[HN Gopher] iPhone 16 Best-Selling Smartphone in 2025; Apple Tak...
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iPhone 16 Best-Selling Smartphone in 2025; Apple Takes 7 Spots in
Top Models
Author : TMWNN
Score : 51 points
Date : 2026-01-29 20:49 UTC (2 hours ago)
(HTM) web link (counterpointresearch.com)
(TXT) w3m dump (counterpointresearch.com)
| NoboruWataya wrote:
| > Samsung's S series secured a spot in the list for the second
| consecutive year, reflecting the brand's continued focus on its
| flagship lineup.
|
| I'm kind of surprised the latest S series phone isn't on there
| every year. I've always thought of it as the premium non-Apple
| phone.
|
| Samsung annoy me with all the bloatware etc but the hardware is
| decent. I am in, I think, my seventh year with my S10 and it's
| going strong.
| stackghost wrote:
| >Samsung annoy me with all the bloatware etc
|
| This is why it never has been and will never be considered a
| premium android phone. Samsung's apps are awful.
| baal80spam wrote:
| Come on, don't you just love Bixby?
| bluegatty wrote:
| It's amazing that all those other companies have not figured
| out that their apps are generally bloat, and they release all
| sorts of models to Apple's fairly tight lineup.
|
| The winning example of tight product management is right
| there for them, but they continue to act like 'feature
| factories' without any concious 'whole product' design
| philosophy.
|
| Probably many people within these organizations are aware,
| but they don't have the power to resist ingrained operational
| culture.
| MBCook wrote:
| There is a possible winning strategy in trying to cover
| bases Apple isn't interested in. Apple has shown that
| they'll make phones that seem to be successful to some
| degree (the mini) but just aren't successful _enough_ by
| whatever internal metric Apple is using. And there are some
| things they just don't have right now like foldable phones.
|
| (I'm aware of the rumors)
|
| That doesn't mean you can't go overboard. I don't know
| Samsung's current lineup, but I think we've all seen PC
| manufacturers who make 75 different models that are all
| just ever so slightly different for seemingly no reason.
| yunohn wrote:
| > This is why it never has been and will never be considered
| a premium android phone.
|
| You are entitled to your opinion, but the S series is
| objectively considered a premium android phone by basically
| everyone. By your standard, the only possible contender is
| Google's Pixel lineup, but I get the feeling you might
| consider Google's forced 1st party apps as intrusive too.
| kube-system wrote:
| gApps and its stipulations are forced on all downstream
| android partners too. That's just part of how the capital-A
| Android ecosystem works. Generally google's apps are decent
| though and people refer to their minimal distribution as
| being "not bloatware".
| nine_k wrote:
| Which apps are the bloatware I keep hearing about? I use an
| S20 for several years, and the only custom (non-vanilla
| Android) apps I seem to be using are the camera, and the
| photo gallery in connection to it. Both are fine, do not
| require a Samsung account, etc.
| recursive wrote:
| The last Samsung phone I owned had a hardware button for
| launching Bixby. I've never wanted to use Bixby in my life.
| To this day I have no interest in learning what it actually
| does. You could not change the function of this button. It
| was just a button that I would press accidentally that
| would begin the apparently laborious process of starting up
| Bixby.
|
| I'll probably never buy another Samsung.
|
| Edit: Just thought of another one. I remember reading the
| news about how Android SMS was getting upgraded to have
| emojis or reactions or something. I don't remember the
| details. But it didn't work on my phone. A year later, I
| realized it was because I was using the Samsung messages
| app, instead of the Google one. I didn't even realize it.
| blell wrote:
| It's so bad that phones come with a "Samsung Global Goals"
| app to push the UN ideology.
|
| >The Samsung Global Goals app is a, CSR initiative
| partnering with the UNDP to promote 17 Sustainable
| Development Goals (SDGs) to end poverty, fight inequality,
| and fix climate change by 2030.
| ahartmetz wrote:
| >to push the UN ideology
|
| I think you fell into the wrong rabbithole somewhere
|
| Such virtue signaling by app is lame and hypocritical,
| but the UN is far too divided to be pushing anything.
| blell wrote:
| The wrong rabbit hole of finding a pre installed app
| pushing politics to be icky.
| linkage wrote:
| I disagree. Samsung Notes has always been more useful and
| better designed than Google Keep, especially the way it works
| with the S-pen. GoodLock makes it possible to customize your
| Galaxy phone in ways that are impossible even with developer
| mode on the Pixel series.
