It's been just over 50 years since the very first mobile phone handset was invented.
Back on April 3, 1973, one could barely have conceived that mobile phone handsets would one day conquer the world. And yet, in the half-century-or-so since its debut, the clunky ancestor, which had the weight, dimensions and style of a cinderblock, has metamorphosised into a sleek, high-tech piece of kit that can slip into your pocket with room to spare for a cardholder and set of keys.
Today, more people have access to a mobile than a flushing loo - an astonishing (and alarming) thought. But the story doesn’t stop there. The pace is gathering as we develop better, faster, and above all, smarter technology, all available at a moment's notice in the palm of our hands.
A life without AI? No thanks
Artificial Intelligence (or AI as you and I know it), has transformed everyday functions.
With it, we can ask our devices to tell us the temperature outside or traffic conditions and have our tech answer us back. AI allows us to edit photobombers out of pictures and cut white noise from videos.
We can get the grip of the latest headlines, create a minibreak itinerary, buy gig tickets without being chained to a desktop computer, and have AI assistants write grocery shopping lists for the entire month - and find, buy and deliver those ingredients directly to our door too. Some grown adults can’t manage that.
New ways to connect
New AI in phones can break language barriers, allowing users to make new pals while on holiday despite not speaking the lingo. I had a very happy exchange with three Sicilian gentlemen sitting at a neighbouring table in a Palermo restaurant thanks to the AI technology embedded in my phone.
When it comes to smartphones, three big names have spearheaded AI in their devices: Apple, Samsung and Google. You need only glance back at the launches from the last few years to see that these tech heavyweights have involved AI in some form in their increasingly smaller and smarter phones.
How to get AI for less
If you’re in the market for a new phone armed to the eyeballs with the latest AI wizardry, I’ve listed the best contenders below. While it’s true that AI comes at a price, as all cutting-edge tech does, if you can’t manage the eyewatering RRPs that the latest versions demand, all is not lost.
Choosing a slightly older model, say two or three years old, waiting for a major sale (Amazon Prime Day and Black Friday are always fruitful), or shopping refurbished can bring down the price by hundreds. Now that really is playing it smart.
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Apple iPhone 16
An essential for every content creator on the move is a decent camera. However, many top photographers agree that nowadays, an iPhone does the job just as well.
Looking at the latest model, first and foremost (and to the delight of high screen-time users), iPhone 16 handsets have bigger batteries and longer battery lives. The progressed A18 chip promises faster processing and there are also an array of new buttons; the customisable Action Button shortcut from the 15 is available on the full 16 family and is joined by the viral, touchpad-like Camera Control. The latter operates via differing pressure or by swiping, which opens the camera, takes pictures, and adjusts shooting modes or zooms.
Experts agree the Cupertino-based tech giant has closed the gap between its standard iPhone 16 model and the Pro. The latter is known for its souped-up cameras – namely the additional telephoto lens, performance boost and higher refresh rate.
Both handsets have a 48MP Fusion camera and have experienced an improvement in picture-taking through added vibrancy, contrast and clearer images in low-light photography. Unlike the pared-back Pros, the 16 comes in an array of bright and bold colourways; pink, teal, blue, white or black. For scrolling, note-taking and snapping, the base iPhone 16 does the job and does it well.
Buy now £699.00, John Lewis
Apple iPhone 16e
This is a great phone, even if it lacks some of the advanced features of the iPhone 16, which costs £799 and up. But it inherits the iPhone 16’s chic design with only minor changes. If you want two cameras on your phone, you need to step up to the iPhone 16, but for many people, the 2-in-1 snapper here will suffice.
There’s the performance which is fast and mostly on a par with pricier iPhones in the range. Which is why it’s compatible with Apple Intelligence, something which is only growing in its capabilities.
The new AI feature is called Apple Intelligence. These include tools to rewrite emails or texts and something called Image Playground where you can create pictures from simple text inputs, for example, or even generate original emoji to use in text messages. These features need processing power and are made possible thanks to the latest iPhone processor, the A18. Apple has even included Visual Intellligence, which lets you point the camera at a restaurant, for instance, and it will tell you information such as opening hours or menus. On the iPhone 16, this is enabled through the Camera Control. Here, you can set it up as an option on the Action Button.
And then there’s the battery life, a factor whose importance is hard to overstate. It goes on and on, and the fact that it outdoes other iPhones in its size is a bonus.
The new phone is priced at £599, meaning the price of entry to the Apple ecosystem is higher than it used to be. But there’s a lot to like, and the new features and capabilities make the iPhone 16e good value.
Buy now £599.00, Amazon
Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra
Samsung’s S25 line has dropped, a family comprised of three devices: the S25, the S25+ and the largest of the lot, the S25 Ultra.
The biggest - and most expensive - S25 Ultra is the superlative option. Design-wise, it appears to be simply a refinement of last year's S24 series.
