I've looked at thousands of phone wallpapers, here are my absolute favorites

Being one of the “wallpaper guys,” my eyes have marveled over some of the best phone wallpapers in existence, and also some of the worst. The thing about finding great wallpapers is that it’s like finding a needle in a haystack, or a hay mountain. The internet is flooded with so many options. I’ve worked here at Android Authority for over nine years, so I’ve seen thousands of wallpapers. Today, I’m taking on the challenge of finding the very best ones I’ve ever seen.

Of course, we can’t cover all user-created, custom, AI, or third-party wallpapers out there. For the sake of simplicity, and to accomplish a better curated collection, we’ll stick to wallpapers that came with smartphones. We’ll include images from companies like Google, Samsung, Motorola, etc.

First, let’s show you how to set the best phone wallpapers

You should keep a few things in mind before digging into this list of my favorite wallpapers. For starters, the images you see below have been compressed and optimized for improved website performance. This means they won’t look as good as the full-resolution image. If you want the highest quality possible, click on the download button right below each wallpaper preview to download the uncompressed picture.

You can either download the wallpaper straight to the device you’ll use it on. Otherwise, you can download the files using any device and then transfer the wallpapers to your device using a USB cable, Bluetooth, a cloud storage service like Google Drive, or send them to yourself via email. Whatever you do, avoid using a service that will compress images, as that would defeat the purpose of this whole process. We know common platforms like Facebook Messenger and WhatsApp compress images, too.

When you’re ready to set your wallpaper as your phone’s background, you can follow the step-by-step instructions below. The great thing about wallpapers is that they are simply images, so they will work on any device that allows you to change the background. These are all smartphone wallpapers, so we’ve created instructions for Android and iOS, the leading mobile platforms.

How to set these best phone wallpapers on an Android phone:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Go into Wallpaper & style.
3. Tap on More wallpapers.
4. Find and select your wallpaper.
5. Modify the wallpaper to your liking, then hit Set wallpaper.
6. Pick whether you want to set the wallpaper on your Home screen, Lock screen, or Home and lock screens.

How to set these wallpapers on an iPhone:

1. Launch the Settings app.
2. Go into the Wallpaper option.
3. Select Add New Wallpaper.
4. Find and select your wallpaper.
5. Modify the wallpaper to your liking, then hit Add.
6. Tap on Set as Wallpaper Pair.

Editor’s note: These instructions were assembled using a Google Pixel 8a running Android 14 and an Apple iPhone 12 Mini running iOS 17.5.1. Some menus and steps may differ depending on your device and software version.

These are the best phone wallpapers I’ve seen

With all that out of the way, it’s time to get to the nitty-gritty and show you my very favorite wallpapers from all the phones I’ve ever seen. By the way, this list is in no particular order.

Turntable playing music

The Pixel 5 came with some of the most unique wallpapers we’ve seen. It offered a collection of very colorful backgrounds, which looked very nice and vibrant on that OLED display. One thing about these is that they were also very… odd. In a way, they were quite surreal and left you turning your head sideways in confusion.

This turntable wallpaper happened to be my favorite one because I am a music lover, and the cartoonish, grainy style really set the tone. That said, it could be considered the only “normal” one in the collection of Pixel 5 wallpapers. If you like more eccentric wallpapers, you can check out our dedicated Pixel 5 wallpapers post here. There are some really interesting ones. We honestly haven’t seen anything like these since then.

Bear and butterfly doodle

Talking about very different-looking wallpapers, here’s another very cool one. This bear and butterfly doodle made with pronounced lines is another one of the most interesting backgrounds I have seen. It’s super cute and unique, and you can get lost looking at it.

Interestingly enough, it also came with a phone from a manufacturer that doesn’t usually stand out for having the best phone wallpapers. And we especially didn’t think we would see it in a business, rugged handset. This wallpaper comes with the Motorola Thinkphone.

Kylo Ren from Star Wars

Star Wars is one of the most popular movie franchises in existence. And you don’t have to go searching in a galaxy far, far away to find a good wallpaper. In fact, there was a Star Wars edition of the Samsung Galaxy Note 10 Plus, and it came with a nice variety of themed wallpapers.

