The phones that impressed me the most in 2025: iPhone Air, Realme GT 8 Pro and more

2025 was an exciting year for smartphones, at least for me. Here’s what I liked throughout the year.

2025 was an interesting year for smartphones. Some phones genuinely did something new, bringing features such as film emulation to their cameras, while others iterated on their previous versions, making the overall experience far more refined. I think this was one of the better years for smartphones in the past decade or so. We saw major innovations, including the arrival of tri-fold phones, truly thin devices, and more. All of this gives me the opportunity to talk about the best phones I reviewed in 2025.

iPhone Air is just 5.6mm thin. (Shaurya Sharma - HT)

By Shaurya Sharma

Shaurya Sharma is the Technology Editor at Hindustan Times Digital Streams, where he oversees technology coverage across digital and social platforms. With over eight years of experience across editorial, video production, and digital media, his work focuses on smartphones, AI, consumer gadgets, and shaping audience-first content strategies for modern tech consumers.

He began his career in 2018 as a fashion cinematographer before turning his lifelong passion for technology into a profession. From spending his childhood immersed in tech magazines, video games, and the latest gadgets to covering the global consumer tech industry today, technology has remained a constant throughout his journey.

Over the years, Shaurya has worked with some of India’s leading media organisations, including CNN-News18, Sportskeeda, and Guiding Tech, where he led video initiatives that combined strong editorial storytelling with engaging visual and social-first execution.

A graduate in Journalism and Mass Communication from Manipal University, Shaurya has reviewed hundreds of products across categories including smartphones, laptops, gaming consoles, cameras, and wearables. Beyond work, he is passionate about animal welfare, environmental causes, and automobiles, particularly turbo-petrol cars

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This list is in no particular order, and the phones come from different segments. Some are full-blown flagships, some are mid-range devices, and others are camera-centric phones in the premium category. These are my favourite phones. Read on.

iPhone Air

The iPhone Air has been one of my favourite devices this year, not because of how practical it is, but because of what it represents. It has genuinely pushed the envelope when it comes to design. In many ways, it is now the most premium iPhone in Apple’s line-up, even more so than the iPhone 17 Pro. This is partly down to the titanium construction of the iPhone Air, while the iPhone 17 Pro and the iPhone 17 are made of aluminium. It feels sturdy and unlike anything Apple currently makes.

The iPhone Air clearly stands out in terms of design, and performance is excellent as well. It packs the same A19 Pro chipset as the iPhone 17 Pro, leaving very little to be desired. The single-camera setup is not a dealbreaker for me either. It is ideal for casual photos and portraits, and you really cannot go wrong.

If you want a phone that puts form over function, and you are a casual user looking for a comfortable, premium device with a good camera experience, the iPhone Air will suit you well. That said, battery life is not great, and the single-speaker setup is also underwhelming. If you are okay with those compromises, this is a solid phone to pick.

Realme GT 8 Pro

The Realme GT 8 Pro was easily one of the most fun phones I reviewed this year. It features a Ricoh GR collaboration that brings film emulation modes, including positive film, negative film, and high-contrast black and white. This experience is genuinely enjoyable, and I had an absolute blast using the Realme GT 8 Pro earlier this year.

It also packs the latest Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 chipset, which delivers top-tier performance. If you want a phone with a fun camera experience, excellent battery life, and flagship-level performance, this is a solid recommendation. Realme UI also deserves a mention, as it is polished and pleasant to use.

Vivo X200 Pro

For the better part of the year, the Vivo X200 Pro has been my primary phone camera. It delivers some truly stunning portrait shots across various focal lengths, including my favourite 85mm option using the 3.7x zoom. The phone features a 200-megapixel telephoto sensor, which is much larger than what you get on some more expensive rivals, including the iPhone 17 Pro.

You also get built-in Zeiss bokeh simulations, which can be a lot of fun to work with if you know what you are aiming for. On top of that, the video experience is excellent, with support for 4K 60fps log recording. If you are looking for a phone with a truly camera-first experience, especially for photography, the Vivo X200 Pro is hard to beat.

Vivo has since launched the X300 Pro, which further improves on the X200 Pro and offers tough competition in the premium segment. That said, if you can pick up the Vivo X200 Pro for around ₹70,000–80,000 in the offline market now that the X300 Pro is out, it makes for better value for money than the X300 Pro, which currently costs ₹1.10 lakh.

Nothing Phone 3a Pro

The Nothing Phone 3a Pro launched in the first half of 2025 and sits comfortably under the ₹30,000 price bracket. For the price, it offers a super-clean software experience, a reliable camera setup with a genuinely good telephoto lens that also enables macro shots, and the signature Nothing design that many people appreciate.

It also gets the basics right. Battery life is solid, haptics are excellent, the software remains clean, and the stereo speakers are loud and clear. All things considered, it is a great, safe purchase, even towards the end of 2025.