The best Android phones in 2021

The best Android phones fit practically every need and budget. Whether you re on not wanting to spent or you re looking to drop up to $, on a phone, you have a lot to choose from. You have the power to prioritize what features matter most to you.

Those on a budget can get a good-enough Android phone for under $. Step up to the $ range, and the choices get considerably better, especially when it comes to camera quality. And you can get flagship-level performance starting at under $, so long as you re willing to live without some bells and whistles and the finest photography.

The most premium Android flagship phones start at $, offering the sharpest and brightest displays, the most advanced photography, and cutting edge features like reverse wireless charging and Hz screens. G has also come to more affordable options, like the Pixel a G, so it s nice to see more Android phones able to take advantage of faster download speeds. 

We’ve tested all of the most popular Android phones in all shapes, sizes and prices here at Tom’s Guide, and our current top pick is the Galaxy S Ultra from Samsung. It offers an incredible display, crazy powerful cameras, and a huge battery to power it all. Plus, it s the first Galaxy S phone to support the S Pen sold separately. The OnePlus Pro, another excellent premium Android phone, is a close second.

If you want the best camera for the lowest cost, look no further than Google s Pixel a. Its camera comes straight out of Google s premium Pixels, and its excellent display and quality design make it a steal for $. The Pixel a G is our pick if you need a G phone from Google and still want some of the best mobile photography available.

Bargain hunters striving to spend the absolute least can find a very good option in the latest version of the Moto G Power, which lasts the whole day on a charge, but starts at just $. On the other end of the price spectrum, the Galaxy Z Fold costs $,, but finally delivers on the potential of foldable phones.

Rear camera: MP main ƒ.; MP ultrawide ƒ.; MP telephoto x zoom, ƒ., MP telephoto x zoom, ƒ., laser AF sensor

The Galaxy S Ultra is the Android phone to get, if you don’t mind spending more than $, on your next handset. Even with its lofty price, though, the S Ultra still debuts for $ less than last year’s Galaxy S Ultra, so you’re getting a lot of value. With the S Ultra, Samsung has packed an incredible amount of premium features into its newest flagship.

The .-inch display on the Galaxy S Ultra has a dynamic refresh rate that automatically scales between Hz and Hz, depending on if the task you’re performing benefits from a faster refresh rate. You get two telephoto lenses that help you capture an amazing amount of detail when you zoom in, and other software-driven photo features help the S Ultra capture some great shots. And this is the first Galaxy S phone to offer S Pen support, making this a productivity booster.

The Galaxy S Ultra offers other attractive features, including a best-in-class Snapdragon processor. The Pixel a may be a better bargain, but the S Ultra leaves no premium feature unexplored.

+Gorgeous design+Beautiful Hz display+Excellent performance+Crazy fast wired and wireless charging

The OnePlus Pro is big, it’s beautiful, and it’s very powerful. It completely wowed us, from its gorgeous display to its battery life and charging. The OxygenOS software experience is top-notch, complete with plenty of tweaks and features to help you make the phone truly yours.

It also excels as a camera phone thanks to the new partnership with Hasselblad. The MP main shooter captures wonderful photos with natural color tones and excellent dynamic range. The MP ultrawide sensor is huge and captures just as much detail. It even has a freeform lens over top, helping to practically eliminate edge distortion in ultrawide shots. The MP telephoto lens has .x optical zoom, x digital zoom, and OIS. Video is also a highlight, with support for up to K FPS, K FPS, DOL-HDR, and Nightscape for low-light footage.

You’ll want for nothing with the OnePlus Pro unless it s G on AT&T, even if it is the most expensive OnePlus phone to date at over $,. Rest assured that you’re getting a huge bang for your buck, especially when compared to the competition.

You might be surprised to find Google s mid-range Pixel, the Pixel a, at third on our list of the best Android phones. But at just $, the Pixel a is a remarkably complete smartphone, the likes of which we ve never before seen at this price.

For half the price of the Pixel , or a third of what Samsung and Apple charge for their top models, the Pixel a offers a flagship-caliber camera, good-enough performance, impeccable software, a pocketable, well-built design, GB of built-in storage and a dazzling and bright .-inch OLED display.

