Best iPhone Alternatives 2023: Get a Great Android Phone Instead

If you’re planning on making the switch from Apple to one of the best Android phones, there are plenty of excellent iPhone alternatives that can make the transition worth your time and energy. With a wider selection of apps, various designs, and bigger (and smaller) displays, there’s just more you can do with an Android phone than an iPhone – especially when it comes to customizing your device.

TL;DR – These are the best iPhone alternatives to buy in 2023

• Samsung Galaxy S23
• Google Pixel 7 Pro
• OnePlus Nord N30 5G
• Motorola Razr+
• Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra
• Asus Zenfone 9
• Motorola ThinkPhone

However, with so many options, it might be tough to pick one that works best for you. After all, while Apple makes the iPhone, there are a lot of manufacturers – such as Samsung, Google, Motorola, and others – that make Android smartphones.

That’s where we come in. We’ve gathered up a wide variety of Android phones for all sorts of people and use cases. Ahead, you’ll find the best iPhone alternatives to buy in 2023.

1. Samsung Galaxy S23

Best All-Around iPhone Alternative

If you’re planning on ditching your iPhone, the Samsung Galaxy S23 is the smartphone of choice, thanks to its best all-around performance, top-of-the-line camera system, and premium build quality that rivals Apple. Armed with a speedy processor and buttery-smooth Android 13 operating system, it’s a workhorse when it comes to web browsing, watching videos, playing mobile games, and of course, making phone calls – especially with an impressive battery life of up to 11 hours per charge.

Meanwhile, Samsung’s phone has a triple rear camera system instead of Apple’s dual rear cameras. At the end of the day, you won’t even miss the iPhone with the Samsung Galaxy S23 – which comes in four colors, including cream, green, lavender, and Phantom Black.

2. Google Pixel 7 Pro

Best Camera iPhone Alternative

Paired with Google’s very own powerful processor and its top-tier triple rear camera system – including wide (50 megapixel), telephoto (48 megapixel), and ultrawide (12 megapixel) cameras – the Google Pixel 7 Pro is ideal for taking photos and videos.

All three cameras work together with the tech company’s computational power to produce photos that are natural, detailed, and sharp without sacrificing speed or clarity. Additionally, the Google Pixel 7 Pro – which comes in three colors, including obsidian, hazel, and snow – can capture 4K video at 60 fps, so videos come out just as clean and detailed as its photos.

And since it’s from Google, which develops Android itself, this smartphone is going to be first in line for security updates. This means whenever the Android 14 OS comes out, the Google Pixel 7 Pro is going to get the software update before any other phone.

3. OnePlus Nord N30 5G

Best Budget iPhone Alternative

Looking for a wallet-friendly alternative? The OnePlus Nord N30 5G is a speedy and powerful Android smartphone that features a sharp 6.7-inch LCD display and a triple rear camera system for crisp and clear photography, and up to 13 hours of battery life per charge – all for $300.

One of its drawbacks is it only comes in one model with 128GB of on-board storage. But it does come with an expansion slot for up to an additional 1TB of storage, but you’ll need a microSD card for that. While it doesn’t have a lot of bells and whistles, the OnePlus Nord N30 5G – which comes in Chromatic Gray – is a stable and dependable smartphone at a very affordable price.

4. Motorola Razr+

Best Foldable iPhone Alternative

Although the iPhone is the best-selling smartphone in the world, there are things that it simply can’t do when you compare it to Android phones – namely fold in half. Foldable smartphones are all the rage and the Motorola Razr+ is leading the pack with its flip phone-like design.

When unfolded, the smartphone features a 6.9-inch P-OLED display with a single front-facing “selfie” camera. However, in the middle of the phone, there’s a clever hinge design that makes it possible to fold and close like a flip phone from the early 2000s. When folded, it features an additional outer 3.6-inch display for the time, date, notifications, and more, as well as a dual rear camera system for photos and videos. It’s really a marvel!

The Motorola Razr+ comes in three colors, including Viva Magenta, Infinite Black, and Glacier Blue.

5. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra

Best iPhone Pro Alternative

The Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra is the best iPhone Pro alternative because of its massive 6.8-inch display, quad rear camera system (which include two telephoto for sharpness and detail with 30x digital zoom), and storage options up to 1TB. This Android phone is for people who are serious about their mobile life, especially with a long battery life of up to 18 hours.

It even comes with a built-in S-Pen stylus for taking notes and drawing. Additionally, the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra comes in four colors, including cream, green, lavender, and Phantom Black.

6. Asus Zenfone 9

Best Small iPhone Alternative

Nowadays, smartphones are getting bigger and bigger. However, manufacturers like Asus are making high quality Android models for people who want smaller phones. Enter the Asus Zenfone 9, a smartphone that doesn’t give up modern features for size.

