Google Pixel 10 Pro: The best small Android phone overall\n<\/p>\n
Top-tier specs with small display \u2022 Excellent cameras \u2022 Powerful AI tools \u2022 Top-notch software<\/p>\n MSRP: $999.00<\/p>\n More power in the smaller form-factor<\/p>\n The Google Pixel 10 Pro has everything you could want in a flagship Android phone crammed into a truly compact body with a 6.3-inch display. Google’s new Tensor G5 chip is more powerful, the 100x Pro Res Zoom is truly impressive, and there are loads of helpful AI features. Not to mention, you still get seven years of Android updates.<\/p>\n Positives<\/p>\n Compact, comfortable designBuilt-in magnetic chargingTensor G5 runs coolSuper versatile camerasPro Res Zoom is scary impressivePixel-exclusive features are still fantasticSeven years of updates<\/p>\n Cons<\/p>\n No physical SIM slot in the USNot a huge performance upgradeMagic Cue needs some work<\/p>\n It should be no surprise that Google\u2019s Pixel 10 Pro tops our list. It\u2019s the pocket-friendly version of Google\u2019s best flagship to date, and when we finished our review<\/a>, we settled on the fact that we couldn\u2019t wait to keep using it. It improves on Google\u2019s previous small flagship, the Pixel 9 Pro, offering just a little bit more of everything to mark the tenth generation of Pixels without making you wrangle a nearly 7-inch display.<\/p>\n Perhaps what makes the Pixel 10 Pro so good is how close it hews to its larger Pixel 10 Pro XL sibling. I reviewed Google\u2019s larger flagship as it launched, and found that everything the XL Pixel Pro could do, the regular Pro could do too. See, while the Pixel 10 Pro XL<\/a> pushes the limits of my pocket at 6.8 inches, the Pixel 10 Pro\u2019s 6.3-inch AMOLED panel is much more comfortable to carry \u2014 and far easier to reach across. Despite that dip in size, it still carries the same 120Hz refresh rate, 3,300 nits of peak brightness, and is a bit more pixel-dense, which is a win, win, win for fans of small Android phones.<\/p>\n Outside of the difference in size, the Pixel 10 Pro makes almost no other cuts from its XL sibling. Yes, the battery is a bit smaller (4,870mAh vs 5,200mAh) and the gap in wired charging is bigger than the previous generation (30W vs 45W), but the battery life itself is still rock-solid, and there\u2019s no difference between the Tensor G5<\/a> chipset and the monstrous 16GB of RAM that you get under the hood. Sure, some of that is reserved for keeping Gemini running at top speed, but it still means you have around 12GB to do with as you please, which in my case means playing Pok\u00e9mon TCG Pocket and Warhammer 40,000 Tacticus whenever I have a free moment.<\/p>\n Speaking of Gemini, the Pixel 10 Pro packs more clever AI-powered tricks than you or I could count. It builds on the mountain of apps introduced on the previous generation, like Pixel Studio and Pixel Screenshots, adding Pixel Journal to the mix for logging thoughts. Perhaps the most exciting new Pixel 10 Pro feature, however, is Magic Cue<\/a>. It still has a few wrinkles to iron out, but the idea of an assistant being able to pull context from one message or email and insert it into another is exactly how AI should be used.<\/p>\n The Pixel 10 Pro packs all the power of an XL flagship… just smaller.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s round out the best small Android phone with a Pixel favorite: The cameras. Google\u2019s trio of 50MP primary, 48MP ultrawide, and 48MP 5x optical telephoto sensors is excellent, and it comes with a serious new upgrade thanks to Gemini: 100x Pro Res Zoom. Granted, that maxed-out zoom is best saved for buildings and landscapes \u2014 it handles people kind of funny \u2014 but I\u2019ve been impressed with the way it handles far-off parts of Baltimore\u2019s harbor. And, as they say, the best camera phone<\/a> is the one you have with you.<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n Google Pixel 9a: The best value small Android phone\n<\/p>\n Built-in Gemini \u2022 Incredible camera \u2022 All-day battery<\/p>\n MSRP: $499.00<\/p>\n All the Pixel essentials for less.<\/p>\n The Google Pixel 9a brings built-in Gemini, an incredible camera, all-day battery, and seven years of updates for under $500.<\/p>\n Positives<\/p>\n Solid, reliable camerasExcellent update commitmentClever AI-powered featuresGreat battery lifeNew, streamlined designExcellent price<\/p>\n Cons<\/p>\n Relatively slow chargingAging Gorilla Glass 3 (again)Missing Pixel Screenshots<\/p>\n If you like the idea of Google\u2019s small flagship but would rather not spend $1,000 on your next phone, the Pixel 9a<\/a> is a perfect alternative, and one of the best cheap Android phones money can buy. It\u2019s probably good enough to draw some would-be Pixel 9 buyers (or unconvinced Pixel 10 buyers) to the mid-range price point, as long as you can live without a creature comfort or two. As I see it, though, none of the Pixel 9a\u2019s downgrades are actual dealbreakers, and they do far more to close the $200 price gap on the Pixel 10 than they need to.