Best Samsung phones to buy in 2021

Most people need to consider three lines. There’s Samsung’s S-series, home to the most famous phones. And the best ones.

The Note series offers an S-Pen stylus, great for digital drawing and handwritten notes. And the A-series is where you find Samsung’s mid-range phones.

There’s also the Fold series of foldable phones, but these aren’t exactly ‘mainstream' yet. And Samsung makes M-series phones with huge batteries. Some of these are fantastic and great value, but they don’t tend to be sold widely in the UK.

Jump to:

• Choosing a new Samsung phone
• Best Samsung phones to buy at a glance
• Best Samsung phones to buy in 2021

Choosing a new Samsung phone

How much should you pay for a Samsung?

Samsung phones heat up at around the £500 mark. This is where you jump from the A-series to the S-series.

Sure, there are plenty of Samsung phones available for much less, and the company even offers 5G in a phone at under £250 these days. But in the lower leagues, there’s an awful lot of excellent competition from companies like Xiaomi, Realme, Oppo and Motorola. They often get you a little more tech for your money.

That said, there are several compelling cheaper Samsung phones, and we understand some of you would rather own a Samsung than some brand you’ve never heard of before.

Most of our strongest positive 2021 memories of using a Samsung phone are all about the Galaxy S21 series. Much of that is thanks to their excellent cameras and surprisingly stylish designs.

Much as we like to recommend bargain-price phones whenever possible, the highlights are Samsung’s slightly more expensive ones. Here are our favourites.

Don't miss our Samsung phone comparisons:

• Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Plus vs Ultra
• iPhone 12 vs Samsung Galaxy S21
• OnePlus 9 vs Samsung Galaxy S21

Best Samsung phones to buy at a glance

• Best for photography fans: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, £1,149
• Best for those who want a small phone: Samsung Galaxy S21, £769
• Best all-rounder high-end Samsung: Samsung Galaxy S21+, £949
• Best mid-range Samsung: Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, £699
• Best for diverse features: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, £1,179
• Best for digital doodling: Samsung Galaxy Note 20, £849
• Best affordable 5G phone: Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, £249
• Best tech to show off: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, £1,599

Best Samsung phones to buy in 2021

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, £1,149

Best for photography fans

Pros

• Amazing cameras
• High-end tech throughout

Cons

• Still a very pricey phone

Camera phones don’t get more fun to use than the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It has four terrific cameras in the back, including two zooms. One has 3x magnification, the other 10x. Wherever you stand, the number of different shorts you can take is near-limitless if you approach your photography with a bit of imagination, anyway.

The phone is powerful, has a massive screen. And while battery life isn’t brilliant, it is long enough to avoid daily headaches. The price has come down slightly since its launch, but the S21 Ultra still costs a lot. However, Samsung’s tech justifies it. It even supports Samsung’s S-Pen, a pressure-sensitive stylus perfect for digital doodling, but you buy this separately.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra on contract:

• Available at O2 | from £45.99 a month and £30 upfront
• Available at Three | from £59 a month and £49 upfront
• Available at Vodafone | from £59 a month and £29 upfront
• Available at EE | from £57 a month and £100 upfront

Samsung Galaxy S21, £769

Best for those who want a small phone

Pros

• A great looker
• Very good cameras
• Petite

Cons

• The back is plastic, not glass
• Battery life is not ultra-long

The Galaxy S21 is the friendly face of Samsung’s top-end phones. It’s relatively small, costs less than the other S21 series phones. It is probably the best-looking of the trio too. The S21 is one of the most striking phones Samsung has ever made.

Its cameras are excellent, just a step below the S21 Ultra’s, and it is just as powerful. There are two cuts to consider. The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a plastic back, not a glass one. Battery life is shorter than the other two phones in the S21 family, too, worth considering if you tend to hammer your mobile each day.

• Available from Vodafone | from £59 a month and £29 upfront
• Available from EE | from £57 a month and £100 upfront (when you trade in an eligible model)
• Available from O2 | from £45.99 a month and £30 upfront

Samsung Galaxy S21+, £949

Best all-rounder high-end Samsung

Pros

• Striking high-end build
• Battery life than standard S21
• Large display

Cons

• Lacks the Ultra’s super-zoom cameras

The “Plus" version of the Galaxy S21 is the one to get if you want a big-screen Android but don’t fall instantly in love with the idea of the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s mind-blowing cameras.

