Technologies

Need a New iPhone or Android Phone? Consider These Things Before You Buy

Whether you want Apple’s best phone or the cheapest Samsung Galaxy, these shopping tips will help you make the most of your money.

The best phones you can buy in 2025, including the iPhone 16 Pro, Google Pixel 9 Pro and Samsung’s Galaxy S25 Ultra, have a lot in common, from their high-performing processor and cameras to their big, vibrant displays. These elite handsets are the pinnacle of today’s mobile technology, so it’s no surprise that these fan-favorite phones have something else in common too: Steep prices.

Priced at $1,000 and up, these devices are out of reach for many of us — or simply unnecessary for those who just want an all-around device for everyday use. Thankfully, there’s a huge array of options out there catering to all needs and budgets, whether you’re looking for top-end model or a more affordable option, like the Google Pixel 9A.

You’d think the vast number of choices would make shopping simple. But the reality is that sometimes all the options make it more confusing. To help you cut through some of the jargon and spend your money sensibly, I’ve put together tips for buying a phone.

How to buy a new phone: Top phone-buying tips

Know what you care about most: Is it screen size? Camera quality? Battery life? This will help narrow down your choices. Phones like the iPhone 16 Pro, Galaxy S25 Ultra or Xiaomi 15 Ultra, for example, pack incredible cameras that almost rival the quality you’d get from a mirrorless camera. If you’re keen on photography and always want to carry a superb camera for when inspiration strikes, then spending money here is a good idea. If not, you can likely save yourself a bundle.
Don’t discount the midrange: Features of last year’s flagships always trickle down to this year’s midrange handsets.You can get a great phone that does almost everything that a premium phone can do for a fraction of the price. Google’s Pixel 9 Pro packs a great zoom camera, but the base Pixel 9 has most of the same key specs and comes at a more reasonable price.
Shop the sales: Look for deep discounts and promo deals around major holidays, especially Amazon’s Prime Day and Black Friday. And find out what your grace period is in case you need a quick return or exchange.
Last year’s phones: They can often be a great deal, too. Wait for this year’s launch to get last year’s phone for less, when stores and carriers may be trying to offload their existing stock.
Hold the phone at a store first: You may love or hate the way it looks and feels in person.
Check if you’re already invested: Have you already bought a lot of iPhone apps and iTunes movies? Stick with an iPhone if you still want access to them. Likewise, if you’ve invested in loads of Android apps, you’ll want to stay on that side of the fence. Otherwise, it’s simple enough to switch platforms.
Buy a case and screen protector: You’ll protect your phone from costly damage and will increase the phone’s resale or trade-in value for when you’re ready to move on. If you’re careful with how you use your phone, it should last for years.

Smartphone performance vs. budget

In general, performance lines up with cost. The very latest, greatest technology usually comes at a premium. Flagship phones pack the best cameras, the most powerful processors and may even sport cutting-edge tech like foldable displays. The high prices mean that these phones are worth considering only by those who want the absolute latest tech in their pockets.

Not everyone needs such top tech, however, or may simply be unwilling to spend the $1,000 or more typically required to get it. Luckily, the midrange sector of the phone world has been one of the fiercest battlegrounds for companies to compete in, resulting in some amazing phones that won’t break the bank. Features like wireless charging and cameras with multiple lenses that were once the domain of flagships are now commonplace on midrange phones.

Even budget phones will still offer decent camera quality and enough power for you to enjoy all of your everyday web browsing, WhatsApp-ing and Instagramming.

Screen size

All phones have gotten steadily bigger over the last few years, with the iPhone 16 Pro Max and Galaxy S25 Ultra measuring a whopping 6.9 inches. Small phones aren’t that common anymore, with almost no phones measuring under six inches in size.

Apple killed off its iPhone Mini line, and while its 2022 iPhone SE remained the smallest iPhone you could buy, the company replaced it with the 6.1 inch iPhone 16E, which hardly qualifies as small. On the Android side, the Google Pixel 8A’s 6.1-inch display makes it one of the better smaller phones, but like the iPhone 16E, it’s hardly what you’d call tiny. Google replaced it recently with the Pixel 9A and in so doing increased the screen size to 6.3 inches. Sorry, small phone fans, looks like you’re out of luck.

Software support period

A phone remains safe to use only as long as it receives security updates from the manufacturer to protect it from hackers. In the past, this was a bigger concern since most phones were supported for just two or three years, leaving them with a short shelf life. Today, however, extended support has become a competitive feature, with Google now offering an impressive seven years of software and security updates on its latest phones.

