2021 has been a year of real surprises when it comes to smartphones. We've had a significant push for foldable, we've had complete flagship experiences in tiny footprints, we've had budget phones that have a perception of value. So, it's time to declare some winners. We've got 10 categories all leading up to the single overall 2021 champion. A phone so good I've even got a special trophy made just for it.
BEST PHONE DESIGN
Okay, let's start with design; what is the most impressive phone from the outside?
And there are a couple of close contenders. I've spent almost the entire year raving on about Samsung's S21 Ultra — how it's striking but at the same time somehow also, understated.
I was close to giving this to Xiaomi because while they do make some... how do I put this? —Polarizing designs, they do also have a couple of standouts like the MI 11 Lite, which is so thin that it barely feels real, and the MI MIX4 with its completely even uninterrupted screen, made possible by an actually-display selfie camera. But the winner of best phone design of the year... I'm giving to The Vivo X70 Pro Plus.
This phone is supremely comfortable to hold. They've designed a finish that you literally can not get fingerprints on even if you try to. The buttons feel distinctively luxury and while I wouldn't say I particularly, love this glossy section on the back. It can also double as a mirror to be able to take rear camera selfies with.
BEST UGLIEST PHONE (BONUS ROUND)
Now, we cannot have the best without the worst. So, welcome to a bonus round of who has made the ugliest phone of the year. And there are a few strong candidates — Asus Zenfone8 was notably devoid of character; it kind of looks a bit like a wish.com phone. This smartphone is for snapdragon insiders. Yes! that's the real name, made by Qualcomm, the chipmaker themselves. Also feels very much like a prototype, but the winner of the ugliest phone of the year has got to be this special edition version of The Honor 50.
The only way I can think to describe this phone is it's a bit like someone just vomited the alphabet all over it.
BEST COMPACT PHONE
But, there is another side to design, because as well as making a phone (look and feel Premium), the other challenge the other companies started to face is the size constraint —
"How do we fit all the things that people are starting to want into a phone while keeping it compact?"
And there's one phone that I think has done this better than any — Honorable mention to the Asus Zenfone8, which boring design aside is 90% of the capability of the big ones achieved into 60% of the footprint. A lot of things had to be re-engineered to make this possible, and also, Props to Samsung's Z Flip3. As a tech person, this is a hard phone to recommend to someone. It's $1,000 but it had the specs of a $500 phone. However, excuse my French, it just feels flipping fantastic. Super-premium nice materials and the fact that it folds in half means that we're not just talking about fitting in your trouser pockets, this can fit into your shirt pocket. But the winner of the best compact smartphone of 2021 I'm giving to The iPhone13 Mini.
No gimmicks, no one, particularly groundbreaking feature. It's just the complete latest iPhone experience smaller and now thanks to huge battery improvements. This 13 mini lasts longer than last year's full-size iPhone 12.
BEST BATTERY LIFE PHONE
Speaking of the battery, though, there is a limit to how much you're going to be able to get from a small phone if endurance is a high priority, you're going to need to look bigger. And the winner of this category is not the phone I expected. You see, battery life is a very complex specification for most reviewers including myself; just generally try to keep It simple by how many a million capacities that a phone has. But the truth of this is, it depends on display technology —how well the phone regulates temperature, massively on software, and how efficiently it's able to allocate resources but also, things like battery voltage. And so in 2021, then we've ended up in a situation where even though we have phones like the Galaxy S21 ultra, and the Xiaomi 11 Ultra with 5000mAh capacities, or how even the Rog Phone 5S Pro with a 6000 million power capacity, they're all beaten by a phone with less than 4500mAh — The iPhone13 Pro Max.
This phone's battery life is so unbelievably healthy. I have sometimes finished days using it with over 70% left. I mean, you can technically get a phone that lasts even longer, you know, there are ones that are effectively just dialers with a power bank taped to them, but this is the best battery life in a form factor that's somewhat palatable
BEST GAMING PHONE
What if all you wanted was an absolute beast — a spec monster, a phone designed to play the most demanding games you can get on a mobile platform? Well, you're in luck. Gaming phones have never been as competitive as they are now in 2021. They're getting so good that it's almost frustrating that developers aren't making games that properly take advantage of them. Anyways, these three main companies fighting in this space. You have Red magic, who's making such high-powered hardware-rich phones for literally $500 but you do genuinely wonder where their profits coming from. Ridiculous value but, the phones do feel a little rushed with arguably half-baked software. Then you have the other extreme with Asus, whose ROG phone 5S Pro hits $1500. But hey, if you have $1500 and you like games, there is nothing quite like it. In fact, this thing takes a 2021 flagship and tops it in almost every regard.
