Samsung is one of the largest smartphone manufacturers in the world, and, as such, offers a huge number of devices to suit a range of budgets and lifestyles. Whether it’s the ultra-premium Galaxy Z Fold 4 or the affordable Galaxy A53 5G, Samsung has an option for everyone.

Samsung’s phones are split into three distinct categories. Here’s a quick breakdown:

The Samsung Galaxy S range is the company’s main flagship smartphone range. All of its models have a premium waterproof design, lots of power and the best cameras. Interestingly, the latest S23 Ultra has a built-in S Pen stylus, normally only found on Note devices. That’s because the Note series has now been officially discontinued, though it does live on through the current Ultra.

The Samsung Galaxy Z series represents the company’s folding smartphones, sitting at the top of the portfolio in terms of price and featuring its latest design innovations. Currently, this consists of the Z Flip and Z Fold phones, which are currently in their fourth generation.

The Samsung Galaxy A is the sub-flagship range, sitting below the S range in terms of price but borrowing several of its design features, including full displays and under-screen fingerprint sensors.

With such a variety of devices on offer, it can be tricky to narrow down the best Samsung smartphone for you. With this in mind, we’ve put together a list of our favourites to help you decide.

Best Samsung phone: Our top pick

It might look a lot like last year’s flagship, but the Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra has a lot more going on under the hood. Samsung was already leading the pack with power and camera performance, but this new model takes these aspects to new heights.

The S23 Ultra packs a whopping 200MP main camera and the results are among the best that you’ll find from a smartphone today, with lively vibrant colours and loads of detail.

It also packs the speediest Snapdragon processor that money can buy, which results in snappy performance, excellent gaming and superb battery life. It’s certainly an expensive option, but with performance like this, it’s pretty well justified.

If you want all of the power, but can do without an S Pen and 200 megapixels, then the Galaxy S23+ might be the phone for you. It offers a slightly more pocketable form factor, as well as an attractive design with a flat front and rear.

You still get the excellent Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, which is clocked slightly higher for Samsung devices, meaning this device will chomp through any task you throw at it with ease – without draining your battery too quickly.

The S23+ provides a great balance between price and performance, you can save some money while still retaining all of the great features and power. The main camera takes a hit, but the performance of the 50MP sensor still trades blows with the best on the market.

The standard Galaxy S23 is essentially the same phone as the S23+, it’s just smaller and, as a result, has a smaller battery pack, too. If you want something that’ll comfortably fit in your pocket, without sacrificing any features or performance, this is the phone for the job.

This is one of our favourite options, simply because of its size. It’s much less cumbersome to live and travel with, but its flagship processor and top-tier camera system leave us wanting very little.

The 3900 mAh battery may be off-putting to some, but this device has a smaller screen to power and combined with the super-efficient Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 processor, that means it should easily see you through the day.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 4 is a more nostalgic take on the foldable-screen smartphone. Remember when all you had to do to lock your phone was snap it shut? Well, that’s back thanks to folding screen flip devices like the Z Fold 4.

Instead of folding out to become a larger screen device, the Z Flip 4 is a traditionally sized smartphone that folds down into a more pocketable device.

The Z Flip 3 was already our favourite foldable phone, and a number of generational improvements make the Z Flip 4 even more appealing. It has better cameras, battery life and performance – along with a sleeker hinge and more refined design.

The Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 4 is a phone with serious wow-factor and it’s certain to turn heads wherever it is used. Like previous generations, the idea is that it’s a phone when you need it to be, but folds out to a tablet when you need a larger screen.

Aside from its folding party trick, the phone packs top-notch hardware and speedy performance. While it looks very similar to the last generation, the camera array is much improved, which is a very welcome update, and it now offers results comparable to the S22 lineup.

There are still unavoidable niggles with folding screen tech, most prominently the visible crease and weird reflections caused by the coating – but if you can get past these, the Z Fold 4 is an exciting device and undoubtedly one of the best foldable phones money can buy.

The Samsung Galaxy A53 5G may not be a device that takes a huge leap forward from the previous iteration, but it’s still a fantastic mid-range smartphone.

The display is vibrant, and the design is clean and complete with waterproofing. With a bigger battery, too, plus very decent camera performance in our testing, the value here is without question.

At its price point, however, it is important to note the competition. There are great options to consider from the likes of Realme and OnePlus that achieve much of the same (if not more) than the A53 for a cheaper asking price.

With that said, this is the top choice for those who want a modern Samsung experience without the flagship price. And Samsung’s approach to software updates is admirable, meaning this should remain a good pick for many years.

Other products we considered

When trying to decide what we believe are the best Samsung phones currently available, we spent hours testing and researching. We consider a number of factors when it comes to recommending smartphones, including display clarity, camera quality, battery life and gaming performance, applying the same basic tests when a new device is being considered for inclusion. It’s not all judged on our testing, either, as we also try to factor in consumer reviews, brand quality and value.

In all of our roundups, there are also many products we test that don’t make the final cut. Since they may be the right fit for some people, however, we’ve listed them below.

• Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra
• Samsung Galaxy S22
• Samsung Galaxy S22+
• Samsung Galaxy A52 5G