• Donald Trump's legal team asked the judge in his Manhattan trial to lift his gag order.
• Without it, Trump is free to attack Michael Cohen, Stormy Daniels, the judge's daughter, and jurors.
• Trump already violated the gag order 10 different times, the judge previously found.

Donald Trump's legal team has asked for the judge who presided over his criminal hush-money trial to lift his gag order, which would give him a free hand to criticize witnesses and jurors in the trial.

The former president has spent much of the six weeks of his criminal trial — which concluded Thursday with a thundering guilty verdict on all 34 counts — complaining about the gag.

The order from New York Supreme Court Justice Juan Merchan forbade Trump from saying anything about possible witnesses, staff members at the Manhattan District Attorney's Office, court staff, or any of their family members, as well as jurors.

It frustrated Trump, who sought to cast several witnesses as part of a political conspiracy. Before the trial, he used his bully pulpit to frequently antagonize Michael Cohen, the key witness in the trial and his former personal lawyer, who had his own legal problems. And aside from his lawyer's cross-examination, Trump could not respond to testimony from Stormy Daniels, the porn star who was paid to stay quiet ahead of the 2016 election about the affair she says she had with him.

In a letter to the judge Tuesday, Trump's lead lawyer, Todd Blanche, said the basis for a gag order "no longer exists" and that Trump ought to be able to react to comments from Cohen and Daniels, as well as from President Joe Biden.

"Now that the trial is concluded, the concerns articulated by the government and the Court do not justify continued restrictions on the First Amendment rights of President Trump — who remains the leading candidate in the 2024 presidential election — and the American people," Blanche wrote.

A spokesperson for the Manhattan district attorney's office declined to comment on the gag-lift request.

In near-daily comments to journalists outside the Manhattan courtroom during the trial, Trump criticized the gag order. He frequently complained he could not use "specific names" in his tirades about the proceedings and that he ought to be able to speak freely because he is a candidate in the 2024 presidential election.

Merchan's orders approved the district attorney's request to restrict extrajudicial statements "for the duration of the trial," which technically ended with the jury verdict Thursday.

But Trump's lawyers didn't immediately ask for the gag order to be lifted. At a press conference in Trump Tower on Friday, Trump continued to complain about the "nasty gag order" he was under.

In an interview with The Associated Press last week, Blanche said he believed the gag had been lifted but that he wasn't sure and wanted "to be careful and understand when it no longer applies."

During the trial, Trump violated the gag order on 10 different occasions, Merchan found. The judge held the former president in contempt of court and ordered him to pay the maximum $1,000 for each violation.

Trump — a billionaire who uses political donor money to pay his legal fees — appeared undeterred, leading Merchan to say he would also consider jailing Trump.

"You are the former President of the United States and possibly the next President, as well," Merchan told Trump at a May 6 hearing in the middle of the trial. "There are many reasons why incarceration is truly a last resort for me. To take that step would be disruptive to these proceedings, which I imagine you want to end as quickly as possible."

In the weeks since, Trump had toned down his rhetoric specifically targeting Cohen and others, although he brought a steady stream of political allies to the courthouse, who made some of the same criticisms before TV cameras.

If Merchan lifts the gag order, it would leave Trump free to more explicitly attack Cohen and other witnesses, allowing him to sharpen his baseless argument that the prosecution was politically motivated.

It would also allow him to attack Merchan's daughter, a political consultant for Democratic politicians. Trump may also resume attacks on Matthew Colangelo, a prosecutor in the case who had previously worked in a senior position in the US Justice Department, which Trump claims is evidence that Biden orchestrated the case against him.

Trump may also choose to target jurors with his political megaphone. Although Merchan took steps to keep their names hidden from the public, they were not sequestered, and some of Trump's supporters have reportedly sought to identify and threaten them.

But any of Trump's public attacks and lack of remorse for the crimes he was convicted of could also find their way into a sentencing memo from prosecutors, which would allow the judge to weigh them before deciding Trump's punishment for his conviction. The public comments — and previously determined gag order violations — could lead Merchan to issue a harsher punishment.

The sentencing hearing is scheduled for July 11.

• AI researcher Roman Yampolskiy estimates a 99.9% chance of AI leading to human extinction.
• He said no AI model so far has been safe, and it's unlikely that future models will be bug-free.
• Other AI researchers have said been more moderate in estimates about AI leading to extinction.

Podcaster Lex Fridman said in a recent episode that most AI engineers he speaks with estimate between a one and 20% chance that artificial general intelligence will eventually kill off humans.

The prediction varies depending on how you ask. For example, a recent study conducted with 2,700 AI researchers indicated there's only a 5% chance that AI will lead to human extinction.

But Fridman said it's important to talk to people who estimate a much higher likelihood AI could wipe us out — like AI researcher Roman Yampolskiy, who told the podcaster in an interview released Sunday that he pegs it as 99.9% within the next hundred years.

The AI researcher teaches computer science at the University of Louisville and just came out with a book called "AI: Unexplainable, Unpredictable, Uncontrollable."

He discussed the risks of AI for over two hours on Fridman's podcast — and his predictions were pretty bleak.

He said the chances that AI will wipe out humanity depend on whether humans can create highly complex software with zero bugs in the next 100 years. Yampolskiy said he finds that unlikely since no AI model has been completely safe from people attempting to get the AI to do something it wasn't designed to do.

"They already have made mistakes," Yampolskiy said. "We had accidents, they've been jailbroken. I don't think there is a single large language model today, which no one was successful at making do something developers didn't intend it to do."

The first few versions of AI models in the last two years have raised various red flags for potential misuse or misinformation. Deepfakes have created fake pornographic images of female public figures and threatened to influence elections with AI robocalls imitating President Biden.

Google AI Overviews, based on Google's Gemini AI model, is the latest product rollout that didn't stick the landing. The new feature on Google Search was meant to provide quick informative overviews for certain inquiries presented at the top of search results. Instead, it went viral for coming up with nonsense answers, like suggesting making pizza with glue or stating that no countries in Africa started with the letter K.

Yampolskiy said in order to control AI, there needs to be a perpetual safety machine. Yampolskiy said even if we do a good job with the next few versions of GPT, AI will continue to improve, learn, self-modify, and interact with different players — and with existential risks, "you only get one chance."

The CEO of ChatGPT developer OpenAI, Sam Altman, has suggested a "regulatory sandbox" where people experiment with AI and regulate it based on what "went really wrong" and what went "really right."

Altman once warned — or maybe he was joking — back in 2015 that "AI will probably most likely lead to the end of the world, but in the meantime, there'll be great companies."

More recently, Altman has said that what keeps him up at night is "all of the sci-fi stuff" related to AI, including the things that are "easy to imagine where things really go wrong."

