We all know this year wasn’t great as many things went from bad to worse. The mobile industry suffered from supply shortages that caused cancelled launches and premature discontinuations.
But the year 2021 still gave us some incredibly good smartphones, beacons across a sea of incremental upgrades (or even downgrades). I have reviewed, helped review, or just used, a lot of phones this year and there are certainly a few that left their mark and became an instant recommendation to give to friends and family.
Those are not necessarily flagships; they are just good smartphones for various…