Top 10 BEST Smartphones of 2021

What's up, guys?

And it's that time of year again.

2021 has been an interesting year, shall we say,

not the best year for a lot of reasons.

But one of the positives that we've had this year

is that we've had lots of amazing smartphones.

And like I do every year, SuperSaf style,

I have put together a list

of my top five favorite smartphones of the year.

Now, normally I do five top five smartphones,

but this year there has just been so many,

maybe too many.

So I've actually had to make this a top 10 list.

Now, a few disclaimers before we start.

I've tested out a lot of smartphones this year,

but obviously I've not tested every single one.

So this is my personal top 10 list.

It might be different to yours.

That's absolutely fine, guys.

We don't need to fight, especially in 2020.

Just drop your favorites in the comments below.

Also this list is in no particular order,

I am just giving you my top 10.

However, I will be revealing my overall favorite smartphone

in an upcoming SuperSaf style collaboration

with all of my friends.

And if you want to see that first,

then be sure to subscribe and hit that bell icon.

You're not going to want to miss it.

And with all of that out the way, let's get to it.

The first smartphone on my list, once again,

in no particular order,

is the Samsung galaxy S20 Only Fans Edition.

Now Samsung actually released

quite a few new S20 devices

but the one that really stood out to me personally

was the S20 FE.

And that's because it ticks a lot of boxes

and comes in at a very reasonable price.

You're not really making too many compromises.

You've got a great 120 hertz display.

You've got a triple rear facing camera system

with all really good cameras,

no gimmicky two megapixel macro cameras.

You've got a primary ultra-wide as well as a telephoto.

Great specs, water and dust resistance, wireless charging,

reverse wireless charging, an SD card slot,

which is something that's very rare these days.

And for my UK peeps,

you can actually get the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 version.

You're not just stuck with an Exynos option.

Now, granted, we do have a plastic back,

so it's not as premium, arguably,

however, most people use a case anyway.

So S20 FE, a very easy phone to recommend.

Another smartphone that's also very easy to recommend

is the iPhone 12.

Now Apple also released many iPhones this year,

but the iPhone 12 is the iPhone for most people.

And this year, there are not many compromises.

If we look at the iPhone 11 last year

compared to the Pros, there were lots of compromises.

This is not the case with the iPhone 12.

We've got a really good display.

Granted, there is a notch.

We've got excellent cameras, some of the best out there,

very consistent with excellent video.

Dolby Vision with HDR

which isn't fully compatible everywhere right now.

But even without that,

the quality you get is absolutely amazing.

And with the A14 Bionic chip,

it's actually one of the fastest smartphones out right now.

You still do get 64 gigabytes as a base

which I'm not too happy about.

And there is no charger included out of the box,

which, you know, I can live with,

but the fact that it's still lightning,

is a bit of a downside for me.

However that aside, the iPhone 12, excellent smartphone,

very easy to recommend.

The next smartphone on my list

was actually the first smartphone of the year

with 120 hertz, as well as a quad HD display.

That is the OPPO Find X2 Pro.

It's a smartphone that I really enjoyed using.

We've got great all around cameras,

as well as the fastest charging that I've tested this year,

65 Watt SuperVOOC.

Top of the line specs with 512 gigabytes of storage,

with ColorOS, which has improved massively

compared to previous years.

Now although we do have the fastest wired charging,

there is no wireless charging

which I did find myself missing a little bit.

And I'm not a huge fan of the selfie cameras.

That aside, it's an excellent, excellent smartphone.

And the next smartphone on my list

is actually very similar to the OPPO Find X2 Pro.

And that is the OnePlus 8 Pro.

Now this is because OnePlus and OPPO are partner companies,

that kind of looks a little bit weird,

but you know what I mean, they're partner companies,

so they obviously share a lot of tech.

And although OnePlus released

a lot of smartphones this year,

the highlight for me was the OnePlus 8 Pro

because it really doesn't have many compromises.

