MKBHD Award

Best-looking smartphone 2025: Best Design

Celebrates the most beautiful, innovative, or distinctive physical design in the smartphone industry that year.

11 Years

7 Brands

4× Samsung

2025 Champion — Best-looking smartphone

⭐ Featured Winner 2025

✨ Best Design

iPhone Air

Apple · 2025

At just 5.5mm thin, the iPhone Air is the thinnest mainstream smartphone ever made. A triumph of industrial design.

Display 6.6-inch OLED, 120Hz ProMotion

Camera 48MP main + 12MP front

Battery 2,800 mAh

Launch Price $899

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Compare Best Design Winners

How does the 2025 best-looking smartphone stack up against previous champions? Key display specs side by side.

Current

2025

iPhone Air

Apple

Display

6.6-inch OLED, 120Hz ProMotion

At 5.5mm, the thinnest mainstream smartphone ever made. Elegant and pocketable.

Buy on Amazon Details

2024

Huawei Mate XT

Huawei

Display

10.2-inch tri-fold OLED (6.4-inch folded)

World's first tri-fold smartphone. Engineering marvel with a display that unfolds to 10.2 inches.

Buy on Amazon Details

2023

Honor Magic V2

Honor

Display

7.92-inch inner OLED, 6.43-inch outer OLED, 120Hz

World's thinnest foldable at 9.9mm folded. Honor leapfrogged Samsung in hardware design.

Details

2022

Nothing Phone (1)

Nothing

Display

6.55-inch OLED, 120Hz

The transparent back with Glyph Interface LEDs was the most original design of the decade.

Buy on Amazon Details

2021

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

Samsung

Display

6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED, 120Hz LTPO

The contour-cut camera bar started a design language that every brand copied.

Buy on Amazon Details

Phone	Year	Display	Display	Chipset	Price
iPhone Air Apple	2025	6.6-inch OLED, 120Hz ProMotion	6.6-inch OLED, 120Hz ProMotion	Apple A18	$899
Huawei Mate XT Huawei	2024	10.2-inch tri-fold OLED (6.4-inch folded)	10.2-inch tri-fold OLED (6.4-inch folded)	Kirin 9010	$2,800
Honor Magic V2 Honor	2023	7.92-inch inner OLED, 6.43-inch outer OLED, 120Hz	7.92-inch inner OLED, 6.43-inch outer OLED, 120Hz	Snapdragon 8 Gen 2	$1,599
Nothing Phone (1) Nothing	2022	6.55-inch OLED, 120Hz	6.55-inch OLED, 120Hz	Snapdragon 778G+	$469
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Samsung	2021	6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED, 120Hz LTPO	6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED, 120Hz LTPO	Snapdragon 888	$1,199

Showing last 5 winners with available data. Specs from manufacturer listings.

Which Brand Dominates Best Design?

Samsung

4 wins (36%)

Apple

2 wins (18%)

Huawei

1 win (9%)

Honor

1 win (9%)

Nothing

1 win (9%)

All-Time Best Design Winners (2014–2025)

Year	Winner	Runner-Up	View award
2025	iPhone Air — Apple At 5.5mm, the thinnest mainstream smartphone ever made. Elegant and pocketable.	Samsung Galaxy S25 Edge	View →
2024	Huawei Mate XT — Huawei World's first tri-fold smartphone. Engineering marvel with a display that unfolds to 10.2 inches.	—	View →
2023	Honor Magic V2 — Honor World's thinnest foldable at 9.9mm folded. Honor leapfrogged Samsung in hardware design.	Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 5	View →
2022	Nothing Phone (1) — Nothing The transparent back with Glyph Interface LEDs was the most original design of the decade.	iPhone 14 Pro	View →
2021	Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra — Samsung The contour-cut camera bar started a design language that every brand copied.	iPhone 13 Pro	View →
2020	Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — Samsung Matte Mystic Bronze glass with contour-cut camera module. The most distinctive phone of the year.	—	View →
2019	Samsung Galaxy Fold — Samsung Despite a rocky launch, the Galaxy Fold proved the future of form factors had arrived.	—	View →
2018	OPPO Find X — OPPO The motorized pop-up camera module was engineering theater at its finest. Zero bezels, zero notch.	—	View →
2017	Essential Phone — Essential Essential's titanium-and-ceramic build was unlike anything else. The notch pioneer.	iPhone X	View →
2016	iPhone 7 — Apple Apple's refined aluminum design and new home button impressed despite unchanged look.	HTC 10	View →
2015	Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge — Samsung The curved-edge AMOLED display turned heads everywhere. Build quality rivaled the best in the industry.	—	View →

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the best-looking smartphone in 2025? ▼

According to MKBHD's 2025 Smartphone Awards, the best-looking smartphone is the iPhone Air by Apple. At 5.5mm, the thinnest mainstream smartphone ever made. Elegant and pocketable. At just 5.5mm thin, the iPhone Air is the thinnest mainstream smartphone ever made. A triumph of industrial design.

Who won MKBHD Best Design in 2025? ▼

The MKBHD Best Design winner for 2025 is the iPhone Air by Apple. At 5.5mm, the thinnest mainstream smartphone ever made. Elegant and pocketable.

What phone won MKBHD Best Design in 2024? ▼

The 2024 MKBHD Best Design went to the Huawei Mate XT by Huawei. World's first tri-fold smartphone. Engineering marvel with a display that unfolds to 10.2 inches.

Which brand makes the best-looking smartphone? ▼

Samsung has won the MKBHD Best Design award 4 times — more than any other brand. 7 different brands have won this award since 2014.

What is the MKBHD Best Design award? ▼

Celebrates the most beautiful, innovative, or distinctive physical design in the smartphone industry that year. It is one of several annual awards given by Marques Brownlee (MKBHD) in his yearly Smartphone Awards video, which he has published on YouTube since 2014.

Has any phone won MKBHD Best Design more than once? ▼

No single phone model has won the MKBHD Best Design award more than once. However, Samsung have had multiple winning devices across different years.

Other MKBHD Award Categories

Phone of the Year Best Camera Best Battery Best Value Best Big Phone Best Small Phone

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