If the a suffered from one shortcoming, it d be battery life. But in all other respects, it s nearly perfect — and it even has a headphone jack. In previous years, you would have had to spend at least $ on a device like this, but the Pixel a is an unmatched bargain among Android devices right now, and an even better deal than last year s already-excellent Pixel a. And if you re curious how it compares to its bigger brother, we have a Pixel a vs. Pixel a G face-off for you.

All of that said, we do want to point out that the Pixel a is coming quite soon, possibly as soon as August. Google hasn t set a firm date yet, but we ve heard that the a will come out before the Pixel lineup so that Google doesn t cannibalize itself. Rumors also suggest that the Pixel a could see some significant upgrades over the a, such as G thanks to the Snapdragon G processor found in the Pixel , a larger screen, and a second ultrawide camera lens. We re also hoping for a bigger battery.

+Dynamic .-inch Hz display+Smoother S Pen performance +Powerful x zoom camera and laser autofocus+Very good battery life

The Galaxy Note Ultra takes the crown as the best Android phone for those willing to pay an ultra-premium price. And that’s because this device is much more than a phone. It’s a powerful note-taking tool with lots of S Pen upgrades; it’s a pro-level camera with a MP sensor and x zoom; and it’s a mini game console with the ability to stream Xbox games.

The Note Ultra also boasts the best display on a phone yet, as its huge .-inch OLED screen has a dynamic Hz refresh rate. So it’s smart enough to dial things up or down based on what s being displayed, which saves battery life. The , mAh battery lasts a long time on a charge, and you get quick -watt charging out of the box. Overall, the Galaxy Note Ultra more than lives up to its name. It is, however, getting a little long in the tooth, with rumors suggesting that the Galaxy Z Fold line will replace the Note family.

+Ridiculously fast charging+Top-performing Android phone+Better cameras than previous OnePlus models+Solid battery life

Though not quite as fancy as its Pro brother, the OnePlus is still a fantastic phone, especially for the money. You get a flat .-inch FHD+ Hz display that looks amazing, the same MP wide and MP ultrawide cameras as the OnePlus Pro, and the best processor you can get with an Android device, the Snapdragon .

Battery life is another major plus, with the OnePlus lasting for hours and minutes in the Tom’s Guide battery test with the Hz mode enabled. The cameras are much improved over the OnePlus T and other OnePlus phones, too, meaning that you can capture vivid scenes with more accurate colors and dynamic range. The lack of a telephoto lens is a bummer, though.

Best of all, the OnePlus starts at $ for the GBGB model. That’s a lot of phone for the money and it offers a real challenge to Samsung’s Android crown. But OnePlus twice-yearly release schedule is coming due for the next entrant, the OnePlus T. That could appear in the October timeframe. And although rumors about the upcoming phone are a bit sparse right now, we ll probably hear a lot about it from OnePlus in the weeks leading up to the launch.

In recent years, there’s been one phone to turn to when you want the absolute best battery life for an Android phone — the Moto G Power. The edition of this phone doesn’t make many changes from its predecessor, sticking with the ,mAh battery that sets the pace for other phones. The Moto G Power lasted more than hours on our battery test, roughly hours longer than the average smartphone.

Motorola has made one crucial change with the Moto G Power — its price. While you can still get a version of the phone with GB of memory and GB of storage  for an attractive $, if you can live with less RAM and storage, the price drops to $. That’s an incredible price for a device that lasts all day and then some on a single charge.

If you’re enticed by some of the features Samsung has introduced in its Galaxy S lineup but put off by the thought of $, phones, then the standard Galaxy S is the phone for you. You’ll enjoy the dynamic refresh rate, excellent cameras and Snapdragon chipset found in other members of the S family, but at a low $ starting price. That’s $ less than last year’s Galaxy S.

Samsung makes some sacrifices to get this lower price, starting with the materials it uses for the phone’s design. But that’s a small consideration when you get a phone this powerful for less than $. With an excellent zoom lens aided by wonderful software additions, this is also a great phone to get if you want great photos and videos.

If you want a G phone from Google, you don t necessarily have to get the Pixel . All of that phone s best features — including G connectivity and some of the best performing cameras we ve tested — can be found in the Pixel a G. And this phone costs $ less than Google s flagship.