I know I keep saying that in this video,

but anyway, generally, OnePlus devices,

although they are competitively priced,

they do miss out on a few features.

The OnePlus 8 Pro is priced slightly higher,

but it ticks off pretty much all the boxes.

We've got wireless charging for the first time

on a OnePlus device.

30 watt wireless charging as well.

Excellent software,

OxygenOS still one of my favorite skins on Android.

Very fast and smooth.

And very good overall cameras.

This is an area where OnePlus actually struggles

in generally, however, the OnePlus 8 Pro

has very nice cameras.

And for me, especially the macro camera.

Now this isn't the gimmicky two megapixel macro camera.

This is actually a very good macro camera

which uses the ultra-wide camera to focus in close.

And it's one of my favorite macro cameras out there.

I'm still not a fan of the selfie camera

like with the OPPO Find X2 Pro,

however, the OnePlus 8 Pro, a great overall package.

Now the next smartphone on my list is the Google Pixel 5.

Now last year, I really think Google missed the mark

with the 4 and the 4XL.

They had a massive forehead with those motion sensors,

which nobody used.

They went for a telephoto camera instead of an ultra wide.

All of these things.

This year, I think Google did very, very well

with the Pixel 5.

You've got a great display with 90 hertz.

Uniform bezels, and we also now have an ultra wide camera,

so it's good to see Google kind of go back on their words

and really listen to what people actually want.

Now, unlike the OnePlus 8 Pro,

it's not the highest spec'd device out there,

it does have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 5G chip set,

which is still very good,

especially with the stock Android software.

If you want to get the latest updates,

then the Pixel will be the way to go.

And you've also got excellent battery life.

And the Pixel 5 is coming in at a competitive price point.

So thumbs up from me for the Pixel 5.

And the next smartphone on my list

is a little bit opposite when it comes to software.

And that is the Huawei P40 Pro.

I really enjoyed using the Huawei P40 Pro,

and mainly it was round the cameras.

It's got excellent cameras

with some of the best zoom that you're going to find

on any smartphone.

There is also the Huawei P40 Pro+,

which kind of extends even further on that zoom.

But I think the P40 Pro is a good balance.

And surprisingly, the selfie cameras

are absolutely excellent.

You do get a pill shape cutout,

but that means you get excellent portraits

from the front facing cameras.

3D face unlock with a fingerprint scanner,

41 watt wired charging,

27 and a half watt wireless charging.

It ticks a lot of boxes.

However, unfortunately Google Play Services

are not supported.

Now, it is still perfectly usable

if you're willing to do a few work arounds

but it's so unfortunate

that we don't have Google Play Services.

Next smartphone on my list is a smartphone

that I actually had my SIM card in for a very long time.

And that is the Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra.

Now you guys may know that I wasn't a huge fan

of the S20 Ultra, there was lots that needed improving.

What's great is that Samsung took that feedback

from the S20 Ultra onboard and gave us

pretty much all of the improvements we asked for

on the Note20 Ultra.

This is an excellent smartphone.

In my opinion, this has the best display

on a smartphone right now.

You've got 120 hertz, granted it's at 1080p,

but this is the brightest display on the market.

Excellent cameras with great zoom,

and my personal favorite ultra-wide camera

on any smartphone right now.

A really good design with an SD card slot,

one UI which I really do like.

However, I do wish updates were quicker

on Samsung devices.

And something that you don't get on any other smartphone,

the S Pen.

I don't use it every day, but when I do need it,

it's so useful.

Do some quick doodles, edit some images,

sign some documents, the S Pen is there.

Now, depending on your region,

you might get an Exynos version

which is inferior to the Snapdragon version.

That's quite unfortunate.

But apart from that, Note20 Ultra, excellent device.

Now moving on, we have the iPhone 12 Pro Max

which is the top of the line iPhone, and it's very big.

- That's what she said.

