{"id":205473,"date":"2025-12-28T18:40:10","date_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:40:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/205473\/"},"modified":"2025-12-28T18:40:10","modified_gmt":"2025-12-28T18:40:10","slug":"top-20-most-popular-phones-of-the-year-2025","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/205473\/","title":{"rendered":"Top 20 most popular phones of the year 2025"},"content":{"rendered":"

As 2025 draws to a close, we look back at the most popular phones of the year. Here are the Top 20 phones that you searched for the most in the last 12 months \u2013 we\u2019re including phones that launched in November 2024, as it wouldn\u2019t be fair to them to only give them less than a quarter to climb the ranks.<\/p>\n

Is this list what you expected it to be? Seeing some of these phones make it in the Top 20 is certainly no surprise, but a few unexpected models snuck in. Also, there are industry trends around 4G\/5G and foldables that we need to talk about.<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a> claimed the top spot by a wide margin and we expected that \u2013 this was the most popular Galaxy S generation of the last few years and the Ultra, as it usually does, outsold its siblings. Not \u201coutsold them combined\u201d this time, but it still makes up the bulk of the sales.<\/p>\n


\n\"Samsung<\/a>
\n\"Apple<\/a>
\n
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra \u2022 Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max<\/p>\n

Similarly, the Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max<\/a> being in the Top 5 was to be expected. It brought a major redesign and the old Pro design was getting stale. The upgraded telephoto and selfie cameras were good reasons to upgrade, though the scratch-prone aluminum body gave some people pause.<\/p>\n

Samsung\u2019s mid-range A-series is as strong as ever and having the Galaxy A56<\/a> occupy the second spot is a testament to that. The Galaxy A36<\/a> in #6 and the Galaxy A16<\/a> in #9 show that Samsung successfully serves several price segments.<\/p>\n


\n\"Samsung<\/a>
\n\"Samsung<\/a>
\n\"Samsung<\/a>
\n
Samsung Galaxy A56 \u2022 Samsung Galaxy A36 \u2022 Samsung Galaxy A16<\/p>\n

This is the 4G Galaxy A16, by the way. There were two more \u2013 the Redmi Note 14 4G<\/a> and the Infinix Hot 50 Pro+ 4G<\/a>. Three 4G phones in the Top 20 for 2025 feel like a lot, doesn\u2019t it? This was one of the things that we didn\u2019t expect. All three phones have OLED displays (6.67\u201d to 6.78\u201d in size), have an IP54 rating and use pretty much the same chipset (Helio G99 and G100). All three have microSD slots, but only the Redmi has a high resolution camera (108MP) and 3.5mm headphone jack.<\/p>\n


\n\"Redmi<\/a>
\n\"Infinix<\/a>
\n
Redmi Note 14 4G \u2022 Infinix Hot 50 Pro+ 4G<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s the other thing that we didn\u2019t expect \u2013 the Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge<\/a> is #14 and the Apple iPhone 17 Air<\/a> is #18. Neither company has shared official sales results, but reports from the industry suggest that they both sold poorly. And we don\u2019t have to tell you about the negative online response to these two.<\/p>\n


\n\"Samsung<\/a>
\n\"Apple<\/a>
\n
Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge (vs. S25 Ultra on the left) \u2022 Apple iPhone 17 Air<\/p>\n

There was only one other iPhone in the Top 20 and it\u2019s yet another surprise \u2013 the iPhone 16e<\/a>. Normally, the vanilla iPhone of the year is one of the most popular as it is a good intersection between price and capabilities. But this year it\u2019s nowhere to be seen, replaced by the not-much-cheaper and clearly-less-capable 16e.<\/p>\n


\n\"Apple<\/a>
\n\"Poco<\/a>
\n
Apple iPhone 16e \u2022 Poco X7 Pro<\/p>\n

We knew from reading the comments that the Poco X7 Pro<\/a> is a popular device and having it at #3 is a huge achievement. It exemplifies the value-for-money philosophy that Poco is known for very well and has been selling below MSRP basically this entire time.<\/p>\n

