The global smartphone market boasts a plethora of brands, but in this article, we tell you the top 10 phone brands worth your consideration. Our rankings are grounded in the latest quarterly (April to June 2024) shipment data from Omida’s global smartphone report. Furthermore, we’ve curated a selection of the most popular smartphones from each brand, drawing insights from 91mobiles.
Table of Contents
Samsung
Android is the most used mobile operating system in the world and Samsung being the major OEM, is bound to be the biggest player. It recorded shipments of 53.7 million units in Q2, 2024, per Omida’s data. However, this number has fallen from Q1 2024 in which Samsung recorded 60.4 million unit shipments. Even though it suffered a quarter-on-quarter dip, the year-on-year results have seen an uptick. Most of its phones (even the middle-order and lower-tiered ones) have a comparable design and decent software plus hardware offerings.
Most popular Samsung smartphones
- Samsung Galaxy A35 5G
- Samsung Galaxy M35 5G
- Samsung Galaxy S24 Ultra
- Samsung Galaxy S23 FE 5G
- Samsung Galaxy A55 5G
Apple
Apple is a juggernaut in the premium smartphone market thanks to iPhones and a solid walled ecosystem. Despite witnessing a downfall in Q2 2024, the American giant has had a good leap year on year. The iPhone 16 series brought noticeable upgrades like a Camera Control, larger displays on Pro models, more powerful processors and more RAM. The brand recorded total shipments of 45.6 million units in Q4 2024.
Most popular Apple smartphones
Xiaomi
Xiaomi is in the 3rd spot primarily thanks to value-for-money phones in the lower-end and lower-midrange segments. That said its premium phones are also competent spec monsters. For instance, the Xiaomi 14 Ultra has a Leica-branded 50MP triple rear camera setup, 90W fast charging, Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 SoC, 120Hz LTPO display, and HyperOS software. In Q2 2024, the OEM achieved 42.3 million shipments, which is a slight uptick compared to the previous quarter.
Most popular Xiaomi smartphones
Vivo
Vivo has some great offerings in the higher-end segment. The X90 series, for instance, has upstate specs, exceptional camera quality, and a commanding appearance. It also brings goods to the more affordable segments. The phones in general are known for their camera trickery and decent overall repertoire. It has raked in 26 million shipments in Q2 of 2024.
Most popular Vivo smartphones
Transsion
Transsion is a Chinese brand that releases phones under the brand names Tecno, Infinix and Itel. These offer good competing phones at budget prices. Out of the lot, Tecno appears to have more premium offerings in the form of Phantom X2 Pro and Phantom V Fold2. Compared to Q1 of 2024, the brand’s shipments have fallen by 7.3 percent this quarter. However, it has increased year on year by 4.1 percent.
Most popular Tecno smartphones
Most popular Infinix smartphones
OPPO (includes OnePlus)
OPPO and OnePlus together have garnered 25.2 million shipments in Q2 2024, which is a 0.8 percent quarter-on-quarter increase. Yearly, the increase has been by 1.0 percent. OPPO is a substantial player in the offline market in countries like India. It has some solid flagships like the Find X7 series with Hasselblad cameras, customer imaging NPU, 100W charging, and a 1 billion colour display. Its sister concern’s OnePlus 12 also shares these goodies.
Most popular OPPO smartphones
Most popular OnePlus smartphones
Honor
Honor, once a Huawei subsidiary, now exists as an independent brand. The phones have Google Mobile Services and can also feature Qualcomm chips. In India, the brand works as HTech and is led by Madhav Sheth, the former Realme India CEO. Honor Magic 6 Pro was able to grab attention because of features like a curved 120Hz AMOLED display with 1B colours, a 5,600mAh battery, Emergency SOS via satellite and more. Globally, the brand has clocked 15.5 million unit shipments in Q2 2024.
Most popular Honor smartphones
Motorola
Motorola is the veteran brand in the scene that is still releasing decent phones at various price slots. While thinking of Motorola, close-to-stock Android software and bang-for-buck phones come to one’s mind, today, the company has a head-turning folding phone and power-packed top-rung phones too. In the recent quarter, it has pulled off 13.5 million shipments.
Most popular Motorola smartphones
Realme
Following the same strategy of offering design and camera-centric smartphones, the company recently unveiled the Realme 13 Pro+ which carries a distinct vegan leather design, periscope cameras, and curved AMOLED panels. Realme had 12.3 million shipments in the second quarter of 2024 which is an increase of 21.8 percent from Q1 2024. A similar rise can be seen in the year-on-year results too.
Most popular Realme smartphones
Huawei
Once a brand poised to take over Samsung in the Android space, but then hit by the US sanctions, it lost its momentum and started struggling to secure processors and software for its phones. It took some time but the brand managed to ship phones still, high-end phones at that. In Q2 2024, it had 11.7 million shipments.
Most popular Huawei smartphones
Top 10 best smartphone brands in the world (Q2 2024)
| Mobile brands | Quarterly shipments in millions |
| Samsung | 53.7 |
| Apple | 45.6 |
| Xiaomi | 42.3 |
| Vivo | 26.0 |
| Transsion | 25.5 |
| OPPO | 25.2 |
| Honor | 15.5 |
| Motorola | 13.5 |
| Realme | 12.3 |
| Huawei | 11.7 |
Factors to consider when choosing a mobile brand
Quality of the product
Your primary focus must be on the product you are buying; whether it meets your needs and is the best that you can get for the price you are paying. Sometimes, a product may be good but the brand may not be popular or preferable to you. In that case, you have to decide whether it is worth risking for the product.
Warranty and customer support
You should see if the product you are buying is covered under a warranty policy. A good brand is likely to have an industry-standard warranty policy including the coverage period and damages covered. Even if the product is out of warranty coverage, you need to know if the brand offers repair and components.
Ecosystem integration and accessory support
Once you buy a phone, you may also want to invest in accessories, and secondary products like smartwatches, earphones, etc from the same brand. A good brand ensures the phone owner gets good options for accessories like cases, chargers, etc on the brand’s store itself. It will also ensure the secondary products work seamlessly with the phone and may even open up convenient use cases and quality-of-life features. The warranty and after-sale support associated with the accessories and secondary devices are also important.
Brand image and lifestyle
The above reasons contribute to a brand becoming a brand. But once it is a brand, an aspirational value is associated with owning its products. You may want to own a specific brand’s product to show it off to people around you. Also, sometimes depending on the kind of lifestyle you have, you may want to buy a specific brand’s phone.
Resale value
The bigger the brand, the more its product’s perceived value is. So, even when you go to sell it, the second-hand buyer would be ready to pay relatively more than what a non-branded or inferior branded phone would get you. So, the resale value of a specific brand’s phone is also something you need to consider.
FAQs
Which is the number 1 Android brand?
Samsung is the Number 1 Android brand in terms of shipments. It had the highest shipments in Q2, 2024 at about 53.7 million units.
Which mobile brand is best for gamers?
There is no one-shot answer for this. It depends on your requirements. If you are a hardcore gamer, then going with something like ASUS for its ROG gaming phones would be better. Otherwise, you could buy any good smartphone that fits your budget from any of the brands above.
Which mobile brand has the best camera?
Considering both photos and videos, Apple’s iPhones would be your best bet. Samsung, Vivo, OPPO, and Xiaomi also have great camera phones. Even Google’s Pixel phones are known for their camera quality.