| kube-system wrote:
| I personally don't see the appeal of a premium product that
| includes bloatware when you can now get premium products
| without bloatware. I tolerated it in the early days of
| smartphones when there were fewer options and even fewer good
| options, but their "improvements" always felt gimmicky.
| Numerlor wrote:
| Samsung had been kind of side grading their flagships and
| offering worse SOCs depending on location, paired with there
| plainly being more options for Android there'll be more variety
| spread out over the different manufacturers
| jcims wrote:
| To this day my S6 was the phone I was actually happiest with.
| Mostly just because of its durability, fit and feel (and the
| screen of course) rather than any particular tech spec.
| cassepipe wrote:
| I am stuck on the (still working) S7. The physical home, back
| and application view button just feel so nice, that and the
| size, it actually fits in my hand, and pants pocket too.
| kube-system wrote:
| I loved the feel and size of the S3. The rounded and smooth
| back felt great in the hand and you could throw that thing
| around without a case and it took it like a champ. If anyone
| make a modern phone like that again I'd buy it in a
| heartbeat.
| gambiting wrote:
| >>Samsung annoy me with all the bloatware etc but the hardware
| is decent
|
| I used to buy every S Ultra phone every year, thinking the same
| - this year I bought the latest Oppo instead and wow, what a
| bubble I used to live in. The battery alone blows the Ultras
| out of the water, the chip is just as fast but stays cool, the
| camera and the screen are just better. The only thing that
| Samsung had over this was the anti reflective coating. Oh and
| it actually charges like a modern phone not something from
| 2015.
| alexdumitru wrote:
| I used to buy Samsung from S1 to S21, then I got a pixel and
| now the Oppo Find X9 Pro and wow, I forget to charge it. I've
| had days when I go to sleep with almost 80% battery. The
| pixel lasted me half day
| gambiting wrote:
| Yeah I had it for 2 months now and I haven't had a single
| day finished with less than 50%. My S24 Ultra I usually had
| to charge around 3-4pm or it would be going into power
| saving mode by 8-9pm
| Shalomboy wrote:
| I've been a pixel guy since HTC was making them for google,
| and honestly jumping from the 6 to the 9 has made me think
| that pastures are greener someplace else.
| silisili wrote:
| Samsung has really fallen behind the last couple years IMO.
| They use very different chips in different regions, and refuse
| for some reason to embrace bigger batteries.
|
| Phones out of China these days are all sporting ~7000mah
| batteries, even in smaller form factors. Samsung's biggest
| phone only has 5000, and that's not a small difference in
| battery life.
|
| Maybe they're still reeling from the Note 7 fiasco?
| thewebguyd wrote:
| Samsung has really been dropping the ball and has basically
| reduced themselves to a "No kids, we have Apple at home" clones
| outside of their fold line ups. Their OneUI updates have
| borrowed heavily from liquid glass.
|
| The S series have had the same camera hardware since the S22,
| and the upcoming S26 is no different. That's 5 years of the
| same exact hardware, and borderline the same display since the
| S21.
|
| People like to give Apple shit for releasing the same phone
| year after year, but Samsung has _literally_ been releasing the
| same exact phone for 4+ years now.
|
| Now, they scrapped the edge late, brought back the plus,
| delayed the S26 because Apple forced them to put 256GB as the
| base storage instead of 128, and there's rumours of a wider
| aspect ratio fold on top of the regular fold. They're just
| throwing spaghetti at the wall trying to see what sticks.
|
| Samsung has no vision.
| gruturo wrote:
| > Samsung has no vision.
|
| I entirely agree with you, and profoundly dislike them, but
| it's clearly working for them if their financials don't lie.
| While most other manufacturers bleed money, Samsung had
| healthy profits on smartphones last time I checked. It still
| puzzles me that anyone would buy them at all, but I've long
| accepted that I'm not a representative sample.
|
| So given that, I don't see why they would bother coming up
| with a vision after all this time.
| sounds wrote:
| Samsung seems to be targetting a sweet spot. "Costs less
| than Apple, superficially looks like an iPhone, product
| lineup includes smaller form factors, good enough."
|
| It doesn't work for me, but that's because I courageously
| use my headphone jack.
| vizzier wrote:
| I managed to purge myself of Apple as of a couple of years
| back by getting an s24 ultra.
|
| Main things that stand out over apple:
|
| - Much higher resolution camera w/ pretty incredible zoom.
| Though overall picture quality is a far closer comparison.
|
| - S-pen, mostly used for its remote capability, shame they
| dropped that for the s25...
