4 Upcoming Android Phones To Be Excited About In 2025

According to Statista, over 1.2 billion smartphones were shipped in 2024 alone — which isn't exactly surprising given just how dependent we have become on these rectangular slabs of glass and metal. You have the option to pick between new, used, and refurbished smartphones. While the discounted prices of devices from a year or two ago can turn into a sweet deal, there are benefits of purchasing a current-gen smartphone.

Smartphone silicon is improving at a rapid rate, bringing not just better performance, but higher efficiency. With graphically demanding games like "Genshin Impact" available on mobile, it's best to stick with a relatively new chipset. We also see improvements in display quality, battery capacity, and the overall value proposition — especially in the budget segment. 2024 didn't pass without a fair share of companies labeling their smartphones as AI-enabled. With faster processing speeds and heightened capabilities, we can expect to see a lot more of AI features this year, too.

The beauty of the smartphone market is the variety that we as consumers get. You've got the iPhones and Samsungs for a refined and mature experience, or brands like OnePlus and Xiaomi that keep pushing towards a more experimental yet exciting user interface. If you've been looking to upgrade your phone, it might be in your best interest to hold off your purchase for now — 2025 is going to be packed with great releases, a few of which have been highlighted in this read.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra was widely regarded as one of the best smartphones to hit the shelves last year, and earned a score of 9/10 in our review. The recently announced Galaxy S25 series brings small but meaningful upgrades to the entire lineup. The new Galaxy phones are up for pre-order and start shipping on February 7.

Our hands-on with the Galaxy S25 revealed not just internal upgrades, but also design refinements that make the phones more comfortable to hold. All three smartphones are powered by the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite for Galaxy processor that brings gains in CPU, GPU, and NPU performance. You also get 12GB of RAM across the board, which is great considering Samsung has leaned in on AI features even more than last year. A few of these include an upgraded Circle to Search experience, the Gemini Live voice assistant, and Audio Eraser to nullify background noise in videos.

The Galaxy S25 features a 6.2-inch display, while its larger sibling, the S25+ has a more spacious 6.7-inch panel. At 6.9-inches, the Galaxy S25 Ultra remains the biggest in the series, ideal for doodling or note-taking with its included S Pen. All three adaptive displays refresh up to 120Hz and have a peak brightness of 2600 nits. You also get a new 50-megapixel ultrawide shooter on the S25 Ultra, which is an improvement over last year's 12-megapixel sensor.

In this saturated space where known-brands like Apple and Samsung dominate the playfield, it's uncommon and challenging for new companies to stick around. After several months of hype, the Nothing Ear (1) did manage to create a niche for itself in the crowded market of wireless earbuds, primarily thanks to its catchy design. The company's first phone also rose in popularity, and Nothing now has a pretty wide selection of products, including smartphones, earphones, and accessories.

The Nothing Phone 2 was released in 2023 and brought about several hardware improvements like a flagship-grade processor and better cameras. In a world where smartphones are released like clockwork, there has been radio silence about the next Nothing flagship — with the company focusing on its more budget-oriented series last year.

The Nothing Phone 3 is expected to launch in 2025, and yet little is known about the smartphone. According to leaked Geekbench scores, GSMArena speculates that the phone might launch with the Snapdragon 7s Gen 3 chipset — which would technically be a tier below the previous year's Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 processor. However, a recent email leak posted in a protected post by Evan Blass on X (formerly Twitter), suggests that the Nothing Phone 3 could finally be a proper flagship offering from the company. As we wait for further rumors, you can expect the Nothing Phone 3 to continue to build on the brand's focus on design, software, and overall value.

Google, the company behind Android, has had notable influence over the smartphone market over the years — first by dropping a few iconic devices under the Nexus branding, and more recently, by focusing on it's dedicated Pixel lineup. For the people that cherish a clean Android experience with great camera processing, the Pixel remains to be a solid pick. Apart from the regular, Pro, and Pro XL models, the Pixel family has expanded in recent years with the introduction of foldable and budget-oriented devices.

The Google Pixel 8a from last year continued the company's budget series by offering the best of Android at a competitive price point. Its successor, the Pixel 9a, is rumored to launch a bit earlier in March 2025. According to Android Headlines, the Google Pixel 9a will feature a 6.28-inch Actua Display — which is the company's own display technology. Much like last time, the Pixel 9a is likely to share the same processor found in its costlier siblings, the Tensor G4. Other specifications include 8GB of RAM, 128GB or 256GB of UFS 3.1 storage, and a higher capacity 5100 mAh battery.

If Google's impeccable track record with image processing is anything to go by, you can expect great camera performance from the upcoming Pixel 9a — making it a compelling choice for those who capture plenty of photos and videos.

We've seen the Pixel flagships being refined every year since their first appearance in 2016. Nearly a decade later, with a design that's become quite iconic, the Pixel 10 series is due to launch some time in August 2025. Though it's a bit too early for rumors and leaks, we can expect the usual set of minor upgrades with respect to the display, camera, battery, and performance of the devices. Despite Snapdragon's chips being faster compared to Google's in-house Tensor series, the Pixel 10 range of smartphones is once again likely to be powered by the upcoming Tensor G5.

The regular Pixel 10 should offer a good middle ground experience between the cheaper Pixel 9a and the costlier Pixel 10 Pro. In our review of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, we were impressed by the improvements it brought over last year's foldable from Google. The Pixel 10 Pro Fold could continue to pack in meaningful upgrades and appeal to those tech-savvy among us.

Though we often see the next version of Android debut with the release of the new Pixels every year, the Pixel 9 series preceded Android 15 by nearly two months. It's uncertain if the stars will align better this time around, but one thing's for sure — Google will continue to push AI features in its Pixel devices.