<\/p>\n More specifically, you\u2019ll have to live with the fact that Google still stubbornly refuses to bring glass to the back of its Pixel A series. Once again, the Pixel 9a has a plastic back surrounding its now bar-less camera bar \u2014 a choice I wasn\u2019t originally sure about but now really like. Yes, I still miss the camera bar for its dose of personality, but I appreciate that the design team at Google made the design change<\/a> more because they freed up space inside the phone than because they just wanted to take a minimalist approach. Besides, the fun colors like Peony and Iris more than make up for the slimmed-down design.<\/p>\n Otherwise, the main downgrades for the Pixel 9a come as part of its charging setup. It steps down to 23W wired charging with Google\u2019s in-house Pixel charger and 7.5W wireless charging, though at least it\u2019s an upgrade from when the Pixel A series only had wired charging. And yet, the Pixel 9a\u2019s battery situation is as good as I could have asked for. Its 5,100mAh cell is the largest on any Pixel to date, and it easily outlasted both the Pixel 8a and Pixel 9 in my testing.<\/p>\n The Pixel 9a is so close to flagship-grade with a very approachable price of $500.<\/p>\n This mid-ranger also packs the same Tensor G4 chip that powers its flagship siblings, offering a stellar slate of AI features. It doesn\u2019t have everything that the true Pixel 9 series has due to its limited 8GB of RAM, but Pixel Screenshots<\/a> is the only true casualty I\u2019ve noticed. That loss comes down to running Gemini Nano XXS, which only accepts text inputs, rather than the Nano XS model on Google\u2019s other 2024 launches. If you ask me, though, it\u2019s a small price to pay when saving a few hundred bucks.<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n Samsung Galaxy S25: The best small Android phone for Samsung users\n<\/p>\n 12GB RAM \u2022 Vastly improved software \u2022 7 years of support<\/p>\n MSRP: $799.99<\/p>\n Refined software, AI smarts, and next-gen hardware<\/p>\n With an emphasis on AI features, and a move to Gemini, the Samsung Galaxy S25 is an exciting update to the Galaxy S line. Equipped with a 6.2-inch FHD+ display, Snapdragon 8 Elite SoC, 12GB of RAM, a powerful 50MP camera, and updated hardware materials, we expect big things from the base model of Samsung’s 2025 flagship phone.<\/p>\n Positives<\/p>\n Powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy SoCGreat new Galaxy AI featuresSeven years of OS upgrades<\/p>\n Cons<\/p>\n No meaningful design changesNo camera upgradesNo battery\/charging upgrades<\/p>\n Although Google has taken over the small Android trend, Samsung has been on top of its pocket-friendly launches for a few years. Its Galaxy S25<\/a> picks up almost exactly where the Galaxy S24 left off, bringing a 6.2-inch display, a flexible set of rear cameras, and a decent charging setup into the early months of 2025. However, that continuity is also the Galaxy S25\u2019s greatest weakness \u2014 it\u2019s just not quite exciting enough to make many people upgrade.<\/p>\n That said, if you\u2019re dead-set on a small Android phone and already entrenched in the Galaxy ecosystem, it only makes sense to give the Galaxy S25 a shot. It\u2019s impressively well-made, combining an Armor Aluminum frame with Gorilla Glass Victus 2<\/a> on both the front and back, and pairing that durability with an IP68 rating against water and dust. Yes, maybe the design is a little played out at this point \u2014 it\u2019s tough to pick out the differences between the three camera cutouts and those on the Galaxy S24 \u2014 but Samsung has never worried about fixing what wasn\u2019t broken.<\/p>\n It looks and feels like the Galaxy S24, but Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy gives this phone a brand-new punch.<\/p>\n Besides, the actual changes on the Galaxy S25 lie under the surface. It\u2019s more efficient Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy chipset and 12GB of RAM are behind a laundry list of AI-powered features, from a revamped Drawing Assist that\u2019s more like Google\u2019s Pixel Studio to the Now Brief<\/a> that does its best to keep you updated on your calendar and the current weather conditions throughout your day. I\u2019ve been more impressed by the Now Bar, which works something like Apple\u2019s Dynamic Island, but I appreciate that Samsung is trying to find ways to integrate Galaxy AI into my everyday life rather than making me search for it.