|
| - Samsung Dex. I use my phone as my laptop daily, I've also
| used it as a dumb terminal for remote gaming while
| travelling which works exceptionally well
|
| - Access to alternative browsers, ad blocking, alternate
| stores, side loading apps etc
|
| While Google is no angel Apple actively works against open
| systems and control of your own devices, I'm glad to be out
| of that ecosystem.
| ganzman wrote:
| I've owned the SII, Note 4 (and a few Pixels in between) and
| now the S24. The S24 is by far the worst Android phone I've
| used. Massive battery drain on stand-by, even with AOD off. It
| has about half the battery live of a Pixel 5. Many accidental
| touches when in your pocket which will screw up all sorts of
| settings. Annoying push for their AI. Sub-par fingerprint
| sensor. The only reason I bought this phone was because it is
| one of the last compact phones around.
| russellbeattie wrote:
| That "bloatware" is just alternatives to Google's software and
| systems, and much of it isn't bad, if not better.
|
| I prefer the Gallery app over Google Photos, the Samsung My
| Files app is cleaner than Google Files, Studio is a decent
| video editor, Samsung Notes is a capable rich text editor with
| pen support, Dex is a usable desktop shell, and more. Anything
| I don't like - like Bixby, Store, Keyboard, Wallet, Pass and
| Internet - I can easily replace and even hide them in the
| Settings. Combined they take up minimal storage.
|
| I'm not sure what people expect Samsung to do, just use
| whatever Google says to use and not try to innovate?
| aucisson_masque wrote:
| No I think when people speak of bloatware, they think more
| about, for instance, the 3 preinstalled Facebook app. Of
| which 2 of them are systemized, effectively hidden and can't
| be uninstalled.
| NoboruWataya wrote:
| > I'm not sure what people expect Samsung to do, just use
| whatever Google says to use and not try to innovate?
|
| To me, the benefit of the S series was "Android on decent
| hardware". I would have preferred as close to stock Android
| as possible. I mostly use F-Droid stuff anyway, though of
| course that means I am far from the average consumer.
|
| They are primarily a hardware company - it seems reasonable
| to expect them to innovate there, and leave innovation in
| software to the software companies.
| BryantD wrote:
| Somewhere far away, Eric Raymond is explaining that "Apple's
| hopes of retaining market share above 10% will vanish."
| xnx wrote:
| It's a bit like the car market, where there are only a few Tesla
| models, and hundreds of models from other manufacturers. Google
| is hamstrung in not wanting to compete too fiercely against other
| Android phone manufacturing partners.
| hangonhn wrote:
| Does Google have the hardware design expertise needed to
| compete? If they don't already posses that then it is quite a
| dilemma because they would need to either buy a top notch
| handset maker and hope that can be competive with the other
| Android makers. Or build it up themselves. And all this has to
| happen while competing with other Android makers, who will be
| very wary of Google. I also don't know that Google needs
| specific Android phones to be the best or most popular to win
| the things they care about. Phones are just platforms for them.
| Android ensures no one has a chokepoint on that.
| Shalomboy wrote:
| Google bought out HTC 8 years ago to the day, and if I recall
| correctly that exacerbated a lot of the tension in the
| Android OEM space that the original Google Pixel rollout
| caused in the first place.
| xnx wrote:
| They also bought (and sold!) Motorola.
| xnx wrote:
| > Does Google have the hardware design expertise needed to
| compete?
|
| Yes
|
| Google Pixel devices are well made and took 4 out of 10
| Editor's Choice picks here:
| https://www.cnet.com/tech/mobile/best-android-phone/
| jp191919 wrote:
| I only buy pixel phones for my family now. Never had any
| issues with them, plus I can run Graphene OS
| danpalmer wrote:
| I have had recent iPhones, Pixels, and a Samsung phone, all
| high end. I'm a bit biased, but I do honestly think that
| Pixels are better or the same build quality compared to
| Samsung. The software is better for me too, but I accept
| that's a lot of personal preference.
|
| I think the iPhones are out in front a little, but in a way
| that I'm not sure really matters. I loved the iPhone hardware
| I've owned, but the difference in build quality isn't
| noticeable unless you look carefully and isn't noticeable in
| a case. The only way I'd say it's noticeable is if you're a
| hardware nerd who knows how the things are manufactured, or
| if you get a repair bill. What Apple have done with iPhone
| hardware is a huge achievement, but said as someone who likes
| owning nice things, I'd happily take a Pixel 10.
| MBCook wrote:
| Are they? Or are they just not willing to put in the resources
| to fight to get a bigger share?
