The best Samsung phones are all exceptional handsets, but they also vary a lot, so finding the best option for you personally can still take some work. But that's where this guide comes in, as we've ranked and detailed them all.
These handsets rank among the very best Android phones and even the best smartphones full stop, so you can be confident that anything in this list is worth your money.
But you also need to consider what you actually want from a smartphone. Do you want a foldable phone like the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3? A top-tier flagship like the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra? Or something more affordable like the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE?
There are lots of options, and that's before you factor in things like battery life, camera performance, design, and more. But we've extensively tested all of these phones (and many hundreds more), so we know exactly what's good and bad about each, and you'll find that articulated below, giving you a clearer idea of what to choose.
If nothing catches your eye though, you're not out of options, as we have plenty more guides as well, such as for the best camera phone, the best iPhone, or the best cheap phone.
Or if you're set on a Samsung but just not one of these then check back soon, as new Samsung handsets regularly launch, and the best of them will always be added to this list.
Best Samsung phones 2022
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra is the best Samsung phone you can buy at the time of writing, 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 (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.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra review
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.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S22 review
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is Samsung’s top, premium flagship for 2021, and what a phone it is. For the first time Samsung offered S Pen support on an S-range handset here, meaning that you can optionally get the Galaxy Note range’s best feature.
But even without that, this is a stunning handset, with a brilliant quad-lens camera capable of 10x optical zoom. In fact, in our review we called it the best camera zoom on any readily available Android phone - though the S22 Ultra has since beat it.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra also looks great, with a smooth Gorilla Glass back that has a matte finish that looks better than the reflective Galaxy S20 range, while around the front there’s a curved edge-to-edge 6.8-inch screen.
And speaking of that screen, for the first time on a Samsung phone you get both a QHD+ resolution and a 120Hz refresh rate at the same time. And being a high-end Samsung screen this is one of the best around.
There’s also oodles of power of course, and while obviously very expensive, this actually has a cheaper starting price than the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra did at launch.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus is Samsung’s middle flagship for 2022, but it has a lot more in common with the standard Galaxy S22 than the Note-like Galaxy S22 Ultra. So if you want the most premium conventional Galaxy S model for 2022 then this is the one to get.
It has a big 6.6-inch 1080 x 2340 screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, loads of power from its top-end chipset and 8GB of RAM, and a capable camera, including a 50MP main sensor, a 10MP telephoto one (offering 3x optical zoom), and a 12MP ultra-wide. In our review we found that it excelled at portrait shots in particular.
The Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus also comes in a wide range of colors, so you have some choice in how the phone looks, and it supports respectable 45W charging.
All that said, it’s an expensive handset, and might be a hard sell when sandwiched between the more affordable and compact Samsung Galaxy S22, and the truly top-tier Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S22 Plus review
The Samsung Galaxy S21 is the most basic and affordable of the Galaxy S21 range, but it has a lot going for it beyond its relatively low price, making it one of the best Samsung phones.
The triple-lens camera is highly versatile, including the three core lenses that we’d expect from a premium smartphone – namely a main one, a telephoto, and an ultra-wide. They all perform well too.
There’s also high-end power, solid battery life, and an AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate. At 6.2 inches it’s also a lot more compact than the rest of the S21 range, so it’s ideal if you don’t want a massive phone.
And beyond being the most affordable of the range, the Samsung Galaxy S21 is actually a step down in price from its predecessor, so it’s a bit of a bargain – though to achieve that the screen resolution has been dropped to Full HD+, and the back of the phone is ‘Glasstic’ rather than actual glass.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S21 review
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is perhaps the least interesting of the three Samsung Galaxy S21 models – lacking the sheer excess of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, while costing a chunk more than the Samsung Galaxy S21, but this is still one of the best Samsung phones.
It offers a much larger screen than its cheaper sibling, at 6.7 inches, and it packs a glass back, where the standard Galaxy S21 makes do with plastic. It also has a larger 4,800mAh battery – though with the larger display that extra battery power is necessary.
Elsewhere it’s a very similar phone, but that’s no bad thing, as it has a high-end chipset, plenty of RAM, a capable triple-lens camera, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and a stylish design.
It’s certainly expensive, particularly considering the display is only 1080 x 2400, and the lack of a microSD card slot means you might want to shell out for a 256GB model, but these are minor complaints about what’s otherwise an excellent phone.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review
The Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is a beast of a handset with a beast of a price, but it has the specs to match, with a 108MP main camera, a 12MP periscope one, and a 12MP ultra-wide one, while the screen is a massive 6.9-inch 1440 x 3088 AMOLED one with 496 pixels per inch and a refresh rate of up to 120Hz.
