The top phones of 2021 are phones that don’t compromise on anything and are dependable for daily use. Some of the top phones released in 2021 were powerful and affordable while some brought next-generation technologies to stand out. Features that were once seen only in high-end/flagship phones trickled down to other affordable segments and brands went on overdrive with their unique take on smartphone photography. Like every year, 2021 was packed with smartphone launches and while not all phones are worth your hard-earned money, here’s a look at the top phones this year.
The Vivo X70 Pro+ is the company’s flagship camera phone and is an absolute looker powered by the powerful Snapdragon 888+ chip. It’s a beast when it comes to performance and is amongst the best phones you can buy right now for its cameras. The X70 Pro+ raced ahead of some of the best performing phones in our testing process and is one of the top scorers in AnTuTu testing. Apart from this, the phone also offers a really gorgeous display which scored pretty good in our Calman display tests.
The Apple iPhone 13 is a refined upgrade and brings tons of new features and optimizations that make it the iPhone of choice for most buyers. For the iPhone 13, Apple has used new camera sensors, a brighter display and the powerful A15 Bionic chip that offers significant improvements in performance and battery life. New features like the Cinematic mode with rack focus and photographic styles add flavour to the camera and makes it more versatile than ever.
The OnePlus 9 Pro is a great Android flagship phone with an excellent design and feature set. The quad-camera on the OnePlus 9 Pro has been tuned by Hasselblad and are capable of producing some crisp and vibrant pictures. It’s powered by the top-of-the-line snapdragon 888 chip which means that you can expect top-notch performance without any compromises. The 10-bit Super AMOLED display remains a delight to watch movies or TV shows on complimented by loud stereo speakers.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has a lot going for itself. It has one of the most solid features set on the Android side of things and raises the stake with its powerful quad-camera setup on the back headlined by a 108MP main camera. It’s got a beautiful QHD+ AMOLED display that supports a high refresh rate making the phone a whole lot smoother in day to day use.
The iQOO 7 Legend is one of the most powerful gaming smartphones that you can buy in India right now. It raked in very high scores in our testing process which means that it won’t disappoint if you are looking for a powerful gaming smartphone that gives you an edge in mobile gaming. The cameras of the iQOO 7 Legend surprised us and can create some Instagram worthy pictures easily. The battery life of the iQOO 7 Legend is decent for a gaming phone and you can top it up quickly as it supports fast charging.
The Redmi Note 10 Pro Max is one of the best budget phones that you can buy right now in India. The Note 10 Pro Max brings in features that were previously only seen on high-end and premium phones. Its got a large AMOLED display that supports a 120Hz refresh rate and has a quad-camera setup headlined by a 108MP camera. Battery life is pretty great and it also supports 33W fast charging.
OnePlus Nord 2 is a popular mid-range phone in India. It has everything that you expect from an affordable phone like the presence of a 90Hz high refresh rate display, a powerful Dimenity 1200 chipset and offers good battery life that also supports fast charging. The biggest upgrade comes in the form of a 50MP main camera which is paired with an ultra-wide sensor and can take some really sharp and bright pictures.
The Redmi 10 Prime is a super affordable phone in the Redmi number series and offers a great combo of specs and features. With features like stereo speakers, a 50MP main camera, a 90Hz refresh rate display and a large battery, the Redmi 10 Prime is a compelling option for those looking for a feature-rich budget phone.
The Asus ROG Phone 5 is the undisputed champion and gives you a significant advantage when playing games. With pressure-sensitive shoulder triggers, fast touch latency rate, over 300Hz touch sampling rate and the X Mode, the ROG Phone 5 is the best gaming smartphone to play some of the most demanding games like PUBG New State, Call of Duty: Mobile, Genshin Impact and more. It’s got a really nice and large display that gives you a wide screen-estate to play around with and is coupled quite nicely with a pair of stereo speakers and amplifiers.
The Poco F3 GT is one of the most affordable gaming phones that come with physical Maglev shoulder trigger buttons. The phone also has customizable RGB lighting. The trigger buttons offer a nice tactile feedback when playing heavy-duty games like COD Mobile, Genshin Impact and BGMI, to name a few. It also scored well in our performance tests and emerged as a great mid-range gaming phone with just the right balance of beauty and brains.
Also, check out the smartphone winners of our Zero1 Awards here.