|
| It's been more than long enough that I suspect no one could
| launch a third phone. If it doesn't have iOS or Android it
| probably just won't fly.
|
| So I'm not sure how much they have to worry about.
| bombcar wrote:
| I can think of _one_ company that could launch a phone with
| some success, if they wanted to. Nintendo.
|
| Nintendo Switchphone2 - it is a Switch that can make phone
| calls.
|
| Microsoft could do it if they wanted to, and didn't bungle it
| like the last three times. (lol)
|
| The key in my mind is to NOT compete for the high-end, but as
| a feature phone.
| xnx wrote:
| Bring back sidetalkin'!
| netsharc wrote:
| From the same site:
| https://counterpointresearch.com/en/insights/global-smartpho...
|
| 20% of all phones sold are iPhones, and 80% are Android (or not
| 80%? Some small percentage is probably neither). Yeah,
| considering the iPhone has maybe 3-5 models, and across all the
| Android brands, maybe 500 models?
|
| 32% are other brands... interestingly Google belongs in said
| "other".
| giancarlostoro wrote:
| I held on to my 13 Pro until the 17 pro came out, so I wouldnt be
| surprised if a lot of this is people finally going "ok maybe now"
| and the 16 just lands on the biggest group.
|
| I found myself using both phones as I transitioned off the old
| one and barely noticing the difference mind you, which is a good
| sign in my eyes. I think Smartphones for the last 6 to 8 years
| are finally very stable. More stable than a Windows 11 laptop on
| Hardware people in the 2000s could only dream of.
| bombcar wrote:
| Besides Touch ID I'd be really hard pressed to tell you
| something my current iPhone can do that the iPhone 8+ couldn't,
| let alone something it can do that I use.
| devin wrote:
| The cameras have had leaps if you're talking about that kind
| of timescale. Otherwise, I mostly agree.
| solarkraft wrote:
| Have they started becoming better again? I had the X before
| the current 13 and am still regularly disappointed by the
| camera.
| macintux wrote:
| I'd probably be fine still using my iPhone 3G were it not
| for the camera. An upgrade every 2-3 years feels
| practically mandatory for better photos.
| bombcar wrote:
| Honestly the biggest thing I notice is the 5x zoom camera,
| everything else is a "wow that's nice" when I do a direct
| comparison, but I promptly forget about it (similar to
| looking at 4K HD vs 480i and then promptly forgetting about
| it when actually watching the movie; so many times I've
| realized it was using the older smaller file).
|
| Battery life, I guess, if I had to pick something else.
| dijit wrote:
| I haven't enjoyed the iPhone since it could sit flat on a
| table. (5S)
|
| I can't tell you that I use the phone differently than I did
| then, because I don't. The camera on a phone, for me, is a
| nice to have in the moment, I'm not a photographer and I have
| never felt the need to have such an incredible camera at my
| disposal (except that my eyes are failing so using the zoom
| to see the distance has been nice... twice).
|
| I've been thinking of dumping the phone entirely, except I
| have my cards on there (yes, cards are smaller) and,
| crucially, my online banking.
|
| I thought about going to a 5SE, which isn't supported but
| would still kinda work, but my own one is bricked somehow and
| Apple doesn't allow it to be restored via Finder anymore. :(
|
| Bear in mind, I _still_ have an iPhone 17 for work, and a 15
| Pro for home...
|
| I hate this duopoly.
| drivers99 wrote:
| I got one of those MagSafe PopSockets and now I can set the
| phone on its back and it will be horizontal and doesn't
| have the camera being on the table.
| nozzlegear wrote:
| It sounds silly, but I've got an iPhone 14 Pro and have been
| eyeing that action button on the side of the new iPhones.
| I'll probably upgrade just for that little button once they
| announce an iPhone 18 later this summer.
| schmichael wrote:
| I recently upgraded from an iPhone 12 to an iPhone 16 because I
| couldn't figure out how to free enough storage on the 12. The
| battery was still more than good enough to go a full day.
|
| I don't notice any difference other than now I have a pile of
| useless lightning cables (good riddance). Honestly kind of a
| relief as I liked the 12 just fine. Phones kind of seem like a
| Solved tech these days. About as exciting to upgrade them as
| upgrading my Brother Laser Printer.
| smallmancontrov wrote:
| If Apple ever implements SMS anti-spam that actually works,
| I'll buy the upgrade it a heartbeat. It's been a solved
| problem on the google side for years so it's clearly not
| impossible.