Since ChatGPT took the world by storm in November 2022, various predictions have been made about how AI could lead to humanity's downfall in regard to AI.

But Yampolskiy also cautioned that "we cannot predict what a smarter system will do." He compared humans to squirrels in the context of AGI, or artificial general intelligence, and said AI will come up with something that we don't even know exists yet.

According to Yampolskiy, however, there are three realms of outcomes that he predicts. One risk is that everyone will die, another is that everyone will suffer and wish they were dead, and another is that humans have completely lost their purpose.

The last one refers to a world in which AI systems are more creative than humans and can perform all the jobs. In that reality, it's not clear what humans would do to contribute, Yampolskiy said, echoing some concerns about whether AI will start to take humans' jobs.

Most people in the field acknowledge some level of risk with AI, but they don't think it's as likely that things will end badly. Elon Musk has predicted a 10-20% chance that AI will destroy humanity.

Former Google CEO Eric Schmidt has said the real dangers of AI, which are cyber and biological attacks, will come in three to five years. If AI develops free will, Schmidt has a simple solution: humans can just unplug it.

• It's a real mess at OpenAI, as more concerns over its commitment to safety come to light.
• The ChatGPT-maker has faced backlash over transparency issues, NDA use, and a tussle with Scarlett Johansson. 
• Its CEO Sam Altman isn't looking too good, either, as he takes on a new job: damage control.

OpenAI's rough week has turned into a rough month — and it's not looking like a problem that the company's golden boy CEO, Sam Altman, can easily solve.

In the latest development of the OpenAI-is-a-disaster saga, a group of current and former OpenAI employees has gone public with concerns over the company's financial motivations and commitment to responsible AI. In a New York Times report published Tuesday, they described a culture of false promises around safety.

"The world isn't ready, and we aren't ready," Daniel Kokotajlo, a former OpenAI researcher, wrote in an email announcing his resignation, according to the Times report. "I'm concerned we are rushing forward regardless and rationalizing our actions."

Also on Tuesday, the whistleblowers, along with other AI insiders, published an open letter demanding change in the industry. The group calls for AI companies to commit to a culture of open criticism and to promise not to retaliate against those who come forward with concerns.

While the letter isn't specifically addressed to OpenAI, it's a pretty clear subtweet and another damaging development for a company that has taken more than enough hits in the last couple of weeks.

In a statement to Business Insider, an OpenAI spokesperson reiterated the company's commitment to safety, highlighting an "anonymous integrity hotline" for employees to voice their concerns and the company's safety and security committee.

"We're proud of our track record providing the most capable and safest AI systems and believe in our scientific approach to addressing risk," they said over email. "We agree that rigorous debate is crucial given the significance of this technology and we'll continue to engage with governments, civil society and other communities around the world."

Safety second (or third)

A common theme of the complaints is that, at OpenAI, safety isn't first — growth and profits are.

In 2019, the company went from a nonprofit dedicated to safe technology to a "capped profit" organization worth $86 billion. And now Altman is considering making it a regular old for-profit vehicle of capitalism.

This put safety lower on the priority list, according to former board members and employees.

"Based on our experience, we believe that self-governance cannot reliably withstand the pressure of profit incentives," former board members Helen Toner and Tasha McCauley wrote in an Economist op-ed last month that called for external oversight of AI companies. Toner and McCauley voted for Altman's ouster last year. (In a responding op-ed, current OpenAI board members Bret Taylor and Larry Summers defended Altman and the company's safety standards.)

Those profit incentives have put growth front and center, some insiders say, with OpenAI racing against other artificial intelligence companies to build more advanced forms of the technology — and releasing those products before some people think they are ready for the spotlight.

According to an interview Toner gave last week, Altman routinely lied and withheld information from the board, including that about safety proccesses. The board wasn't even aware of ChatGPT's release in November 2023 — and found out it went live on Twitter, she said. (The company did not explicitly deny this but, in a statement, said it was "disappointed that Ms. Toner continues to revisit these issues.")

The former researcher Kokotajlo told the Times that Microsoft began testing Bing with an unreleased version of GPT, a move that OpenAI's safety board had not approved. (Microsoft denied this happened, according to The New York Times.)

The concerns mirror those of the recently departed Jan Leike, who led the company's superalignment team with chief scientist Ilya Sutskever, another recent defector. The team, dedicated to studying the risks that AI superintelligence poses to humanity, saw a number of departures over recent months. It disbanded when its leaders left, though the company has since formed a new safety committee.

"Over the past years, safety culture and processes have taken a backseat to shiny products," Leike wrote in a series of social media posts around his departure. "I have been disagreeing with OpenAI leadership about the company's core priorities for quite some time, until we finally reached a breaking point."

These concerns are heightened as the company approaches artificial general intelligence — or technology capable of all human behavior. Many experts say AGI increases the likelihood of p(doom), a nerdy and depressing term for the probability of AI destroying humanity.

To put it bluntly, as leading AI researcher Stuart Russell said to BI last month: "Even people who are developing the technology say there's a chance of human extinction. What gave them the right to play Russian roulette with everyone's children?"

An A-list actor and NDAs

You probably didn't have it on your 2024 bingo card that Black Widow would take on a Silicon Valley giant, but here we are.

Over the past few weeks, the company has met some unlikely foes with concerns that go beyond safety, including Scarlett Johansson.

Last month, the actor lawyered up and wrote a scathing statement about OpenAI after it launched a new AI model with a voice eerily similar to hers. While the company insists it did not seek to impersonate Johansson, the similarities were undeniable — particularly given the fact that Altman tweeted out "Her" around the time of the product announcement, seemingly a reference to Johansson's 2013 movie in which she plays an AI virtual assistant. (Spoiler alert: The movie isn't exactly a good look for the technology.)

"I was shocked, angered and in disbelief that Mr. Altman would pursue a voice that sounded so eerily similar," Johansson said of the model, adding that she had turned down multiple offers from Altman to provide a voice for OpenAI.

The company's defense was, more or less, that its leadership didn't communicate properly and handled the matter clumsily — which isn't all that comforting considering the company is dealing with some of the world's most powerful technology.

Things worsened when a damaging report was published about the company's culture of stifling criticism with its restrictive and unusual NDAs. Former employees who left the company without signing an NDA could lose out on vested equity — worth millions for some. Such agreement was basically unheard of in the world of tech.

"This is on me and one of the few times I've been genuinely embarrassed running openai; I did not know this was happening, and I should have," Altman responded to the claims in a tweet.

But days later he was caught with egg on his face when a report came out that seemed to indicate Altman knew about the NDAs all along.

As Altman learned, when it rains, it pours.

No more white knight

But the May rain did not bring June flowers.

