The Xperia Pro is essentially four products in one: a phone, a camera monitor, a speedy photo file transfer device, and 5G machine suitable for broadcasting and live-streaming. Read our Sony Xperia Pro review. If you're looking for a good budget phone that comes with a basic stylus and support for 5G, then the Moto G Stylus 5 is a great pick. It features a stylus that you can store inside the phone along with a built-in Notes app to help with productivity. This phone also offers a triple-rear camera, GB of internal storage and a robust 4,mAh battery.
Read our Moto G Stylus 5G review. Discover the latest news and best reviews in smartphones and carriers from CNET's mobile experts. Be respectful, keep it civil and stay on topic. We delete comments that violate our policy , which we encourage you to read. Discussion threads can be closed at any time at our discretion. CNET editors pick the products and services we write about. When you buy through our links, we may get a commission.
Andrew Hoyle , Lynn La. The all-around best phone Apple iPhone 13 Pro. Jump to details. Flagship phone with a great value Google Pixel 6 Pro. Best everyday phone Apple iPhone Best camera for its price Google Pixel 5A with 5G. Best small phone Apple iPhone 13 Mini. Best foldable phone Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3.
Best phone for creatives Sony Xperia Pro. The all-around best phone. Apple iPhone 13 Pro. Top-of-the-line Android smartphone. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Flagship phone with a great value. Google Pixel 6 Pro. Best everyday phone. Granted, this handset is hyper-premium which is sure to be off-putting for a lot of people. Because of that, it won't be the best phone for most people. But if you are big on photography and want a speedy smartphone, then this one offers something just a little bit different to all the rest.
Despite the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra getting digital stylus support, the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G remains our top choice of handset if you want stylus functionality. This is primarily because, one, the phone comes with a stylus, and two because that stylus can be stored and charged within the device. The S21 Ultra offers neither of these things, requiring extra spend for a stylus, and no way to dock the stylus inside the phone. There's also a lot to like about the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, and if you can manage the cost, it's undoubtedly one of the best Android experiences going right now.
It features a brilliant design, a more than capable camera, and internal specs that mean it will outpace almost every phone on the market. The biggest reason for buying the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra 5G, though, is of course that S Pen — scribble on the lock screen, control the camera remotely, unleash your creative side, and more.
If you need a phone with a stylus for serious work on the go, this phone has you covered. As we've said, the price is a little on the eye-watering side, but for something you're going to use every day for years to come, you might consider it worthwhile.
The triple-lens rear camera with 5x optical zoom deserves a mention too, as it's capable of capturing some fantastic snaps in any kind of lighting. OnePlus is becoming a major contender when it comes to flagship smartphones. The new OnePlus 9 easily rivals competitors with a Qualcomm Snapdragon chip, Hz refresh rate, a brand new Hasselblad triple camera system and very fast charging.
With lightning-fast speeds, a 6. It's seriously impressive and will mean the end of waiting around for your phone to charge. Having partnered with camera manufacturer Hasselblad to create it, the triple camera system shoots accurate, well-balanced photos with plenty of manual controls for those who want it.
When we had a go, the best shots were its up-close macro shots which had tons of intricate detail. Granted, there are still a few things to improve on, like the standard battery life and the camera was less impressive on a gloomy day.
But this is still an impressive handset that is a good match for other flagship smartphones available right now. Is it worth upgrading from the OnePlus 8? There's so much to like about the new iPhone 12 Pro that it's hard to know where to start: there's the blazingly fast A14 Bionic processor, the addition of 5G, the improved triple-lens camera system with added LiDAR, the redesigned shape of the phone, and plenty more besides.
That's before you get to the software side — iOS continues to go from strength to strength, and iOS 14 introduces new features like home screen widgets, pinned chats in Messages, and a new Translate app to take on Google Translate. From both a hardware and a software perspective, it's an impressive package. This edition of the phone is more expensive than the standard iPhone 12, and the main difference is the camera: the Pro model adds a telephoto lens and built-in LiDAR for better depth sensing.