It doesn't have a 5000mAh battery, it has 6000mAh; it doesn't have a snapdragon 888, it has an 888 plus; It doesn't have a 130Hz refresh rate, it has 144Hz. And we're not talking 8 or 12G of RAM, ...18G RAM. Also, quite important for a gaming phone, a reliable accessory ecosystem whether that's earphones or controllers or external pulling attachments, you have options. But in my opinion, the best gaming phone sits somewhere in between these two...with The Lenovo Legion Dual 2.
It avoids the software pitfalls of the red magic, it gets very close to the performance of the Asus and it starts at $700 — kind of funky looking though.
BEST FOLDABLE PHONE
And finally, just before we get to the best overall phones in each price tier, I just want to touch in foldable, because while I don't think these flaccid book-style open-closed phones are the final destination, they do still feel a bit half-baked idea in some senses. 2021 is the first year where I have seen some mainstream conversations about them. So, it's time to analyze. If a foldable is what you want, the only company it makes sense to buy from is Samsung; there is Microsoft, who makes the surface duo —nice looking but far too many compromises to recommend it. There is Huawei but no Google services which makes it a really dicey option, and there is Royal, the company that actually made the world's first foldable. But I wouldn't trust their software support as they're primarily a display company. Their foldable is more of a tech demo than actual consumer-ready phones. So, that leaves us with two choices — Samsung Z fold3 or Samsung's Z flip3. And between them, I would award the best foldable phone to The Z fold3.
It's only foldable that does deliver a tangibly expanded experience compared to just a normal flagship. The potential for extreme productivity is here. You've just got to decide if you're in the minority, who's willing to look past all its compromises to be able to take advantage of it.
Alright so, those are all the specialist phones done. The winner is for people with specific needs but now it's time to look at the overall winners. So, we're going to have:
-Best budget phone;
-Best mid-range phone;
-Best flagship phone;
-Best super phone; and then finally
-The overall best value phone across all of these categories.
BEST BUDGET PHONE
Alright, so I'm classing budget phone as anything around under $300. And to be honest, every realistic contender in this segment is either a spin-off company of Xiaomi or Oppo. And it's not hugely surprising, the main profits to be in the smartphone market are not here. Honorable mention to the Realme 8 —this company is quite consistent bringing out some of the most extreme prices to performance ratios I've ever seen, and also, the Poco X3 Pro, and just announced Poco M4. I know, there's a lot of different names here, but these two are pretty special. However, the winner of the best budget phone on the market is... Xiaomi's Redmi Note10 Pro.
I genuinely think, and I don't say this is a lot for budget phones, this is a beautiful device, and for about $250, it is shockingly well-rounded; good battery life, good stereo speakers, fluid 120Hz display, and importantly for me also, really good camera for the price. My only slight reservation is that Xiaomi has literally just announced the Redmi Note11 Pro, which is China only for now. But based on history, I would expect a global release probably early next year.
BEST MID-RANGE CATEGORY PHONE (The $300 to $600 sweet spot)
All phones I recommend here are phones that feel complete even though they're half the price of the top tier. And in this category, there is one clear winner which is almost a shame because of how many good options there are.
Like the Oneplus Nord2, which is a $400 phone that you could very easily mistake for a $700 phone. The screen, battery, camera, the polish just makes it that little bit more premium. That said, there have been a reasonable amount of people who have said that their Nord2s have exploded. We are talking a handful but that's still enough to suggest that it might be a fundamental problem with this particular handset. So, I'm going to hold off in saying you should buy one.
The Poco F3, though, if $400 is all you want to spend, I can't recommend it enough.
