There are plenty of great Samsung phones to suit your lifestyle and budget. But deciding which Samsung phone is right for you comes down to what you want in a phone and how much you’re willing to spend.

If you want the largest screen available on a standard Samsung phone, enjoy note-taking with a stylus and need a camera with a significantly closer zoom, the Galaxy S25 Ultra is the right choice. You’ll also have to spend $1,300 unless you score a trade-in deal.

Those who don’t need the stylus, prefer a more compact phone and still want a good camera should consider the Galaxy S25 or Galaxy S25 Plus. Those looking for the flashiest tech around — and who also have deep pockets — should consider the Galaxy Z Flip 6 or Z Fold 6.

Finding the best Samsung phone will ultimately come down to preference. Choosing among so many options can get complicated, but we offer three of CNET’s best Galaxy choices here.

Best Samsung phone overall: Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra

Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra comes with a lot of AI features, the best of which are interesting and the worst of which unreliable. Luckily, Samsung gets a lot of things right on the S25 Ultra, which has a new Snapdragon 8 Elite processor, high-resolution ultrawide camera, and some sweet pro video tools that rival the iPhone 16 Pro.

Samsung wisely kept all the best parts of last year’s Galaxy S24 Ultra (basically the entire phone including that antireflective display) but some of its less attractive parts, too, like the $1,300 price tag.

If you want the best screen you can find on any phone, get the S25 Ultra. If you want the most versatile phone cameras, get the S25 Ultra. If you want a stylus, get the S25 Ultra. But if your needs scale back on any of those fronts, the more affordable S25 options, or even last year’s S24 Ultra, may be worth considering.

Best flip phone for Samsung: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 6

For better or worse, Samsung’s Galaxy Z Flip 6 foldable is packed with AI. It can take a rough sketch and turn it into artwork or help have a conversation in French or Korean despite only knowing a few words of either language. The new autofocus/auto zoom feature lets you prop the phone in a half-open position; the Z Flip 6 will automatically zoom in or out (switching between the main and ultrawide cameras) to get a photo that best suits the moment. But the AI features are the least impressive aspects of the Z Flip 6.

Samsung’s latest clamshell style foldable has a new 50-megapixel main camera, a smaller hinge and crease, a larger battery and a Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3. But all this comes at a higher starting price: $1,099, which makes it hard to appreciate the Galaxy Z Flip 6 for the absolute great phone that it is.

Best Samsung phone for most people: Samsung Galaxy S25

The strongest point we noticed while testing the Samsung Galaxy S25 is that it shares many of the same attributes as its pricier counterparts, the S25 Plus and S25 Ultra — but it does so for several hundred dollars less.

You’ll find features like the AI Select tool, Audio Eraser and deeper Gemini integration across all of Samsung’s S25 devices, as well as a custom Snapdragon 8 Elite processor and 12GB RAM — making the smaller phone of the bunch still seem pretty mighty.

And while the Galaxy S25 might look incredibly similar to the S24 and share many of the same specs, consistency isn’t so bad when it means there’s a consistently good camera and great battery life.

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