Both are great phones, but we think the Pro edition will be less popular because of the higher price. The colour choices are different too, with the iPhone 12 Pro available in blue, gold, graphite or silver. Whichever way you look at it, it's an easy inclusion for our best phones of list, and we're happy to recommend it — as long as you get along with Apple software and can accommodate the price.
With a gorgeous 6. If that's something that you like to do, then this is a phone that's worth putting on your shortlist when you're choosing the best phone for you. We can also tell you that the camera is very impressive too, whether you want to just point and shoot or take more control over the various on-board photography settings.
The Sony Xperia 1 II will serve you well when it comes to taking photos and making movies, and again this is something that Sony handsets are well known for. Add in a nice design, strong battery life, wireless charging, 5G and an IP68 rating, and you can tell that this is a phone with very few flaws.
The aesthetics and the tall screen might not be to everyone's taste, and it's on the pricey side, but the Sony Xperia 1 II is worthy of the flagship label. The latest Google flagship phone is more of a premium mid-ranger than an actual flagship — the Pixel 5 settles for a Snapdragon G chip rather than the faster Snapdragon processors, and it ditches some of the advanced features of the Pixel 4 including Face Unlock, which we very much liked.
None of this really matters too much though, because it allows the Pixel 5 to hit a lower price point: and when you take the asking price into consideration, this is very much one of the best phones on the market at the moment. It's especially attractive if you like the clean, stock version of Android. There are some neat features here, including a 90Hz refresh rate for the screen, IP68 waterproofing, and wireless charging. There are also some useful Pixel exclusives on the software side like the Recorder app that can turn spoken words into transcribed text in an instant.
As usual for the Pixel series, it's the camera that helps the Pixel 5 stand out from the pack. While the physical hardware of the rear camera hasn't changed all that much from last year, the on-board image processing continues to impress, and it's difficult to beat in terms of photo-taking. The problems that Huawei has had with accessing Google apps and the Android Play Store have been well documented, but there's absolutely no doubting the quality of its hardware — the Mate 40 Pro is a stunning smartphone, finished with a premium glass and metal feel and running some of the fastest components around.
The handset scores highly in two areas that are crucial to any smartphone buyer: the camera is excellent, and the battery life can get you almost two days between charges if you're careful. No matter what the drawbacks on the software side, those advantages are worth taking note of.
Admittedly this is a pricey phone, but sometimes you've got to invest to get the best, and the Huawei Mate 40 Pro is one of the handsets that's really impressed us this year. In terms of the feel of the phone in the hand and the performance it offers, it's hard to beat.
Do make sure you're going to be able to run the apps you need to run on this phone before parting with your cash though — a lot of the top Android apps will have to be sideloaded, which means you need to be careful in terms of updates and security. On the whole, we think the Mate 40 Pro is still worth it for some users.
Looking for a one of the cheapest best phones on the market? Then check out the Google Pixel 4a 5G. The Google Pixel 4a 5G isn't the cheapest Pixel that Google has brought out recently, and nor is it the most powerful, but it just might be the best — combining elements of the Pixel 4a and the Pixel 5 in one well-priced package. It has the same excellent camera as the Pixel 5, and the same Snapdragon G processor, and 5G like the Pixel 5, and an even bigger screen.
Plus, like all the Pixels, it's running a clean and bloat-free version of Android that's guaranteed timely updates from Google. All that said, it makes a few compromises to hit a lower price point: no wireless charging, no waterproofing, and slightly less RAM than the more expensive Pixel. Does any of that matter? It depends what you want from a smartphone.
The combination of price, performance and features that the Pixel 4a 5G manages to pull together makes it just about our favourite Pixel phone of the year — more of this please Google. It's also an easy choice for our best phones list. Want a premium large-screen Android phone from one of the world's best smartphone makers? Then check out the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus. The Samsung Galaxy S21 range has been a great success for the South Korean phone maker, and the reason why can be seen clearly in the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, which sits between the standard S21 and flagship S21 Ultra in the range.
