Top Cell Phones 2023

Remember when smartphones were competing to be the thinnest around? The Edge 30 is a throwback to that thin-for-the-win era. It combines sleek styling and a flourish of fancy features – a fantastic-looking screen, a capable camera system, and nippy performance for the price. Its battery won't blow you away, and may struggle to make it through a busy day – but for casual users, this could be the best, slimmest option around.

Gamers are once again in safe hands with the RedMagic 8S Pro, which packs an improved chipset and cooling system for even better gaming, alongside the already attractive price, battery life and big display. Cameras and software support continue to be sore spots, though.

The OnePlus Nord CE 2 is a great affordable mid-range phone with only a few problems. The biggest is that OnePlus isn’t very committed to software updates, which means that the phone will probably stop getting updates by the end of next year.

The Xiaomi 12T is a great phone for people who like to consume a lot of content. It is big, powerful, and has an OLED screen that is bright enough to block out the sun. But it’s disappointing that Xiaomi hasn’t made much progress since their last model and that some things have gotten worse.

The RedMagic 8 Pro builds on past successes but without addressing the two biggest traditional weaknesses for RedMagic phones — photography and software localization. This model delivers plenty of power, a long battery life and a slew of handy tools for gamers though, plus a new sleeker design that could draw in users that don't want their gaming phone to look like a gaming phone.

Thanks to its bright and flicker-free panel, the Poco M5s is an interesting alternative to the midrange competitors. It is unfortunate that Xiaomi doesn't include the corresponding quick charger with the smartphone. 

The Realme GT Neo 3 might not be quite the upper-mid-range stunner or the outright head-turner that the Pixel 6 is, but rapid charging, a strong main camera, and punchy performance make it a fine alternative.

There’s lots to like about the Xiaomi 12 from its easy-to-handle design to a range of impressive specs. However, there are a few flaws that mean you’ll want to consider rivals first.

The Xiaomi 11T Pro comes at a very competitive price, with a camera array, chipset and charging speed that are impressive for a mid-range phone, and it would be easy to recommend if it wasn’t for a few minor issues. The device gets hot easily, is quite big, picks up fingerprints readily on the rear, has a few too many software bugs. It’s still a worthy addition to the Mi 11 lineup, though the standard 11T is more.

Considering the price, we are particularly impressed by the high-quality case of the Redmi Note 10, but its performance is also good.