Forget the iPhone 17: These Are the Best Smartphones of 2026 So Far
We’re coming towards the middle of the year, which means it’s time for my top five smartphones of 2026 so far.
Yes, we are a little earlier this year than we have been in previous years. That’s because there have been so many new smartphones out already. Don’t blame me, blame the manufacturers.
A lot of smartphones that come out earlier in the year tend to get forgotten towards the end of the year when the award lists drop. This is a great way to highlight some of the best we’ve had so far, especially if you don’t want to wait until December to buy a new device. You might want to buy one right now. I’ve got you.
First, a quick disclaimer. I’ve used a lot of smartphones this year, but I’ve not used every single one. This is my personal top five list. No doubt it’s going to be different to yours, and that’s fine. This list is in no particular order, and it is strictly smartphones that have released in the year 2026.
The only new iPhone that’s released in 2026 is the iPhone 17e. Spoiler alert: that has not made my top five list. The iPhone that I personally use is the iPhone 17 Pro Max, but the iPhone that I would recommend if you’re thinking of buying one is still the standard iPhone 17.
It made my list last year and it still holds up. It finally has a 120 Hz display which matches the Pro models. It’s got the new center stage camera, it’s powered by the powerful A19 chip, and now you get double the storage for the same starting price of £799.
Rumors say we may not get an iPhone 18 base model—they might stick with the iPhone 17 line for a bit. So if you want a new iPhone, the iPhone 17 is definitely a good option.
With all of that out of the way, let’s get to the list.
1. Oppo Find N6
The first smartphone on my list is what I would say is the foldable to beat in 2026.
So many people have been complaining about creases on foldable devices, and OPPO has made it a mission to try to get rid of it. This is the least creased foldable out there. OPPO calls it the “zero feel crease.” Although you can still feel it somewhat and see it at certain angles, it is absolutely minimal.
OPPO has gone to some serious lengths here with the industry’s first 3D liquid printing and a second-generation titanium flexion hinge. I barely understand how all of this works, but the point is that there is practically no crease on the Find N6, which is amazing.
Crease aside, it’s still a very good smartphone. It’s durable with IP56, IP58, and IP59 water and dust resistant ratings. When it’s closed, it feels like a regular smartphone, which is the goal.
You’ve got a 6.62-inch cover display, a large 8.12-inch folding display, and both run at 120 Hz. It’s relatively compact at around 225 grams and 8.93 millimeters thin when closed, making it smaller and lighter than a lot of regular bar-shaped smartphones.
Despite its compact size, it still has a massive 6,000 mAh silicon carbon battery with 80W wired charging and 50W wireless charging. While sustained performance won’t be as good as regular-shaped smartphones, it is still very good with the flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5.
You get a well-rounded camera package with a 200 megapixel primary, a 50 megapixel ultrawide, and a 50 megapixel periscope zoom camera. If you get the OPPO AI pen, it works on the main display and the cover display. It has Bluetooth, so you can use that pen remotely.
Availability is pretty limited, so you may have to get it imported depending on where you are. It is pretty pricey at around the $2,000 mark. No doubt this will get overshadowed when we see the likes of the Samsung Galaxy X Fold 8, potentially the Fold 8 Wide, and possibly an iPhone Fold coming later this year.
The Honorable Mention: Honor Magic V6
This has a similar footprint to the Oppo, but it’s actually better in some ways with an IP68 and IP69 rating. It has a larger 6,660 mAh battery (which goes up to a massive 7,150 mAh in China) and excellent overall cameras. The crease is not as bad as other foldables, but it just doesn’t match what we’ve got on the Oppo Find N6.
2. Honor Magic 8 Pro
Moving on, the second smartphone on my list is the best flagship deal that you can buy right now.
Currently, you can get it for around £900 to £950 for the 512 GB version. To put this into perspective, if we compare this to the 512 GB version of say, the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, you’re saving up to £550. Imagine what you can get for £550. You could buy another flagship device from last year.
Not only that, Honor is also throwing in the Honor Pad X9A tablet, the Honor Choice AI Note, and an Honor 100W Supercharge power adapter.
For that deal, you get an amazing smartphone with a symmetrical, well-balanced slim design and a beautiful 6.71-inch 120 Hz display. It might not have the highest resolution, but it can get very bright. It has the industry’s highest PWM dimming frequency at 4,320 Hz, making it very easy on the eyes. Honor is definitely the market leader when it comes to eye comfort.
It also has an industry-exclusive dual 3D biometric security experience. Not only does it have a 3D ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, but it also has a 3D time-of-flight sensor for secure facial unlocking.
Read More:Why Modern Smartphone Cameras Are Getting Worse: The Over-Processing Problem
Most flagship Android smartphones use the front-facing camera for facial unlock, which is not as secure. iPhones have Face ID but no fingerprint scanner. The Honor Magic 8 Pro has the best of both worlds, and it is so convenient.
You get a 50 megapixel primary, a 50 megapixel ultrawide, and a large 200 megapixel telephoto camera. Performance is right up there with a Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and you get up to 7 years of security and software updates.
