Spring 2025 flagships are less about megapixels and more about ISP tuning. We standardized shots across four phones with locked white balance targets.

Camera stacks

Periscope telephotos improved 10× usability; ultrawides still distort faces at edges. Video LOG modes matter for creators—two phones added 10-bit internal.

Multiple smartphones on table
Side-by-side RAW exports revealed different noise reduction philosophies.

Battery and thermals

Gaming for 30 minutes pushed skin temps to 42–46°C. The coolest device throttled least in 4K60 recording. Wired 45W+ charging hit 50% in 18–22 minutes.

Night city photo with phone
Night mode fusion varied from natural to oil-painting smooth.

Editor’s picks

Best camera: most consistent HDR.
Best battery: largest sustained screen-on time.
Best value: prior-gen discount with same sensor.