Like many tech rocketships before it, OpenAI is synonymous with its cofounder and CEO Sam Altman — who, until recently, was seen as a benevolent brainiac with a vision for a better world.

But as the company's perception continues to sour, so does that of its leader.

Earlier this year, the venture capital elite started to turn on Altman, and now the public may be following suit.

The Scarlet Johansson incident left him looking incompetent, the NDA fumble left him looking a bit like a snake, and the safety concerns left him looking like an evil genius.

Most recently, The Wall Street Journal reported Monday some questionable business dealings by Altman.

While he isn't profiting directly from OpenAI — he owns no stake in the company, and his reported $65,000 salary is a drop in the bucket compared to his billion-dollar net worth — conflicts of interest abound. He has personal investments in several companies with which OpenAI does business, the Journal reported.

He owns stock in Reddit, for example, which recently signed a deal with OpenAI. The first customer of nuclear-energy startup Helion, in which Altman is a major investor, was Microsoft, OpenAI's biggest partner. (Altman and OpenAI said he recused himself from these deals.)

Faced with the deluge of detrimental media coverage, the company and its leader have tried to do some damage control: Altman announced he was signing the Giving Pledge, a promise to donate most of his wealth, and the company has reportedly sealed a major deal with Apple.

But a few positive news hits won't be enough to clean up the mess Altman is facing. It's time for him to pick up a bucket and a mop and get to work

Finding quality talent can be difficult. A staggering 99% of 300 US hiring managers say sourcing qualified talent is a challenge, according to a recent Indeed-commissioned survey with Harris Poll.¹ Over half of those surveyed have seen reductions in their recruiting personnel, while they say only 36% of passive candidates are responsive, wasting the time and effort of an already-limited team. 

Now, imagine using a sourcing tool that automatically delivers a list of quality candidates matching the requirements of a job description you wrote — that's the experience with Indeed's new AI-powered Smart Sourcing.

Building on the Indeed Resume product, which allows recruiters to search the 295 million resumes on Indeed, Smart Sourcing adds the efficiency of AI to your talent sourcing. Rather than manually filtering through talent, Smart Sourcing's algorithms match active candidates to your open roles. Custom-generated messaging and collaboration tools can further streamline your workflow while maintaining an individualized approach to candidate communication. 

In fact, 92% of users agree that Smart Sourcing is the preferred product for sourcing quality talent.²

"AI has been at the heart of Indeed's products for years," said Donal McMahon, vice president of engineering and data science at Indeed. "The growth of generative AI brings with it the potential for a greater understanding of job seeker and employer needs so that we can create better, quicker matches than ever before." 

Here's how the tool can address your talent-sourcing pain points.

Get quality and engaged matched candidates, fast

While Indeed Resume's search is effective, providing 69,000 successful connections between employers and job seekers each day, the Indeed-commissioned Harris Poll survey found that 74% of hiring managers would prefer to match with qualified talent based on skills and relevant experiences instead of manually searching for them. Smart Sourcing's matched candidates do exactly that — simply toggle between your jobs on Indeed via a drop-down menu to instantly view recommended candidates, then invite them to apply.

As you accept or reject candidates, the Smart Sourcing AI will learn what you prefer over time. This lets you curate your matched candidates' results like a Spotify playlist, tailored to your unique preferences. 

You can still manually search and filter resumes or use automated recommendations to expedite the process. Matches are based on the keyword relevancy of your job post and job seeker resumes, job seekers' search activity on Indeed, and how recently job seekers have been on the site. This helps Indeed's matching algorithms present you with the most relevant candidates who are demonstrating interest in new opportunities.

Universal Health Services (UHS), a leading hospital and healthcare provider with 400 facilities across the US, Puerto Rico, and the UK, has reported its candidate-response rate improving 30% since using Smart Sourcing. 

"Smart Sourcing serves up appropriate candidates that tend to be more eager to respond and are active on Indeed. So we get both quality candidates that are a fit and a higher response rate than with another similar tool," said one director of recruiting at UHS.

In the survey, 70% of 1,107 US workers agree that companies who have contacted them in the past could have done a better job of reviewing their skills and experience beforehand. This lack of preparation, personalization, and attention to detail in recruiting can reflect poorly on your company. 

That's why matched candidates include candidate highlights, a generative AI capability that analyzes and summarizes each resume to suggest why the candidate could be a great fit for your role or to point out potential gaps in their experience. This accelerated evaluation enables you to make better-informed hiring decisions to preserve both your employer brand and the candidate experience.

Matched candidates you invite to apply are 23 times more likely to apply to your job than job seekers who only see it when searching on Indeed, and employers who use this feature when sponsoring their jobs hire 20% faster.^3,4

Connect to talent with AI-powered messaging

Employers contacting candidates through Indeed's resume search receive a positive response from a job seeker in just 10 hours on average,⁵ but 95% of hiring managers believe that their productivity would be even better if administrative tasks like candidate outreach could be assisted by AI. Indeed's customizable AI-powered messages reduce the time and effort it takes to manually write, personalize, and proofread candidate communications.

This allows you to generate a customized message based on the content of the candidate's resume and your job posting. You can generate message variations by the desired tone and refine the information before sending it.

"The AI-powered messages are very effective because they're personalized for each individual candidate. It's amazing how the AI pulls in the right pieces of a job description to describe the highlights of the job and uses information from a candidate's resume to say why it's a great fit," the UHS recruiting director said.

With a professional subscription, you can also automate post-outreach follow-up with custom reminder messages. Message analytics track how your templates perform and provide actionable insights on candidate engagement, helping you maximize ROI.

Optimize recruiting workflows and team productivity

Recruiting and hiring can be complex, with work distributed across multiple people and platforms. Smart Sourcing Professional Subscriptions simplify the process, allowing you to invite collaborators to sourcing projects and accelerate the candidate feedback process with collaborative task-management tools. 

For example, say you've used Smart Sourcing to curate a short list of suitable, responsive candidates. You can easily invite the hiring manager to provide feedback, even if they don't have a subscription. Once they've chosen which candidates will move on to the following hiring stages and left notes about their decisions, you can then bulk-send invitations about the next steps with AI-customized messages.

You can also take your sourcing with you on the go with the Indeed Connect for Employers app. Once you've reached out to potential candidates, notifications alert you when they respond to an application invite or a message, allowing you to reply in real-time and keep the hiring process moving forward.

Getting started with Smart Sourcing

Smart Sourcing subscriptions are available starting today, and existing Indeed Resume subscriptions have transitioned to Smart Sourcing. Available in both Standard and Professional options, subscriptions include access to candidate search and filters, matching quality candidates to your job, and offering faster candidate connections.