The battery life is amazing with up to a 7,100 mAh silicon carbon battery. In Europe, you do get a slightly smaller 6,270 mAh battery because of logistics and regulations, but it still gives you excellent life. Toss in 100W wired supercharging and 80W wireless supercharging, and all of that for around £900 to £950 is an amazing deal.
The Honorable Mention: Honor 600 Pro
Yes, this looks very much like an iPhone, and I don’t know why Honor did this. They could have gone for something unique, but they decided to go for a design that’s very similar to the iPhone and I’ve not heard the end of it. That aside, we have an amazing display with the smallest bezels in the industry, a very good camera package, the Snapdragon 8 Elite, and up to a 7,000 mAh battery.
3. The Battle of the Ultras
The next three smartphones on my list represent the classic battle of the Ultras. Like last year, we’ve had some amazing ultra smartphones which really live up to the name.
It’s always difficult to choose. I did a poll on the BMathz community page, and after almost 20,000 votes, we have three picks that back up my choices.
Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra
The first Ultra on the list got a whopping 56% of the community votes. The S26 Ultra might not be the best at everything, but it’s a great all-rounder, a very safe option, and it has three things that really make it unique.
One is the industry’s first privacy display. Unlike a privacy screen protector, this can be customized for particular apps and specific parts of the screen. If somebody’s prying over your notifications, they can be completely hidden to them.
Second, it’s still the only flagship smartphone which has an enclosed stylus. The S Pen is super useful for precision editing and signing documents.
The third thing is the software. Not only do you get seven generations of Android OS updates, you also get the most complete AI package on any smartphone. A lot of people call the AI features on the Galaxy S series slop, but I completely disagree. There are some really useful AI features here which I use every single day.
Performance is amazing with the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. You get great, consistent cameras—you can take the S26 Ultra out and not have to worry.
Having said that, the camera system has been overtaken by other smartphones coming up on this list. It’s also been overtaken by pretty much every other phone here when it comes to battery life. The battery life on the S26 Ultra is good, but it’s nowhere near the performance of competitors using silicon carbon technology.
(Quick shoutout to the standard S26 and S26 Plus—they offer a lot of what we’ve got on the Ultra at a lower price).
Oppo Find X9 Ultra
This came second in the Ultra poll with 27% of the votes, and it’s had so much talk around it. Rightly so. In my opinion, this phone has the best cameras on any smartphone out right now.
You’ve got a 50 megapixel ultrawide, a 200 megapixel Hasselblad main camera, a 200 megapixel Hasselblad telephoto 3x zoom camera (the largest telephoto sensor on any phone), and a 50 megapixel Hasselblad 10x optical zoom camera. That last one is the world’s first 10x 50 megapixel optical zoom. It takes amazing images and has the best zoom in my testing. Yes, it uses AI, but it’s miles ahead of the competition.
I personally love the Tundra Umber design, which draws inspiration from Hasselblad cameras. It features a beautiful 6.82-inch LTPO OLED display that goes up to 144 Hz for gaming.
It is powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 and features exceptional battery life thanks to a large 7,050 mAh silicon carbon battery, 100W wired charging, and 50W wireless charging. ColorOS 16 brings five major OS upgrades and 6 years of security patches—not bad, but not quite as good as some of the competition.
Pricing in the UK is going to start at around £1,450, which is right up there amongst the ultras.
Vivo X300 Ultra
The final smartphone on my list came third in the poll with 11% of the votes, beating out the Xiaomi 17 Ultra.
Just like its predecessors, the Vivo X300 Ultra is a chunky boy with a very thick camera module. You can barely charge this on a flat wireless charger because of that huge gap. But that massive camera module is justified because we have excellent Zeiss cameras: a 50 megapixel ultrawide, a 200 megapixel primary, and a 200 megapixel telephoto. For me, that primary camera has been amazing because of the massive sensor size.
Aside from the cameras, this is an amazing flagship with a 6.82-inch LTPO AMOLED display, the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5, and a large 6,600 mAh battery (6,400 mAh in Europe). You get 100W flash charging and 40W wireless flash charging. Vivo has promised 5 years of OS upgrades and 7 years of security updates.
This year the Vivo is getting a global launch, but it comes with a high price tag. You can pre-order this right now in Europe for €1,999 for the 1 TB version, making it roughly the same price as the S26 Ultra 1 TB version. That price does come with one year of screen protection, a three-year warranty, and a 5-year battery warranty.
You can get the 256 GB version from third-party sellers for around £950, but buy that at your own risk. I’ve been using the Chinese version and it’s been working fine for me, but there could be compatibility issues depending on your region. If you can get it for that price without issues, it’s an amazing deal.
Final Thoughts & Budget Mentions
Because the Ultra devices this year have just been so good, I’ve not really covered the budget devices as much. But an honorable mention does have to go to Motorola. The Edge 70 Fusion offers a 7,000 mAh battery, a 6.78-inch 144 Hz AMOLED display, and the Snapdragon 7S Gen 3 for just £380. It’s a great all-round package for the price.
The brand Nothing is also doing amazing things with the Nothing 4A and the Nothing 4a Pro. I love the software and the designs, which are still some of the most unique out there in a world where a lot of smartphones are starting to look identical.
That is my top five smartphones of 2026 so far. The landscape is moving fast, and things will definitely change by the end of the year, but right now, these are the devices to beat.
