Black Friday is upon us – a whole week of it, in fact. Here are the best smartphone deals that we found in the US. Note that we will cover tablets, smartwatches, laptops and other devices in a separate post.
All Pixel phones are on sale, but not all offers make sense. So, let’s start with the base Google Pixel 10 – it’s the first generation where the vanilla model has a tele camera, though the 5x/112mm 10.8MP unit is pretty basic. For that and other reasons, you may want to consider the Pro. Here’s a detailed comparison between the Pixel 10 and Pixel 10 Pro.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro has a bigger main sensor (50MP 1/1.31” vs. 1/2.0”) and a more capable 48MP sensor in the tele lens. It also has a better 48MP ultra-wide (vs. 13MP). The 6.3” display is the same size as on the vanilla phone, but it is sharper (1280p+ vs. 1080p+) and it is an LTPO panel. By the way, you can get the Pixel 9 Pro 256GB at $750, but we don’t think that the extra storage is worth it when you can have the newer model at the same price. If you want 256GB storage (and you probably do), it’s a worthwhile $100 upgrade.
The Google Pixel 10 Pro XL is an upscaled version of the 10 Pro, but since big screen phones are more popular, the XL has a lot more competition. Like the Galaxy S25 Ultra and OnePlus 13 that we will see below.
The Pixel 9a is Google’s cheap model, but with a modest $100 discount, it’s not all that cheap.
The old Google Pixel 9 is the better option at just $100 more – well worth the upgrade, we think. Here is a more detailed comparison between the Pixel 9 and 9a. The only potential issue is that there are no 256GB units available.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra is the company’s best camera phone for 2025 and while globally it has tons of competition, it has it much easier in the US. Here’s how it compares against the S24 Ultra from last year and against the OnePlus 13.
The OnePlus 15 still isn’t available due to the government shutdown, but the OnePlus 13 is still around and it might be the better phone. And we’re not just saying that because it’s cheap at $700. Here’s a camera shootout between the OnePlus 13 and 15. Okay, the new model has a faster chipset and a much longer battery life (23:07h vs. 15:28h Active use score), so it definitely has things going for it. However, it will cost $1,000 when it does become available – $300 more than the 2024 flagship.
The Samsung Galaxy S25 FE got lost in the fray, but it is now a viable option thanks to a solid discount. You definitely should consider it over the Pixel 10 as it has higher performance, though its 3x/75mm 8MP telephoto camera is even more basic. Battery life is almost exactly the same between these two (11:57h vs. 12:08h).
The Nothing Phone (3) is another alternative to the Pixel 10. This one is powered by the Snapdragon 8s Gen 4 chipset and it has slightly better battery life (12:56h). The 50MP main has a big sensor (1/1.3”), the 3x periscope is equipped with a higher resolution 50MP sensor, as is the 50MP ultra-wide.
Finally, let’s do some foldables – the two horizontal foldables available in the US market are the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold7 and the Google Pixel 10 Pro Fold. The Samsung is thinner (4.2mm/8.9mm vs. 5.2mm/10.8mm) and lighter (215g vs. 258g) while also offering the more performant Snapdragon 8 Elite vs. the Tensor G5.
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