The Ultra sports slimmer bezels and flatter edges making the screen feel bigger, but you can still use it one-handed - useful if you're juggling keys/ a dog lead/ fresh copy of The Standard in the other. It's 14g lighter than its predecessor and comes with a built-in stylus for precision writing, photo editing and selecting. And much-acclaimed features like Live Translate and Circle to Search are all present and correct.
So what’s new? Summarised personal briefings, delivered morning, afternoon and evening, which can be tweaked with headlines from your most-read news outlets, traffic updates, weather, health metrics and more so you can prepare or review your day in one hub depending on the hour.
But the biggest change is the beefed-up Galaxy AI. By combining Google’s Gemini AI with Samsung’s virtual assistant Bixby, the tech brand allows you to conjure a smart connect-the-dots feature that works across apps.
While Gemini adopts the role of the all-knowing Internet-powered sage answering almost any flavour of question you can chuck at it - philosophical or practical - pairing it with Bixby takes things one step further. Tap the on/off button and ask for all the season’s Premier League fixture timings or a list of local charity shops, then get Bixby, which does the in-app organising, to add them to your calendar or maps as required. Et voila! A personalised viewing schedule or shopping route just by saying it out loud.
Samsung will support the phone with updates for seven years, presumably eliminating the slowing down and lagging that we’ve come to expect from older phones. So while the RRP might cause eye-widening initially, if you hang onto the handset for seven years, it starts to look like a sound investment.
Buy now £1349.00, Amazon
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold6
Durability: Enhanced Armor Aluminum Frame, Corning® Gorilla® Glass Victus® 2, IP48
Galaxy Exclusives: Samsung Care+, Samsung Health, Samsung Wallet
This impressive new launch from Samsung only gets better the more time you spend with it.
From a sharp and bright display and a whip-fast processor to incredible zoom on the cameras and auto adjust that picks out the finest detail, this may be the most capable handset on the market today. The slightly larger main display and sharper corners make the most of every millimetre so you’re getting as much viewing and browsing space as possible (especially helpful when you’re using multiple apps at once).
The 120hz refresh rate is perfect for streaming shows, scrolling your newsfeed or catching up on the latest headlines, not to mention remote working, especially with the Multi View feature which allows you to see up to three apps at once.
Its range of developed AI features is what makes the Galaxy Z Fold6 soar above the competition, from Live Translate, Chat Assist, Browsing Assist and its much-celebrated Circle to Search innovation (in partnership with Google). This tech is reflected in the elevated RRP, but if you can afford it, it’s the best phone for your pocket. Oh and the folding mechanism? Well, that never gets old.
The phone is powered by a 4400mAh battery but there’s also super fast charging to get your handset back up to full power quicker.
Samsung has once again raised the bar for mobile technology with this device, leaving the competition quaking in its wake.
Buy now £2670.51, Amazon
Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6
Connecting over Wi-Fi 6 and Bluetooth 5.3, the Z Flip6 is ideally suited to pairing up with wireless speakers or smartwatches, such as the all-new Samsung Galaxy Watch Ultra, giving epically strong connections that won’t falter and leave you high and dry. There is also a range of precision sensors and GPS to see to all your location and security needs, while a reasonably capacious 4000mAH battery will stand you in good stead for longer before charges.
Is this Samsung’s opus magnum of opening phones? Yes, yes it is. A stunningly realised thing of ringing beauty, it’s extremely attractive and equally well-built, every part of it is of premium-quality and it simply demands to be picked up, cherished and admired every few minutes in a manner that some from the outside may find obsessive, maybe even weird, but I challenge anyone to resist. Then there’s performance – speed is unsurpassed and functionality comes in smart-spades, instantly making itself at home as the hub of all your tech time.
So, the Z Flip6 is the best Samsung flip phone, that’s a given, but is it the best flip phone on the market full-stop? Well, from the cover screen to the cameras to the way it makes every action feel so utterly effortless, I confidently state the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip6 phone is the flip phone that flip phone fans have been eagerly awaiting for so long; so yes again, yes it is.
Buy now £1017.11, Amazon
Google Pixel 9 Pro Fold
A contender to Samsung's Fold devices, the Pixel Fold shares many of the same features, including a book-like opening and main screen size dimensions. There are three cameras on the rear including a Google AI Selfie 10MP lens. Pixel's camera also responds to voice commands: just say “Hey Google, take a selfie” and strike a pose. The handset sharpens blurred images and automatically adjusts colour balance and lighting to represent skin tones with hyper-realistic accuracy through its AI Magic Editor feature.
One of the best things about the Pixel Fold is that it's plugged into Google’s all-knowing brain, which comes into its own on apps like Live Translate, a superb feature that has changed the way users communicate when they travel.
The Gemini Live experience, which Samsung's new fold also has, facilitates conversations with the phone and you can multitask by running it alongside another app at the same time.
