The Best 5G Phones for 2024

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The three national carriers—AT&T, T-Mobile, and Verizon—all offer multiple varieties of 5G service around the US, and you need a 5G-capable phone to take advantage. Sorting out which phone is compatible with which 5G network can be a headache, but PCMag is here to make things easy. We've been covering and reviewing mobile phones for 30 years and know everything there is to know about 5G. Generally, most phones over $200 pack at least some form of 5G. Our top phone recommendations run from affordable handsets like the Editors' Choice-winning Samsung Galaxy A15 5G to the flagship-level Google Pixel 9 and Apple iPhone 16. Be sure to read the reviews of all our top picks and familiarize yourself with our 5G buying guide below so you can be a 5G expert, too.

Do You Need a 5G Phone in 2024?

For 5G to be appreciably faster than 4G, it needs to run on wider channels. Think of those channels as broader lanes on the information superhighway. Even without those channels, 5G still helps carriers by increasing their capacity to serve more users with bigger service plans. But if you want performance, you need those wider channels.

Right now, of the heavily promoted forms of US 5G, T-Mobile's mid-band "UC" network, Verizon's "UW" mid- and high-band networks, and AT&T's "5G+" network offer those wider channels. The other forms of 5G in the US reuse 4G channels, which gives them 4G-like performance but under the banner of 5G.

In general, if you see just "5G" on your phone in the US, it's going to feel like 4G. If you see "5G UC," "5G UW," or "5G+," you should experience better speeds.

At this point, the three carriers have done a solid job of deploying both types of 5G. For example, AT&T and Verizon cover much of the country with 3.45GHz and C-band, respectively. Of course, your phone also needs to support C-band for you to see a benefit, a spec we cover in all of our in-depth reviews.

All the phones Verizon sells support its high-band mmWave network, but not all unlocked 5G phones do. If you're looking for an unlocked 5G phone that supports all the bands, consider the Google Pixel line, the latest Apple iPhone, or the Samsung Galaxy S and Z families.

If you're with T-Mobile, almost any current phone supports its quicker 5G service.

Between T-Mobile's 5G expansion and the rollout of C-band coverage on AT&T and Verizon, the situation is always changing. Make sure to check back often for all the details on the phones that can take advantage of these advancements.

Sascha Segan and Dave LeClair contributed to this story.