You give up some build quality and water resistance by opting for the cheaper G option, and the Pixel a G doesn t have a fast-refreshing screen. But it is the largest display among Google s recent releases, and the .-inch OLED panel is plenty colorful.

It s the cameras that ultimately are the reason to pick up a Pixel, and the Pixel a G can match the Pixel shot for shot. Not surprising since they use the same hardware and support the same features. The Pixel a G gives you an affordable way to get started with the G future.

+Superb performance+Beautiful AMOLED display with Hz refresh rate+Excellent battery life+Powerful front-facing speakers

Asus launched the latest version of its gaming phone, the ROG Phone , in March. It s a huge phone with an equally large , mAh battery, a .-inch AMOLED display with a Hz refresh rate, incredible front-facing speakers, two USB-C ports, and a whole host of software goodies to make sure you have the ultimate mobile gaming experience.

With the ROG Phone , you get uncompromising power with up to GB of RAM and the best Android processor yet, the Snapdragon . Everything about this phone is designed for gaming, even right down to the SoC placement and the split battery for faster W charging. If you want more, there s the ROG Phone Pro with GB of storage and GB of RAM, or the limited edition ROG Phone Ultimate with a whopping GB of RAM.

A US launch is happening later this year, but the phone will be limited to GSM networks and sub-GHz G. Where the ROG Phone falters is its camera performance, especially its night mode. You won t be amazed by the photos it takes, but we expect you want this phone for its gaming prowess. Rest assured, it delivers on that front.

It didn’t look good for foldable phones at the outset, with the original Galaxy Fold offering a futuristic concept of mobile computing in a seriously flawed and damage-prone package. But then Samsung went back to the drawing board, refining its original design to produce the Galaxy Z Fold — a device that rights its predecessors flaws, while adding some useful new features.

One of those useful additions is Flex Mode, which leverages the Galaxy Z Fold ’s free-stop hinge to allow the device to stay in place at any position, while showing custom, split-screen controls for relevant apps, like video chatting software. But the Z Fold nails the basics as well, thanks to a greatly-expanded exterior cover display that lacks the eyesore bezels on the original model, as well as a larger interior panel shrouded in Samsung’s Ultra-Thin Glass, making it more durable and pleasant to the touch.

All this innovation comes at a price of course — $,, to be precise. But then there’s no Android phone that can do what the Galaxy Z Fold does, perched perfectly between phone and tablet.

We re just a short bit away from the launch of the Galaxy Z Fold and Z Flip . Rumors are heating up about the Z Fold s successor, including S Pen support, better glass, and an under-display selfie cam all at a supposedly lower price than the Fold launched at.

Samsung has announced the next Unpacked event for August , with pre-orders for the Galaxy Z Fold live now.

The first place to start when shopping for the best Android phone for you is your budget. And there are essentially a few tiers, The cheapest Android phones cost under $ and offer mostly the basics for using apps, taking pictures and staying connected. 

As you move up to under $, you ll find more compelling handsets, touting better processors, higher-grade materials and more camera lenses. Progress into the $-and-up range, and the best phones offer flagship-caliber performance along with cutting-edge computational photography and special features.

The most premium Android phones offer foldable designs, but in general we don t feel like these types of devices are worth the splurge yet — save, perhaps, for the new Samsung Galaxy Z Flip, which rights the Galaxy Fold s design quirks and isn t egregiously expensive for a foldable, anyway at $,.

Every smartphone Tom’s Guide evaluates is tested for several days in real-world use cases and benchmarked with a gamut of performance-measuring apps. In terms of performance, we used Geekbench to measure overall speed and DMark to measure graphics performance.

We also use our own video editing test in the Adobe Premiere Rush app to see how long it takes to transcode a clip, which we run on both Android phones and iPhone to compare performance.

We use a light meter to ascertain display quality data, like brightness and color accuracy, and our proprietary battery test determines longevity on a charge by continuously loading live webpages over a G or G network. We set each phone to nits of screen brightness and try to use T-Mobile s network each time in order to achieve comparable results across phones.

Lastly, we explore the software, test gaming performance and conduct live camera comparisons with rival handsets — and each of these factors play a part in our comprehensive verdict.

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