It depends on what you want to use it for:
I loved my Motorola Moto for the projector during presentations and the game controller during games.
I loved my windows phone for showing how windows routinely fails to plan long term for projects.
I mourn and long for my blackberry for secure emailing, and ease of use. And damnit the track all was useful!
I love my apple for accessories interaction and cooperation. It does it within the Apple universe better than any android could hope.
my Samsung was powerful for lots of apps, and easily kept functioning after I rooted and realized the uI. But doubt it would like that now.
maybe you want barebones.
maybe you want the best camera.
I have had phones from Apple, Motorola, Samsung, blackberry(love), windows, Kyocera, one plus, pixel, lg… and many more, I switch phones annually, and have since I first started getting smart phones around 2009…
Despite fanboys above, there is no single best phone… there is best for your needs, and you said nothing about those.
map I recommend the Motorola RAZR, it fits best in pockets!