My favorite one happens to be this one, featuring Kylo Ren and his very unique lightsaber. Aside from the fact that the character is fascinating, this wallpaper was designed to be both mysterious and striking.

A very familiar view of a hill

Is this looking somewhat familiar? You would be right if you thought of the now-classic Windows XP wallpaper. This wallpaper was one of the backgrounds included with the Microsoft Surface Duo, and it takes inspiration from the company’s most popular wallpaper.

Moreso than being an exceptional wallpaper, I mostly liked it so much for melancholic reasons. These few wallpapers all showcase hills and a sky. Of course, it couldn’t be the same wallpaper, as the Surface Duo also signifies a step into the future, as it was a forward-thinking foldable phone. I like red, so this was my favorite, but any of them will spark a smile.

My favorite landscape stock wallpaper

Notice the weird aspect ratio? That’s because this was made for a foldable phone; the Huawei Mate X2. That said, you can use it on any phone, really. If your phone has a regular shape, all you have to do is adjust its position when setting it.

I’ve seen many landscape nature wallpapers. They may be among the most common, but I remember this one touched a special fiber when I first saw it, and no other image of its kind has quite matched the feeling. Maybe it’s the contrasting warm and cool colors, or the perfect balance and symmetry. It’s just such a peaceful and inspiring photo.

A moody forest

I have a very special place in my heart for forests, and this one looks incredibly soothing. The moody touch, with the fog drifting into the image, is especially effective. Not to mention the contrasting red and green foliage, which adds that contrast that makes this wallpaper stand out.

This is a very special wallpaper, and it was introduced with the Nokia X30. This is another one of those manufacturers that usually have pretty basic phone wallpapers, so it was a pleasant surprise seeing this one hit my desk.

This hot air balloon is so dreamy

This one is very special to me, so it had to have a spot on this list of the best phone wallpapers. Being a photographer, myself, I follow many photographers I admire, and I was almost sure I had seen this style before. Sure enough, after some research, I found out it was a photo by Finnish landscape photographer Mikko Lagerstedt. He calls it Night Flight, and it is just one of his many amazing images.

I first saw it on the Nokia G50, but it was apparently first released on the Nokia 8, back in 2017. The image is very dreamy and calming. Again, that lighting plays on warm and cool temperatures in the colors, which offers a very nice contrast that leads your eye directly to the hot air balloon.

What even is this?

A good image needs to evoke some kind of feeling, or in this case, a question. I remember the first time I saw this wallpaper on the Samsung Galaxy S20 and wondered what I was looking at, exactly. Is it a plant of sorts? Some kind of arts and crafts project? I’m still not sure, but I know I couldn’t help but get lost in it.

This Samsung Galaxy S20 wallpaper looks really nice, full of vibrant colors and shapes that are very intriguing and can definitely spark a conversation.

Here’s my favorite feathery wallpaper

Feather wallpapers became common for a while, with manufacturers like Google and Huawei making them quite popular. That said, I am more of a fan of Oppo feather wallpapers, especially this one from the Oppo Find N3 Flip.

You may be able to tell I like contrast, which is what this Oppo Find N3 Flip wallpaper is all about. It has a dark background, like Samsung wallpapers. The feathers are both idealized and chaotic, and this specific image has a wider variety of hues that manage to look really balanced.

Something for those with golden phones

Here’s another one that left me scratching my head, wondering what I was looking at. It came with the ASUS ZenFone 8 Flip, which featured mostly backgrounds with a birdseye view of nature. I can only assume this is also a top-down view from above, but I’m really not sure. Let me know in the comments if you can recognize this!

Regardless, the look is very organic and interesting, with random golden rouches splattered throughout the image. I think it would look great with any golden or champagne-colored phone. I like its raw, natural look, which somehow manages to also have a touch of elegance.

Which is your favorite wallpaper?

Picking my top 10 wallpapers in existence wasn’t easy, and I really had to dig to find most of them again, but I believe these are among the best-looking and most unique ones. Which is your personal favorite? If I had to pick only one, I would probably go with the Nokia G50 wallpaper featuring the hot air balloon.

If you need more options, an easy way to see a wide variety of wallpapers is to look at our long list of wallpapers from all the most popular devices. That list is very long, though, so clear out the schedule first.