<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n Apple iPhone 17 Pro: The best small phone for Apple users\n<\/p>\n I know this is our list of the best small Android phones, but here\u2019s the uncomfortable truth: Apple is the only one that never really ditched the idea of a small phone. Its base-level iPhone offered a 6.1-inch display from the days of the iPhone 11 to the iPhone 16, and it was even smaller before that. If that\u2019s not small enough, the company has also offered Mini-sized iPhones, giving 5.4-inch displays a moment in the sun before realizing they could barely make it through a full day of usage. Now, those days are behind us, with the iPhone 17 jumping to a 6.3-inch display and making it easier to go Pro once again.<\/p>\n And yes, this is where I remind you that picking up an iPhone will mean ditching Android for iOS. I don\u2019t love that, and you might not either, but it\u2019s a necessary sacrifice to save space. Honestly, using iOS isn\u2019t as bad as it used to be. It looks and feels a little more like Android than it used to, letting you drag and drop apps and widgets anywhere on your display and change the color of your icons to better match your wallpaper. Even the Apple Intelligence<\/a> rollout has begun to iron itself out, with Apple reintroducing notification summaries and smoothing out the details of Clean Up in Photos.<\/p>\n Apple\u2019s latest iPhone 17 Pro also makes a few hardware changes that longtime fans may or may not like. It\u2019s the first to shake up the corner-mounted camera bump, stretching it all the way across the back of the unibody aluminum frame. Apple has also brought back the Camera Control, doubling down on a hardware way to swap between\u00a0Photographic Styles<\/a>\u00a0and features like portrait mode without ever tapping your display. My usage has waxed and waned, usually depending on how much time I have to grab a shot, but it\u2019s a clever way to make your iPhone feel a little bit more like a traditional camera.<\/p>\n Apple’s top-notch optimization keeps its smallest iPhone neck-and-neck with some of the best Android flagships.<\/p>\n Of course, there are still times when Apple\u2019s pocket-sized designs work against it. The iPhone 17 Pro still packs a smaller battery than rival Android phones, which usually means less space for cooling technology. Apple is also as committed to its 12GB of RAM as it is to ditching the SIM tray (all iPhones are still eSIM-only in the US). On the bright side, the iPhone 17 Pro\u2019s upgraded 48MP telephoto sensor means it can finally zoom in to 40x magnification or tap in for an 8x optical crop.<\/p>\n Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n Motorola Razr Ultra: The best small foldable phone\n<\/p>\n Blisteringly fast charging and excellent battery life \u2022 Ultra-flagship-tier performance \u2022 Top-notch materials and eye-catching Pantone colors<\/p>\n MSRP: $1,299.99<\/p>\n High-end processing power in a folding shell<\/p>\n Adding Ultra to the name, the Motorola Razr Ultra is the first folding phone from Moto with a top-tier processor. The 7-inch folding display is paired with a half-size front display to give you both a premium experience, and a compact and portable communication device.<\/p>\n Positives<\/p>\n Blisteringly fast charging and excellent battery lifeUltra-flagship-tier performanceSolid dual camera setupTop-notch materials and eye-catching Pantone colorsTwo very vibrant displaysClean, simple software<\/p>\n Cons<\/p>\n Moto AI feels half bakedLimited software commitmentLong-range zoom kinda stinksExpensive<\/p>\n Motorola\u2019s Razr Ultra<\/a> measures just 88mm by 74mm \u2014 a small phone if ever there was one. Sure, when unfolded, it jumps to 171mm by 74mm and offers a 7-inch, 165Hz AMOLED, but you never have to carry it that way. So, if you ask me, this still counts as a small phone, and it happens to be one of my favorites right now.<\/p>\n See, what the Razr Ultra gets so right is its willingness to push the envelope. We watched Samsung trickle out changes and upgrades for several generations of the Galaxy Z Flip, and Motorola did the same with its base Razr, but the Razr Ultra goes right to 11. It adopts Gorilla Glass Ceramic on its cover screen, puts fun materials like wood and Alcantara on the back, and packs its frame with the best internals it could realistically hold.<\/p>\n The Razr Ultra is finally a flip phone with its training wheels taken off.