- However, I do like the updated design

with the flat edges like we have on the iPhone 12.

And again, those cameras, the iPhone 12 Pro Max

has some of the best cameras on the market.

The first smartphone in the world with sensor shift

optical image stabilization.

And the telephoto camera is at 65 millimeters,

which gives, in my opinion,

the best portraits on any smartphone.

Again, video is great with Dolby Vision HDR.

Even if you do have it switched off,

it still in my opinion, gives you the best video

on any smartphone.

Now it is still a 60 hertz display,

I was hoping for 120 hertz,

which we don't have this year, unfortunately,

but that aside, the iPhone 12 Pro Max

is an excellent, excellent smartphone.

The next smartphone on my list is the Samsung Galaxy,

I'm not going to call it the Z Fold or Z Fold 2,

I'm just going to call it the Fold 2.

The Samsung Galaxy Fold 2.

Now, in my opinion, this is still the best

foldable smartphone you can buy.

And it's also the most improved smartphone of the year.

Take a look at the Galaxy Fold 1,

which I was super excited about

but there was lots of room for improvement.

In comes the Galaxy fold 2.

Looks like Samsung pretty much listened to everything

that we asked for.

The front display is now very usable

and it stretches all the way to the sides.

The main display is now more durable

and it does have 120 hertz.

We've got excellent cameras.

And I still find it absolutely mind blowing

that tech has come so far where we can have

a smartphone that can open up into a tablet.

Now, granted, it is still something

that you have to be a little bit careful with

because the display has to be foldable.

And it is still very, very expensive.

However, as mentioned,

if you're looking for a foldable device,

my recommendation is the Samsung Galaxy Fold 2.

Last smartphone on my list.

This was a tough one

because there's so many other good smartphones as well.

But the one that made the list

was the ASUS ZenFone 7 Pro.

Now I really like ASUS as a company

because they do try to innovate and come up with new things,

and one of the things that we've got on the ZenFone 7 Pro,

which you're not going to see on any other smartphone

is a flip up camera.

Now this allows you to have the same rear facing cameras

as the front facing cameras,

which gives you excellent quality.

And it also means 8K video from the front facing camera

which you're not going to get anywhere else.

Granted, you might not want 8K video

from the front facing camera,

but nevertheless, it is there.

Top of the line specs,

a massive 5,000 milliampere hour battery

which lasts all day long and then some.

Now there's no wireless charging

which I did find myself missing.

And there's no water and dust resistance

because of that mechanism.

And also availability is quite limited,

I'm not sure if you can get it in all regions.

However, the ZenFone 7 Pro, great, great smartphone.

And that is my top 10 list, but we've not finished just yet.

There are a few honorable mentions.

So the Sony Xperia devices,

the 1 II and the 5 II,

really good overall smartphones with excellent cameras.

However, they didn't make my list

because I still feel that they are niche devices.

I'm probably going to get some hate from Sony fans for that,

but great smartphones, nevertheless.

The Huawei Mate 40 Pro,

again, another excellent smartphone,

which shares a lot of the same features

that we've got on the P40 Pro.

However, once again, no support for Google Play Services.

Xiaomi this year released a bunch of new smartphones

at very competitive prices.

My personal standout was the Xiaomi Mi 10T Pro,

with its 144 hertz display.

And let's not forget LG.

LG with the LG WING, which admittedly,

I'm going to put my hands up,

I was quite negative about,

before actually trying it, so I'm sorry, LG, for that.

After actually getting it and trying it out,

it's actually a really, really cool smartphone

and opens up lots of new possibilities,

and I'm all for innovation.

That's my list with the honorable mentions.

What are your favorite smartphones of the year.

As mentioned, please don't argue with me,

do drop them in the comments below.

We can all still be friends.

And of course there is going to be the SuperSaf style

end of year epic collaboration with all my friends,

which is going to be coming very, very soon.

If you want to see that first,