It means the most recent Pixel 9 Pro will still be safe to use in 2031, while Samsung has promised a similar support period for its Galaxy S24 and S25 lines. Samsung’s Galaxy S20, released in 2020, received its final security update in 2024, however, so it’s important to confirm how long your phone of choice will be safe to use, especially if you’re buying an older phone on the used market. A longer support period not only gives you better value for money over the lifetime of the device, it’s also better for the planet, as it keeps older, but still usable phones out of landfill and reduces the number of new devices being made and shipped.

Camera performance

Camera features have been a major point for bragging rights in recent phones, with manufacturers always wanting a bigger, more exciting number, be it the number of megapixels or quantity of actual camera lenses. Three rear cameras are now common — a regular lens, an ultrawide lens and a telephoto lens — with even budget-focused phones packing multiple cameras.

Read more: Best Camera Phone to Buy in 2025

This is great, as more lenses mean more shooting options when you’re out and about. But that doesn’t mean that any multilens camera is as good as another. As with processor performance, the more you spend, the better the results you’ll typically get, with the absolute best cameras around usually being found on the most expensive flagships.

Look out for features like optical (rather than digital) zooms, night mode for better low-light images, and optical image stabilization. Sometimes these features might not be clear, and it’s not possible to judge a camera’s performance just by looking at the specs. If you really care about your phone’s photography skills, then take some time to look at the reviews and see how its camera performs before you spend your money.

Battery life

Most phones, from the budget end through to elite flagships, can last most of a day on a single charge. Bigger phones might have bigger batteries, but they also have bigger screens and often more powerful processors, so they suck that extra juice down quickly. Few phones will give you more than a day of use. Here are some things to keep in mind:

Always plan on giving your phone a full charge overnight.

Look for features like fast charging, that allow your phone to take on a lot of power in a short space of time. Some phones, like the OnePlus 13, support 80W fast charging that will take it from empty to full in around 30 minutes. Check to see if your phone comes with a compatible fast charger though, as an old USB plug likely won’t offer the power output required.

Your battery will last longer if you avoid more demanding tasks such as gaming or video streaming. Keeping the screen brightness down will help too and if you’re really trying to eke out that last few percent to help get you home, turning off Wifi and Bluetooth can also help.

Processor performance

Top-end phones pack powerful processors along with 12GB of RAM or even more. It’s enough to make these phones run any task without breaking a sweat, but you don’t need to spend flagship level money to get great performance.

Most decent midrange phones offer enough power to handle all of your everyday needs. You’ll still be able to play almost any game from the Google Play store and edit your high-resolution photos in apps such as Snapseed or Adobe Lightroom. There’s little you could throw at most midrange phones that they wouldn’t be able to handle.

As you move into the budget end of the spectrum, that’s when you’ll start to notice some slowdown with things like gaming. More demanding 3D games might look more stuttery and may even unexpectedly quit. However, basic tasks such as sending emails, listening to Spotify and browsing Instagram shouldn’t be a problem.

4G or 5G?

5G is the latest standard that promises lightning-fast mobile data speeds when you’re out and about. While 5G coverage still isn’t everywhere yet, it’s widespread enough that you should absolutely look toward a 5G phone. And that’s easy, as almost all of them are, from top-end flagships down to entry-level budget phones.

The only reason you should consider buying a 4G phone now is if you’re looking at the used market and you’ve found a good deal on an older-generation model that will tide you over for a couple of years.

How much phone storage do you need?

Most phones, even the budget ones, come with at least 64GB of storage, of which 10 may be taken up by preinstalled apps and the phone’s operating system. If you don’t plan on recording video, and gaming isn’t your thing, 64GB might be enough, but otherwise you should consider 128GB to be a safer minimum.

Higher-end phones — particularly those that can record high quality 4K video — offer capacities of 256GB or more. With that much space, you’ll barely need to think twice about having to clear out old files.

If the phone supports microSD cards then it’s a different matter, as you can pick up 32GB microSD cards (or bigger) for very little money these days and popping one into your phone will dramatically increase the amount of storage you’ll have access to. Unfortunately, expandable storage is a very rare feature on phones these days. However, most phones will support external storage over USB-C, so if you’re going on holiday and want to shoot a lot of high-resolution video, taking a small SSD drive to offload your footage to might be a good idea.

Bonus features

Many of these features are now common on phones at various price points and are worth keeping in mind when you’re shopping.

Fingerprint scanner or face unlock: A scanner may be on the back or even invisibly built into the display. Biometric security, as it’s called, is more secure than having to remember a PIN.

Water-resistant: Do you often take calls in the rain? Look for a phone with at least an IP67 rating to keep it safe from water and spilled drinks.

