Metal components in mobile phones can attract lightning, increasing the likelihood of being struck, while using a wired phone can also pose a risk through electrical conductivity. Staying on top of what’s on your credit report is an easy way to make sure someone isn’t using your information nefariously. The very first electronic gates were created using relays. The Galaxy S24 Ultra is the first in the series to use a titanium frame. Even if you only ever use it to launch the camera, it’s pretty handy, and it frees up the Action Button. Apple’s baseline iPhone has a 6.1-inch screen, two rear cameras in a rearranged vertical layout, a customizable Action Button, and a new Camera Control button. Its triple camera array features a higher-res 48MP sensor for its ultrawide lens, and there’s a new physical Camera Control button for taking pictures and operating the camera app. It’s easy to use, and some of the Pixel series’ persistent problems like poor thermals and buggy software seem to be under control in this generation. Read our full Google Pixel 9 review.

With the camera open, it acts as a shutter button with a full press, and a light press brings up other exposure options you can adjust. The Pixel 8A provides a lot of other things you wouldn’t necessarily expect from a $500 phone, like wireless charging and an IP67 rating for resistance against full water immersion. There are other phones available for under $500 worth considering, many of which are covered in our guide to the best inexpensive phones. The year’s hottest trend is trickling down to mobile tech, but the results so far are a mixed bag, to say the least. Amber-colored goggles are one of the only tools available to completely eliminate all blue light exposure at night, without ‘going off the grid’ and powering down your entire house after 7 PM. They’re both slated to get an update with Apple Intelligence in the fall, which will include AI-powered writing tools and notification summaries in its earliest iteration. For everyone else, it’s best to think of the S24 Ultra like any other pricey gadget – a beautiful, splurge-worthy device if nothing but the absolute best will make you happy. The aforementioned Galaxy AI features are here, of course, but they’re nothing to write home about just yet, and they’re available on the S23 series, too.

Some are promising and some are worrying, but there’s nothing here that feels like a true game-changer. And there’s an S Pen! It also includes an integrated S Pen and upgraded camera suite, along with the biggest display in the S24 line. An in-depth objective scientific display performance analysis and comparison between the most interesting new Tablet displays. If you’re switching from an iPhone 13, 12, or even older, those four or five years of incremental performance improvements add up. Four years of new OS versions and five years of security updates is a healthy benchmark for this class, and many of the phones here meet or exceed that standard. The devices listed here offer a little something extra, like a useful telephoto lens, a great portrait mode, or impressive low-light shooting – and many include all three. In addition to the very best devices at any price, I look for phones that offer the best mix of must-have features for good prices. Thus, they can offer reliable power over a long time. This goes for chargers and cords (even frayed charging cords can be dangerous). The S24 Ultra remains an everything-but-the-kitchen-sink phone, and even though it’s every bit as feature-packed as last year’s model, it feels just a little less special than the S23 Ultra did.

The S24 Ultra’s starting price went up, too – now $1,299 rather than $1,199. For $500, you get a very good budget phone that comes with seven years of OS and security updates; most phones at this price will only see a handful of OS upgrades, if that. The phone comes with a Tensor G4 chipset that powers AI features aplenty, both inside and outside of the camera app. On the other side of the phone is the Camera Control, which you can use to launch the camera app. Durable Performance Under Stress: The Flex-RV has been tested to maintain performance even when bent to a radius as small as 3 mm, showcasing its robustness for use in dynamic environments and industrial applications. The iPhone 16 and its larger 16 Plus sibling use Apple’s A18 chipset, which is in the same family as the 16 Pro’s processor. From a hardware perspective, the iPhone 16 (or the 16 Plus) is an easy upgrade choice. Just be sure you know what you’re getting into and how many years you’ll need to stay on that Super 5G Everything Unlimited Plus plan to keep the monthly device reimbursements coming. And you’ll only get a ProMotion display on the Pro models; the regular 16 features a slower 60Hz screen.