Buy now £1749.00, Amazon
Google Pixel 9 Pro Smartphone
The Google Pixel 9 series has seen the introduction of AI into our handsets. The four phones in the collection (the Pixel 9, Pixel 9 Pro, Pixel 9 Pro XL and Pixel 9 Pro Fold) have entered their ‘Gemini Era’ as the brand explains with the ability to ask a range of commands not dissimilar from voice assistant - like what the weather will be like today - but with the added benefit of distilling complex information, learning something new and solving problems such as settling a debate or drafting a resignation letter.
As is always the case with Google phones, the camera has the biggest upgrade with new features like ‘Add Me’, which changes the photo-taking game. This allows you to incorporate the photographer into the shot. There are also improvements to panoramic shots with Night Vision and Action for moving snaps and the editing process is more advanced with the ability to use prompts to add elements into the shot like a tree or autumn leaves.
The Pixel Pro 9 has a 24-hour battery life, comes in four chic colours and is waterproof.
The only gripe? Google Pixel phones used to be a cost-friendly alternative to iPhones but now come at around the same RRP. That being said, it’s a lot of phone for the price.
Get an extra £200 plus your trade-in value when you trade in an eligible device.
Buy now £1099.00, John Lewis
Google Pixel 8 Pro
Google dubs the 8th iteration of its Pixel range as its best and most powerful, boasting a souped-up camera and Google AI. But is it worth the money?
It’s remarkably lightweight and dwarfs its iPhone Pro contemporary in the screen department at 6.7 inches vs 6.12 inches of the iPhone 15 Pro.
The camera has AI-powered features with Best Take and Audio Magic Eraser that provide a unique editing experience without the need for additional apps. Best Take will combine similar shots in a group photo so everyone looks their best - you have to see it to believe it. Magic Eraser works on video too, scrubbing unpleasant audio like high winds and traffic noise from content.
Live Translate provides immediate and direct translation so you need never struggle over a menu again. What’s more, you can also have a real-time conversation with someone in another language. Messages are transcribed, translated and displayed in an instant.
And battery life shines. Not only can one charge last for over 24 hours but it gives you an estimate as to when it will run out based on your current usage - very handy. Adaptive charging will ease the qualms of those who fear powering overnight will affect its capacity and through the USB-C fast charger, you can get a full battery in record time.
Buy now £544.28, Amazon
Motorola Razr 50 Ultra
The Razr 50 Ultra comes pre-downloaded with all the Google apps you could need, as well as the uber-fast and secure browser Opera, all you need to do is log into your Google account for instant access to all of your important documents, emails, photographs and more.
The Razr 50 Ultra is also powered by Moto and Gemini AI. The former works to improve the content-capturing experience through features including photo enhancement and adaptive stabilisation, while the latter functions as a kind of built-in Chat GPT to help users with everyday tasks and queries.
The latest colourways for both the Razr 50 and the Razr 50 Ultra have been developed with Pantone to ensure in-vogue and dopamine-boosting aesthetics.
Buy now £701.54, John Lewis
Motorola Edge 30 Ultra Smartphone, Android, 12GB RAM, 6.67”, 5G, SIM Free, 256GB, Interstellar Black
Of all the Motorola Edge models – the newer 40 included – the Edge 30 is by far the best version. Striking the perfect balance between cutting-edge features and decent battery life, perhaps the most impressive element of this smartphone is the 200ML lens, which allows you to capture 8K and 4K video as well as photos.
The next-gen 8+ processor is powered by Snapdragon and enhanced through AI to deliver even faster speeds and image processing powers than ever before, while the 155Hx refresh rate ensures smooth scrolling at lightning speeds. The Edge 30 additionally supports TurboPower charging for when the battery eventually begins to run low, charging at an impressive 125W.
Buy now £394.00, Amazon
Motorola Moto G9 Play
The colourful Moto G9 Play is a brilliant budget-friendly phone with an even better battery life. It is worth noting though: to come equipped with two days' worth of battery, the display power of this phone is nowhere near the level of the Razr 40 Ultra or Motorola Edge 30.
This makes the G9 a great smartphone alternative for older members of the population looking for a touchscreen phone which is a little bit easier on the eyes. Equipped with 4G and a 48MP triple camera system for capturing memories, the G9 is further supported by AI-enabled performance.
Buy now £94.49, Amazon
HUAWEI Mate Xs 2
A real contender to Samsung’s Fold is this 5G-compatible folding handset from Huawei. The double-rotating falcon wing hinge design and True-Chroma cameras installed on the back edge means the panels rest right against each other, making the device as streamlined as possible.
Opened at full tilt, you’ll enjoy a 7.8 inch screen where you can game, stream content or just chuckle along to the latest viral video. It’s viewable whatever the conditions thanks to an Anti-reflection Nano Optical Layer which allows you to view in direct sunlight.
This phone may only have three cameras, but boy, do they work hard to capture content. There’s a 13 MP Ultra-Wide Angle Selfie Camera, which is perfect for squeezing in more people into the screen on video calls, plus a 50 MP True-Chroma Camera and the 8 MP Telephoto Camera, excellent for capturing details from a distance.
Find contract deals at Three, O2, Carphone Warehouse, and EE.
Buy now £2498.17, eBay
