T-Mobile is one of the big three here in the US. It is up there with AT&T and Verizon as the major carriers that Americans can use their smartphones on. It acquired Sprint a few years ago, bringing the top four down to the top four, but this did allow T-Mobile to better compete with AT&T and Verizon in the US.
T-Mobile likes to cater more to the tech nerds out there. So you’ll find a lot of phones that are only available on T-Mobile here, like the Google Pixel Fold and the OnePlus Nord N300 5G, among others. So you’ll see some here that are not on our other lists.
Best Smartphone: Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
Our pick for the best smartphone that you can buy on T-Mobile right now is the Galaxy S23 Ultra. We do expect to see it get replaced in a month or so, as Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy S24 series in early January. But for now, the Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best phone you can buy.
With the Galaxy S23 Ultra, Samsung really knocked it out of the park on almost every front. Typically, with Samsung’s Galaxy S smartphones, there is always something that lags behind. That’s not the case with the Galaxy S23 Ultra. Samsung has one of the best camera setups on the phone in 2023, as well as the best battery life and the best display. Those are really the three pillars of a smartphone, and Samsung really nailed them all.
I used the Galaxy S23 Ultra for the first half of the year until the Pixel Fold launched. And I absolutely loved this phone. The camera is one of the best on the market, primarily because of that 10x optical zoom. I took the Galaxy S23 Ultra on a trip to New York City, as well as Mountain View, California, and was amazed at how well it can take shots at 10x. It also has a really good main sensor, which is a 200-megapixel camera, and it can take some beautifully detailed shots.
When it comes to battery life, this phone was unmatched this year. As a personal anecdote, I took this to a pre-briefing in NYC for the Motorola Razr in May and used it to capture our pictures and videos. After using the camera for well over an hour straight, it was still around 75% charged. That is pretty impressive; with that kind of camera usage, my Pixel 8 Pro would be nearly dead. So I was really impressed there. On travel days, it really outperformed everything else that I’ve used this year and in the past five years or so.
Of course, we can’t talk about a Samsung flagship without talking about that display. It’s a beautiful 6.8-inch QHD+ 120Hz adaptive display. It was the best display on the market until the Google Pixel 8 Pro launched in October. It does have a maximum brightness of 1750 nits, which these days looks pretty low compared to what launched in the second half of 2023, but it’s still plenty bright enough for direct sunlight.
If you’re torn on what new smartphone to buy, just grab the Galaxy S23 Ultra. It nails everything, and did we mention it has the S Pen built-in? Because it does.
Best iPhone: Apple iPhone 15 Pro
While some might argue that the iPhone 15 is the best iPhone to buy, I’d argue that it’s the iPhone 15 Pro. Especially if you’re planning to keep it for a few years. The iPhone 15 Pro is more future-proof and has more upgrades than the standard iPhone 15, like the titanium sides. Some might think the titanium is a gimmick, but it does help with durability while making the phone lighter. And that’s something we can all appreciate after years of Apple’s stainless steel frames.
T-Mobile does offer the iPhone 15 Pro in all four colors: Blue Titanium, White Titanium, Black Titanium, and Natural Titanium. I personally prefer the Blue Titanium, as that is my personal iPhone 15 Pro color. But many do like that natural look, which does look really great on this phone.
One of the more under-the-radar upgrades on the iPhone 15 Pro this year is the different focal lengths on the main camera. Now you can shoot at 24mm, 28mm or 35mm by default. You can also set this up in the settings, which is really impressive. I prefer to shoot at 35mm, as it generally gives you a really creamy bokeh, making for some incredible photos.
The only real downside to the iPhone 15 Pro is going to be the battery life. It’s not the best, but I do think that for a phone this size, with these cameras and the power of the A17 Pro chipset, it’s still quite good. It does generally get me through a day of usage with ease.
Speaking of the A17 Pro, it’s a beast. We benchmarked it against many other Android phones, including the latest Tensor G3 from Google and Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 from Qualcomm (soon the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3) and the A17 Pro blew them all away. On Geekbench 6, the A17 Pro doubled almost every other Android phone we’ve reviewed this year. On the multi-core, it was more than double. And on the GPU test, it’s just laughable. The A17 Pro scored over 27,000, while the next closest is 9,540. So it is a beast, and it’s really great for gaming, especially with console titles launching on the iPhone 15 Pro, like Resident Evil.
Honorable Mention: Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max
The iPhone 15 Pro Max is our honorable mention for the best iPhone you can buy on T-Mobile right now, mainly because of the price and size. The iPhone 15 Pro Max starts at $50/month for 24 months or $1,199 if you buy it outright. It’s not cheap, but it does at least start with 256GB of storage, which is good to see.
