Best Android phone - which should you buy?

The top Android phones compared

Our verdict on the best Android phones - constantly updated

There's one key way in which Android is massively different from its Apple-branded smartphone competition - the number of phones out there running Google's hot mobile OS.

The latest wave of phones rocking up are running Android Jelly Bean, and it looks like Android 4.0 Ice Cream Sandwich has been firmly swept under the carpet.

Samsung makes loads of them. Sony's cut the Ericsson ties but still is cranking out the Google-branded handsets. Then you've got Android-powered phones from Acer, LG, Huawei, ZTE and many others, and while HTC has ceased the practice of releasing more phones than centipedes have shoes (they do wear them, you know) it's still one of the more prominent Android manufacturers.

The many variations in screen size, processor power, software features and design makes finding the best Android phone for you extremely tough.

Do you physically and emotionally need a QWERTY keyboard? Are you the sort of oddball who prefers the rough pressing needed to make resistive touchscreens work? If so, you won't find much luck here, as those technologies are sadly phased out of the Android world as buyers get enamoured by fancy, glossy capacitive touchscreens.

Are you struggling to work out which are the best Android Widgets? Or even stuck wondering: "Actually, what IS Android?"

To help find the best Android phone for you, we've rounded up the best Android handsets out there today, rating the phones on hardware performance, OS upgrade potential and, of course, how shiny and nice they are to have and boast about to work colleagues.

So here they are - the best Android phones money can buy today. For many, many different reasons.

10. Samsung Galaxy Note 2

The Samsung Galaxy Note 2 has now be usurped at the top of Samsung's screen size totem pole by the Galaxy Note 3, but that's not to say this is a bad phone.

Far from it in fact, and its 30 million sales is testament to the fact that people do want a bigger screen on their smartphone.

Now updated to Android Jelly Bean the Note 2 still has a decent reserve of power to see you through those console quality games, plus its still large 5.5-inch display makes it a great multimedia player.

Quick verdict

A great phone, as long as you're not easily embarrassed by whipping out something so comically huge in public. The power and customization may be too much for some, but for those wanting a big screen on a budget the Note 2 is a great shout.

9. Sony Xperia Z

Sony's Xperia Z impressed us early this year and the firm has built on this with the Xperia Z1, which is why the Z has taken a tumble down the rankings. It's still a decent smartphone mind.

You can see the Sony influence throughout the handset as it oozes quality and build from the large screen, which fits close to the edges of the bezel, to the intelligent camera that allows you to snap some really premium photos without needing to fiddle about with the settings.

And it's water and dust resistant too, which makes it excellent for general life business, plus it's packing a microSD card slot in an impossibly thin chassis, for which we laud the phone even higher.

Add to that the Bravia Engine 2, which can upscale standard definition movies and bring your content to life, and you've got a real matchwinning phone in your hands.

Quick verdict

While it doesn't quite pack the clout of the phones from HTC and Samsung, the Xperia Z is a phone that got Sony back at the sharp end of the smartphone game.

There's a small amount of room for improvement, as the screen can look a bit washed out from some angles, but there's no doubt the Xperia Z gave Sony a decent footing early on this year.

8. Samsung Galaxy S4 Mini

For those after some Samsung muscle but in a slightly more pocketable format, the S4 Mini's a result. It's had its display size chopped to just 4.3-inches - positively tiny in this age of five-inch slabs - and although the resolution and internal power have also been reduced when compared with the S4 Large, the Mini's everyday performance isn't really compromised at all.

The 1.7GHz dual-core chipset is perfectly capable of handling both Samsung's software tools and the ever-increasing demands of Android, while it outdoes other phones in this mid-range price bracket by having 1.5GB of RAM onboard for solid app, gaming and multitasking performance.

Quick verdict

It's not quite a miniature Galaxy S4 in that it's been downgraded a little internally as well as externally, but the good news is the asking price has been chopped accordingly -- making it a low budget scorcher.

7. Sony Xperia Z1

The Sony Xperia Z1 is another powerhouse of a phone. With a 20.7MP camera with G Lens technology, the ability to withstand rain, snow and sand and a superfast Snapdragon 800 processor running the show, it's clearly a great handset to have around.

It also comes in a variety of funky colours, has a pleasing build quality that helps justify the higher price to a degree and basically offers the best of the Sony brand in a smartphone.

We do have a few reservations insofar as the Z1 doesn't really carry the mantle the Xperia Z created; it's got a massively uprated camera and screen technology, but neither particularly wow.

Quick verdict

Don't think that this is anything less than a leading phone from Sony. It's just that the added thickness to accommodate the camera doesn't impress enough to plop it into the top five, and after the really great showing from the Xperia Z, we were a little disappointed.