"AI is a powerful efficiency tool, but it still needs human decision-making — especially when it comes to someone's livelihood," McMahon said. "As an HR professional, let the machine do the busywork so you can invest more into the unique, human value you bring to your role." 

Find your ideal candidates and easily collaborate with your team to make better hiring decisions with Smart Sourcing.

This post was created by Indeed with Insider Studios.

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Survey methodology: This survey was conducted online within the United States by The Harris Poll on behalf of Indeed from February 12–20, 2024, among 1,107 employed adults, ages 18 and older, and 300 hiring managers (those with sole or primary decision making in the recruiting and hiring process) with 2,000+ employees. The sampling precision of Harris online polls is measured by using a Bayesian credible interval. For this study, the employee sample data is accurate to within +/– 2.6 percentage points and the hiring manager sample data is accurate to within +/— 5.6% using a 95% confidence level.

Sources

¹Harris Poll survey of US hiring managers with 2,000+ employees (n=300) and employed adults, ages 18 and older (n=1107), conducted on behalf of Indeed, February 2024

²Indeed Survey, CA (n=151), Jan-Feb 2024

³Indeed data (CA), August 2023

⁴Indeed data (US), Q1 2023

⁵Indeed data (worldwide), 2023

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Size is one of the most important factors when deciding on a new TV. Many brands use 65 inches as the flagship size to showcase their top models, and this option is perfect for buyers who want a big screen that still fits in most living rooms. The best 65-inch TV for your needs will vary depending on your budget and viewing habits, but there are several great options. 

Through hands-on testing informed by more than a decade covering the home entertainment industry, we selected the best 65-inch TVs you can buy. Our top recommendation is the Samsung S90C 4K TV. Thanks to its OLED panel and quantum dot technology, it delivers stunning contrast and color. But if that's too expensive, the Hisense U6K is the best 65-inch TV you can snag on a budget. Despite its low price, it boasts advanced image quality features like a Mini LED backlight.    

Below are all seven of our picks for the best 65-inch TVs. Our recommendations cover every display type and budget, so you're sure to find something here to suit your needs.

Our top picks for the best 65-inch TVs

Best overall: Samsung S90C – See at Amazon 

Best on a budget: Hisense U6K – See at Walmart 

Best OLED for wall mounting: LG G3 – See at Amazon

Best for home theaters: Sony A95L – See at Amazon

Best smart TV interface: Roku Pro Series – See at Amazon

Best with high brightness: TCL QM8 – See at Walmart

Best designer display: Samsung Frame – See at Amazon

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Best overall

When it comes to balancing price and performance, Samsung's S90C is the best 65-inch TV — and our pick for the best TV period — that you can buy. For the money, there simply isn't a better display out there.

Unlike OLED TVs from LG, the S90C uses quantum dots to enable brighter colors. Coupled with the TV's infinite contrast ratio, the S90C's quantum dot filter leads to gorgeous high dynamic range (HDR) images with an impressive peak brightness of around 1,000 nits. You'd have to pay at least $600 more to get a 65-inch OLED that delivers better picture performance than this.

And though it's disappointing that Samsung doesn't support Dolby Vision, which can provide a more finely-tuned HDR image, the S90C's HDR10 and HDR10+ capabilities are so strong that we don't think most people will notice a difference. You can learn more about how different HDR formats compare in our HDR TV guide. The S90C also upscales lower-resolution content well, though it can't match the picture processing on a high-end Sony display. 

Whether you're watching 4K movies at night or just flipping through cable channels in an average living room during the day, the S90C looks fantastic. The smart TV interface is also solid, though we prefer other platforms like Roku OS. On the plus side, Samsung's operating system is the only smart TV platform supporting Xbox Game Pass, which lets members stream high-end games without a console. The TV even supports a high 144Hz refresh rate when paired with a gaming PC.

Samsung does sell an updated version of this TV for 2024, called the S90D. But while the new model is a bit brighter, it's also much more expensive. When looking at the overall value for your dollar, we think the S90C remains the best 65-inch TV you can buy. 

Read our Samsung S90C OLED 4K TV review.

Check out our full guide to the best Samsung TVs.

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Best on a budget

Hisense's U6K proves you can still snag a great 65-inch TV on a budget. Despite some performance tradeoffs compared to our more expensive picks, the U6K delivers incredible value at this size.

This budget-friendly TV uses a QLED display with local dimming and quantum dots. And while you might find some similarly priced options from competitors with those features, the U6K is the only TV in its price range that also uses Mini LED technology. Mini LEDs enable more precise control of a TV's dimming zones to produce better contrast and less blooming (halos around bright objects). 

The U6K's dimming performance is great for its class, but its black levels aren't as deep as you'd see on more expensive QLED sets. The U6K also has limited brightness compared to high-end QLEDs, so it's not as good for rooms that let in a lot of light. 

But at a peak of around 600 nits, the TV can still deliver highlights with just enough pop to show off the benefits of high dynamic range content. And thanks to its quantum dot filter, it offers an expanded range of colors when watching HDR programs. You'll just want to watch those programs from a centered view since colors and contrast dramatically fade when sitting off to the side.

However, this level of off-axis performance is the norm for TVs in this price range. And like most sets in this class, the U6K is limited to a 60Hz panel rather than 120Hz, so you can't enable high frame rate support on a PS5 or Xbox Series X/S. But for a typical sale price of around $500-$550, there simply isn't another budget-friendly 65-inch TV that balances cost and performance like the U6K. 

Hisense does have a 2024 version of this display, called the U6N, but it's more expensive without offering a major upgrade. For now, the U6K is still the best 65-inch TV you can get for such a low price.

Read our Hisense U6K 4K TV review. 

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Best OLED for wall mounting

Those who want a design-focused 65-inch TV that doesn't skimp on top-notch home theater performance should check out the LG G3. 

Like Samsung's popular Frame TV, the G3 has a thin profile and a flush wall mount that lets you hang it on your wall with virtually no gap. But unlike the Frame, the G3 uses an OLED panel for superior picture quality with much better contrast, black levels, and viewing angles. You miss out on the Frame's matte screen, separate connection box, and interchangeable bezels, but the jump in image performance is substantial.

And despite not using quantum dots like high-end OLEDs from Sony and Samsung, the G3 is one of the brightest OLEDs on the market. This high brightness also distinguishes the G3 from its otherwise similar predecessor, the G2 OLED TV. During our tests, we measured a peak of around 1,470 nits on the G3, while the G2 topped out at around 1,000.

But while the G3 looks gorgeous on a wall, it's not a top pick if you plan to put it on an entertainment console. It doesn't even come with a stand, so you'd have to buy one separately, which adds to the cost, and we don't like how the panel tilts back slightly when it's attached to its stand.

