My year in smartphones – 2025 was the year of the AI phone

Don't let anyone fool you; 2025 was not the year of the ultra-thin phone. Sure, there were some excitingly svelte handsets like the iPhone Air and Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge in the mix, but my recollection across 12 months of reviewing and writing about new smartphone technology is that all anyone cared about was AI.

And, guess what, that won't change in 2026.

Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra lived up to its name

My year started with the Samsung Galaxy S25 Ultra, a do-everything slab of Gorilla Glass and metal that thankfully still includes the ever-useful S Pen. At the time, I called it the "ultimate Android" phone, a label that I still think it deserves, despite the appearance of the slim Galaxy Z Fold 7 and Google's excellent Pixel 10 Pro.