 "Best Premium Smartphones of 2025 Worth Buying in India")
Every year at this time we celebrate the best phones released over the past 12 months irrespective of their price tags. This year, several phone makers seem to have become complacent and have simply opted to fit a faster processor without making any notable changes to the cameras or other hardware and release their next. Some even thought of downgrading the cameras and yet bumping up the price courtesy of a faster processing hardware. Such tactics won’t fly anymore.
This year, we will only honour phones that have strived to innovate and made meaningful changes in their new models. Also, ‘the best phones money can buy’ is a thing of the past. We will only consider phones worthy of their asking price. So, don’t be surprised if some Max and Ultras are missing from the list this year. That said, let’s take a look at the best phones released in 2025 in India that are worth your hard earned money.
Vivo X300
2025 saw resurgence of the Compact Flagship phones category, and the Vivo X300 took the crown for the best compact flagship phone of the year. It is a great all-round phone that ticks almost every box. Powered by Mediatek’s flagship Dimensity 9500 SoC, you get up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB UFS 4.1 storage to go with it. A sharp 6.31-inch LTPO AMOLED display is just the perfect size. It has a resolution of 2640 x 1216 pixels, 10-bit colour depth, 120 Hz refresh rate, HDR10+ compliance and a peak brightness of 4500 nits.
The phone has a great hand feel due to its compact size, slimness and 190 grams weight. It has a sturdy build with IP68/IP69-rated ingress protection. The X300 runs the latest OriginOS 6 based on Android 16, with 5 years of OS updates and 7 years of security updates promised, which is great. Despite its smaller footprint, neither the battery capacity nor the camera department has been compromised. The phone is fitted with a 6040 mAh Silicon Carbon battery that lasts for two days of moderate use and supports 90W fast wired charging and 40W wireless charging.
The photography/videography performance of the Vivo X300 is top notch courtesy of three rear cameras with Zeiss optics. You get a 200MP primary camera with a sizable 1/1.4” Samsung HPB sensor and optical image stabilisation (OIS) that can also record 4K videos at up to 120 FPS. Support cast is equally impressive with a 50MP periscope telephoto camera with OIS for 3X optical zoom and a 50MP ultra-wide camera with 119-degrees FOV and auto-focus. Not to forget the 50MP front camera with auto-focus and reasonably broad FOV to impress the selfie enthusiasts. All things considered, the Vivo X300 is arguably the best all-round phone of 2025.
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View AllVivo X300 Pro
If size is not a concern and you are looking for the best cameras in the business, then the Vivo X300 Pro is the camera phone for you. Vivo has been challenging the likes of Apple, Google and Samsung in the imaging game for the past year or two and they have taken it a couple of notches higher this time. The X300 Pro again has three cameras at the back with Zeiss optics.
It uses the same 50MP ultra-wide and selfie cameras as the X300. The 50MP primary camera here uses an even larger 1/1.28” Sony LYT-828 sensor with OIS and can record 4K videos at up to 120 FPS and even 8K videos at 30 FPS. If that wasn’t enough, it uses the primary sensor of the X300 for telephoto duties using a periscope telephoto lens capable of doing 3.5X optical zoom. This telephoto setup is among the best in the business this year.
For wildlife photographers and those who like zooming in further, Vivo released a very interesting and useful accessory this year, the Vivo Zeiss 2.35X Telephoto Extender kit. It can be attached to the phone with the extender lens sitting on the telephoto camera of the phone and letting you zoom in further without losing details in the image. As for processing hardware and software, it is similar to that of the X300 with only the 16 GB RAM + 512 GB storage variant available here.
Honourable mentions: Google Pixel 10 Pro, Oppo Find X9 Pro
OnePlus 13
Though the OnePlus 15 remains arguably the most controversial phone of the year, polarising opinions among users and experts alike, the company started the year with a bang with the OnePlus 13. Though it is relatively less powerful than the 15, we strongly believe it is a far better all-round phone than its successor in more ways than one. The OnePlus 13 has a bit more character about its design too and offers IP68/IP69 ingress protection.
You get a higher-res 6.82-inch QHD+ LTPO4 AMOLED display protected by a layer of Ceramic Guard glass with a peak brightness of 4500 nits, 120 Hz variable refresh rate and compliance with Dolby Vision and HDR10+. A generation old Snapdragon 8 Elite chip at the core of the phone is still incredibly powerful for any task you throw at it. It is accompanied by up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB UFS 4.0 storage.
A big 6000 mAh battery keeps the phone running for close to two days of moderate use and supports 100W fast wired charging and 50W fast wireless charging. It can be charged fully in about 43 minutes, which is quite brisk for that big a battery. The OnePlus 13 now runs the latest OxygenOS 16 based on Android 16 with at least three major Android updates to follow.
It still remains by far the best camera phone from OnePlus ever, and not just because of the association with Hasselblad back then but due to the choice of far better and larger sensors. It has three 50MP units with the primary camera fitted with a Sony LYT-808 sensor with OIS. The support cast includes an ultrawide camera with auto-focus that also doubles up as a macro camera and a periscope telephoto camera with OIS that provides 3X optical zoom. All in all, the OnePlus 13 is the best ‘value for money’ premium phone of 2025.
Realme GT 8 Pro
For the most powerful Android phone of the year, it was a tough call choosing between the Realme GT 8 Pro and the iQOO 15. The former won by the slimmest of margins due to faster charging speeds and a slightly cleaner user interface. The Realme GT 8 Pro is powered by Qualcomm’s flagship Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 SoC and you get up to 16 GB RAM and 512 GB UFS 4.1 storage. It has a sharp and bright 6.79-inch QHD+ 10-bit LTPO AMOLED display with 120 Hz refresh rate, 7000 nits peak brightness and HDR10+ and Dolby Vision compliance.
This rugged phone flaunts an IP69-rated ingress protection that allows you to do underwater photography as well. Speaking of which, the camera department here uses Ricoh lenses and consists of two 50MP cameras at the back, the primary with OIS and the ultra-wide shooter with 116-degrees FOV. Giving them company is a 200MP periscope telephoto camera with OIS that offers 3X optical zoom. The phone lets you record videos at up to 8K resolution.
A large 7000 mAh battery keeps the phone running for over two days of moderate use, and the bundled 120W fast charger can juice it up fully in under 45 minutes, making it the fastest charging phone at the moment with a 7000 mAh battery. It also supports 50W fast wireless charging. The Realme GT 8 Pro runs Android 16 with Realme UI 7.0, and the company has promised at least four major OS updates for this device.
Honourable mention: iQOO 15, Oppo Find X9
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