That said, LG does sell a new 2024 edition of this display, called the G4, which now includes a stand if you buy the 65-inch size. And the new stand no longer tilts the panel. However, based on our hands-on testing with the G4, it only offers minor improvements in image quality, so we think the cheaper G3 is still the better buy for wall mounting.  

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Best for home theaters

Sony's A95L OLED is built for home theater enthusiasts. It's expensive, but the display edges out the picture performance of every other 4K TV on the market.

Compared to its already impressive predecessor, the A95K, the A95L offers a big upgrade in one key area: peak brightness. We measured a peak of around 1,500 nits with the TV set in its most accurate picture mode. That's a 50% increase over the previous model and one of the highest brightness levels we've ever seen on an OLED. This lets the TV display specular highlights with more realistic intensity when watching HDR content graded beyond 1,000 nits. 

But while the A95L was the OLED brightness champ last year, Samsung's brand-new S95D has now surpassed it with a peak of 1,700 nits. However, the A95L still distinguishes itself from competitors thanks to Sony's proprietary picture processing powered by its "Cognitive Processor XR." Though that sounds like marketing jargon, this tech makes a difference when optimizing the TV's images. Its HDR tone mapping is also more accurate than Samsung's, and it supports Dolby Vision, so you'll get slightly better high-dynamic-range performance when watching Dolby Vision content.  

The display complements its high-end picture with a premium design and a unique stand that can be attached in a low- or high-profile configuration. Low allows the TV to sit flush with your entertainment console, while high gives you enough room to put a soundbar in front. 

The A95L also boasts reliable Google TV streaming and comes with a webcam that can be used for video calls and gesture controls, which is a cool extra perk. From image quality to design, the A95L fully earns its premium status. We wish it had more HDMI 2.1 ports and a 144Hz mode for PC gaming, but those omissions are minor compared to everything the A95L does right. Though most people will be satisfied with a less expensive TV, the A95L is ideal for videophiles willing to pay a premium to get the best movie-watching experience.

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Best smart TV interface

There are many different smart TV interfaces out there, but Roku's OS (operating system) is our favorite for its ease of use. The brand's OS is available on some entry-level TVs from TCL and Hisense, but none of those options perform as well as the company's own Roku Pro Series TV. 

The Roku Pro Series features a QLED panel with a Mini LED backlight and local dimming. This gives it great control over its light output, with better black level and contrast performance than cheaper QLED TVs, like the Hisense U6K. It can also get much brighter than that model with over 1,000 nits of peak luminance. 

That said, the Pro Series can't quite match the brightness levels or video processing quality of other QLEDs in this class, like the TCL QM8 or Hisense U8 series. It also suffers from poor viewing angles and reflections in bright rooms, but those are common drawbacks for most QLED TVs.

Thankfully, the Roku Pro Series makes up for these cons with snappy smart TV navigation and key design perks. The Roku homepage is simple to use and puts all your favorite apps upfront as large tiles that you can organize as you wish. We prefer this over the more content-heavy focus of other platforms, like the Fire TV OS, which can come across as a bit cluttered and overwhelming. Moving through services is speedy and we didn't encounter any major hiccups in our tests. 

We also love the TV's compact remote, which charges via USB, so you don't need batteries. It has backlit keys, too, for easy use in a dark room. You can access voice search by speaking a wake word or by pressing a button on the remote. And if you ever lose the remote, it has a built-in speaker that will chime when you press a button on the TV.

This focus on user-friendly conveniences extends to the TV's stand as well. The left and right feet don't require tools to attach and instead use a knob system that you can turn with your hands. The stand can also be positioned in a high or low setting to make room for a soundbar.

There are other QLEDs with better image quality in this price range, but the Roku Pro Series is the best 65-inch TV for buyers who want an upper midrange display that emphasizes general ease of use.

Read our Roku Pro Series 4K TV review. 

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Best for high brightness

If you want a bright display, the TCL QM8 is easily one of the best 65-inch TVs you can buy. The QM8's QLED panel can deliver a peak of around 2,000 nits, which makes it one of the brightest TVs on the market. This impressive brightness makes HDR images pop while enabling better SDR performance in rooms with a lot of ambient light. 

Of course, it's not enough for a TV to just get bright. A display must also have excellent control over its light output to maintain great image quality. And thankfully, the QM8 does just that. With its Mini LED backlight and local dimming capabilities, the TV can precisely adjust its contrast to produce deep black levels and vibrant specular highlights, and we didn't encounter any notable blooming around bright objects during our review. You also get extensive gaming features, with 144Hz support when paired with a PC.

On the downside, like most QLED TVs, the QM8's viewing angles are mediocre, which causes colors to fade and contrast to distort if you sit to the side of the display. And though the TV looks fantastic in bright rooms thanks to its high light output, we noticed that its anti-reflective coating can cause a rainbow-streak effect when it reflects certain overhead lights. If you want a similarly bright 65-inch QLED without these issues, we recommend the Samsung QN90C, but you'll have to pay at least $600 more. 

The QM8 uses the Google TV operating system with access to all of the best streaming services, and it includes a Google Assistant voice remote. Navigation is snappy, and performance is a bit smoother than what we encountered on the Hisense U8K, which is the QM8's direct competitor. However, we did run into an odd WiFi issue with our internet setup that caused false "WiFi Not Connected" messages to pop up. This appears to be an isolated problem, though, and not one that other customers have experienced. 

Despite minor quirks, the TCL QM8 is a true standout for the money, with a bright QLED panel that offers high-end image quality for a midrange price. A more expensive 2024 version of this display is now available with an even brighter image. We think the cheaper 2023 QM8 remains a better value for now, but that could change once the 2024 model comes down in price. 

Read our TCL QM8 4K TV review. 

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Best designer display

The Samsung Frame TV is perfect for buyers who want a 65-inch display that can blend seamlessly into their living room decor. Built with an emphasis on design, the TV features interchangeable bezels and a matte screen that can make it look like a piece of art hanging on your wall.

The bezels come in different styles that magnetically attach to the TV. The Frame also has a Slim-Fit Wall Mount that lets you hang it flush against your wall. And unlike most TVs, the Frame uses a separate One Connect Box to house all its ports, so you just need one cable running from the display. If you need to connect an AV receiver, streaming device, or gaming console, you simply hook those up to the TV's external box, which removes all those unsightly wires on your wall.  

The screen features a matte finish rather than the glossy look of most modern TVs. This helps reduce reflections and gives the Frame a canvas-like appearance. The Frame also has an "Art Mode," which lets it display paintings, photos, or other images when not used as a TV. Built-in motion sensors can be activated so the Art Mode turns on when the TV senses someone in the room. You can use your own images or have the Frame cycle through art from Samsung's Art Store (subscription required).

