Do you consider 2021 to be THE BEST phone year?

[bembol]

I had to Google the last time we had a great year of phones that came out...

2013. One of my all-time favorites, hTc One M7. Google gave us the nexus 5, base on the LG G2 IIRC, Nokia Lumia 1020 that I never, for whatever reason didn't give a shot, one of the best Moto's, the X and the two giants releasing the iPhone 5S and Note 3.

The only disappointment for me was Samsung's Galaxy S4, I sold it after 2 weeks.

Fast forward to 2021. Samsung begins the year with the S21 Ultra, I didn't like the S20U, skipped it. I bought the S21U, I loved it and would've kept it if I didn't lose the Super Bowl. LOL

I should be more excited with the Fold3 & my Flip3 but nonetheless it's amazing what Samsung is doing, props to them and I can't wait to see what they do the next few years. I get why they canceled the Note series.

One of the reasons why I love 2021, is because Google is finally giving a true flagship IMO with the 6Pro. Unlike the first Pixel that I bought, I won't have regrets with this one. LOL

The two giants pretty much eliminated the competition but they continue to step up their game, I love that Apple went back to the 4/5 design, sold my 12PM but will be getting 13PM.

This is going to be one of the most expensive years. LOL

OnePlus is the most disappointing, they sold out. I can't blame them though, it's business. After giving us my second favorite, the 7Pro. I pretty much looked the other way. Too bad.

 

[L0n3N1nja]

The Note was canceled, Huawei has basically been pushed out of the market, numerous phones saw delays or limited releases because of a global chip shortage, the latest Snapdragon has overheating problems again, LG officially left the phone market, and sales are down.

I don't think 2021 has been a very good year for phones.

 

[J Dubbs]

I like the rise of the foldables..... I think foldables and rollables will be the wave of the future, but I don't think they're there yet. Otherwise the phones from this year don't seem much better than last year or possibly even the year before ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

 

[swebb]

Just stumbled across this thread. Hands down it's got to be 2007, the first iPhone. A total game changer when you consider how phones were used before, then after the iPhone release.

 

[gray2018]

Lol no. This is a joke right? Given all the downgrades that Samsung has done to their device line this year besides 21 Ultra and NO new Note device, no. I think phones were better years go honestly. I also hate how IMO Samsung is cramming Foldable and flip devices down our throats that as far as I'm concerned, nobody asked for. Go back to making regular phones. I think only certain people like us or tech guru's will purchase these devices. Every day consumers I don't believe will. Once again, this is just my opinion.

In 2018, Samsung with the S9/S9+ and the Galaxy Note 9, LG with the V40 and G7, Oneplus with their 6 and 6T and whatever other devices they may have had. I think this is by far the best year IMO. Idk what other Android devices were released, but those are the main ones I paid attention to.

I personally think phones are much better back in these days. They held up better IMO.

 

[swebb]

Yes, there were more viable offerings then. In addition to Apple, Samsung and Google; HTC, Motorola, Hauwei, LG, Nokia, Sony, and others I can't remember, all released high end phones annually. Now, only a two of them have worldwide releases of top end products. The rest either limit releases to certain areas or only make mid to low end products.

 

[LuxuryTouringZone]

2021 the best phone year? Certainly not to me! While there are genuinely some cool things like 5G, microscopic cameras, and hyper processors, I'd say 2016-17 was the best. Fast forward to 2021 it's mostly notches, holepunches, and the removal of a lot of hardware features. It was nice when phones actually looked different and valued function over fashion.

 

[Mooncatt]

Yeah, I'm going to have to disagree too. It use to be we had several well known brands, each offering their own specialties. That is now dwindled to two for Android. Pixels with their cookie cutter design, and Samsung. Samsung was largely cookie cutter as well until the folds came out, but now they have a stupid expensive, extra large brick of a device that is unwieldy to use and has an ugly crease distortion. It's unique, but not in a good way. All the other major players tried to copy the cookie cutter designs and are now gone or relegated to mid tier devices. There are some popular brands coming up, but they are still a far cry from being a household brand in the way that Motorola and LG were. These days, if you want a flagship in the U.S. with wide carrier support, you are pretty much limited to two phones.

 

[mustang7757]

I have to give it to the Fold 3 and flip 3, Samsung finally in right direction with these devices, and first time I've been wowed in long time . Probably 2nd will be the pixel 6pro Google getting their own chip having hardware/software optimized , and probably best cameras with cool features this year but verdict still out for it .

Edit: I don't like what they doing with the Note line , it's a crime lol

 

[the_boon]

Not even close to the best phone year, though the Fold 3 seems quite amazing in its own right.

 

[mustang7757]

Not even close to the best phone year, though the Fold 3 seems quite amazing in its own right.

Did you get the fold 3 ?

 

[the_boon]

Did you get the fold 3 ?

Would love to, but can't at the moment. On a P4a and KEY2 right now.

 

[mustang7757]

Would love to, but can't at the moment. On a P4a and KEY2 right now.

Yeah little expensive, the trade INS helped with preorder

 

[the_boon]

Yeah little expensive, the trade INS helped with preorder

I'm shocked how cheap (compared to launch MSRP) they can already be found, just 3 months after launch. Was even the case a month ago.

You can find one for $1100 these days, and being a third gen product with IPX8 water resistance it's probably worth shelling the extra couple benjamins on it instead of a Fold 2.

 

[mustang7757]

I'm shocked how cheap (compared to launch MSRP) they can already be found, just 3 months after launch. Was even the case a month ago.

You can find one for $1100 these days, and being a third gen product with IPX8 water resistance it's probably worth shelling the extra couple benjamins on it instead of a Fold 2.

I'm not sure what they going for used but if u can get one around that price mint that's pretty good

 

[Ry]

Nope. It was more fun when there was relevant competition.

 

[cckgz4]

I think as far as foldable go, yes