Best phones 2024: Why iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro Fold top my list
Apple and Google are behind my two favorite phones of 2024 - here's why they stood out to me
š There were a lot of phones in 2024, but two stood out to me
š± I use the iPhone 16 Pro Max as my main phone for a variety of reasons
š¤ The Pixel 9 Pro Fold has quickly become my go-to Android device
ā¤ļø Hereās why I loved these phones more than others that Iāve used this year
A lot of phones came out in 2024. As tech reporters, itās been an incredibly busy year because of it, but thatās the way we like it. We got to talk about everything from flagships to budget-friendly options, foldables to traditional bricks, and everything in between. As I reflect on the best smartphones of 2024, two immediately stand out as my favorite of the year: the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro Fold.
These two phones have cemented their place in my everyday carry for the foreseeable future. I have access to a lot of different phones that I can switch to on a whim, but the features and quality of the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Pixel 9 Pro Fold keep me locked to Apple and Googleās top-of-the-line smartphones.
Hereās why these devices are at the top of my Best Phones 2024 list.
iPhone 16 Pro Max
Before I got the iPhone 16 Pro Max, I was using the iPhone 15 Pro which I gave a glowing review. However, I began to feel cramped by the 6.1-inch screen, and the battery life was quickly getting worse and worse the more I used it. So I decided that before it even came out, when it was time to place my pre-order, Iād be upgrading to the iPhone 16 Pro Max. I donāt regret it whatsoever.
š± A big screen thatās perfect for productivity and entertainment. Appleās iPhone displays are some of the best on the market, with some of the highest brightness and most accurate color reproduction youāll find. The iPhone 16 Pro Max, by extension, looks terrific. The Super Retina XDR screen is even bigger this year at 6.9 inches which makes it perfect for productivity on the go. Itās also great for watching movies, which Iāve started doing a lot more this year thanks to my busy travel schedule.
š The best battery life on an iPhone - ever. All I wanted in 2024 was a Pro-grade iPhone that could last all day on a charge with enough to spare if I wind up at a bar until 2 a.m. (something that happens quite often at tech conferences, oddly enough). Thatās exactly what we got with the 16 Pro Max, which can easily last two full days if youāre careful enough. I wish charging speeds were faster than 30W, but Iāll survive.
šø Reliable cameras that come in handy. I tested a lot of phone cameras this year, including the excellent Galaxy S24 Ultra and Pixel 9 Pro. But even after using those devices, I still found the iPhone 16 Pro Max to be the most reliable shooter of 2024. Photos and videos always look great, and with new features like customizable Photographic Styles and Camera Control, itās never been easier to nail every shot on an iPhone.
š¦¾ Itās built for early AI adopters. The iPhone 16 series was designed with Apple Intelligence in mind. The A18 Pro chip in the 16 Pro Max, coupled with 8GB of RAM, means you get access to all of the AI features that Apple has cooked up thus far. That includes Visual Intelligence, an upgraded Siri experience, new writing tools, and notification summaries. Apple Intelligence isnāt at the place where itās a hallmark feature of the iPhone, but for those who want to test it out now and see what all the hypeās about, the 16 Pro Max is the perfect device for it.
š„ Apple brought the heat against its competitors. When you compare the iPhone 16 Pro Max to other phones that came out this year, thereās no question that its performance, camera quality, and battery life help it stand out from the rest. Phones like the S24 Ultra can zoom further and the OnePlus 12 can last longer on a charge, but because of how good the rest of the 16 Pro Max is, the experience feels elevated in a way that makes it one of the most enjoyable phones of 2024.
Pixel 9 Pro Fold
Google impressed me a lot with the Pixel 9 Pro Fold. I was following the leaks very closely ahead of its unveiling in August, and every rumor indicated it would be a massive improvement over the original Pixel Fold which I was already fond of. During my briefing with Google in New York City, I couldnāt help but keep toying with the device in anticipation of one day making it my secondary phone, and now that that day has come, Iāve become addicted to it for a number of reasons.
š The best folding design, period. I stand by saying this is the best folding phone design so far. Itās all thanks to the shape which goes from a square-ish tablet to a normal-feeling smartphone when folded over. Itās not very common in the United States to get a foldable that feels like a normal phone when itās closed. In fact, besides the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, the OnePlus Open from 2023 is the only normal-feeling foldable Iāve ever used. Google aced it this year and made the Pixel 9 Pro Fold incredibly enjoyable to use.
š Performance is surprisingly great. Googleās Tensor processors are oftentimes dismissed as lesser-than alternatives to whatever the new Snapdragon chip is, and thatās mostly because they are inferior, at least on paper. But Iāve had zero issues with the Tensor G4 in my Pixel 9 Pro Fold. Paired with 12GB of RAM, this is one of the fastest and most responsive Pixel phones Iāve ever used. Sure, it wonāt benchmark as high as something running a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3, but itās powerful enough to handle multitasking, gaming, social media, and everything in between.
šø Perfectly good cameras for a folding phone. If you buy a folding phone, youāre not going to get the same camera quality as a normal phone. Having said that, the Pixel 9 Pro Fold has the best cameras Iāve ever used on a foldable, beating out the Galaxy Z Fold 6 by a solid margin. Googleās post-processing algorithm produces more pleasing photographs in a variety of lighting conditions, while video quality is good enough that the 9 Pro Fold should be the foldable you buy if you care about taking videos. Combined with Googleās AI photo features like Add Me and Magic Eraser, these cameras wonāt disappoint.
š¤ The Pixel software experience remains undefeated. My love affair with Googleās take on Android for the Pixel continues to burn red hot. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold acts as the perfect canvas to showcase Android 15 with Googleās homey, inviting Material You design language sprinkled throughout. With plenty of smart features like Gemini and Circle to Search, split-screen multitasking, and plenty of customization options, the Pixel experience remains undefeated. Samsungās One UI gets close and technically has more features, but the polish and responsiveness of Pixel software is too good to ignore.
š¤· All the other foldables were pretty boring. Even if you disregard the advantages of the Pixel 9 Pro Fold, it still reigns as the best foldable of 2024 because the rest of them were pretty boring. Unless youāre looking at the triple-folding phone from Huawei, the foldable market remained pretty stagnant this year, especially in the United States. The only other notable tablet-sized foldable is the Galaxy Z Fold 6, and it had barely any new features compared to the Fold 5. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is such a big improvement over the first Pixel Fold that itās by far the best foldable of 2024.
Honorable mention: Motorola Razr+ (2024)
The Pixel 9 Pro Fold is my favorite overall foldable of 2024, but a phone I consider a close runner-up is the Motorola Razr+ (2024). Motorola impressed me with its latest high-end clamshell all because of its huge cover screen. Stretching from corner-to-corner (and even flowing behind the two rear cameras), the screen looks super futuristic and is way more useful than the cover screen on the Galaxy Z Flip 6.
You can run full apps on the display, manage your notifications, respond to messages, play games, and more, all without opening the Razr+. When you do, youāre greeted with a big 6.9-inch screen thatās perfect for reading, scrolling social media, and multitasking. I also really liked the battery life of the Razr+, as well as the performance and software experience. The cameras were underwhelming, but overall, this phone managed to stand out quite effortlessly.
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Max Buondonno is a writer at The Shortcut. Heās been reporting on the latest consumer technology since 2015, with his work featured on CNN Underscored, ZDNET, How-To Geek, XDA, TheStreet, and more. Follow him on X @LegendaryScoop.