But while the Frame has a high-end design, its picture quality is a mixed bag. The QLED panel offers wide color support, but brightness is limited compared to Samsung's top QLEDs. It also lacks local dimming, which results in the worst contrast and black-level performance of any 65-inch TV in this guide. 

The Frame isn't geared toward wowing you with high dynamic range imagery. Instead, it's meant to appeal to buyers who want a 65-inch display that can serve as both a design piece for the living room and a capable smart TV for casual viewing. And in that sense, it excels.

The new 2024 Frame TV offers some color improvements over the older model but otherwise delivers similar performance. However, the 2024 model often sells for the same price as its predecessor. Unless you find the older model on sale for less, you should snag the 2024 edition. 

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How we test 65-inch TVs

To pick the best 65-inch TVs for our guide, we used a combination of hands-on testing and research bolstered by more than a decade's worth of expertise covering the home entertainment product industry. When we test displays, we evaluate them for general picture clarity, contrast performance, HDR peak brightness, color, off-axis viewing, smart TV interface, and value for the money. 

Brightness is measured using an X-Rite iDisplay Plus colorimeter. Other objective display capabilities are evaluated using test patterns found on the Spears & UHD HDR Benchmark 4K Blu-ray disc. 

To get a sense of real-world performance, we also watch scenes from movies and TV shows with clips specifically selected to emphasize a display's black levels, highlights, color capabilities, and upscaling. Our demo material includes a mix of 4K, 1080p high definition (HD), and standard definition (SD) content from streaming devices, cable TV, and Blu-ray discs. We also watch content in different lighting conditions to evaluate bright-room and dark-room performance. 

The best 65-inch TVs will also have excellent smart TV features, so we test overall navigation speed and app stability, voice search, digital assistant integration, and extra perks like game streaming support. 

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65-inch TV FAQs

Is it worth buying a 65-inch TV?

If you have the space for it, we think 65 inches is the ideal size to consider when shopping for a new TV, especially a 4K model. Many brands use 65 inches as their flagship size to show off their best 4K TVs, and this size is great for delivering big-screen immersion without taking up too much room.

However, you can still find excellent TV models in smaller sizes if you need something more compact. Likewise, top displays are available in larger sizes if you want an even more immersive screen.

Check out our other size-specific guides for more display recommendations:

• Best 50-inch TVs
• Best 55-inch TVs
• Best 75-inch TVs
• Best 85-inch TVs 

How much should you spend on a 65-inch TV?

Exactly how much you should spend on a 65-inch TV depends on your viewing needs. The best 65-inch TVs range in price from around $500 to over $3,000. You can also find cheaper entry-level 65-inch TVs for under $400, but we generally recommend paying more for one of our abovementioned picks.

Buyers shopping for a midrange 65-inch TV should expect to spend $500-$1,000. You can find 65-inch QLED TVs in this price range that offer advanced picture quality features, like local dimming, and good brightness performance that can reach 600-1,000 nits.

Buyers who want an upper-midrange or high-end 65-inch TV should be looking to spend $1,000-$3,000. You can find advanced 65-inch QLED TVs that deliver up to 2,000 nits of brightness in the $1,000-$2,000 range, while the best OLED TVs with infinite contrast ratios tend to sell for $1,600-$3,000.  

How far should you sit from a 65-inch 4K TV?

The benefits of a 4K screen become most noticeable when you sit at a distance of around one to 1.5 times the size of your TV. At that distance, you'll be able to see the extra detail that 4K resolution offers compared to a 1080p high-definition screen. The ideal viewing distance for a 65-inch 4K TV should be between 5.4 and 8.1 feet from your TV.    

You can sit farther away and still enjoy a 65-inch 4K TV, but that range will yield the best visible detail. Otherwise, you'll want a bigger screen to get the full benefits of 4K.  

Should you purchase a 65-inch 8K TV?

Though some brands do sell 65-inch 8K TVs, we don't recommend buying one in this screen size. When viewing it at a reasonable distance, 65 inches just isn't big enough to show off the benefits of an 8K resolution screen. 

A 75-inch or larger 8K TV is better suited for highlighting the additional detail you get with 8K resolution, but even then, the benefits are subtle. We recommend saving money and going with a 4K model if you want a 65-inch TV.

Do 65-inch TVs have good sound quality?

Though some 65-inch TV models have better built-in speaker systems than smaller displays, performance is still limited compared to a separate soundbar or surround sound setup. Speakers integrated into most TVs use small audio drivers that can lead to weak bass and muddy dialogue. 

To get better audio performance, we recommend buying a soundbar. For the most immersive experience, you should look for models that support Dolby Atmos, a spatial audio format that can spread sound effects around your room.

Check out our guides to the best soundbars, best budget soundbars, and the best Dolby Atmos soundbars for our top picks.  

Do TVs include free access to local networks?

The best 65-inch TVs all feature integrated digital tuners that allow you to hook up an antenna (sold separately) to receive free over-the-air (OTA) broadcasts. So long as you have good reception in your area, you can watch local channels like ABC, NBC, CBS, and Fox without a cable subscription. 

Check out our guide to the best indoor TV antennas to see our top recommendations. 

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It's hard to go wrong with most phones available in the US these days, and it's almost impossible to find a bad premium phone in 2024. Considering that, the "best phone" depends on your budget and priorities. Still, we can make a general assessment of the best phone overall.

Among the best phones available, Apple's iPhone 15 is our top option for most people due to its balance of performance, camera quality, camera reliability, battery life, and ecosystem for the price. Samsung's Galaxy S24 is the ideal pick for Android users for the same reasons as the iPhone 15. 

On the more affordable end of the spectrum, Apple's iPhone 13 and Google's Pixel 8a are superb devices that offer incredible value. These aren't exactly "cheap," but we think they're well worth the price considering their long-lasting performance, camera quality, and other premium features. 

Our top picks for the best phones

Best overall: iPhone 15 – See at Best Buy

Best phone for Android users: Samsung Galaxy S24 – See at Amazon

Best budget iPhone: iPhone 13 – See at Best Buy

Best budget phone for Android users: Google Pixel 8a – See at Amazon

Best camera phone: Google Pixel 8 Pro – See at Amazon

Best battery life: iPhone 15 Plus – See at Best Buy

Best foldable phone: OnePlus Open – See at Amazon

Best overall

These days, most smartphone users fall into either Team iPhone or Team Android. If you're platform agnostic and want a phone that requires the fewest compromises, we recommend the iPhone 15. (For those who prefer Apple, our best iPhone guide shows what else we recommend.)

While Android phones seem to go through identity changes more often than Ethan Hunt, iPhones have stayed relatively consistent year over year. Apple is largely sticking to a successful playbook for the iPhone 15: A phone that delivers a great user experience that revolves around a stable operating system, best-in-class camera system, popular apps, and the latest tech.