The Samsung Galaxy S25<\/a> is the only small phone on this list \u2013 there\u2019s no iPhone 17\/17 Pro, no Pixel 10 Pro, no vivo X200 FE or OnePlus 13s. Are small phones popular? Or is the S25 just the cheap Galaxy S model? To be fair, at #4 it was quite popular and its size must have been a factor \u2013 we don\u2019t see the S25+ on this list despite not being much more expensive.<\/p>\n


\n\"Samsung<\/a>
\n\"OnePlus<\/a>
\n
Samsung Galaxy S25 (and its larger siblings) \u2022 OnePlus 13<\/p>\n

The OnePlus 13<\/a> may go down in history as the last great OnePlus flagship. Or maybe the 15 will overcome the doubts it was met with at launch and win people over in the next 12 months.<\/p>\n

The Redmi Note 14 Pro<\/a> and Redmi Note 14 Pro+<\/a> were not quite as popular as the Poco X7 Pro, but that 200MP camera sure drew in a crowd. The more powerful Redmi Turbo 4 Pro<\/a> attracted interest with its Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset and 7,550mAh battery instead.<\/p>\n


\n\"Redmi<\/a>
\n\"Redmi<\/a>
\n
Redmi Note 14 Pro \u2022 Redmi Note 14 Pro+<\/p>\n

Was the Xiaomi 15 Ultra<\/a> the best camera phone of 2025? It was certainly better than the Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/a> and it is the most popular among the other Ultra phones.<\/p>\n


\n\"Xiaomi<\/a>
\n\"iQOO<\/a>
\n
Xiaomi 15 Ultra \u2022 iQOO 13<\/p>\n

The Honor X9c<\/a> took its curved 6.78\u201d OLED display and 108MP camera all the way to the #11 spot \u2013 it is the only Honor on this list, edging out its more prestigious siblings in the Magic series.<\/p>\n

The Tecno Camon 40 Pro<\/a> also deserves a shout-out \u2013 the Camon series focuses on premium-feeling phones on a budget, hence the curved 6.78\u201d OLED display (a 144Hz panel at that).<\/p>\n


\n\"Tecno<\/a>
\n
Tecno Camon 40 Pro<\/p>\n

Finally, the iQOO 13<\/a> may be in the #20 spot, but we believe that it would have been higher than that had iQOO released it in more markets. It\u2019s a Snapdragon 8 Elite phone that doesn\u2019t break the bank and it has a decent set of cameras on it. OnePlus would be sweating if iQOO had a wider market presence.<\/p>\n

That\u2019s it, that is all twenty phones in this year\u2019s Top 20. Did you notice what\u2019s missing? Well, Android\u2019s favorite child, the Pixel, is nowhere to be seen, but that is to be expected. But there isn\u2019t a single foldable phone on this list. Not one.<\/p>\n

You\u2019d think that with all the promos that Motorola has been running on the Razr phones, Samsung\u2019s first Z Flip FE, the hugely improved and hugely popular Z Flip7 and Z Fold7, at least one of them would be on this list. Not to mention the foldables from Xiaomi, Honor, vivo and others. The foldable market was up 14% in Q3<\/a> and Samsung set sales records. Foldables are still a niche, it seems.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Xiaomi<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Apple<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"OnePlus<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Xiaomi<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Apple<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Honor<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Xiaomi<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Xiaomi<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Samsung<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Xiaomi<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Tecno<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Infinix<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Apple<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"Xiaomi<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\"vivo<\/a><\/p>\n

\t\t\t
<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra<\/p>\n

Apple iPhone 17 Pro Max<\/p>\n

Samsung Galaxy A56<\/p>\n

Xiaomi Poco X7 Pro<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As 2025 draws to a close, we look back at the most popular phones of the year. Here…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":205474,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[16],"tags":[342,111,139,69,145],"class_list":{"0":"post-205473","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-mobile","8":"tag-mobile","9":"tag-new-zealand","10":"tag-newzealand","11":"tag-nz","12":"tag-technology"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205473","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=205473"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/205473\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/205474"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=205473"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=205473"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/nz\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=205473"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}