This is the time of year when all the big players release the latest and greatest models of their most popular phones before the holiday shopping season. In the last few months, Google released the Pixel 7 line and Apple released the iPhone 14 series.
People are lining up in droves to get their hands on the newest and most innovative products, which make perfect gifts for some people. But the reality is that most people are not early adopters. I’m moderately satisfied with my Galaxy S9, and when I upgrade it, it won’t be to the latest model (see the most expensive).
For anyone struggling to find the right phone as a gift or to find a phone that fits comfortably on your holiday gift list, we’ve put together this list of the best phones to gift for the holidays. From now on through the end of the year, we expect great phone deals to come and go, especially with Black Friday and Cyber Monday phone deals coming up. So we will update this page with the latest deals.
It should be read:
The best phone gift ideas for the holidays
Below are twelve phone gift ideas I found for the holiday season this year.
- Price: $8399 and up *
- Specimen Tech: Operating system: Android 13 | RAM: 12 GB | Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB
The latest addition to the Pixel phone family doesn’t disappoint. The Google Pixel 7 Pro comes loaded with features, excellent battery life and a powerful trio of cameras.
This is the premium model of the Pixel 7 and stands out from the basic model with an additional 48 MP camera with a telephoto lens, a larger display with a higher resolution, and a larger battery. In our Pixel 7 Pro review, its performance didn’t drop when multitasking or using other phone features. This model is available in Hazel, Snow, and Obsidian.
- Price: $800 and up *
- Specimen Tech: Display: 6.1-inch Super Retina XDR | Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB | RAM: 6 GB
The standard iPhone 14 does not have all the capabilities of the iPhone 14 Pro or iPhone 14 Pro Max. But the 128 GB model is $200-$300 cheaper than its more expensive counterparts, and unless you really need a telephoto camera or extended battery life, it will meet your needs.
The iPhone 14 comes with the Apple A15 Bionic processor, so you can blast through most tasks without lag. Anyone upgrading from an iPhone 12 or older will recognize significantly improved performance.
- Price: $ 600 and up *
- Specimen Tech: Processor: Google Tensor G2 | RAM: 8GB | Storage: 128GB/256GB
The full Google Pixel 7 128GB model is $300 less than the Pixel 7 Pro with the same amount of storage. For this price you will get a more than decent service.
The Pixel 7 has the same top front and ultrawide cameras as the Pixel 7 Pro, only missing the telephoto camera. And it has the same Tensor G2 processor as the more expensive model. The Pixel 7 comes in lemongrass, obsidian, and snow colors.
- Price: $1,200 and up
- Tech crowdDisplay: 6.8 inches | RAM: 12GB/16GB | Storage: 128GB/256GB/512GB/1TB
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is loaded with options, including a Bluetooth stylus with a built-in silo-storage station, two telephoto cameras, and two wide-angle cameras. Plus you’ll have the option to choose 1TB of bulk storage.
It also has a very capable 40MP front-facing camera which is placed under the display. Talking about the display, it is a huge 6.8 inches and also supports 8k video. The advertised 18-hour battery life is sufficient for most situations.
- Price: $1,100
- Specimen Tech: Cameras: 12MP rear f/2.2 ultra-wide camera (124-degree field-of-view), 12MP f/2.4 standard camera, 12MP dual aperture, 8MP f/2.0 front-facing camera | RAM: 12GB | Storage: 512GB
The Sony Xperia Pro-1 is a photographer’s dream. Its rear-view cameras include ultra-wide with 124 degrees of view and a dual camera. Serious photographers will appreciate the microSD slot, 3.5mm audio port, and push-button camera shutter.
Where this phone really shines is in the standard software (Photo Pro, Cinema Pro, and Video Pro), which gives you full control over the cameras. The Image Edge app allows remote shooting by allowing you to connect to an external camera and have images or video transferred to your Xperia Pro-1.
- Price: $110
- Specimen Tech: Display: 6.5 inches | RAM: 3GB | Storage: 32GB
The Moto G has plenty of storage space (though you can easily add a microSD card) and the performance of running an in-store smartphone, but it’s the perfect compromise for parents who feel their kids aren’t phone ready. and children sometimes worry about that when they are born. For just $110 the kids can learn about responsibility the hard way and it would only cost you 1/10 of what it would cost to replace a lost phone.
Although it’s nothing top-of-the-line, the Moto G Pure has all the essentials, a solid camera, a 3.5mm headphone jack, and good battery life. It’s not 5G compatible, so if you need speed, you’ll need an upgrade.
- Price: $389 and up *
- Specimen Tech: Show: 4.7 | RAM: 3GB | Storage: 64GB/128GB/256GB
The latest iPhone SE is one of the cheapest 5G phones on the market, although it doesn’t support the fastest 5G networks. This he said, when he did not succeed. The 3rd Gen iPhone SE has the same A15 bionic processor that you’ll find in the iPhone 14.
Battery life is advertised at 15 hours, which is an improvement over previous models, but a touch on the low side. Personally, I’m a fan of saving money and smaller phones that can fit comfortably in my pocket, and the latest iPhone SE checks both of those boxes.