The iPhone 15 isn't a big departure from the iPhone 14, but there are noteworthy upgrades. It runs on the A16 processor and incorporates the Dynamic Island notification display, both introduced in the iPhone 14 Pro. Performance has increased over the iPhone 14 and 13, which used the A15. The 6.1-inch display is also much brighter, with a slightly higher resolution.

The big new feature is the iPhone's switch to USB-C from Lightning, which, depending on the user, could be a celebration or an annoyance. There is satisfaction in using the same cable to charge all your devices. But it's inconvenient if you own just Lightning cables and accessories, which would require purchasing new chargers and adapters. 

Most people, however, probably already have USB-C accessories, particularly those who own the newest MacBooks, iPads, PCs, and even Android phones, which have been using USB-C for some time now. Our disappointment with the iPhone 15's USB-C implementation is that it doesn't offer an improvement over Lightning regarding fast charging and data transfer.

The iPhone 15's main camera sensor has been bumped up to 48 megapixels from 12, and the optical zoom is now 2x instead of 1x. While iPhone cameras have always been solid, the iPhone 15 delivers improved low-light performance and picture quality, particularly when cropping into a photo.

While the newest Android phones aren't anything to sneeze at, we still recommend the iPhone for most people due to the polished hardware and software, ease of use, and Apple's lauded support.

For older iPhone owners who held back due to the lack of upgrades in the iPhone 14, the iPhone 15 is a more attractive recommendation. However, those who could use Apple's latest high-end features should consider the iPhone 15 Pro models, as they exclusively offer faster USB 3 charging, a customizable Action button, and dedicated zoom lenses. 

Read our full iPhone 15 review and see our guide to the best iPhone 15 cases to protect the phone. 

Best phone for Android users

With its triple-lens camera, class-leading performance, AI features, and excellent battery life, the Samsung Galaxy S24 is the complete package. No other phone offers as much as the Galaxy S24 for an $800 base price, even among iPhones.

Indeed, the Galaxy S24's three cameras set it apart from other Android phones in its 6.1-inch size range and $800 price range. By including a 3x zoom lens, the Galaxy S24 offers a more versatile camera experience, allowing you to take better-quality photos of subjects further away.

Ironically, the Galaxy S24's cameras are among our few complaints. To be sure, they're very good cameras, but they're generally less consistent than premium phones from Google and Apple, as irregular lighting can produce flat, shallow photos with reduced character.

That said, overall, the Galaxy S24 is our top pick among the best Android phones, as it's likely to satisfy most people with its stellar performance and high-end features at a reasonable price point. 

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S24 review and see our guide to the best Samsung Galaxy S24 cases to protect the phone. 

Best budget iPhone

If you're looking for the best iPhone experience for the lowest price, go for the iPhone 13 rather than the iPhone SE (2022). Yes, the iPhone 13 has a $599 starting price compared to the iPhone SE's $429, which stretches the definition of "budget." However, we feel the iPhone 13's extras are well worth it. 

The iPhone 13 runs on Apple's A15 Bionic processor (the same as the iPhone SE, coincidentally). Although two generations old, it can easily handle any app or game in the App Store. 

The iPhone 13 also features Apple's modern design rather than the iPhone SE's antiquated look with its top and bottom bezels. It also includes Face ID, a larger 6.1-inch OLED display, a dual-lens camera, and support for Apple's MagSafe wireless charging and accessories. To top it all off, the iPhone 13 has significantly better battery life than the iPhone SE. 

With all this in mind, we think you'll better enjoy the experience with the iPhone 13 for the years you'll use it. Based on Apple's support cycle, we'd estimate Apple will support the iPhone 13 for another three years. 

However, if budget matters more than features and design, you'll still be happy with the iPhone SE (2022), as it remains another top option among the best cheap phones available. But be aware that the iPhone SE uses an outdated design with a small screen and Touch ID.

Best budget phone for Android users

Starting at $499, Google's Pixel 8a pushes the boundaries of "budget." However, it easily offers the best bang for your buck for Android users. And while discounts are rare at the time of writing, soon after its release, the Pixel 8a will surely become available for periodical deals eventually, just like the Pixel 7a over the course of its first year.

No doubt, you can easily find Android phones with price tags as low as $200, but if you're at all discerning with the budget to spend up to $500, you won't regret going for the Pixel 8a.  

Most importantly, you won't feel the need to buy another phone for a long time thanks to the Pixel 8a's fast and smooth performance, coupled with its seven-year support window for Android upgrades and security updates. The Pixel 8a runs on the Google Tensor G3 processor, which means performance is on par with the premium flagship Pixel 8 models that run the same processor. 

Combine the Pixel 8a's performance with its smooth 120Hz display and 1080p resolution, and the experience is nothing short of premium. It's an OLED panel with superior colors, brightness, and contrast than any LCD display, and it includes a high-end always-on display feature. 

The Pixel 8a's cameras also compete with phones that cost twice as much. To be sure, even sub-par cameras on less expensive Android phones serve their purpose of capturing memories, but the Pixel 8a's premium-quality cameras simply do it better. This is especially true for reliability and versatility, where the Pixel 8a doesn't need ideal conditions and perfectly steady hands to take good, clear, focused photos.

For $500, the Pixel 8a is also just a good-looking phone with its frosted matte-texture plastic back and eye-catching color options. 

Our only complaint with the Pixel 8a is its relatively slow 18W charging, but it does feature 7.5W wireless charging. That's also slow, but it's still a nice option for all-day desk charging, and it's not one you'll usually find on budget-friendly Android phones. We would also have liked to see an option with a larger display, but that would surely mean a higher price. 

As excellent as the Pixel 8a is, your carrier might have deals for free premium phones, like the Pixel 8 or Galaxy S24 (or an iPhone). You'd need to be comfortable with the carrier deal's condition, which usually entails sticking with the carrier for two years and signing up for a specific type of plan. If that's the case, you might as well go for the premium phone from your carrier. If not, you can't go wrong with the Pixel 8a, the best budget Android phone on the market. 

Read our full Google Pixel 8a review and see our guide to the best Google Pixel 8a cases to protect the phone. 

Best camera phone

The Google Pixel 8 Pro has three cameras: a 48MP ultrawide camera, a 50MP main camera, and a 48MP 5x zoom camera. It takes excellent photos and imparted the most confidence during our testing, over both Samsung and Apple phones, that it would reliably do so repeatedly. 

The Pixel's signature photo look is gleefully present, with rich and natural colors, and lighting is properly balanced without trying to enhance darker and brighter details with extra brightness. Pixel photos have plenty of contrast, too, which gives them gorgeous depth.

