Best Phones for Traveling the World

Let’s be honest. You probably already have a phone that is fine for travel. You may even be reading this article on it right now. After all, if your phone is good enough for your day to day life, why wouldn’t it be good enough for travel?

I’m so glad you asked!

Our phones are some of the most powerful devices in any travel arsenal, in large part thanks to their incredible versatility. Need to take a picture? The best camera is the one in your hand. Need to get across town? Your phone has access to maps and apps like Uber that can get you there in style. Need to stay in touch with the fam (or work) while on the road? Your phone is the easiest source of internet around.

Most modern phones can perform all these tasks admirably, but the best phones for travel kick everything up a notch!

What features make a phone good for travel?

In particular, there are a handful of features that are incredibly important for your phone to have if you plan on using it while traveling internationally. If your phone doesn’t have these features, it’s possible that it won’t offer the travel experience that you’re expecting.

These are the features that I consider absolutely essential for a good travel phone.

Your phone should be carrier unlocked

First and foremost, if you plan on using your phone for getting on the internet while traveling, you need to make sure it is carrier unlocked.

Many carriers in the US offer great deals on phones for people who sign up for one of their plans. (Think: Get an iPhone free when you do X.) These deals can save you a lot of money on the phone itself, but they’re meant to lock you into your carrier’s plan, and a lot of the time these phones end up being locked to a specific carrier.

For instance, if you’re using a Verizon phone, you may not be able to switch it to an ATT plan without going through Verizon to unlock it. This is meant to be an extra barrier to switching that encourages you to stay with them, since switching becomes more effort than its worth.

But it is also a barrier to using your phone overseas, because if you don’t get it unlocked, you won’t be able to use any other carrier’s network!

There’s a great article on ConsumerReports.org on how to get this done, if you need it.

Your phone should have a good camera

Ok, so technically your phone doesn’t need a good camera to work overseas, but if you’re traveling somewhere incredible, don’t you want to be able to take incredible photos while you’re there?

You could get a GoPro or fancy mirrorless camera instead, but more devices means less space for souvenirs, and, inevitably, you’re going to want to take a picture of something when you don’t have your camera with you. What will you have with you? Your phone.

Make sure it has a camera worth using.

Your phone should have all day battery

Let’s be honest. If you use your phone a lot, there’s not a phone out there that really has all-day battery. Even so, some phones definitely have longer battery life than others, and when you’re spending all day out and about, you don’t want to get to the end of the day and discover you can’t call an Uber because your battery is dead.

I’m going to be honest. My phone does not meet this criteria, especially if I decide to take a lot of videos while I’m out. So, I keep a power bank and charger in my day bag, just in case! If you plan on taking a lot of videos, you should do the same.

Your phone should have a physical SIM slot

In my opinion, this should go without saying. Except that, if you live in the US and have one of the newer iPhone models, your phone doesn’t have a SIM slot.

For a lot of the places people like to travel, this can be problematic if you’re wanting to get a local phone plan. Local plans are easily the most cost-effective way to get mobile data when abroad, so if you travel a lot, you probably want a phone that can use local networks.

There are ways around this, like using an eSIM provider like Saily or Airalo, but I genuinely think Apple is making things harder for its customers for no practical reason.

Your phone should have good water and dust protection (or a good case)

No, you probably aren’t going to dragging your phone through muddy puddles intentionally, but travel can be hard on your phone.

Beaches in particular are terrible places for phones. Sand can damage screens and it is so easy to forget that you have a phone in your pocket before deciding to take a quick dip in the ocean. I’ve also managed to completely submerge my phone in an underground river while caving, completely cover it in mud when I wiped out on a jungle trail, and even dropped it in my food. (Don’t judge.)

I have a Spigen case for my phone that does a great job of absorbing the shock of falls, but it is not waterproof or dustproof, nor do I have a screen protector. (Because I live dangerously.) But because my phone has an IP68 rating, I don’t have to worry. Much.

Your phone should have plenty of storage

One of my least favorite messages to get on my phone is the “out of storage” message that pops up right when I was about to take an epic video. Yes, there are plenty of great ways to manage your storage space so you can take more photos, but the easiest way is just to not run out of storage to begin with.

Modern flagship phones come with huge amounts of memory, perfect for recording 4k videos, or for downloading literal days-worth of Netflix videos to keep you entertained on your 2-hour flight.

But at a minimum, you should have a phone with at least 128GB of memory if you plan on taking lots of photos on your trip. This might still seem like overkill, but as we get better and better quality cameras, our picture and video files are getting bigger and bigger, too.

What are the best phones for travel?

So, considering all the above features, what are the best phones for travel?

Well, unsurprisingly, the best phones for travel tend to be the same ones that top most people’s best phones lists, with a few exceptions.

Here are my personal picks.

