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Best Samsung phones 2021

By Daniel Petrov

Mar 30, 2021, 8:19 AM

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The world's largest phone maker, Samsung, is at the market share top for a reason. Ever since the first Galaxy S, it has been relentlessly pursuing things like unique OLED display panels, or innovative camera tech like dual optical zoom, culminating in the Galaxy S21 Ultra. So, what is the best Samsung phone?

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

$499 ⁹⁹ $1199 ⁹⁹ Buy at Samsung View price Buy at Amazon $199 ⁹⁹ $1199 ⁹⁹ Buy at Verizon

$399 ⁹⁹ $1199 ⁹⁹ Buy at AT&T $399 ⁹⁹ $1199 ⁹⁹ Buy at T-Mobile $949 ⁹⁹ $1199 ⁹⁹ Buy at BestBuy

Best Samsung 5G phones list

Galaxy S21 Ultra - the best of the best among 2021 phones, in display, camera, and battery life.
Galaxy Note 20 Ultra - the most advanced phone Samsung has to offer with an S Pen silo.
Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ - fantastic Android smartphones - they make little compromise and just aren't as overkill as the S21 Ultra.
Galaxy S20 FE - the best value for money phone Samsung has ever released.
Samsung Galaxy A71 5G - a good price-to-performance ratio with nice screen and good battery life.

Best Samsung flagships

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

9.1

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

The Good

The longest, cleanest zoom on a phone, and most versatile camera set
The best battery life in its class
Brightest display with the most granular adaptive refresh rate
Stylish Contour Cut design and richer variety of colors
Unique 12-bit color RAW capture at 108MP
S Pen stylus support
Next-gen Wi-fi 6E standard support

The Bad

Still big and bulky to carry and use, especially with an S Pen case on
$1200 gets you just 128GB, no charger, earbuds, or memory card slot
The new ultrasonic finger scanner is still comparatively slow
Softness in the main camera sample edges

Deal $1150 at BestBuy Deal $450 at Samsung Deal $0 at Verizon

The hrandest, the meanest, the best Samsung Galaxy S line phone right now - the S21 Ultra! In a way, it is also the best S Pen-supporting phone, too, all at under a grand right now with Amazon's $200 off promo, the best phone deal in a while.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

Specs | Note 20 Ultra Review

No need to panic, but Samsung's best phone with an S Pen stylus is also large and wide. Thankfully, it also has the largest battery in the Note line, the S Pen sensitivity is out of this world, and a giant 108MP camera plus a periscope zoom kit adorn the rear.

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra

$1299 ⁹⁹ Buy at Samsung $1299 ⁹⁹ Buy at BestBuy $1299 ⁹⁹ Buy at Verizon

$1299 ⁹⁹ Buy at AT&T View price Buy at Amazon

Samsung Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+

8.5

Samsung Galaxy S21+

The Good

Excellent performance
Great battery life
Versatile camera modes and features
Great image quality
Smooth and vivid display

The Bad

No charger in the box
Slippery design
A bit too heavy
Gets hot under heavier load

Deal $950 at BestBuy Deal $250 at Samsung Deal $7 at AT&T

OK, OK, how about the second best Samsung smartphones? This option is rolled into one since these are very, very similar — from camera modules to hardware and performance but not size and fit. And yes, you still get adaptive 120 Hz screens!

Best midrange Samsung phones

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE

9.2

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE

The Good

Excellent value for the money
Impressive two-day battery life
Bright and flat display with high 120Hz refresh rate
3 years of Android version updates and up to 3 years warranty
Good pictures and video quality
Very good stereo sound recording and playback
Durable housing in a variety of matte colors to choose from
Quick optical in-display fingerprint scanner

The Bad

The 5G model is only available in a 6GB RAM/128GB storage version
The screen colors are a bit on the cold and saturated side
Display is Gorilla Glass 3 only but it does come with protector pre-installed

Deal $700 at Samsung Deal $700 at T-Mobile Deal $700 at Verizon

Where to begin with the Galaxy S20 FE, the best value-for-money phone at launch that has now become even more affordable for its 120Hz display, telephoto zoom, and excellent battery life.

Samsung Galaxy A71 5G

Display

6.7 inches
2400 x 1080 pixels

Camera

64 MP (Quad camera)
32 MP front

Hardware

Qualcomm Snapdragon 765
6GB RAM

Storage

128GB, microSDXC

Battery

4500 mAh

OS

Android 11
Samsung One UI

View full specs

Deal $650 at Verizon Deal Buy at Amazon Deal $450 at BestBuy

With a Verizon UW version, the A71 is the best midranger Samsung currently has, and with a 5G connectivity on top. The Galaxy A71 offers most of what's great about flagship Samsung phones for a much lower price now that our Galaxy A72 review didn't find a compelling reason to upgrade from the excellent (and now much cheaper) A71.

Best cheap Samsung phones

Samsung Galaxy A52 5G

9.0

Samsung Galaxy A52

The Good

Beautiful, big, 90 Hz AMOLED screen
Good camera, OIS helps a lot
Stereo speakers sound good
Heyyy, headphone jack

The Bad

All around plastic
A bit bulky
Performance can have a few hiccups

Deal $425 at Samsung Deal $500 at AT&T Deal $500 at Samsung

In addition to 5G Ultra Wideband support, you get a respectable screen resolution of 2400 x 1080 pixels, the same general design language, 128 gigs of internal storage space, quad rear-facing camera system, single 32MP selfie shooter, in-display fingerprint sensor, microSD card slot, and... a headphone jack, woohoo! While not perfect, there is a reason the A51 was been the most popular Samsung phone on the market in 2020, and its 2021 successor can't be an exception at its sub-$400 price point.