- Price: $90
- Specimen Tech: Display: 2.4 inches | Storage: 128 MB | RAM: 48MB
The AGM M6 won’t win any awards or land on the best-selling list, but for under $100, it could be the perfect gift for anyone who’s looking to cut ties with their smartphone.
This model is tough and advertised as being waterproof (1.5 meters underwater for 30 minutes), shockproof, dustproof, and resistant to extreme temperatures. The appeal of the AGM M6 isn’t in what it is, it’s in what it isn’t. Electronic strap. It’s the perfect gift for someone who gets serious about cutting down the clutter in their life, but still wants to stay in touch with the pious.
- Price: From $150
- Specimen Tech: Display: 6.49 inches | RAM: 4 GB | Storage: 64 GB
The OnePlus Nord N200 5G is a third the price of the OnePlus 10 Pro, but many of its features are slightly less robust than its more expensive sister model. It has a Qualcomm Snapdragon 480 processor and its 6.49-inch display has a reasonable 2,400 x 1,080-pixel resolution.
As with many 5G laptops, the OnePlus Nord N200 does not support the fastest 5G connection (mmWave). However, the limitations of mmWave data and power drain on your battery may not be as much of a bargain as it seems.
- Price: $1500 and up *
- Specimen Tech: Processor: Qualcomm Snapdragon 8+ Gen 1 | Storage: 256GB/512GB/1TB | RAM: 12GB
The Galaxy Z Fold 4 is the latest in Samsung’s line of folding phones. 7.6 It has a generous display when unfolded and collapsed to fit comfortably in most pockets.
This generation of the Z Fold is lighter than previous iterations and has an improved array of cameras. Its processor and memory are built to handle the most demanding resource tasks, so you shouldn’t have a problem loading videos or games, even though the battery life is average.
- Price: $389
- Tech mass or features: Display: 6.1 inch OLED | Storage: 128GB | RAM: 6GB
In our Google Pixel 6a review, we found that it outperformed both the more expensive Google Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro. It has the same Google Tensor processor as the other 6 Gen Pixels and its 4,410 mAh battery should last all day under normal use.
The 12 MP rear-facing camera and the 8 MP front-facing camera give you no premium photography but more than enough for everyday photos. It resists water up to 4 feet, and comes with sage, coal, and chalk.
- Price: $300
- Specimen Tech: Processor: Samsung Exynos 9611 | RAM: 4GB | Storage: 64GB
The Samsung Galaxy XCover Pro ditches the rugged design you’d expect to find with the best rugged phones in favor of a sleek design and feel. It has a 6.1-inch display, a 4,050 mAh removable battery, a 13 MP front-facing camera, and two rear-facing cameras (wide-angle and ultra-wide).
It’s aimed at anyone who needs a phone to handle harsh conditions and has an IP68 dust and water resistance rating as well as MIL-STD-810G drop test certification. Its integrated touch feature allows you to use the phone without removing your glove, a great option in harsh weather.
The best phone deals during the holidays
Below are the four phones I’ve found happening to me right now.
All the phones included in this list are from reputable brands and are reliable and trustworthy. In most cases, ZDNET has either hand reviewed the phone or included it in one of the best email addresses.
There is no one size fits all when it comes to choosing a phone to give someone as a gift. The latest high-end iPhone may not be the best for everyone and it certainly doesn’t fit in everyone’s budget. So, we’ve selected a variety of devices to fit almost any need or want, at a wide range of price points.
An unlocked phone can be used with any cellular service provider that has a compatible network for that device. If you know that the recipient of your gift is a lot of customer who likes to jump from one service to the next one in search of the best price, then an unlocked phone is the way to go. An unlocked phone is also necessary for international travel if you want to swap the SIM card.
A locked phone is connected to a specific carrier, such as Sprint, T-Mobile, AT&T, or Verizon. Most of the best phones are locked phones and typically require you to change services, trade in your old phone and commit to a contract. If you’re buying a phone for someone who’s part of the same family plan, a locked phone can be a smart move because it’s probably the best deal you can get. Even if the phone is locked, your carrier should unlock it for you immediately.
If your phone is running out of space and you keep deleting photos like taking new ones, it’s time to get extra storage capacity. If you have a phone with an internal microSD slot that’s a simple solution, just make sure the card is compatible with your phone. But phones with expandable internal storage are becoming less common and you won’t get the feature with the iPhone.
In most cases, the easiest way to increase your phone’s storage, and hopefully increase its usage, is to use the many cloud storage options. The free Dropbox account comes with 2GB of cloud storage and Google Drive has 15GB of shared storage space. Apple’s iCloud account comes with 5GB of free storage. And all these cloud services allow you to increase your storage space for a fee.
Giving a phone as a gift can be a tricky thing, because it is really necessary to know what the recipient wants. And if you don’t get a phone plan in your cell, it’s even more difficult.
The easiest solution is to give them exactly the phone they want, but if you want to maintain a level of surprise, you will at least want to know the following;
- What carrier do they use or want to use?
- Do you prefer Android or iOS?
- Why do they want a phone? Will it succeed? Do you see? Serious job outdoor adventures?
- What is your budget?
When you know how much you’re willing to spend and what kind of gift you’re getting for the person’s needs and wants, it’s much easier to narrow down your choices.