From affordable phones to fresh flagships and folding phones, there’s no shortage of exciting upcoming phones on the horizon
Best upcoming phones: future phones for 2024 : Like to follow every smartphone launch like a hawk? Your diary must be busy. From affordable phones and fresh flagships to foldables, there’s a constant stream of shiny new handsets coming your way over the next twelve months.
From likely launches and rumoured reveals to confirmed releases, all the models listed below will keep your smartphone knowledge well ahead of the curve. We’ve also summarised the major smartphone announcements from recent months, with links to our reviews of the big hitters. Our regularly updated list has all the best upcoming phones we expect to see.
Here’s our guide to the best upcoming phones set to land soon.
All the best upcoming phones we’re expecting soon
Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 6 / Flip 6
With the Galaxy S24 series arriving in January 2024, a month earlier than Samsung typically like to launch its mainstream models, there was every chance the next-gen Fold and Flip folding phones would land a little sooner than anticipated too. The latest rumour has an Unpacked event being held in Paris on July 10 – two weeks earlier in the year than the previous generation.
Both devices are most certainly in the works, with leaks suggesting a tweaked design for the former that will more closely match the angular Galaxy S24 Ultra. An Ultra variant is also expected, splitting the Fold line into ‘expensive’ and ‘very expensive’. The Flip will stay standalone, if the leaks are accurate.
Camera fans may be disappointed to hear rumours are pointing to an unchanged set of sensors, while performance will surely come courtesy of a Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 CPU. The Fold will hopefully be shorter and wider than its predecessor, which was still on the skinny side compared to other book-style phones. The Flip will surely see fewer styling changes, as Samsung only debuted that oversized cover screen with last year’s Z Flip 5.
Apple iPhone 16 series
The one every Apple fan will be waiting for. The iPhone 16 line-up will almost certainly be revealed in early September 2024. The two Pro models are looking set to receive larger 6.3in and 6.9in screens and a dedicated “capture” button for content creators. The action button, which debuted on the iPhone 15 Pro, will also filter down to the standard iPhones.
A new generation of Apple silicon seems likely, as does a new version of iOS. Apple is apparently also going to go big on AI this year – just like the rest of the phone world. We’re also hoping the iPhone 15 Pro Max’s 5x telephoto lens makes its way down to the more palm-friendly iPhone 16 Pro.
September feels like a long way off right now, though. The iPhone 15 line-up is as good as it gets in Apple land today:
Google Pixel 9 series
It’s inevitable Google will introduce a new Pixel generation in 2024 – but the rumours suggest there’ll be three Pixel 9 handsets rather than two. The Pixel 9 Pro will shrink down a little, to make room for a larger Pixel 9 Pro XL – reviving a naming scheme Google hasn’t used for several years now. The Pixel 9 will be a more mainstream offering, as is tradition.
New designs with reshaped camera bars are mooted, as is a new Tensor G4 chipset. We have our fingers crossed that Qi2 charging will also make the cut. Camera hardware seems unlikely to get a big overhaul this generation – Google usually goes two years between sensor swaps – but expect the usual range of software tweaks and algorithm upgrades to keep it competitive.
Until the Pixel 9 series arrives, most likely in September, the Pixel 8 Pro remains one of our favourite smartphones. It takes stunning photos, has plenty of clever AI enhancements, and has the slickest design of any Pixel to date.
Apple iPhone SE 4
The most affordable iPhone has been stuck in the past for multiple generations now, but that could be set to change for the fourth SE iteration. Leaks have it picking up styling similar to the iPhone 14 series, with flat sides and a 6.1in OLED screen up front. Apparently it’ll stick with a single camera at the rear, but bump the sensor’s pixel count up to 48MP – matching the iPhone 15.
Expect a notch instead of a Dynamic Island pill, and a traditional alert slider rather than an Action button. We’re almost certainly going to see USB-C connectivity instead of Lightning, too, on account of European rulings that would otherwise prevent Apple from selling it here. Whether the firm will raise the price to account for all that new hardware remains to be seen.
Apple usually introduces iPhone SE models in March. That didn’t happen in 2024, so either the next SE will wait until 2025, or launch alongside the iPhone 16 generation – which is widely expected to land in September. In the meantime, the current SE remains the cheapest way into iOS without shopping second-hand:
Google Pixel Fold 2
As much as the Pixel Fold was an exciting introduction to foldable phones from Google, it also felt very much like a first effort device. The bezels were chunky, performance was merely OK, and stamina wasn’t very impressive. But it did deliver some fantastic rear cameras, and had a very well optimised version of Android for dual-screen setups. Google is widely expected to change the form factor for Pixel Fold 2, going taller and narrower than before to more closely match folding rivals.
Another big design change should be the rear camera module, which will swap from a device-spanning bar to a pill shape contained to one corner. A bigger capacity battery and newer generation Tensor CPU is also on the cards, but it’s unknown whether the cameras will see any serious upgrades.
An annual upgrade would see the Fold 2 make its debut at Google’s I/O event in May, but the latest rumours suggest it’ll now wait for the Pixel 9 series later in the year – and be in for a name change, too. The Pixel 9 Pro Fold sounds like a mouthful to us, but Google has done stranger things in the past…
If you can’t wait that long, the original Pixel Fold is still doing the rounds – and for less than retail price.
OnePlus 13
It’s still early days for the next OnePlus ‘flagship killer’, with the usual release schedule pegging December as the likely reveal for the firm’s native China and a more global launch in early 2025. But that doesn’t mean there aren’t whispers doing the rounds on what to expect. A bigger battery seems to be on the cards, with 6000mAh looking significantly larger than any other mainstream mobile. A Snapdragon 8 Gen 4 chipset looks all but certain (just as soon as Qualcomm actually announces it) and subtle curves on all four sides of the AMOLED display have been suggested. Lastly, a price competitive with anything Apple or Samsung are putting out is all but certain, as is the OnePlus way.
Don’t want to wait until December for the likely reveal – or even longer for a global launch? The OnePlus 12 is still fantastic value:
Don’t want to wait for the coming year’s crop of phones to be released? This extensive list includes full reviews of all the major launches from the last twelve months which have yet to be succeeded by newer models, and that you can go out and buy right now.
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