Survey reveals which older phone you’d choose over a 2026 model

Just because we’re Android experts, that doesn’t mean we’ll always tell you to pick up the latest shiny flagship on pre-order. If anything, we’ve long been fans of looking a generation or two back to find the best bang for your buck. That feels even more relevant in 2026, with rising phone prices making older Android phones, which often bear a striking resemblance to their newer counterparts, look like smart buys. But we wanted to know which previous-generation device you’d actually pick.

That was the question we polled you on in a recent feature on the best older Android phones to buy instead of a new 2026 model. My colleague Hadlee’s list covered the Samsung Galaxy S25, Motorola Moto G Stylus 2025, Google Pixel 9a, Samsung Galaxy A56 5G, and Motorola Razr 2025, with each one making the case that you don’t necessarily need this year’s version to get a great phone. But the question is, which one won out?

Perhaps unsurprisingly, the Galaxy S25 came out on top, taking 28.8% of the vote from over 2,000 readers. It wasn’t a runaway win, with the Google Pixel 9a close behind on 25.6%.  After that, there was a bit of a drop to the Samsung Galaxy A56 5G on 15.7%, the Motorola Moto G Stylus 2025 on 14.6%, and the Motorola Razr 2025 on 9.2%. The remaining 6% had other ideas, which we’ll get to in a moment.

The top two choices make a lot of sense, albeit for slightly different reasons. The Galaxy S25 is the most obvious alternative to the popular Galaxy S26 for Samsung stans, and you get an incredibly similar phone without paying S26 money. The Pixel 9a might be more of a value play, as it’s a solid Android favorite and is still about $200 cheaper than the Galaxy S26 on Amazon at the time of writing. In fact, the Pixel 9a isn’t much cheaper than the Pixel 10a, so you’re spoilt for choice in terms of Google alternatives.

We were a little surprised to see the Razr 2025 landing well behind the pack, as it’s a phone that we had a lot of praise for. It seems that even when a foldable starts looking tempting on price, many buyers would still prefer a traditional smartphone form.

One of the poll options invited readers to indicate another choice, and several of you offered other alternatives to buying the latest Android phone. Aidanleon99 argued that the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra “does exactly what the average user needs for approximately 500 euros,” adding that you can “get 95% of what the S26 does for a fraction of the cost.” Others have gone even less mainstream, with one reader picking up the HONOR Magic 6 Pro in “fab condition” for 350 (presumably USD), while another bought a new Sony Xperia 5 IV from China for £323.

There was also some pushback on the idea of upgrading often in general. Rusty Harris summed up that side of the discussion pretty bluntly: “Unless you have damaged your old phone, you don’t need to be upgrading every flipping year.” A couple of readers also questioned the poll options themselves, either suggesting alternatives like the OnePlus 13 or arguing that the Galaxy S25 series doesn’t really feel old yet. That last point is fair, though it also reinforces the point Hadlee made in his article: You don’t need to buy a 2026 model.