In the simplest terms, the S21 Plus is an S21 but with a larger screen, and what a screen that is, with the 6. It's a strong core package that delivers some impressive benchmark results and rapid real-world usage.
This speed is also carried into its data connection, with a state-of-the-art 5G modem on board. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus will also appeal to photographers, as it comes with a triple rear camera system and powerful selfie camera. This camera hardware is backed up with Samsung's excellent camera software, too, which delivers a bounty of shooting modes and options, including Director's View, which shoots video from the front and rear cameras simultaneously.
Throw in the latest Android 11 operation system, an in-display fingerprint reader, and an fast charging and long lasting battery, and it's easy to see why the Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is one of the best phones on the market today.
The Xiaomi Mi 11 is the latest handset from Chinese phone maker Xiaomi, and it is interesting as, just a OnePlus did last year, the firm has continued to move away from its more budget background with this handset. Just like last year's Mi 10 and then Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro , this handset retails for flagship-level money.
In terms of specs and hardware, though, you are getting a flagship package. The screen is a beast as well, not only measuring in at 6. The screen has an eye-popping peak brightness of 1, nits as well. The OS is also the very latest version Android, too, Android 11, and the phone has a very versatile camera system with superb macro shooting mode.
Overall, another strong mobile from Xiaomi, albeit it one that is rivalled for the price by various other manufacturers, including Samsung, Huawei and OnePlus. Every phone that OnePlus has launched over the last year has been a hit in our eyes, and the OnePlus 8T is in some ways a combination of everything that came before this year: a mix of the OnePlus 8, the OnePlus 8 Pro, and the OnePlus Nord.
It combines some excellent features with a very reasonable price in the mid-range section of the market. The headline features are perhaps the Hz refresh rate on the 6. You can juice up the phone from zero to full in the space of just half an hour or so, and that means you might not need to put your phone on charge overnight ever again.
There are plenty more specs to like as well, including the top-tier Snapdragon processor and plenty of RAM and storage. The camera isn't the best in the business, but it's certainly capable of taking some decent snaps, and that extends to low light and night time photography too. You do miss out on some flagship-level extras, like IP68 waterproofing and wireless charging, but everything considered including the price this is one of the best smartphones on the market in The Vivo X51 5G represents a new breed of premium mid-range phones that are currently taking the market by storm.
They offer plenty of flagship-grade features but do so while costing less as they tend to come with more mid-tier core hardware. Combined with a lightly skinned Android 10 operating system out of the box, and a price that rings in under the majority of flagship phones, and its easy to see how the Vivo X51 5G asks the question of if you need to spend more for, benchmark scores aside, small gains in terms of usage experience.
Overall, one of the best phones on the market for offering a near-flagship experience but at a noticeably lower price point. There's a huge amount to like when it comes to the Oppo Find X3 Pro , and the premium flagship phone comfortably earns a place in our list of the best phones available right now. It's polished, it's fast, it lasts a long time between battery charges, it has a fantastic screen, and the camera is great too — was there anything else you were looking for?
The quad-lens rear camera is worth a special mention actually, because as well as offering an ultrawide mode and 2x optical zoom, it also has a microscopic mode that lets you take super-close-ups of fabric, surfaces, and more. It's a lot of fun to use and it helps the Oppo Find X3 Pro stand out even more.
It's fair to say that the handset is on the expensive side, but you get plenty back in return for your money — including 5G connectivity, the top-tier Snapdragon processor from Qualcomm, IP68 protection against water and dust, and plenty more besides. Absolutely get this one on your shortlist. The iPhone 12 Pro Max is not the best phone for most people.
