Best Smartphones in 2019: Best Phones Money Can Buy

When it’s time to upgrade, you want nothing but the best. If money is truly no object and you want to own the very best cellphone, you’ve got an overflowing number of options in 2019. From Samsung phones with killer displays to Google’s unbelievably cameras, there are ample options. If you’re looking for something from Apple, the newest iPhone X models are also stellar options.

Today we’re breaking down some of the top smartphones on the market and what each offers. For today’s list, we’re not worried about price: we’re only concerned with raw performance. Here are the best of the best, the cream of the crop, the best smartphones that money can buy.

Android or iOS?

While the conversation about the best phone rages on, so does the conversation about the best phone OS. Of course, both iOS and Android have their distinctive pros and cons. However, we’re not going to tell you which side to pick, so we’ve included top phones from both sides of the ongoing smartphone wars.

iPhone XS

The newest iteration of Apple’s revolutionary iPhone X line is a worthy successor to the phone lineage that started the smartphone craze. No physical face buttons, no fingerprint reader and no bezels, aside from that controversial screen notch, make this a sleek, black mirror. The Face ID unlocking tech is stellar, working in a variety of lighting and weather conditions. This tech is truly years ahead of other phone maker’s facial recognition. This is all powered by the unparalleled A12 Bionic chip running the phone.

The iPhone XS also sports a number of incredible cameras, each taking stellar pictures in both standard mode and portrait mode. What’s more, those pictures pop incredibly on the XS’s massive OLED screen, its deep blacks and vibrant colors making for a truly impressive handset. That being said, this is quite the pricey phone: starting out at $1,000 for the normal size one, and jumping even higher for the larger iPhone XS Plus, this one will set you back. However, that’s the price you pay for the best iPhone ever made.

Samsung Galaxy S10 Plus

If you didn’t expect the Samsung Galaxy line’s newest iteration to show up, you might not be a smartphone enthusiast. The S10 Plus carries forward a number of innovations seen on prior iterations of the Galaxy line, including a long battery life, a huge screen and a top-of-the-line processor. While the Infinity-O design isn’t the most popular design decision Samsung has ever made, but it’s easy enough to overlook.

Using the MicroUSB input, you can expand the phone’s storage to an impressive 1.5 TB. That’s a lot of music and photos! Likewise, the phone’s astonishing Live Focus photo style looks incredible for pictures taken with the interior selfie cams. Now, if only those selfie cams didn’t cut an ugly hole in the middle of the screen…

Google Pixel 3 XL

The closest thing to an iPhone you’ll see on the Android platform, Google’s Pixel phone line has the keys to the Android kingdom. As Google makes Android, their in-house smartphone line gets all of the latest goodies and updates for the OS. Essentially, this is the Apple “walled garden” design ethos, but executed on an Android device.

The Pixel 3 XL impresses in pretty much every way. The screen is huge and gorgeous. Camera performance is unparalleled and blows us away every time. The processor running under the hood gives Apple a run for their money, and that’s really saying something. If you’re interested in being on the cutting edge of Android updates and love Google’s design philosophy, then you’ll love the Pixel 3 XL.