6. Google Nexus 4

Google and LG have worked together to bring to market a fantastic offering last year, one that even Apple fans can't help but coo over when they heard the price.

While the Nexus 4 is running on year old technology, it's new, lower price point simply makes it fantastic value for money.

The Nexus 4 is beautifully designed with a stunning display and rocking the latest version of Android. It has more connectivity than a telephone exchange and even excels in the simple matter of making calls.

We're not fans of the lower memory allowance, and it's not got the best screen on the market, and there will be a few that see stock Android 4.2 as too stripped-down to consider it a valid phone OS choice, but that doesn't mean it's not a fantastic handset - it would have competed even without the insanely low price tag.

Quick verdict

Make no mistake – this is the best Nexus handset so far by a long shot. We love it and can't recommend it highly enough.

5. Samsung Galaxy Note 3

The Samsung Galaxy Note 3 is alive and kicking and breathes yet more life into a mobile form factor many thought would be dead on arrival, ramping up the specs and the size to give us a new monolith of mobile.

It may be big, but the 5.7-inch display is fantastic and the Full HD Super AMOLED technology makes everything pop from websites to movies.

What really impressed us with the Galaxy Note 3 though was its battery life and sheer speed under the finger. We're used to a day at best when hardcore using the device, but we got far past that without breaking a sweat throughout our tests.

Quick verdict

This is the best Galaxy Note smartphone to date, so if you're looking for a supersized handset with impressive power and a wide range of features the Galaxy Note 3 has got you covered.

4. HTC One Mini

As with Samsung's attempts at scaling down size, performance and the cost of ownership to you the punter, HTC's miniaturised HTC One reduces both size and internal performance a little to bring it in at a more affordable level than the original flagship.

The dual-core Snapdragon 400 processor, 1GB of RAM and smaller, lower resolution 4.3-inch display are compromises, but HTC's polished software and exemplary hardware design skills make this a strong contender regardless.

It has the same victory points as the large HTC One -- the brilliant Boomsound audio output and front-facing speakers, the Ultrapixel imaging sensor for cracking photographs and particularly fine low-light performance, plus HTC's classy aluminium chassis is here once again.

It doesn't feel cheap, but it is a little bit cheaper. Win-win.

Quick verdict

The same quality exterior design as the full size HTC One, with internals that have only a little less punch. And a 4.3-inch display isn't exactly small, making it ideal for people after decent power in a more modest form factor.

3. Samsung Galaxy S4

Hold the phone, what's happen here? Samsung may have been top dog in 2012, but this year the sultry stylings of the HTC One and craziness of the LG G2 have proven too strong against a phone that's a slightly-better-version of its predecessor.

Ok so it's only really looks that the S4 is too similar, and sadly that was one of the biggest issues most users had with the S3. It's not the biggest smartphone crime, but that coupled with some other minor niggles means it misses out on being number one.

2. LG G2

LG's return to smartphone form kicked off with the Optimus G last year, a very decent mobile that won even more fans when redesigned a little and sold for peanuts through Google as the Nexus 4.

The G2 builds on this, upgrading the display size to a massive 5.2-inches with a resolution boost to full 1080p output, powering it with a best-in-class Snapdragon 800 series chipset alongside 2GB of RAM. It doesn't get much better than that.

The external design's rather a mixed bag though, looking like your usual black slab from the front, but shocking everyone with LG's bonkers decision to put the power button bang in the middle of the back of the phone.

What's undeniably an improvement is the camera -- a weak spot of the Nexus 4 -- plus the phone's battery life, which has again improved over that managed by LG's Nexus and Optimus G.

Quick verdict

An insanely powerful phone that nukes everything else out there in terms of raw performance, with the impact only slightly lessened by LG's oddball button placement and occasionally mad software additions.

1. HTC One

Well, here's something of a shock if you're a Samsung fan – after nearly two years of dominance, the Korean brand has fallen from the top spot.

It's nothing to do with the quality of the S4 (or the LG G2 for that matter) – it's still an outstanding phone – but more the fact HTC has managed to bring out a smartphone that's worthy of any user's consideration with a supreme aluminium chassis, Full HD screen and simplified version of Sense 5.0 sitting on top of Android Jelly Bean.

The new innovations are also pleasingly more than just marketing gimmicks; Zoe functionality allows the creation of delightful video highlight reels, and the Ultrapixel camera means you've got a much wider range of shots available thanks to being stunning in low light.

The only reason this isn't a five star phone is the slightly off-key battery, which can leak juice if you're power-creating videos or watching reams of video, but for day to day use it will be acceptable for most.

Quick Verdict

With power, poise and beauty all combined in this innovative phone, HTC has proved it can more than still cut it with the big boys when it comes to bringing out a lust-worthy flagship smartphone.