<\/p>\n Inside the glass and aluminum shell lives a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, a whopping 16GB of RAM, and a 4,700mAh battery that still towers over its closest competitors (it\u2019s a full 400mAh larger than the upgraded Galaxy Z Flip 7<\/a>). Sticking with its more is more mentality, Motorola paired that bigger cell with the fastest wired charging in the US outside of the likes of OnePlus. The Razr Ultra supports 68W wired TurboPower and 30W wireless speeds, at least if you have compatible chargers<\/a>. If not, it\u2019s worth spending the extra cash to experience a charging speed that Samsung hasn\u2019t come close to yet.<\/p>\n The last piece of the puzzle that keeps Motorola\u2019s top-end flip phone ahead of rivals like the Galaxy Z Flip is, well, what makes it a good small Android phone to begin with. I\u2019ve been onboard with Motorola\u2019s open, flexible approach to its cover screen since it first adopted a larger panel on the original Razr Plus (2023), and the ability to launch any app I need has only become more useful as Samsung has doubled down on Good Lock<\/a> for its Flex Window. You\u2019ll have to pony up a few hundred more dollars to put the Razr Ultra in your pocket, but I think it\u2019s worth the splurge.<\/p>\n Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n Read more<\/p>\n What to look for in a good small Android phone<\/p>\n Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n I know what I like in a good small Android phone \u2014 who am I kidding? If it\u2019s small, I probably like it. However, you might have more specific needs for your next device. After all, it\u2019s not uncommon for a small phone to make a sacrifice or two to fit within its compact form factor. So, if you\u2019re worried about finding an option that checks all the boxes, it\u2019s important to know what boxes you\u2019re looking for. When I try to recommend a small Android phone, here\u2019s what I add to my list:<\/p>\n Battery capacity: The first thing that small Android phones tend to cut is their battery capacity. Even now, after several years, the base Galaxy S25 only offers 4,000mAh, which is just enough to beat out the base iPhone 17\u2026 and that\u2019s it. Others on our list, like the similarly sized Pixel 9a, offer cells that are over 1,000mAh larger. At the same time, even the complicated form factors like flip phones and foldables carry bigger batteries than Samsung\u2019s go-to small phone, so you\u2019ll want to think about how far you can stretch that cell. Why you should trust me<\/p>\n Ryan Haines \/ Android Authority<\/p>\n If you haven\u2019t noticed by now, I love small Android phones. You can trust my recommendations because I use these phones \u2014 specifically these \u2014 whenever possible. I\u2019m much happier with a Pixel 9a in my pocket than a Galaxy S25 Ultra, and I\u2019d rather have the Pixel 10 Pro over something like the OnePlus 13. It\u2019s not that either of those massive phones are bad; I just like a smaller phone that I can easily slot in and out of a pocket.<\/p>\n In addition to spending time with every device on this list, I wrote all the reviews, like I do with most Android devices that make our best lists. I\u2019ve reviewed almost everything I can get my hands on here in the US, from the top-end Pixel 10 Pro Fold to the most affordable Moto G that money can buy, and I\u2019ve found things to like and dislike about them all. I couldn\u2019t tell you how many camera samples I\u2019ve taken over the years, how many battery drain tests I\u2019ve run, or how many times I\u2019ve grumbled about the lack of a charger in the box \u2014 it\u2019s part of my life at this point.<\/p>\n What do you look for in a small Android phone?<\/p>\n 132 votes<\/p>\n Battery capacity<\/p>\n 45%<\/p>\n Charging speed<\/p>\n 2%<\/p>\n Cameras<\/p>\n 17%<\/p>\n Materials<\/p>\n 2%<\/p>\n Chipset<\/p>\n 8%<\/p>\n Display<\/p>\n 13%<\/p>\n Thermals<\/p>\n 2%<\/p>\n Software updates<\/p>\n 11%<\/p>\n Of course, my reviews aren\u2019t only based on personal opinions. As you might have guessed from talking about battery drain results, I\u2019ve also worked closely with my colleague Robert Triggs on the objective tests<\/a> we run on every device that lands on our desks. We\u2019ve spent more than a few late nights trying to figure out how to make a test loop correctly or make a graph easier to understand, all in the name of providing better data. And, if that doesn\u2019t sound like I\u2019ve spent a lot of time with small Android phones in my hands, I don\u2019t know what will.<\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/1757863335_347_custom_filename.jpg\"\/)
![\"AA](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/aa2020_editors_choice.png\"\/)