Our top camera pick among the best Google Pixel phones, the Pixel 8 Pro's three lenses offer plenty of versatility, and we love its 5x zoom compared to the 3x zoom cameras that are more common.

If you want to stick to Apple's ecosystem, the iPhone 15 Pro Max offers the best camera system among iPhones, and it's the only option that matches the Pixel 8 Pro's 5x zoom lens. 

Read our full Google Pixel 8 Pro review and see our guide to the best Google Pixel 8 Pro cases to protect the phone. 

Best battery life

The iPhone 15 Plus is our recommendation if you're looking for a phone that can last over a day on a single charge. Every user's mileage will vary, but we achieved, on average, 66% of battery life remaining after rounds of testing. A close runner-up is the Samsung S24 Ultra, which yielded similar test results but is a more expensive phone.

In terms of performance and features, the iPhone 15 Plus shares the same pros and cons as the iPhone 15. But the iPhone 15 Plus is a larger device that can accommodate a bigger battery. It also has a 6.7-inch display versus 6.1, which gives you more viewable real estate. The problem is that you can't get longer battery life without getting a large phone, so it's something to consider and worth trying at a store. That said, we haven't experienced issues when holding it in our hand or stashing it in a pocket.

The Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra, with its 6.8-inch display, is a good example of how larger phones tend to offer longer battery life. However, it scored notably higher than other phones with large screens, like the Galaxy S24 Plus and Google Pixel 8 Pro.

That's all to say that the Galaxy S24 Ultra, specs-wise the best Samsung phone, offers the best battery life for Android users, but they have to pay a higher price than iPhone users.

See our guide to the best iPhone 15 Plus cases to protect the phone. 

Best foldable phone

We prefer book-style foldable phones that unfold into compact tablets for their superior functionality and performance relative to clamshell foldables, which fold into compact squares. 

Among the three phone-tablet hybrid foldables available in the US, the OnePlus Open is our favorite option, topping the Google Pixel Fold and Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5.

All phone-tablet hybrid foldables essentially offer the same level of performance, top-of-the-line displays with premium specs, like 120HZ refresh rates and OLED panels, excellent camera quality, and superlative battery life. 

What sets the OnePlus Open apart is its superior, rock-solid build quality, its cover display that's sized and shaped like a traditional phone, and its slightly larger cover and tablet displays compared to other available foldables. 

The only gripe we have with the OnePlus Open is the omission of wireless charging, which should be expected on a phone with a $1,700 price tag. It does support super-fast 67W charging speeds, but only with the included proprietary OnePlus charger.

Read our OnePlus Open hands-on assessment and see our guide to the best foldable phones for other top picks. 

Which is the best phone to buy right now?

Overall, Apple's iPhone 15 is the phone we'd recommend to most people, at least those who live in the US. Android phones these days are fantastic, but they still lack certain key features, like advanced biometric authentication that's on par with Apple's Face ID. Even minor features, like Apple's Dynamic Island, make us lean toward the iPhone 15.

Specs	iPhone 15	Samsung Galaxy S24	iPhone 13	Google Pixel 8a	Google Pixel 8 Pro	iPhone 15 Plus	OnePlus Open
Starting price	$799	$799.99	$599	$499	$999	$899	$1,699.99
Processor	A16 Bionic	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 Optimized for Galaxy	A15 Bionic	Google Tensor G3	Google Tensor G3	A16 Bionic	Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 2
Release date	September 2023	January 2024	September 2021	May 2024	October 2023	September 2023	October 2023
Screen size	6.1 inches	6.2 inches	6.1 inches	6.1 inches	6.7 inches	6.7 inches	7.82-inch interior; 6.31-inch interior
Rear cameras	12MP main, 12MP ultrawide	50MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 10MP 3x zoom	12MP main, 12MP ultrawide	64MP main, 13MP ultrawide	50MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 48MP 5x zoom	48MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 12MP 2x zoom (uses main camera sensor)	48MP main, 48MP ultrawide, 64MP 3x zoom
Storage	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	128GB, 256GB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	128GB, 256GB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB, 1TB	128GB, 256GB, 512GB	512GB

How we test phones

We test iPhones and Android phones as if they were our daily drivers for at least a week, often longer, to get a feel for their performance, battery life, cameras, and new features. We have extensive experience testing various phone models from different companies at various price points, which lets us quickly identify any issues.

In addition to real-world usage, we conduct standardized tests on all phones reviewed and included in our guides.

For performance, we put phones through a series of benchmarking apps to check for discrepancies between devices. We use Geekbench 6 for general performance and the 3DMark Wild Life Stress Test to gauge extended heavy gaming performance. These tests help us estimate how long a phone could maintain its performance relative to comparable phones.

For camera testing, we photograph a consistent set of scenes with every phone and compare the results with their direct competitors. We take photos and videos with each lens on each phone and evaluate the differences. We even compare budget camera phones to premium options to assess the image and video quality discrepancies.

For battery life, we run phones through a stress test that simulates a range of typical daily workloads, like streaming video and music, and high-intensity activities, like playing demanding games. This test includes five runs of the Geekbench 6 app, two runs of the 3DMark Wildlife Stress Test, two hours of video streaming at a set average brightness, and one hour of music streaming with a Bluetooth speaker connected. At the end of the test, we note the phone's remaining battery percentage.

FAQs

How much storage should a phone have?

These days, 128GB is the standard minimum storage option on most phones. Anything lower than that, like 64GB, can be quite limiting in terms of how many apps you can install, and you can basically forget about storing a significant number of photos, videos, and music.  

128GB of storage can be enough, especially if you use cloud storage for photos and often stream. Depending on how many apps you use, you can also get by downloading videos for flights.

You should opt for more than 128GB of storage if you tend to download your music rather than stream it or store lots of photos and videos on your phone. More storage can be helpful if you have many apps and games.

How long should a phone's battery life last?

A phone's battery should last you through a typical day, even for heavy users with extensive screen time. Thankfully, most phones tend to have good enough battery life to do so.

Larger phones tend to have longer battery lives than smaller ones, so users with lots of screen-on time would benefit from a larger phone if not for the larger display.

Your best options for a phone that can last longer than a day routinely are Apple's iPhone 15 Plus and Samsung's Galaxy S24 Ultra. These large-screen devices scored the highest among all phones in our intensive battery test. 

What is a good camera for a phone?

More than anything, a good phone camera should give you confidence that you'll get a high-quality photo or video without making you feel like you need to check and retake your content.

In this regard, we tend to trust Google's Pixel phones and Apple's iPhones the most. Correspondingly, our top overall picks for phone camera systems are Google's Pixel 8 Pro and Apple's iPhone 15 Pro Max, which both offer a dedicated 5x zoom lens.