Black Friday is usually the best time to upgrade your phone; most major brands have exciting discounts on their best-selling devices, and with phone pricing inching ever higher, it's good to not have to pay retail prices. I used most phones released in 2024, and it has been a good year for device launches, both in the flagship and mid-range segments.
The state of the phone industry is such that we don't get massive upgrades every single year, and as such, most 2024 phones have been iterative updates. What's ironic is that the few devices that really stood out this year — Vivo X100 Ultra and X100 Pro, Find X7 Ultra, and Honor Magic 6 Pro — are limited to select regions and aren't widely available.
That said, the Pixel 9 series is noticeably better than previous years, the Galaxy S24 Ultra has improved tuning that allows it to take great photos, and the OnePlus 12 is undoubtedly one of the biggest hits of the year.
If you're on an older device and are looking to upgrade or just need to make the switch to the latest tech, these are my phone recommendations for Black Friday. Although phone deals aren't live yet, earlier sales in the year gave us a good indication as to what we might get in terms of pricing, and I'm adding my own estimates.
Retailers aren't waiting around until Black Friday to launch deals; Walmart already has early deals available right now, and they include decent discounts. I'll update this post once any of the deals on the aforementioned devices go live, so check back regularly.