It's got the flagship feel. And finally, the Realme GT. This is the highest end-phone Realme makes. And so, given how much this company managed to pack into $200 phones, you can probably imagine that for $500, this thing is stacked. But specs aren't everything and based on the experience of actually using them, one phone takes the cake here — Google Pixel 6.
The Pixel 6 is not just a phone that can kind of keep up with its more expensive offerings, there is magic to it. The way it feels to use is not good though great, it's delightful. And the camera, while not without inconsistencies, is really powerful and fun.
BEST FLAGSHIP PHONE
So what about flagships, the best phone in between $600 and $900? At this kind of price, we're talking luxury, we're talking things you don't need but you might want; potentially quirky, extra features, and also, you can demand extreme reliability. Okay, a couple of Honorable mentions — one to Xiaomi's MI 11, an all-round technically tremendous package; one to the Oneplus9, which had mixed reception at launch but that was mostly due to overhyping then the phone actually being bad, and multiple updates later, it now stands as a really good option.
And also, the Samsung Galaxy S21, which is not what I'd call an exciting phone. It's definitely not breaking any technological records but it is a neat practical package that you can trust. And even though the camera hardware is about as exciting as watching paint dry, I'm constantly surprised by how much Samsung's managed to push out of it. But the winner at $899 only just qualifying for this category is the Google Pixel6 Pro.
Just like we said, the 6 Pro just feels alive. It's lifted by like, really fun intuitive customizable software, and quite an underrated screen too. I wouldn't say it's the best phone money can buy, mostly let down by some not-too-stellar video recording and some good but not great battery life. But it is the best until you hit $1000+. But what if you do, what if you just want the best phone, and money is no object?
BEST SUPER PHONES
Here's where things get interesting. In this category, you've basically got each company's top-tier offering; they're no holds barred innovation crammed hero phones, huge cameras, big batteries, gorgeous screens, all the extras. Okay, two runners up —the first is that Vivo X70 Pro Plus mentioned at the start. It's just one of the most fun phones I've ever used, with an emphasis on the camera. It's a treat comprised of top-shelf hardware and really powerful software. And it's so good that in a fair few scenarios I would say this is the best phone for photos.
And secondly, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. This was the first major flagship to come out in the entire year. And it's so well-rounded that it's still now considered by many "a benchmark for others to strive for".
Worth also mentioning, is Sony. I feel like they've come a really long way in the last years. And for certain top-level Pros, no one does it better but they don't make quite make my day for recommendation to most power users. Two phones do —first Xiaomi's MI 11 Ultra.
This is a really similar spec to Samsung's S21 Ultra but, it feels like it's almost been built to beat it. It takes the already extreme and dials it up just a little further, with one of the most obvious examples being the second screen on the back. It lets you check for time without turning your phone over; it lets you take photos using your main rear cameras. They've, even a feature that means you can just use this second screen, and it will boost your battery to no joke 14days on a single charge.
The second winner had got to be...The iPhone13 Pro Max.
On the face of it, a very similar phone to the 12 Pro Max. And aside from one thing, it would be pretty easy for me to write this off as a small iterative upgrade. But that one thing — the battery life improvement makes this so unbelievably reliable but, it's changed the way I use my phone, combine that with cameras, speakers and a screen that is very close to best in class, now is the good time to be an iPhone user and to upgrade said iPhone. The normal iPhone 13 Pro is also really strong. It's basically the same phone but instead of an extraordinary battery, it's more like excellent.
BEST SMARTPHONE OF THE YEAR 2021 (OVERALL)
That leaves me with one final decision to make. If I had to pick one phone out of every single one discussed here, what would it be? Which is the most surprising, best value experience you can get? Well, here is our super heavy custom obsidian black trophy and it is for the smartphone of the year, 2021...The Google Pixel 6.
It is crazy to me that a phone costing just $599 can actually get me excited to use it. In almost all cases, with these kinds of phones, it normally boils down to which one makes the least compromises versus the flagship. But the Pixel6 has almost the same hardware and almost the same experience as the $899 Pixel6 Pro, and even at $899, that phone feels pretty special. And while for $899, I would rate the Pros camera as very good not the best at $599 with almost the same experience. The normal Pixel6 becomes pretty much the best value camera system you can buy. Very interesting though, till we catch you on the next one. Thanks.