So why would someone buy the iPhone 15 Pro Max over the iPhone 15 Pro? Two main reasons, with the biggest being battery life. I actually bought the iPhone 15 Pro Max (in fact, I reviewed the iPhone 15 Pro Max), then sold it for the iPhone 15 Pro. So, I’ve used both of these extensively over the past few months. And while I did love the battery life of the iPhone 15 Pro Max, it was just too big. I prefer smaller phones that I can use one-handed, and the Max would never be that. It would normally last me a day and a half with close to 12 hours of screen on time.
Now, on the camera front, the iPhone 15 Pro Max is the best among iPhones. This is because Apple added the tetra-prism camera, which allows it to do 5x optical zoom, which means that you get seven different focal lengths on this phone. That is because the main sensor is 48-megapixels, allowing Apple to crop in and provide 2x zoom on that camera. As I said in the review, it’s time to replace your mirrorless camera with this. And I almost have.
Best Cheap Phone: Samsung Galaxy S23 FE
The Galaxy S23 FE is actually not all that cheap of a phone, with an MSRP of $599, or you can get it for $25/month for 24 months at T-Mobile. But typically, when you start getting into the cheaper phones that are cheaper than this, they leave you with a pretty bad experience. The Galaxy S23 FE is able to provide a happy medium here, with a pretty good experience at a pretty good price.
Samsung’s Galaxy S23 FE does have some older specs, with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 here in the US (Exynos 2200 elsewhere), powered by 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. It also has a 6.4-inch FHD+ 120Hz display powered by a 4500mAh capacity battery. When Samsung announced the Galaxy S23 FE, I asked them why. What’s the point of this phone? Well, basically, Samsung wants something between the Galaxy S23 and S23+ but at a lower price. So this screen size sits right in between the Galaxy S23 and S23+, but it’s cheaper than both of those phones.
At $599, this does make it more expensive than, say, a Pixel 7a, but you’re likely getting a much better experience here, especially if you prefer to use Samsung and One UI over a Pixel and its software. And you’re still getting a pretty good camera setup here, with a 50-megapixel main sensor, an 8-megapixel telephoto, and a 12-megapixel ultrawide on-board here.
If you want a good Samsung phone, at a good price, the Galaxy S23 FE is the best way to go. Others like the Galaxy A54 5G will really lack in a few key areas like the display, performance and camera.
Best Camera Phone: Google Pixel 8 Pro
Since the Google Pixel 8 Pro launched in October, it’s been hard for me to put it down. Firstly, because I was able to snag it in the Bay blue color – the best color; secondly, I absolutely love Google’s Pixel software. And third, the camera. Google, ever since launching the Pixel brand, has taken the cameras very seriously and often times offers the best camera on Android. Though that is now much more of a debate than it had been in recent years, with the AI additions, I think it’s still the best.
Inside the Google Pixel 8 Pro, we’re looking at a Tensor G3 processor, 12GB of RAM, and 128GB of storage. Unfortunately, Google is still providing 128GB of storage at $999 (or $41.67/month for 24 months). With the price bump this year, a bump in base storage would have been nice, especially since T-Mobile is only carrying the 128GB model and not the 256GB, 512GB, or 1TB model. But it is what it is.
Google’s cameras here still take incredible shots. It is still one of the few smartphone cameras that is able to take a great photo of my dog. She’s an American Staffordshire Terrier, so she’s black and brown and some white, making it tough to take photos of her face without it being blurry since she doesn’t sit still for very long. Somehow, the Pixel is able to get it nice and clear; Samsung has come close, but not quite on the same level as the Pixel.
On top of that, Google has also included some really incredible AI features to the camera this year, which has resulted in The Verge asking repeatedly, “What is a photo?” and he’s not wrong. You can really manipulate photos by replacing the sky, removing objects, and a lot more with Magic Editor.
If you’re not sold on buying a Pixel 8 Pro yet, here’s one more thing that might make the decision for you. Google is promising seven years of software updates. This isn’t just security updates, but Android OS, feature drops, and security updates until October 2030. That is pretty incredible and unmatched by basically everyone. Apple typically launches new iOS updates for around seven years on its phones, but it is not a guarantee like Google is doing here.
Honorable Mention: Google Pixel 8
As our honorable mention for the best camera phone, the Google Pixel 8 does just about everything that the Pixel 8 Pro does, except for a few things. One, it does not have a telephoto camera. So you’re going to go without that. And it also does not have a few of the AI features.