The phone sports a brilliant 5.9-inch Super AMOLED display that’s sharp and buttery smooth. It also has an impressive battery life for its size that’s up to 13 hours per charge (the smaller the phone, the smaller the battery). Meanwhile, it features a dual camera system and can capture video with an 8K resolution at 24FPS. Not bad for such a small phone!

The Asus Zenfone 9 comes in three colors, including Midnight Black, Moonlight White, and Starry Blue.

7. Motorola ThinkPhone

Best for Business iPhone Alternative

Let’s get down to business! The Motorola ThinkPhone is perfect for business use. In fact, Motorola, which is owned by Lenovo, specifically designed the smartphone to be the ideal companion for the Lenovo ThinkPad family of laptops – which are popular with enterprise users. The phone itself features a 6.6-inch P-OLED display, up to 16 hours of battery life per charge, and a triple rear camera system.

However, where the phone really shines is with its “Ready For” app that lets you stream video for meetings on-the-fly, unified notifications, copy-and-paste, drag-and-drop files — all across Motorola ThinkPhone and Lenovo ThinkPad. It also has a wide range of management and security apps that work with Lenovo laptops.

What to look for in an iPhone alternative in 2023

While the iPhone is the most popular smartphone brand, more than half of the phones on the planet are Android devices. People seem to like Android’s open platform instead of Apple’s rigid ‘walled garden’. Android gives its users the opportunity to customize their experience with various themes, wallpapers, launchers, and apps.

Heck, there are more apps available to download through the Google Play Store than with the Apple App Store. In fact, you’re not even limited to the Google Play Store for apps. You can use the Amazon Appstore, Samsung Galaxy Store, Aptoide, and others for different types of app utilities and experiences.

With more and more people flocking to Android, it may seem tough to pick a great iPhone alternative.

Android 13

Android 13 is the latest release of Android. Any major smartphone made in 2023 should be running Android 13 out-of-the-box or with an over-the-air update ready as soon as you set up your new phone.

Meanwhile, the upcoming Android 14 OS is set for release later in 2023. However, most iPhone alternatives – such as Samsung, Motorola, OnePlus, and others – won’t get this new system update until sometime in 2024. This is because they have to make Android 14 stable and secure for their own phones.

But since Google makes and develops the Android operating system, Google Pixel devices will be first in line to receive Android 14 before any other smartphone. Google prioritizes their own hardware, while other phone manufacturers are considered third-party companies. So when Android 14 drops later in the year, Google Pixel phones should receive the software update as soon as possible.

Phone Size and Design

One of the best things about iPhone alternatives is they come in various shapes and sizes. Apple is pretty set with making phones that are about 6 inches in size. However, you can find Android phones that are bigger at 7 inches or smaller at 4 inches. It’s really up to you on which size fits your hands better, or how much screen real estate you want.

In fact, there are a number of smartphones that are foldable like the Motorola Razr+. You can choose to have a small design in your pocket or purse, but then fold them out to be bigger when they’re in use. Now that’s something you can’t do with an iPhone.

Storage Capacity

For the most part, Android smartphones start out with 128GB of on-board storage, which is the same as the iPhone 15. However, there are many Android phones that are built-in with a microSD card expansion slot for even more storage up to an additional 1TB.

A general rule of thumb when it comes to Android is you can get more for less. This means you can get more storage options, memory, power, screen sizes, features, megapixels, and cameras than your average iPhone for less money.

Price

Speaking of money, Android smartphones are often less expensive than iPhones, with prices starting as low as $50 for bottom-of-the-barrel picks like the BLU C5L. There’s no shortage of cheap Android phones out there. However, you can get a good quality wallet-friendly smartphone like the OnePlus Nord N30 5G starting at $300. Compare this to Apple’s budget phone, the iPhone SE, which starts at $429.

On the high end, you can get a totally maxed out Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 with 1TB of on-board storage for a whopping $2,160.

Additionally, if you consider that you can get more features with an Android phone than an iPhone, then you’re actually getting more bang-for-the-buck. For example: The Samsung Galaxy S23 goes for about the same price as the iPhone 14, but you get a three camera system and 8GB of memory with Samsung, compared to a two camera system and 6GB of memory with Apple.

Overall, if you’re looking for an iPhone alternative, there are plenty of great Android smartphones out there for different types of people and use cases. For most people, however, the Samsung Galaxy S23 or Google Pixel 7 Pro are the best picks. Samsung has the premium design for speed and style, while Google has the better camera for sharper and more natural photos. In fact, the Google smartphone will most likely get the upcoming Android 14 software update sooner than Samsung, so that’s something to consider too.