We’ve tested every phone on this list ourselves, so you can trust our picks. We treat each handset like a daily driver – not a staged demo – and that makes a big difference to the recommendations we give.
Typically, we spend a week or more with each phone, using it for calls, streaming, navigation, photos, messaging and gaming. That hands-on time lets us spot real-world strengths and quirks that a quick bench test would miss. We stress-test performance by multitasking and running demanding games like Genshin Impact or Call of Duty: Mobile, check battery life across different usage patterns, and time how long each device actually takes to charge from 0 to 100%.
Displays get judged for brightness, colour accuracy and outdoor readability, but also for how they handle different media. We watch HDR shows on Netflix, scroll through Instagram’s bright feeds, stream YouTube videos in varying resolutions and browse photos to see how punchy – or natural – colours look. We also note how smooth adaptive refresh rates feel when scrolling or gaming, and whether viewing angles hold up under harsh light.
Camera testing includes daylight, low-light and video scenarios – everything from shooting portraits in busy city streets to night scenes and 4K stabilised clips – to see how lenses, autofocus and image processing behave. We also pay attention to build quality (does it scratch easily?), speaker performance when playing music or YouTube, and any software oddities, like app crashes or slow animations. We look at how clean the interface feels, whether there’s bloatware, and how strong the manufacturer’s update promise really is.
Our reviews cover the essentials separately – battery, screen, camera, performance and everyday usability – so you get a clear picture of what owning the phone will be like, not just what its spec sheet says. The goal is simple: help you buy a phone that actually fits your life.
For more information on Stuff’s rating and review process, read our page on how we test products.