Sometimes the gods smile on you, the computer says ‘yes’, and you realise you can buy the very best smartphone available – lucky you! But then it hits you: when you can choose literally any phone, which one ticks your boxes? And which one should you actually buy? If you’re struggling with the overwhelming choice, allow us to present our best phone guide.

To be clear, this guide looks only at the absolute best smartphones you can buy in 2021. If you’ve got deep pockets or exacting tastes, you’re in the right place to find the best all-round phone, or the best phone for specific jobs. If you’re on a tighter budget, you might want to check out our best budget phones guide, but otherwise buckle up for the five best phones money can buy.

Don’t worry, we’ll get to the Android phones, but not yet. While the iPhone 13 mini is by no means the ultimate iPhone, it’s comfortably the best small phone you can get your hands on, and no ‘best of’ list should be without it.

The iPhone 13 mini has exactly the same industrial style as the full-sized iPhone 13. It gets the same waterproofing, 5G support, and seven-year iOS updates as the rest of the range too. Crucially, it also has the same mind-melting performance from its A15 Bionic chip, although it is slightly de-tuned compared to the monster in the Pro-level flagships.

So what’s the catch? Mainly that you’ll need to live with a 5.4” screen limited to ‘just’ a 1,080×2,340 resolution. The camera is also more basic than on the flagship iPhones, but you still get a dual-lens 12MP system with Night Mode, Photographic Styles and Cinematic mode. The battery won’t hold on as long, but it’ll still last a day of normal use – and we got it to loop movies for more than 13 hours.

In essence, the iPhone 13 mini is a smaller, cheaper version of the regular iPhone 13, with very few compromises. If you want outright performance, get the iPhone 13 Pro or Pro Max, but if you can sacrifice speed and a little photo quality for something more pocketable, buy an iPhone 13 mini and rejoice.

The Pixel 6 Pro is Google’s first attempt to go head to head with Apple and Samsung in the premium phone market. If you ask us, it’s mission accomplished. This big, unusual phone offers a touch of stand-out glamour, along with high-end features and performance that make it a credible iPhone alternative.

Much of the focus at launch was on this phone’s Google-designed Tensor processor. While this gives it a performance lift compared to previous Pixels, its main benefit is powering the AI behind the phone’s most advanced features. These include tricks like speech recognition, language translation, and Magic Eraser – which can touch unwanted objects out of photographs.

Ah yes, photographs. The Pixel 6 Pro has a triple-camera system, including 48MP telephoto and 50MP wide lenses. This pro-level hardware gets levelled up further by Tensor’s advanced image processing. Stand-out image quality, enhanced by powerful creative modes, make this one of the best camera phones you can buy.

Elsewhere, there’s everything else you’d expect from a flagship phone. Its 6.7” OLED screen offers 1,440×3,120 resolution and refresh rates up to 120Hz. There’s waterproofing, 5G support, and a 5,000mAh battery that can go all day – and then some. Like other Pixels, the Pixel 6 Pro will be one of the first phones to get security and operating system updates. The Pixel 6 range launched with Android 12, and Google promises updates to October 2024 – probably including Android 15.

While its looks aren’t for everyone, and it won’t win every performance drag race, Google’s first truly high-end phone performs well and feels different. Enhanced by Pixel-only features and Google support, it really does showcase Android at its best.