might differ from buying a new one that we test in our reviews.
The second hand phone market is a popular one, but you do need to be careful what you buy. Read more in our guide to buying a second-hand or refurbished mobile phone.
When buying a mobile phone, make sure you're handing your money over to a reputable seller. Check the retailer's returns policy and pay attention to customer feedback and reviews. For more details on shopping online safely and arranging refunds for faulty products, see our advice on shopping online.
Mobile Phones Direct, Argos and Carphone Warehouse are some of the most searched-for mobile phone retailers at the time of writing. We’ve included links to these retailers handpicked because of their stock availability, best value price or warranty options.
If you're upgrading a phone, don't leave the old one gathering dust in a drawer. How to recycle your mobile phone explains how to get money for an old handset, and erase your data securely.
Use our Which? provider rating, based on real customer feedback, to find the best Sim and contract deals
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