| simmonmt wrote:
| Interesting. I made the same jump and noticed a huge increase
| in speed and decrease in memory pressure (the likelihood that
| iOS will kill an app I've switched away from). I miss the
| physical silent mode button though.
| evanreichard wrote:
| Not sure if it was the same bug, but I had a storage issue
| where System Data ballooned to like 200GB.
|
| It had the most bizarre solution; airplane mode, set time to
| one year in the future, reboot, wait a few minutes, set time
| to 6mo in the future, reboot, wait a few minutes, set time to
| now, reboot. Went from 200GB to like 15GB. Was ridiculous.
|
| (For anyone looking at this and considering doing it, you
| also need to ensure iMessage retention is forever, otherwise
| the iPhone will think it's a year old and delete the
| messages)
| wat10000 wrote:
| 2025 and 2024 look identical for the top five spots, just with
| each number +1, so it's not any sort of one-off thing.
| cassepipe wrote:
| According to ifixit, the 16 is also the most repairable iphone
| ever
|
| If it wasn't concerned on how nice it play with linux, I would
| already have one
|
| https://www.ifixit.com/News/101397/an-update-on-iphone-repai...
| microtonal wrote:
| Still much worse than what could have been. Compare to for
| example Fairphone, remove some screws and you can replace the
| battery. Same for the screen and other components. No glue.
| squidsoup wrote:
| I'm still using an iPhone 12, and given I have a proper camera,
| see no reason to (ever?) upgrade. After a battery replacement, it
| still runs perfectly well. That seems like a problem for Apple.
| prawn wrote:
| I think the 12 was great, and the main driver when I upgraded
| to a 14 was much better stabilisation when shooting video.
| Otherwise I probably would've stuck with it.
| mikestew wrote:
| It's a problem Apple could easily fix: put out another small
| phone. I'm in the "cold dead hands" camp with our 13 Minis:
| when the battery dies, get a new one and hope Apple comes to
| their senses in four years.
|
| OTOH, maybe the iPhone Fold will turn out to not be _two_ giant
| slabs of glass that still won 't fit in your pocket. Maybe
| it'll be a reasonable size folded up, and big when unfolded. A
| person can dream...
| iammiles wrote:
| Apple makes a sizeable sum through the App store and
| accessories. I don't think low churn on their flagship hardware
| is keeping their executives awake at night.
| amelius wrote:
| The number of models they sell is so small, of course it's going
| to be best-selling.
| amelius wrote:
| Yes everybody and their grandmother has one.
| raincole wrote:
| I'm in no place to judge how other people live their lives, but
| sometimes I'm still in awe that smartphone companies can create
| the customer behavior of changing their phone every year just for
| slightly better cameras.
| charliebwrites wrote:
| Apple is usually pretty good at keeping older phones performant
| enough but,
|
| This is the first upgrade cycle that I upgraded in anger over
| an unusably slow and energy inefficient OS on an "older" model
|
| I was traveling in south / south east Asia and my iPhone 15 Pro
| was dying twice a day despite minimal use besides maps and
| taking some photos. My battery health was 86% so not perfect
| but surely it shouldn't die twice a day.
|
| That coupled with the keyboard constantly lagging with every
| letter I typed made me realize Apple no longer cares about
| older models.
|
| They threw that out with Liquid Glass.
|
| I wish Android wasn't also closing off their ecosystem.
| paulbgd wrote:
| It helps that the major cell carriers have convinced people to
| pay multiple times more than the budget carriers, to offer free
| phone upgrades every few years or when switching carriers.
| Makes me wonder how much cheaper phone plans could be
| riversflow wrote:
| I upgraded to a 16 pro from an iPhone SE 2. Things I noticed:
|
| Pros:
|
| Better screen, cameras and build quality. Like _way_ better. The
| glass on this phone is durable enough to not use a case and I don
| 't. After beating it up for a year, its looks and works great.
| The build quality of this device is bordering alien.
|
| Face ID is very nice. Touch ID does not like my skin.
|
| I like the magnetic accessories and MagSafe.
|
| Visual intelligence is actual quite useful for helping to
| identify stuff. I'm a curious person and actually use it.
|
| Having flashlight on the action button makes it feel like a tool.
| I use the flashlight virtually every day.
|
| It's nice to not have my phone lag, which was a problem for the
| SE2. This phone is very capable, battery life is much better too.
|
| Cons:
|
| I have had more camera crashes on this iPhone than any I've ever
| had on a new flagship. Less than on my dying SE2, but the camera
| should not crash on a new flagship. It's mission critical
| equipment in my book.
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