A couple of the AI features that the Pixel 8 does not get (but the Pixel 8 Pro does) are the upgraded Magic Eraser with on-device AI, Zoom Enhance, Pro Controls, and the new Video Boost, which just launched earlier this month. However, you still get Magic Editor, which I think is a bigger deal than the upgraded Magic Eraser. It does a much better job with a lot more options available.
So why would you want to buy the Google Pixel 8? Well, it’s smaller. I actually prefer the size of the Pixel 8 over the Pixel 8 Pro, but that also means a smaller battery. Additionally, the Google Pixel 8 is $300 less, just $699 or $29.17/month for 24 months over at T-Mobile.
Best Flip Phone: Motorola Razr+
This is another one of those phones that I legit used for a few months this year. It’s one of my favorite foldables of the year, primarily because you can do so many tasks without unfolding the phone. Motorola included a full screen (3.6-inch) on the outside, which can run Android apps. Meaning I can look up Google Maps directions, control my Spotify music, send text messages all on the outer screen without needing to open the phone. You can also play some games from Google’s Game Snacks.
One of the downsides here is that it is running the Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1, which is an older processor. However, this is no slouch, especially with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. While using this phone long-term, I never thought, “Oh yeah, this is an old processor”. The Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 is still a really great processor, which does lead to some really great battery life too. This is one of the first flip phones that was able to get me through a full, heavy day of usage. I was able to get around eight or nine hours on a charge here.
There are downsides here. Especially if you plan to keep this phone for a long time. Motorola’s software update track record is unproven. Motorola is promising three years of security updates and bi-monthly security patches. So we’ll see how that goes.
The other issue here is the camera. It’s okay. And that’s about all the good things I can say about it. As you will see in my review of the Motorola Razr+, the camera takes okay photos, but it won’t compete with the best camera phones on this list. If you don’t take a lot of photos, or only share them on social media, then you’re probably okay here.
Honorable Mention: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 5
Samsung earned an honorable mention here instead of the top spot, primarily because of the front display. While it is also a full screen this year, it is pretty limited compared to what Motorola offers here. Only some apps are available to work on this screen, and they need to be enabled in the Labs settings. Meanwhile, the Razr+ lets any and every Android app work on that outer screen.
New this year with the Galaxy Z Flip 5 is the hinge. It’s now smaller and lighter, which shaves some weight off of the phone and removes the gap, finally. But other than that, there’s not much of a change here compared to the previous models from Samsung. Which helped cement it as an honorable mention.
Best Foldable: Google Pixel Fold
The Google Pixel Fold is the best foldable that T-Mobile sells. Only because they do not sell the OnePlus Open – it does work on T-Mobile, but it is not sold by T-Mobile. This phone is incredible. Before the Google Pixel Fold came across my desk, I was not a big fan of foldables. Because anytime I wanted to do anything I needed to open the phone. But with the Pixel Fold, you’re getting a wider front display, a little wider than a normal smartphone, about the size of a passport. And when you open the phone, it is already in tablet mode for apps, no rotating needed.
On top of all of that, you’re getting the great Pixel cameras on this phone, as well as the great Pixel software. Which arguably does need some work for a foldable, which Google has been doing a great job of upgrading and adding new features since this was released in June.
Battery life isn’t the best on the Pixel Fold, which with the Tensor G2 inside, we kind of expected that. But a big reason why this is above the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is going to be that front display. I used this phone for many months at a time, and I hardly ever opened the phone. It was a pretty rare occurrence because the front display was wide enough to use for everything.
Honorable Mention: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5
The Galaxy Z Fold 5 is not a bad phone, it’s a really good one. But what is really holding it back is that front display. It’s a tall and skinny display, meaning that using apps don’t that display doesn’t result in a good experience. It’s also not that comfortable to hold because it is like a TV remote. Then when you unfold it, it’s almost a square display, so when you have a single app on the screen, it is super wide and stretched out. Or if you have apps side-by-side, they are going to be super skinny, like on the front display. Samsung needs to figure out a happy medium here.
New this year with the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is the hinge. Samsung was able to make it smaller and lighter, which on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is a big deal as it was already pretty heavy. This also allowed Samsung to get rid of the gap, which is another big deal. And allowed them to catch up to the competition.
Surprisingly, the battery life on the Galaxy Z Fold 5 is actually really good. It’s only beaten out in the foldable sector by the OnePlus Open, which uses the same processor.
2023-12-30 15:08:16