Google’s Pixel phones

I’ve been using Pixel phones for years at this point and I’ve loved the experience.

Pixel Phones reflect the phone qualities that Google sees as being the most important for Android phones and will typically receive security and feature updates much faster than a lot of other phones thanks to how closely they align to “stock” android.

Pixel phones have brighter screens, bigger batteries, and tighter integration with Google services than their direct competitors. Plus, their cameras are rated as some of the best found on a phone! All at a price that is consistently lower than the competition.

I personally have the Pixel 7 Pro, and have mostly loved it. My biggest complaint is that it does tend to overheat when I try to take longer videos. That’s particularly problematic when I’m in hot areas like hiking in a rainforest or in direct sunlight in the beach, but it hasn’t been a problem in places where I’m in the shade or have access to air conditioning. This year’s version, the 10 Pro, seems to be doing much better about not overheating during video recording. However, I have seen several people saying it overheats during wireless charging. So, maybe stick with the cord if you need to charge while recording.

Samsung S series phones

Samsung’s S Series phones have been the top-rated Android phones for years, and it’s pretty easy to see why. Not only do they have some of the best-rated cameras on the market, but they are also some of the most feature rich phones out there.

Samsung is constantly innovating with their phones, and their S series were some of the first phones on the market to feature split screen apps, quick charge, and wireless charging. Even so, most of their best features have since been added to stock Android phones.

There are still some features that set them apart, though. Samsung phones feature a slightly different UI from most Android phones, called One UI, that makes their phones feel different from other Androids. This can be good, but it can also be bad. As someone who is used to Pixel phones, I often feel lost when trying to navigate settings on a Samsung phone.

But the big one, at least for me, is Samsung Dex. Dex allows Samsung S series phones to function like a desktop environment when connected to an external display. Basically, if you have plug your phone into a portable display and connect it to a keyboard and mouse, you can use your phone like a laptop!

It’s not a perfect system, but it is pretty cool, and can help you get real work done without needing to bring a second device, so long as you have a keyboard and a screen.

The newest S-series phones are the S25 (base model), the S25+ (bigger base model) , the S25 Ultra (pro model), the S25 Edge (extra-thin pro model), and the S25FE (budget model). That’s a lot of different models for just their S-Series phones, but all of them are very highly rated and any of them would work well as a travel phone!

iPhone

I’m going to preface this by saying I am not an iPhone user. I don’t have an iPad, nor do I have a Mac, and I don’t really see that changing. However, I also know that that makes me a bit of an exception in the US, so I’m choosing to include an iPhone here.

Do note that if you choose to buy the US version of the iPhone, you will not have access to a SIM card slot!

I personally feel like that’s a user-hostile design choice that does nothing but drive the cost of internet access up for American travelers, especially since Global versions of the phone still have SIM slots! (Except the iPhone Air, which exclusively uses e-SIMs.)

On a budget? Best Budget Phones for Travel

Not everyone is looking for the latest and greatest. Especially if you’re looking for a phone to travel with!

Travel isn’t always rough on phones, but it definitely can be, and when you’re hopping in and out of taxis, there’s always the chance you’ll accidentally leave your phone behind, never to be seen again.

If that makes you bit too nervous to splurge on a $1000+ phone, this section is for you!

Google’s Pixel A series phones

Google’s Pixel 4a was my introduction to the Pixel line of phones back in 2020, and despite being 4 years old, it still sees daily use as a kids’ device and backup in case something happens to my 7pro.

The Pixel A series phones aren’t as powerful as the main Pixel line, but they are still pretty capable devices. Plus they are smaller than the main Pixel phones, which makes them great for people who like small devices!

The newest one is the Pixel 9A, which shares a lot of the same upgrades than make the Pixel 9 a great choice. But if a good camera is a priority on your travel phone, consider getting an older Pro model instead.

OnePlus Nord N30

OnePlus’s original pitch was the idea of providing flagship features at not flagship prices, and they did pretty well for a long while. However, nowadays their flagship killers are priced at pretty much the same price point as the flagships they are purporting to kill.

Even so, they are still doing a pretty good job competing at the budget price point.

The Nord N30 is probably the best budget phone on the market today, and the cheapest phone that I would trust on an international journey.

It has great battery life, a decent screen, and a camera that works pretty well in good lighting! It’s not the most powerful phone on the market, but it also costs less than $300. So, yeah, that tracks.

Out of the brands I’m suggesting on this page, OnePlus is the least well-known, but I’ve been following their brand for years, and I can definitely vouch for them caring about their craft. If you need a phone on the cheap, this is a great choice.

Note: OnePlus has released newer phones in their Nord line for the Global Audience, but not in the States. If you’re already outside the States and looking for a budget-friendly travel phone that will hold up for a long while, I’d suggest heading to a local phone store in a mall and checking out the OnePlus Nord 5.