The best 5G phone for you in 2021 won’t be the latest top-of-the-line flagship, as it was in previous years when 5G was still in its early stages. There’s a lot of choice now that most new mid-range (and even some budget) phones are compatible with next-generation cellular networks. The best ones are highlighted below.

5G is the next generation of mobile data connectivity, bringing super-fast speeds along with improved reliability and connection stability over 4G, making it great for tasks like online gaming, streaming movies, and quickly downloading large files.

Now that 2021 has shown its smartphone hand, this list will most likely remain unchanged until 2022 — unless any last-minute smartphones appear.

This list isn’t just a rehash of our usual top smartphones list. Instead, we’ve analyzed the most important uses of 5G and compiled a list that focuses on them. The following list is divided into categories to reflect the various reasons you might be considering purchasing a 5G phone.

Each of these entries has a ‘best’ model and a ‘runner up’ model to provide you with options even within the categories, which is especially essential considering that not all of our top phone picks are available in the United States or other locations.

We evaluate each new 5G phone that comes out at TechRadar, so we have a decent sense of how they all perform, work, and compare. We’ve taken that information and created this shopping guide to assist you in determining which 5G phone is right for you.

Best 5G phones at any price