The Best iPhone Alternatives 2025: Get a Great Android Phone Instead

Usually when I tell an iPhone user what phone I’m holding and say “OnePlus [insert whatever generation number I’m testing],” they look at me like I’ve tried to make a riddle of elementary school math. But for those curious about what’s on the other side of the iOS divide, you just about can’t get a better example and more ferocious challenger to the iPhone than the OnePlus 13.

For this generation, the OnePlus 13 pulled off a proper coup. It only had a few changes to make over its predecessor, but the upgrades were still enough to push it over the top. The OnePlus 13 packs in a potent processor with the Snapdragon 8 Elite’s eight-core CPU. It’s nearly matching the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s single-core performance and outdoes it in multi-core performance. Where graphics are concerned, the OnePlus 13 generally leads the iPhone 16 Pro Max by a wide margin across 3DMark’s gaming benchmarks. All that performance makes the OnePlus 13 a beast for gaming, and that kind of speed always translates to smooth everyday operation.

OnePlus packs all that firepower into an elegant chassis. Flatter sides and rounded corners make the OnePlus 13 all the more iPhone-esque, though the large camera ring and unique back designs help it stand out. OnePlus’s first-party cases also support Qi2/MagSafe charging, and the OnePlus 13 has an three-way alert slider, giving you a little one-up on the iPhone’s own alert toggle. Factor in the OnePlus 13’s ability to withstand dunks in water and hot water jets, and it’s hard to beat.

The OnePlus 13 also offers a camera system that rivals Apple’s. It features a triple-sensor array with an ultra-wide, wide, and 3x telephoto camera all offering 50MP resolutions. It snaps lovely photos and has impressive video chops as well.

Then there’s the sheer value the OnePlus 13 offers. The phone starts at $900, so it’s not quite as cheap as an iPhone 16, but it’s really competing more with the iPhone 16 Plus or Pro Max anyway, and next to those it’s a bargain. For one thing, you’re getting more memory and storage for the price – a default of 256GB of storage compares favorably to Apple’s 128GB default on all but the $1,200 iPhone 16 Pro Max. And the OnePlus 13’s display has more in common with the iPhone 16 Pro Max’s. It’s a sizable 6.82-inch OLED that’s super sharp, incredibly bright, and wonderfully smooth thanks to a 1-120Hz variable refresh rate. The OnePlus 13 really has it going on. It's not just my top iPhone alternative; it's the best smartphone that you can buy right now.

Google has always had a knack for photography with its Pixel line of smartphones, and the Pixel 9 Pro is the current height of its prowess. You get a great-looking phone capable of excellent photography thanks to a three-camera array on the back that provides considerable flexibility in how you approach subjects.

Many phones have one camera that I’d call the "star of the show" that does the best shooting and is flanked by less impressive sensors that just complement its capabilities. But the Pixel 9 Pro has three powerful sensors that really work together wonderfully. The 50MP main sensor captures loads of light and detail with a fairly wide angle. When you need to get even more into your shot, the 50MP ultra-wide zooms out for a broad field-of-view while keeping great color that matches the main sensor closely. And with a 48MP telephoto sensor offering 5x optical zoom, you can get extra close to subjects without having to move from where you’re photography from. This camera system is easily a worthy alternative to an iPhone.

The Pixel 9 Pro comes running on the new Tensor G4 SoC, which is an upgrade over the prior model and further boosts speed. It also avoids some of the heat from everyday use that affected earlier Pixel phones. It has ample performance for most tasks and can keep up with bigger mobile games like Zenless Zone Zero at 60fps quite well. It may not match the iPhone 16 Pro’s A18 Pro chip in sheer performance, but Google has put an emphasis on AI capabilities with the Tensor G4, and it’s readily able to power some AI generation, including supporting a live virtual assistant that can converse naturally.

Google has also upped the ante for Android phones by offering seven years of OS updates and security patches for the Pixel 9 Pro, a promise that more effectively aligns its phone with the kind of long-term software support Apple provides for its phones.

All of this comes in a beautifully designed phone. Google packs in a great display that’s both sharp at 1280x2856 and stunningly bright with a peak of 3,000 nits. It also gets a 120Hz refresh rate. There’s little more to ask for out of this compact 6.3-inch display. Anybody who wants all that the Pixel 9 Pro has to offer on a bigger screen can bump up to the Pixel 9 Pro XL for a 6.8-inch screen.

With the 2022 iPhone SE discontinued after the 16e was revealed, no new iPhone runs for less than $500 – and that's when you're sacrificing a decent amount of features. Meanwhile, take your money over the Android side of the market and you can get something much closer to a modern-day flagship in the $499 OnePlus 12R.