But the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra doesn’t stop there, as it also stands out from rivals thanks to its S Pen stylus, letting you doodle on the screen, sync voice recordings with your hand-written notes, and more.
Plus, the phone also has high-end power of course, including 12GB of RAM and either a Snapdragon 865 Plus or Exynos 990 chipset. Which you get depends on where you are in the world, but they’re both exceedingly powerful.
There’s also 5G, loads of storage, a premium design, an in-screen fingerprint scanner, and a big battery, so this is a phone that almost has it all – though the charging could be faster and it’s slightly disappointing that you can’t use both a 120Hz refresh rate and a QHD+ resolution at the same time.
The biggest stumbling block though is simply the price, but if you have the money and want everything that the Note 20 Ultra is offering, then it’s a fantastic choice.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra review
The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 is Samsung’s best foldable phone yet, thanks in part to its support for the S Pen stylus, which makes it a great device for sketching and handwriting on.
That’s helped by the massive 7.6-inch foldable screen, which we found big enough to even work on spreadsheets from. We found the 6.2-inch cover display a bit more cramped, but both screens have a 120Hz refresh rate, which makes them pleasant to interact with.
We were also impressed by the durability of the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3, and it’s not just sturdier than before, it also packs water resistance. Add to that a top-tier chipset and this is almost a perfect foldable – though its high price still holds it back, and makes the Galaxy Z Flip 3 a more tempting option for buyers on a budget.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 review
The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 isn’t as impressive as the Galaxy Z Fold 3, but it’s a whole lot cheaper and therefore far more accessible for the average buyer, so it still ranks among the best Samsung phones.
It doesn’t lack for wow-factor either, with a design that lets you fold it down to a compact size or flip open a 6.7-inch 1080 x 2640 screen. So in a sense it offers the best of both worlds – small like a compact phone when not in use, but with a big screen when it is.
Of course, you don’t even need to open it to do some things, as the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 also has a tiny 1.9-inch screen on the front.
In our review we praised its design, display, specs, and price, with this foldable delivering on all those fronts, though we were less impressed by its battery life, and lamented the lack of a telephoto camera.
Still, for the most part this has specs in line with a typical flagship, plus a foldable screen on top of that, all for a price that should just about be affordable for high-end buyers.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is basically a remixed take on the Samsung Galaxy S21, and one that landed almost a year after that phone.
Highlights of the S21 FE include a vibrant 6.4-inch 1080 x 2400 AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate, a powerful Snapdragon 888 chipset, and a sleek 7.9mm thick build. The triple-lens camera setup (with main, ultra-wide and telephoto lenses) is capable too, bringing this very close to being a great all-rounder, but it also has two big flaws.
In our review we found that the battery life wasn’t great, with the phone just barely lasting a day of average use despite a respectable 4,500mAh power pack. Compounding the problem it doesn’t charge all that fast compared to non-Samsung rivals.
The other issue is the price, which approaches the high-end despite the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE feeling a bit mid-range.
This all makes it hard to fully recommend, but if you want an almost-flagship from Samsung at a slightly lower price than the brand’s proper flagships then it’s still well worth considering, especially if you can find it reduced.
Read our full Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review
How to choose the best Samsung phone for you
Different things are important to different people, but price, screen size and battery life are three key considerations for many buyers.
A big screen has obvious benefits - making the phone generally better for watching videos and playing games on, and even for using other apps, but this also makes the phone larger and generally heavier, as well as making it harder to use with one hand.
There are other important aspects to a screen too, such as their refresh rate and resolution, with higher numbers being universally better here.
Beyond that, consider what else matters to you in a phone - be it the power, the camera or anything else - and focus on getting something that's good for that.
The entry for each of the best Samsung phones above details the key points, but if you're still unsure then head through to our full reviews for more in-depth information.
Which is the best Samsung phone?
The best Samsung phone at the time of writing is the Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra. However, this won't be the best choice for everyone, so consider what you need from a phone and how much you want to spend.
Do I need a high-end handset?
Samsung makes phones at all different price levels, and if you're a lighter user - for example mostly just using the web browser, social media and a few basic apps - then you don't need to spend a lot. High-end handsets are for those who want it all, including a great camera and the power to run demanding games.
How we test
We only include phones that we've fully reviewed in this guide, so every entry has been extensively tested. As such, we can be confident of how each model compares to other Samsung phones, and to the wider smartphone landscape.
As well as the review score, we consider the specs of a phone, how well it all comes together in practice, how much it costs, how good value it is, and how it compares to the competition.
To come to these conclusions we'll make use of every key feature of a phone, see how it performs under different circumstances, and see how the battery holds up under different use cases. We'll also run benchmarks.
With all that information combined, we're then able to see exactly how each Samsung phone stacks up.
- Get the best prices and bargains with our guide to Samsung phone deals