Google Pixel 10 Pro<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/custom_filename.jpg\"\/)
Google Pixel 9a<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759494199_540_custom_filename.jpg\"\/)
Samsung Galaxy S25<\/a><\/p>\n![](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/1759494199_895_custom_filename.jpg\"\/)
<\/p>\n![\"iPhone](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/iPhone-17-Pro-back-lying-down-angle.jpg\"\/ "\\"iPhone")
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Motorola Razr Ultra<\/a><\/p>\n![\"Motorola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/09\/Motorola-Razr-Ultra-on-bookshelf.jpg\"\/ "\\"Motorola")
<\/p>\n![\"Google](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Google-Pixel-9a-vs-iPhone-16e-rear-hero.jpg\"\/ "\\"Google")
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\nCharging speed: Perhaps the best way to counteract a compact battery is with a top-notch charging option, but that\u2019s not a given with small Android phones, either. Samsung, for example, loaded its Galaxy S25 Plus and Ultra with 45W wired charging, but left the pocket-friendly Galaxy S25 with just 25W speeds. That\u2019s not much better than the 23W wired power that Google\u2019s Pixel 9a provides, despite the sizable $300 price gap between the two. If possible, look for a phone that offers better than 25W wired charging, but know it\u2019s not guaranteed.
\nCameras:\u00a0Along with battery cuts, many small Android phones make cuts to their rear cameras. Unfortunately, this often means that the telephoto sensor has to go. As I learned with the Motorola Razr Plus (2024), it\u2019s usually more useful to go wide than to offer better zoom, especially when most users stick between ultrawide and about 5x zoom. You can avoid this altogether by grabbing a Galaxy S25 or a Pixel 10 Pro, though you might find that Google\u2019s high-resolution telephoto sensor stands up a bit better at longer focal lengths.
\nChipset:\u00a0It\u2019s become less common at this point, but there was a time when small phones came with lower-tier processors to match their compact form factors. Perhaps the strangest current example of a chipset downgrade is the Galaxy Z Flip 7 and Flip 7 FE, which adopt Samsung\u2019s in-house Exynos 2500 and 2400, respectively.
\nMaterials:\u00a0If you\u2019re set on a small phone, I\u2019d be willing to bet that you don\u2019t want to do much that would make it larger. That probably means you\u2019d rather avoid adding a case if possible, which means you\u2019ll want to keep a close eye on the materials used and your potential purchase\u2019s durability ratings. Usually, you can count on a mix of aluminum and Gorilla Glass on high-end Android devices, and IP67 or 68 ratings have become the standard across all price points. If you dip into the more affordable Pixel 9a, I\u2019d recommend adding a case to protect the plastic back panel.
\nDisplay:\u00a0Just like above, keep an eye on the display that your phone uses, which is hardly a small Android special. Instead, it\u2019s a good thing to consider, no matter what you buy. OLED panels have become the standard across most new Android launches, so most of the difference will come down to the refresh rate, peak brightness, and overall sharpness of your chosen display. Sometimes, like with the Razr Ultra, you might also find that a phone has more specs than you could ask for, like a 165Hz cover screen.
\nThermal management: I could probably loop this in with my thoughts on charging and battery capacity, but thermal management is next to godliness when stretching a small phone across a busy day. Simply put, if you can\u2019t keep your phone cool, you won\u2019t be able to keep its battery charged, and then it\u2019ll become little more than a paperweight by dinnertime. Thankfully, even Google is thinking about its thermals, with the redesigned Pixel 9a picking up additional cooling hardware to fill the space left by the thinner pOLED.
\nSoftware updates:\u00a0Once again, not really a small Android phone thing so much as an all phones thing, but keep an eye on how many software updates you\u2019ll get from a new phone. These days, all of Apple, Google, and Samsung offer in the neighborhood of seven years, which allows you to spread the cost of your new phone much further, ensuring that you can keep it into the start of the next decade. Motorola still lags a little behind with closer to four years of support, but it\u2019s slowly but surely getting better.<\/p>\n![\"Motorola](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/10\/Motorola-Razr-Ultra-cameras.jpg\"\/ "\\"Motorola")
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