Wireless charging: This is available on many phones, with some now offering faster wireless charging speeds, as long as you use a compatible charging pad.

Technologies

CNBC Daily Open: Will America open another front in the Middle East? Trump is considering

Tensions escalate in the Middle East and Ukraine wars.

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Hello, this is Justina Lee writing to you from Singapore. Welcome to another edition of CNBC’s Daily Open.

U.S. President Donald Trump is considering wading into another conflict, as Iran-backed Houthis target Saudi Arabia.

Investors are looking ahead to the earnings season with U.S. big banks set to report results Tuesday, with focus also on the International Monetary Fund and World Bank’s annual meetings, which could offer clues to the global financial outlook.

What you need to know today

The Middle East conflict continues to heat up after a deadly attack on Riyadh’s main airport by Tehran-backed Houthis in Yemen. This development could also draw the U.S. deeper into the regional conflict.

U.S. President Donald Trump said he was considering joining Saudi Arabia in its retaliation against the Houthis. The kingdom requested “urgent defense support” from the U.S. following the attacks, two Saudi Arabian government officials told MS NOW.

“We may [back Saudi]. We’re going to look at it,” Trump told reporters.

That could further complicate the possibility of a lasting resolution to the end of the Mideast war. On Saturday, Russian state media reported that President Vladimir Putin conveyed Tehran’s message for a possible end to the war in Iran to Trump.

Over in Europe, traders are keeping a close watch on the Ukraine conflict, with Trump declaring an “energy ceasefire” between Russia and Ukraine — but it’s unclear whether either side has agreed to a truce. The two countries have been trading blows on energy infrastructure. While there have been ceasefires between the two nations since Russia invaded Ukraine in 2022, they have been difficult to hold.

Further, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskyy has also reportedly pushed back on Trump’s call for a new president in Ukraine, stating that only Russia was responsible for the war in his country. His response came after Trump blamed him for high diesel prices.

Moving over to the financial markets: futures for the S&P 500 were little changed, as investors look forward to a busy week with major banks including Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs set to kick off the earnings season. Nasdaq 100 futures rose 0.24%. Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat.

Meanwhile, the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank kick off their annual meetings in Bangkok, Thailand on Monday, drawing thousands, including finance ministers, central bankers, business leaders and asset managers, for a week of talks on the global economy and the strength of the world’s financial system.

CNBC will be on the ground at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, with interviews with Thai Deputy Prime Minister and Finance Minister Ekniti Nitithanprapas on Monday; Kattiya Indaravijara, CEO of Kasikornbank, one of Thailand’s largest lenders on Tuesday; and many more to come throughout the week.

The IMF is set to release its World Economic Outlook and Global Financial Stability Report on Tuesday as part of the annual meetings. Investors will also be watching closely for a conversation featuring Federal Reserve Chair Kevin Warsh on Friday.

— CNBC’s Anniek Bao also contributed to this newsletter.

And finally…

Pokémon card values are soaring. What collectors should know before buying or selling

The record $16.5 million Pokémon card sale is drawing fresh attention to a collectibles market where grading, scarcity and authentication can determine whether a card is worth dollars or hundreds of thousands.

“It is one of our fastest-growing categories that we’ve seen and one of the largest contributors to [our] growth over the last number of quarters,” said Adam Ireland, vice president and general manager of collectibles at online marketplace eBay, which also provides authentication and price guides for TCGs and non-sports cards.

“From an investment point of view, you start with Pokémon,” he said. “It was the most searchable term within the eBay collectibles environment through the first half of the year.”

— Bob Woods

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Technologies

Justice Department opens antitrust probe as White House press-access fight escalates

The Justice Department said in a statement that it is examining whether the White House TV press pool violated the Sherman Act.

The U.S. Department of Justice launched an investigation into whether the White House television press pool’s decision to suspend coverage of President Donald Trump violated antitrust laws.

The Justice Department said in a statement that it is examining whether the White House TV press pool — a group of broadcasters including CNN, Fox News, ABC, CBS and NBC — violated the Sherman Act by temporarily halting pooled TV coverage of Trump.

The Sherman Act is a federal law that prohibits certain agreements that unreasonably restrain trade. Introduced in the 1890s, the law has rarely been applied to media organizations, particularly regarding their coverage.

Members of the press pool did not immediately respond to CNBC’s requests for comment sent outside of normal business hours.

The DOJ investigation follows the White House television press pool ceased its coverage of Trump on Sept. 21, shortly after he prohibited CNN, MS NOW and Politico from accessing the White House.

In a Truth Social post, the president said then that those outlets “shouldn’t be able to constantly write or report FICTION and LIES when they’re covering the President of the United States, the Trump Administration, or the United States of America.”

