2021 is coming to an end (or 2022, 2025, depending on when you read this article) and the time has come to sum up, lightly but at the same time courageously, since it is inevitable then attract a shower of criticism until the next geological era for this or the other choice. These are our impressions, based on our experience, our use and also taking into account the path taken by the smartphone with updates. You will not find some interesting products on paper because we have not been able to try them and it is not our custom to judge something without having used it (except for design, where an object is enough to have at least seen it live).
We decided not to decree a real winner for each category, but rather to establish a "top 3" whose ordering is not necessarily important. And that takes into account the price range in which a product is placed, which is not a given. For this you will not only find top of the range, but a smartphone per category!
We are waiting for you: comment and tell us yours!
BEST DESIGN
Tastes are tastes, Orietta Berti's husband repeats himself every day. We wanted to reward phones that have somehow been able to stand out from the others without being tacky, but also smartphones that have chosen well-made solutions even in the face of less originality.
BEST CAMERA
Here you enter a minefield. We hope it is clear to everyone that photography on smartphones, by its very nature, must be considered - either due to hardware limitations, or the use we then make of the images created - a separate photograph compared to the traditional one.
Looking at the numbers of those who have abandoned compacts using only the smartphone, we can define this bet as successful. It is clear, however, that the search for the shot capable of reproducing 1:1 the images that bounce on our eyes is not the prerogative of a smartphone, so stay calm and don't get agitated.
We also took into account the reliability in point and shoot, needless to say that in completely manual mode, with a tripod, on nights where the steaks brown better while the wild boars look at the moon this or that phone take better shots. A smartphone must guarantee valid results primarily in Point and shoot. If it also offers additional features, so be it, but these must be a bonus, not the only choice for getting decent shots.
DISPLAY
This is a seemingly simple analysis, but it is not enough to read the data sheet and run a nits race to establish a winner.
RECEPTION AND CONNECTIVITY
BATTERY
THE BEST BUY OF 2021
It would be right not to include this section either, because - at the risk of seeming trivial and obvious - there is no best buy. We are billions of people, with billions of different needs, not everyone takes pictures, not everyone needs power or a display that makes you cry when you watch Gigi D'Alessio's concerts (oh my God, maybe it's not really the display's fault there but never say never). This is why we only give you one piece of advice: don't take a toppone just to show you, because it makes no sense. Don't get a camera phone and just share compressed pictures of kittens on Facebook.
Optimize spending and yield, only you know your needs, but be honest with yourself. We have known thousands of people in our lives who would have been fine with a Poco F3 and wanted an iPhone 13 Pro Max. To do the exact same things with us. Whatsapp, Facebook, Call. And it is said that they can do it better with Poco. Damn, maybe we should have taken a phone with a less mischievous proximity sensor as an example. Ok, get a Realme or another phone. But save 1000 euros, because those are more than a phone.
LEAFLETS
In anticipation of 2022, which will certainly be the year in which manufacturers decide to focus more on leaflets, this 2021 has been a bit stingy. We have chosen the Samsung Galaxy Fold 3 because it is - unlike perhaps its brother Flip who is more "cool" - really productive and with software very well thought out by Samsung to make it varied in use. But let's wait for 2022!
SPECIAL MENTION
There is a device that particularly struck us and that does not fall into any particular category because it does not excel in just one area, it does not innovate, but it does everything right, it is reliable, beautiful and performing at the right point: the excellent Oppo Find X3 Neo, a device that is impossible not to love.
CONCLUSION
I'll spare you the pippone because it has already been done on the best buys. In conclusion, it is legitimate to define 2021 as a year of transition. All the manufacturers have done their homework more or less well, without particularly innovating, without ingenious solutions. From Samsung we expect products of the highest quality and we hope with a reception that is finally up to par. We don't know what to expect from Apple, because lately they've been innovating with a dropper and we just hope they abandon that big notch.
Realme is a growing reality, keep an eye on them because they can trip Redmi. Xiaomi, you worked badly at the beginning and very well with the enhanced, so we ask you two things: that you continue like this with MIUI 13 and that you finally see the fruits of the dissolved partnership with Elliptic Labs, the Norwegian company that patented the infamous hybrid proximity sensors. We also want more frequent updates, users don't want to spend 1400 euros to have 4 cross updates in a year.
From Oppo we expect (since the quality is there) more courage in daring. Daring does not mean putting a microscopic cam that serves one person in ten million. We don't ask Huawei for anything, but we hope it solves the problem of the somewhat lame user experience for a slice of people we don't know how to quantify. Honor must focus on value for money.
Interesting devices those of 2021 (albeit few), however offered at a pricing that is not in focus. Hopefully Motorola works on the camera. I live that you bring cool software like Origin here too. Sony is missing… but it is missing in the sense that it hasn't arrived. 5 days to test a phone, an immature wood oven with a camera inferior to all others in point and shoot.
Sony, remember that the community is important, allow us professionals in the sector to be able to try and try again your beautiful products for longer. Make it easy for people to find products to buy. Otherwise, you risk having to shoulder with LG. Not a good omen. But we're sorry, because we're talking about a fantastic brand. But perhaps we will never know.