Best Looking Phones by Style: Thin, Transparent, Folding

Start with the style you like, because the facts differ a lot from one to the next. The thinnest phone we found that does not fold is the iPhone Air, at 5.64mm and 165g. The most unusual back belongs to the Nothing Phone (3), which has a window onto its circuit board and a panel of 489 tiny lights. For materials, the Motorola Razr Ultra 2026 comes finished in wood veneer or Alcantara. And the cheapest phone here with a current design award is the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, at about $500.

Looks are a matter of taste, and we are not going to tell you which phone is prettiest. What follows is what each maker states on its own site: what the phone is made of, the finishes and colours on offer, how thin and heavy it is, and whether iF or Red Dot lists it as an award winner.

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Phones compared

Prices are the makers’ own US store prices for the cheapest version, rounded, from lowest to highest. Where a store had a phone marked down, the list price is given further down. Thickness for folding phones is measured open.

Google gives the Pixel’s size only in inches and ounces. 6.9oz is about 196g.

Thin and light

Apple iPhone Air, about $1,100

Apple lists a titanium body 5.64mm deep that weighs 165g, with a 6.5-inch screen and Ceramic Shield glass on both sides. It comes in Sky Blue, Light Gold, Cloud White and Space Black. For scale, Samsung calls the Galaxy S26 Ultra its slimmest Ultra yet, and that is 7.9mm and 214g. Apple iPhone Air on Amazon

A folding phone is thinner still once it is open, which is a different thing from thin in the pocket. Those are further down.

Transparent and lit

Nothing Phone (3), about $700

Nothing calls the transparent look its signature. On the Phone (3), its page describes a cutout in the glass that shows the motherboard circuit, an aluminium frame, and the Glyph Matrix: a small display made of 489 micro-LEDs that shows notifications or a selfie preview. It comes in black or white and is marked down from $799 on Nothing’s own store. Nothing Phone (3) on Amazon

Nothing Phone (4a) Pro, about $500

Less transparent than the Phone (3). Nothing switched this model to an aluminium unibody and kept the see-through part to the camera bump, with a Glyph Matrix of 137 mini-LEDs. It is 7.95mm thick and comes in silver, black or pink, though the pink is sold only in the larger version at about $600. Red Dot lists it as a 2026 product design winner. Nothing Phone (4a) Pro on Amazon

Google has a lighting feature of its own. Its store says the Pixel 11 Pro, about $1,100, has HiLight, which glows when the phone is face down and a favourite contact calls.

Folding phones

Flip phones

Motorola Razr Ultra 2026, about $1,500. The one for people who care about materials. Motorola sells it in Pantone Orient Blue with an embossed Alcantara back, or Pantone Cocoa with a natural wood veneer. It has a 4-inch outer screen, a 7-inch main screen and a titanium-reinforced hinge. Motorola Razr Ultra 2026 on Amazon

Motorola Razr 2026, about $800. The cheapest flip here, and each colour has its own texture: Motorola describes a woven-inspired grey, a patterned green, a lavender with a wave-like back and a white with a layered geometric finish. Motorola Razr 2026 on Amazon

Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8, about $1,050. Samsung calls it its thinnest and lightest Flip: 6.1mm open and 180g, with a 4.1-inch cover screen and an aluminium frame. Colours are pink, graphite and cream, plus mint sold only by Samsung itself. The list price is about $1,200, and Samsung’s store had it marked down. Samsung Galaxy Z Flip8 on Amazon

Phones that open like a book

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra, about $1,800. The thinnest phone on this page when open, at 4.1mm, and 215g. The colours are muted: violet shadow, graphite and cream, with a green kept for Samsung’s own store. That price is a markdown from a list price of about $2,100. Samsung Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra on Amazon

Motorola Razr Fold, about $1,900. Heavier at 243g and 4.7mm open on Motorola’s spec sheet, but it has the more interesting finishes: Pantone Blackened Blue with a matte back that Motorola likens to piqué fabric, or Pantone Lily White with a silk-like sheen. Motorola Razr Fold on Amazon

Samsung’s plain Galaxy Z Fold8, about $1,650 against a list price of about $1,900, is a new shape with a wide 5.5-inch cover screen. It is 4.5mm open and 201g, and comes in lavender, graphite and cream, with a pistachio green kept for Samsung’s own store.