A judge lifted restrictions on those reporters on Sept. 24, several days after White House staff confiscated their press passes. Despite the ruling, reporters from CNN and Politico were barred from traveling with the president on Air Force One, the New York Times reported.

The Trump administration now faces a lawsuit from CNN, MS NOW and Politico over its ban of their reporters from the White House grounds.

Television pool coverage of the White House has also resumed.

The DOJ investigation marks another escalation in an ongoing dispute between Trump and the media over press rights.

The Trump administration has moved to restrict news agencies that have produced critical coverage of its policies.

Last year, Trump moved to rescind about $1.1 billion previously approved for the Corporation for Public Broadcasting, federal funding earmarked for public broadcasters NPR and PBS. Trump and his allies have also sued several media organizations, including The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, and BBC News, over alleged biases or inaccuracies in their reporting.

Seth Stern, chief of advocacy for the Freedom of the Press Foundation, called the DOJ investigation “nonsense.”

“Depriving Trump of the attention he craves is not a competitive harm and in any case, antitrust law has long recognized First Amendment exceptions even when there is anticompetitive impact,” he said. “After all his ‘fake news’ rhetoric, Trump is weaponizing the DOJ to pressure the networks he calls the ‘enemy of the people’ to stay at the White House. It’s a weird way of telling the press how much he missed them.”

The White House Correspondents’ Association did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Disclosure: CNBC and MS NOW are divisions of Versant Media.

Technologies

NBA commissioner Adam Silver says league could introduce ‘smart ball’ technology as soon as next year

Commissioner Adam Silver says the NBA could begin using a new “smart ball” in games as soon as next year, potentially transforming how officials make calls.

NBA Commissioner Adam Silver says the league could begin using a new “smart ball” in games as soon as 2027, potentially transforming how officials make calls on the basketball court.

In an interview with CNBC’s Contessa Brewer, Silver revealed that the NBA is working with official basketball manufacturer Wilson to develop a ball embedded with a tiny microchip Bluetooth sensor that can track movement, spin and changes in trajectory.

“We’re experimenting with putting a small chip in the ball that weighs roughly a gram,” Silver said.

The technology has already been tested in the NBA’s G League, Summer League, and some preseason games, where players used basketballs both with and without the chip. Silver said players have been pleased with the results.

“Nobody could tell the difference. So that’s a good sign,” he said.

The chip weighs just one gram, compared with the roughly 620-gram or 1.4 pound basketball. Silver said the league wanted to ensure that even the most experienced players wouldn’t notice a change in how the ball feels or bounces.

One of the most immediate applications could be officiating.

Silver said the technology could help referees determine whether a player touched the ball before it went out of bounds by detecting subtle changes in its spin. It could also help identify whether a shot’s trajectory was altered.

“I think you could see as soon as next year us using it for officiating in our games,” Silver said.

Beyond officiating, Silver sees a significant opportunity to bring the technology to consumers, allowing basketball players of all ages to analyze and evaluate their shooting mechanics.

For example, a player taking hundreds of shots could use data collected by the chip to understand which shooting angles and ball rotations are most likely to result in a basket.

“You’ll then see the graph, and you’ll see for which the angle of the shots that went in, they’re more likely to go in,” Silver said.

While the officiating application could arrive as soon as next year, Silver said a consumer version may take longer.

“I think the consumers version [of the smart ball] is a few years away, but it’s a really exciting opportunity.”

NBA players’ union raises concerns over wearables

The league is also exploring the use of wearable technology during games, but negotiations with the National Basketball Players Association have yet to produce an agreement.

The NBA says officials experimented with wrist wearables in select preseason and summer league games this year in a “successful pilot program,” but it will not extend into the season. The technology allowed the referees to communicate with the replay center about reviews, scoring changes and clock malfunctions.

Silver said players routinely use wearable devices off the court to monitor everything from sleep to physical performance, but concerns remain over how data collected during games could be used by teams.

“I think we have to come to some agreement on exactly how the information is used. But it seems everybody wants that information,” Silver said.

The biggest sticking point is whether that information could affect contract negotiations, Silver said.

“If you could see a player was slowing down or something like that, they’re worried that that could get used in bargaining, and I get that,” he said.

Silver acknowledged those concerns and said the league needs to reach an agreement with the players’ union on how the information would be used.

Still, he suggested that allowing wearables during games is a logical next step as athletes increasingly rely on technology to monitor their performance.

“I think the players are in a position right now where they’re essentially wearing wearables 22 hours a day, and the only time they’re not wearing them is when they’re playing in the game,” Silver said. “So that can’t make sense.”

“We’ll work something out with them,” he added.