Think of it less as a phone and more of a mobile film or photo studio. The 6. Check out our iPhone 12 Pro Max Review for examples. But if you primarily use your phone for photography or filming, this is the cream of the Apple crop. Yes, both those phones offer some improvements in terms of specs over the standard S21, but in terms of core usage experience they are very similar.
And, well, the S21 delivers everything you would want from a modern smartphone. You get a large Hz display, rapid 5G connectivity, a feature-packed camera system, and a strong all-round internal hardware spec. You also get the very latest version of Android as an OS, too. The battery isn't the most capacious on this phone, that is true, and you also don't get a charger in its box also, which is an added expense unless you're already outfitted with a USB Type-C wired charger or one the best wireless chargers , but aside from that there really isn't much to dislike at all.
Choosing the right phone is no easy task, as there are so many on the market and, truth be told, many of them are very similar. There are some core questions you should ask yourself before pulling the trigger on a smartphone upgrade, though.
Firstly, you need to establish if you're going to buy the phone SIM free as in buy the phone outright upfront or on contract. Both these options have their own strengths and weaknesses.
For example, buying a phone outright, and especially if it is a premium handset, can cost a lot of money, so you need to be able to swallow that. When it comes to performance, we rely on such synthetic benchmarks as Geekbench 5 and GFXBench to measure graphics performance. These tests allow us to compare performance across iPhones and Android devices.
We also run a real-world video transcoding test on each phone using the Adobe Premiere Rush app and time the result. To measure the quality of a phone's display, we perform lab tests to determine the brightness of the panel in nits , as well as how colorful each screen is DCI-P3 color gamut.
In these cases, higher numbers are better. We also measure color accuracy of each panel with a Delta-E rating, where lower numbers are better and a score of 0 is perfect.
One of the most important tests we run is the Tom's Guide battery test. We run a web surfing test over 5G or 4G at nits of screen brightness until the battery gives out. In general, a phone that lasts 10 hours or more is good, and anything above 11 hours makes our list of the best phone battery life. Last but not least, we take the best phones out in the field to take photos outdoors, indoors and at night in low light to see how they perform versus their closest competitors.
We take shots of landscapes, food, portraits and more, and also allow you to be the judge with side-by-side comparisons in our reviews. Richard is a Tom's Guide staff writer based in London, covering news, reviews and how-tos for phones, gaming, audio and whatever else people need advice on.
When not at work, he's likely thinking about how to brew the perfect cup of specialty coffee. Our best phones in the UK list includes a diverse range of devices. Specifications Display: 6. CPU: A15 Bionic. Weight: grams. Battery: 4, mAh. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. CPU: Exynos Front camera: 40MP. Battery: 5, mAh. Battery: 3, mAh. Reasons to avoid - No charger in box - Video feature limitations. Xiaomi Mi CPU: Snapdragon Rear camera: MP main f1.
Front camera: 20MP f2. Google Pixel 6. CPU: Google Tensor. Storage: GB, GB. Reasons to avoid - Short battery life - No telephoto camera - 90Hz refresh rate. Reasons to avoid - Only two rear cameras - No Hz display. Oppo Find X3 Pro. Storage: GB.
Reasons to avoid - Gimmicky microscope lens - Design is a dirt-magnet. OnePlus 9 Pro. Reasons to avoid - Poor night mode photos - Limited monochrome sensor - Below average battery life. Xiaomi Mi 11 Ultra. Battery: 5,mAh. Reasons to avoid - Very expensive - Poor battery life - Heavy and unergonomic.
CPU: Snapdragon Plus. Reasons to avoid - Expensive - Can be awkward to hold. Samsung Galaxy S Reasons to avoid - No charger - Exynos chip instead of Snapdragon. OnePlus Nord 2. Reasons to avoid - Fixed refresh rates.
Redmi Note 10 Pro. CPU: Snapdragon G. Reasons to avoid - Weak performance - Low default storage. Google Pixel 4a. Specifications Display: 5. Rear camera: Reasons to avoid - Low processing power, - Poor battery.
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