The best Samsung phones, from the S22 to the Z Fold 3
(Image credit: TechRadar / Samsung)
The best Samsung phones are often rather special thanks to the South Korean giant being one of the most prominent phone makers in the world. Offering a wide array of devices at various prices means there's a lot of choice out there. Fortunately, we're here to break down the best Samsung phones for you.
Samsung's Galaxy devices often rank as some of the best Android phones around, with the brand often featuring amongst the best smartphones overall.
It's useful to think about if you need the best Samsung phone for battery life, or possibly the best Samsung camera phone. The latter is going to be the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra, providing you can afford it, or the Samsung Galaxy A53 if funds are a little tighter.
It's useful to think about the key essentials like battery life, cameras, design, and features when finding the right Samsung phone for you. That's why we've broken down what each handset offers in terms of strengths based on our expert opinion, as well as in-depth testing and reviewing.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best Samsung phone you can buy right now, combining all the best bits of the S Ultra range and the Galaxy Note range into one sumptuous package.
Really though, this is more Note than S, with a Note-like shape, an S Pen stylus, and a slot to house it. This makes it a dream for productivity, allowing you to sketch, edit, and take hand-written notes with ease.
But the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra also has the excellent camera hardware you’d expect from the range, including an improved 10x optical zoom lens which we were incredibly impressed with in our review.
There’s plenty of power too, whether you end up with the Exynos 2200 chipset (in Europe), or the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 model (in most other places). That coupled with a massive 6.8-inch 120Hz 1440 x 3088 screen makes the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra a joy to use.
And we’ve really only scratched the surface of what this phone offers. A big battery, fast 45W charging, water resistance, and masses of RAM and storage are all here too, among many, many other flagship features.
The Samsung Galaxy A53 isn't the fastest phone but it offers a lot for the price. Good looking, it's comfy to hold onto with an understated camera bump on the back.
Its 6.5-inch screen uses an AMOLED panel while offering a full HD+ resolution and 120Hz refresh rate so it's easily one of the best-looking displays in this price range.
Accompanying that is a 64MP main lens, 12MP ultrawide, 5MP macro, and 5MP depth sensor so the Samsung Galaxy A53 can take some pretty good photos as helepd by some smart software options.
A little sluggish at times, we'll still forgive the Samsung Galaxy A53 if you're keen for a great camera and screen without spending a fortune.
Camera system pales in comparison to its Ultra cousin
The Samsung Galaxy S22 is the baby of the Galaxy S22 range, but that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t consider it. In fact, as the cheapest of Samsung’s flagship trio it’s a very tempting handset, and easily one of the best Samsung phones.
In our review we praised its performance and its stylish yet solidly built construction. It’s small by flagship phone standards too, with a 6.1-inch screen and compact overall dimensions, making this a great choice for fans of small handsets. That screen is no slouch though, with a 120Hz refresh rate and a crisp 1080 x 2340 resolution.
The cameras – while no match for those on the Galaxy S22 Ultra – are also fairly good, and include a new 50MP main sensor, along with capable ultra-wide and telephoto ones.
And as noted the phone performs well, as it packs a top-end chipset (albeit one which varies depending on your region) and 8GB of RAM. If you need the biggest or best phone around then this isn’t for you, but if you want a capable, compact flagship on a budget then the Samsung Galaxy S22 is well worth considering.