Apple’s first folding phone, the iPhone Duo, is on Apple’s site from about $2,000 with a titanium body, 5.2mm deep when open, in Star White or Night Sky. It had not gone on sale when we went through the stores, so it is not in the table.

Colour and finish

If you want an ordinary flat phone in a colour you like, this is what Apple, Google and Samsung offer on their own stores.

• Apple iPhone 18 Pro, about $1,200. An aluminium unibody in Burgundy, Glacier, Silver or Black. Apple iPhone 18 Pro on Amazon
• Google Pixel 11, about $900. A polished glass back and a satin aluminium frame in Frost, Pistachio, Hibiscus or Obsidian. The Pixel 11 Pro has a matte back in Canyon, Olive, Fog or Obsidian. Google Pixel 11 on Amazon
• Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra, about $1,400. Six colours, but two of them, Silver Shadow and Pink Gold, are sold only on samsung.com and in Samsung’s own shops. The other four are Cobalt Violet, Sky Blue, Black and White.

A dull truth applies to all of them. Most phones spend their lives in a case, and then the colour you see every day is the case’s.

Phones with design awards

Two design competitions, the Red Dot Award and the iF Design Award, publish their winners online. These current phones are on the 2026 lists:

• Nothing Phone (4a) Pro and Phone (4a): Red Dot, product design.
• Infinix Note 60 Ultra: both Red Dot and iF. Red Dot credits the design to Infinix and the Italian car design house Pininfarina.
• Motorola Edge 70: iF.

Read an award for what it is. Makers enter these competitions themselves, and Red Dot’s site has a page of registration fees for entrants. The current iPhones, Pixels and Galaxy S26 phones did not come up in our searches of either list, and that tells you only that they were not entered or not chosen.

Outside the US

Three of those award winners are not on their makers’ US stores, so we have no dollar store price for them.

• Nothing Phone (4a). On Nothing’s UK and India stores. This is the properly transparent one: a glass back over visible parts, a strip of 63 mini-LEDs called the Glyph Bar, and black, white, blue or pink.
• Motorola Edge 70. On Motorola’s UK store. It is 5.99mm thick and 159g with an aluminium frame, which puts it close to the iPhone Air. The back has what Motorola calls a nylon-inspired finish, in four Pantone colours. Motorola’s entry on iF’s site gives a price of $449.
• Infinix Note 60 Ultra. On Infinix’s global site. Red Dot describes a mirrored camera module with a small matrix display and a light strip, in four colours inspired by Italian motor racing. Our guide to the Infinix Note series in Nigeria covers which Note phones are sold there.

Curved glass is its own look, and we cover it separately in phones that still have curved screens.

Which to pick

• You want thin and light: the iPhone Air. Outside the US, look at the Motorola Edge 70.
• You want people to ask what phone that is: the Nothing Phone (3).
• You care how the back feels: the Motorola Razr Ultra 2026, in wood or Alcantara.
• You want it small in the pocket: the Motorola Razr 2026 at about $800. The Galaxy Z Flip8 is thinner and costs about $250 more.
• You want an award winner for the least money: the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro at about $500.

The 2021 version of this page was led by the iPhone 13 Pro Max and the Galaxy Z Flip 3. Neither is on its maker’s store now, so every phone above is new to the list.

Quick answers

Which is the most good looking smartphone?

There is no single answer, because it depends on the style you like. On the facts, the iPhone Air is the thinnest non-folding phone here, the Nothing Phone (3) has the most unusual back, and the Razr Ultra 2026 has the most unusual materials.

Which phones have won a design award?

Red Dot’s 2026 winners include the Nothing Phone (4a), the Phone (4a) Pro and the Infinix Note 60 Ultra. iF’s 2026 winners include the Infinix Note 60 Ultra and the Motorola Edge 70.

What are the most good looking Android phones?

By style: the Nothing Phone (3) for a transparent back, the Motorola Razr Ultra 2026 or Galaxy Z Flip8 for a flip, the Galaxy Z Fold8 Ultra for a thin book fold, and the Pixel 11 for colour.

What is the best looking phone on a budget?

On the US stores we checked, the Nothing Phone (4a) Pro at about $500 is the cheapest phone with a distinctive design and an award behind it. Elsewhere, look at the Nothing Phone (4a) and the Motorola Edge 70, and check the price where you live.

Prices move, so confirm on the maker’s store before you pay.