Verizon Buyer’s Guide (Summer 2016)

In the market for a new smartphone from Verizon Wireless? Regardless of whether you’re buying your first Android or upgrading for the fourth time, the wireless service provider has something for everyone. As you might suspect, Big Red, being a massive carrier, has plenty to choose from.

As the lone carrier to offer the Droid series, Verizon is the only place where you’ll find the Motorola family of phones. Beyond that, of course, you’ll also find other devices that are truly worth considering.

Best of the Best

If you’re looking for the best smartphones you can buy from Verizon right now, there are a few models that rise straight to the top. Sure, specs can be pretty similar across various phone makers, but that doesn’t mean one’s not better than another. Indeed, we’ve become fond of a few handsets at the high end, most notably the latest from Motorola.

Motorola Moto Z Force Droid

Powered by Android 6.0 Marshmallow, this marks the first flagship phone from the Motorola and Lenovo camp. This one packs a large 5.5-inch (2,560 x 1,440 pixel) display with Shattershield technology, and a 3500mAh battery. It’s designed to go all day and then do it all over again. Oh, and did we mention it’s also simply gorgeous?

Thanks to a Qualcomm Snapdragon 820 processor and 4GB RAM, the Z Force Droid is among the most powerful of devices available at Verizon. Toss in 32GB of storage with a microSD expansion card slot for another 2TB worth of room, and you’ve got all the space you could want for. Rounding things out we find a 21-megapixel rear camera and 5-megapixel front-facing camera, TurboPower charging, and a USB Type-C charger. READ OUR REVIEW Current Retail Price: $720

Samsung Galaxy S7

Samsung’s flagship Android might already be a few months old but that doesn’t mean it won’t hang with the others top devices. Running Android 6.0 Marshmallow, the Galaxy S7 delivers a 5.1-inch screen with a Quad HD resolution, 16-megapixel dual-pixel rear camera, and 3,000mAh battery. While it’s sexy with its premium material build, it’s just as practical with its waterproof protection, too. READ OUR REVIEW Current Retail Price: $672

First-time Smartphone Buyer

Everyone has to start somewhere, right? Fortunately for today’s first-time smartphone adopter, the selection is simply incredible. You can’t really go wrong with an Android from 2016, regardless of brand or price range. Nevertheless, we’ve picked out two models you should consider if you’re just easing into the smartphone space.

HTC 10

As HTC’s 2016 flagship phone, there’s so much to love about the device. The 5.2-inch display feels great in hand, the 12-megapixel camera snaps crazy good photos, and the 3,000mAh battery lasts all day. There’s just enough HTC influence to make the phone customizable and unique without drowning users with bloat. One of our favorite phones from the last year. READ OUR REVIEW Current Retail Price: $648

See Also: Samsung Galaxy S6, LG K8 V

Tremendous Overall Value

When it comes to bang for the buck, we tend to prefer the previous generation of smartphone. Not that you can’t get a ton of value out of a tier-one flagship, mind you. Rather, there’s often not so much different from one model year to the next that you’d be giving up a lot. Yes, we know there are exceptions to this.

LG G4

There’s something about the way LG designs it flagship phones that we just adore. The rear button configuration doesn’t take all that long to get used to, and it ultimately feels natural. The LG G4 is one of those phones that has the right mix of hardware specs and attention to physical detail. There’s a little more custom UI than we’d like, but we’re still okay with it. A great “every man” phone with a sticker to match. Current Retail Price: $456

See Also: Motorola Droid Turbo 2,  Samsung Galaxy Note 5