This phone’s cameras are great — fantastic, really – but the zoom isn’t as powerful. Other important upgrades over the standard Galaxy S21 include better battery life and a real glass back. For many, this is the goldilocks zone of the Galaxy S21 lineup.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21+ on contract:

• Available from Vodafone | from £51 a month and £49 upfront
• Available from EE | from £43 a month and £100 upfront
• Available from O2 | from £41.99 a month and £30 upfront

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, £699

Best mid-range Samsung

Pros

• It’s like a cheaper Galaxy S21+
• Solid battery life

Cons

• Cameras aren't as good as the S21's
• Mid-level build quality

Samsung’s relatively new “FE” line should be considered a cheaper alternative to the Galaxy S21 Plus. And at around £500 online, you might choose this instead of the Galaxy S21 too. It has a mid-size 6.5-inch screen, a slightly older but still excellent Snapdragon 865 processor and similar construction to the Galaxy S21. That means plastic on the back, metal on the sides. Its battery outlasts the Galaxy S21's too.

So why on earth would you pick a Galaxy S21 instead? The S20 FE 5G’s camera array isn’t quite as good. And the design looks far more ordinary, lacking the distinctive flair of the S21 family. We highly recommend buying the 5G version rather than the 4G model. It costs a bit more but has a better processor, better battery life and 5G. Obviously.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G on contract:

• Available from O2 | from £34.16 a month and £30 upfront
• Available from EE | from £35 a month and £100 upfront
• Available from Tesco Mobile | from £32.49 a month (36-month contract)

Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, £1,179

Best for diverse features

Pros

• Has Samsung’s famous S-Pen
• Powerful zoom camera
• No-compromise build

Cons

• S21 Ultra camera is still more versatile

Buy a Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra if you want the best phone Samsung makes with a slot-in S-Pen stylus. This lets you handwrite notes and paint digital artworks, and it all feels pretty natural, thanks to the pressure sensitivity of the pen.

Samsung’s current Note phones are a little less powerful than those of the S21 series, as they are older. However, the real-world differences are slight, and the most noticeable being the S21 Ultra’s battery lasts a bit longer thanks to better power efficiency and a larger battery cell. Still, the camera array is excellent, bumped up to the big leagues with a 5x zoom. And, as ever, you buy a Note because you love the idea of that built-in stylus.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra on contract:

• Available from EE | from £69 a month and £100 upfront
• Available from Sky | from £44 a month and £12 upfront
• Available from Three | from £68 a month and £49 upfront

Samsung Galaxy Note 20, £849

Best for digital doodling

Pros

• S-Pen support at a lower price
• Large screen

Cons

• A high price for a plastic rear phone

The standard Note 20 raised a few eyebrows when it arrived in mid-late 2020. It’s a pricey phone but has a plastic back, not the glass seen in the Galaxy S21 Plus. This makes it one of the most expensive plastic phones we’ve seen.

However, it looks good, and these days you can often get it for much less cash than its original cost. If anything, we like the Note 20 more now than we did back in 2020 as a result. No other company implements a pen in a phone as well as Samsung either. Bear in mind the lower-cost versions of this model found online don't have 5G. There are both 4G and 4G/5G models of the Note 20.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 on contract:

• Available from O2 | from £44.50 a month and £30 upfront

Samsung Galaxy A32 5G, £249

Best affordable 5G phone

Pros

• Makes 5G affordable

Cons

• Beaten by rivals for pure value
• Lower resolution screen

This is Samsung’s affordable 5G phone. For £250, you get to test drive the ‘next gen’ internet that is fast becoming the norm. It’s a pretty good feature to have in your next phone. However, as this is Samsung, no feature comes for free.

The 4G Galaxy A32 has a much better screen and a higher-resolution main camera, although it’s not sold widely in the UK. It’s a solid choice if you are not a phone fiend but want 5G. However, we’d also suggest considering something like the Xiaomi Mi 10T Lite. It costs a similar amount but has a more consistent feature list, including 5G and a lovely and smooth 120Hz display.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy A32 5G on contract:

• Available from Three | from £26 a month
• Available from Tesco Mobile | from £19.99 a month (36-month contract)
• Available from Carphone Warehouse | from £18.99 a month
• Available from O2 | from £20.99 a month

Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G, £1,599

Best tech to show off

Pros

• A tablet and phone in one
• True tech status symbol

Cons

• Very expensive
• Fragile inner display

Here’s one for those with lots of money to spend, people who demand the very latest show-off-ready tech. The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G is a dual-screen folding phone. There’s a narrow display on the front. Open up the clamshell, and you’ll see a giant 7.6-inch screen.

It costs around £400 more than the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but it will be a while before flexible phones come without a big price bump. This is Samsung’s most dynamic phone, but the Galaxy S21 Ultra actually has a better camera array: something to bear in mind.

Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 2 review.

Buy the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G on contract:

• Available from O2 | from £59 a month and £50 upfront
• Available from Three | from £85 a month and £99 upfront
• Available from EE | from £97 a month and £150 upfront

Keep up to date with everything Samsung has to offer in our Samsung Galaxy phones list with prices, or bookmark our best new phones 2021 guide for this year's most anticipated arrivals.