OnePlus builds a classy phone. An aluminum frame wraps around the phone, and the front is covered in Gorilla Glass Victus 2, a tough version that’s found its way onto plenty of even more expensive phones. The OnePlus 12R packs a 6.78-inch stunner of a display. It's plenty sharp at 1264x2780, so no sacrifices for budget there, and it boasts a 1-120Hz refresh rate thanks to the LTPO AMOLED panel used, HDR10+ and Dolby Vision support, and extreme brightness levels alongside the per-pixel dimming of AMOLED.

Taking advantage of that screen calls for some serious speed, and the OnePlus 12R has that covered with a Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 SoC paired with 8GB of memory. It may not be the latest flagship SoC, but it’s hardly lagging behind performance-wise and readily keeps up with some heavier gaming. You also get a base storage of 128GB.

OnePlus doesn’t quite match Apple’s long-term support, but it promises three major Android updates and four years of security updates, which is a pretty good showing for a lower-cost Android phone and helps stretch the value you can get from the phone over time. If you’re after a sleek, hardworking phone with a display to rival Apple’s best at a price competing with Apple’s cheapest, the OnePlus 12R is where you should look. If you’re looking for even more alternatives, see our overall Android phone recommendations.

As far as iPhone alternatives go, there are those that do what the iPhone does with their Android spin on it, and there are those that do what the iPhone just doesn’t. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 7 is the latter. To date, no iPhone has folded open to review an extra-large interior display. The closest Apple has gotten was the iPhone 6, which had a noted penchant for folding in the bad way.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 isn’t so far removed from the iPhone when it’s folded closed. It sports a 6.5-inch exterior AMOLED display, it packs a bunch of cameras onto the back, and it's reasonably sized at 8.9mm thick. For reference, the iPhone 16 Pro Max is 8.3mm thick. But the Galaxy Z Fold 7 folds open to reveal an 8-inch AMOLED display and cuts its thickness in half in the process. The ability to serve as a phone or a tablet is something no iPhone does (yet).

More importantly, the Galaxy Z Fold 7 does a good job serving as both phone and tablet. The exterior display now has a more common 21:9 aspect ratio, so apps and media will scale more naturally to fit the display. Meanwhile the interior panel comes very close to being just two 1080p panels side by side – in other words, a great setup for side-by-side multitasking.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 runs on a Snapdragon 8 Elite chip that also offers extreme performance. In our testing, this chip’s CPU and GPU have given Apple’s hardware a run for its money like no other Snapdragon chip before, often coming ahead in benchmarks. The Galaxy Z Fold 7 can’t quite run the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip as hard as some thicker Android devices, but it works well in shorter bursts.

The Galaxy Z Fold 7 also has competent cameras. You’ll find a 200MP main sensor comparable to what’s on the Galaxy S25 Ultra. There’s also a telephoto and ultra-wide sensor on the back, giving the Galaxy Z Fold 7 a range similar to what you’d find on the iPhone 16 Pro or Pro Max.

The big downside here is that of all the iPhone alternatives out there, this is one of the few that’s actually more expensive than the iPhone it would replace, starting at $1,999. But if you're dead set on a foldable, this is the best one you can get.

If gaming is your priority, then get ready for a big surprise. The best gaming phone out there right now is neither an iPhone nor an uber-expensive Android phone. The RedMagic 10 Pro proved its mettle in my testing, and yet the phone comes in at just $649. You’d think there are some big sacrifices for a phone to reach that price, but there are exceedingly few. Even the 256GB of base storage and 12GB of memory are a surprise.

Let’s start with the performance: It’s bonkers. The RedMagic 10 Pro may be the most affordable phone to come with the Snapdragon 8 Elite chip, and it lets the new processing cores rip. In benchmarks, the CPU was just a little shy of the single-core performance of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and readily outpaces the iPhone in multi-core performance. And the GPU is another thing altogether. The RedMagic 10 Pro trounces the iPhone 16 Pro Max – a $1,199 phone – in 3DMark’s various game benchmarks. And the phone has a secret weapon with its active cooling, which lets the RedMagic 10 Pro not only pump out high performance levels but also sustain them better than its competition. This means reliably smooth gaming for longer play sessions. Oh, and a 7,050mAh battery never hurts when it comes to stretching out those longer sessions.

The RedMagic 10 Pro also provides an absolutely beautiful setup for gaming. The display is a massive 6.85 inches, and the selfie camera is practically invisible, hidden under the display. So unlike on Samsung’s and Apple’s best phones, all of that screen space is yours to enjoy your games and movies. That’s not even the end of it, as the RedMagic’s display is a stunning OLED panel that’s bright, sharp, and fast. The design of the phone is also surprisingly neat and elegant, something that sets it apart from its gaming phone ilk.

Now, the RedMagic 10 Pro shouldn’t be mistaken for perfect. Its Android skin is a little over-the-top. Its software won’t be supported for as long as a Samsung, Apple, Google, or even OnePlus flagship. And cellular network support may not be as good in the states as you’d hope. But if you’re after supreme performance, can get by without the fastest 5G connections on the go, and tend to upgrade every couple of years, the RedMagic 10 Pro is unlikely to disappoint.