Introduction
This year, the Galaxy S21 series arrived ahead of schedule, and brought many changes. The Galaxy S21 and S21 + now feature low-quality OLEDs, no microSD expansion, and no chargers in the box. For now, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is what it should have been for the original Ultra - full of durability, high-quality features, no asterisk, no good printer. Still no charger.
The original S20 Ultra was supposed to be the biggest Glass so far, but it failed that. You can enjoy a refreshing rate of 120Hz, but with a lower resolution of 1080p. The phone camera was advertised as 5x, but it was actually 4x, and let’s not even start Space Zoom. The ultrawide camera had a good sensor, but was unable to make a large shot due to lack of autofocus. The battery was great, but the battery life was not good. You get the point.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra is designed for everything. It has a large 1440p screen with traditional 120Hz support, which is consistent with that. It also brings two dedicated telephoto snappers - one 3x and the other 10x optical zoom. Its ultrawide camera incorporates autofocus, which works for macro shots. The new Ultra also offers ultrawide-band support, with surprises, surprises, S-Pen support as well. This should be the first non-Galaxy phone to offer that - one of the history books.
There is no S-Pen socket on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and also no stylus included. But you can use any broadcast S-Pen, as well as the recently announced S-Pen S21 Ultra and the upcoming S-Pen Pro. Samsung is also opening up the S-Pen to third-party fashion-based companies at Vodacom, so you can expect more options in the coming months. Finally, you can keep a pen in your pocket or choose some S21 Ultra cases with dedicated spins.
The Green S21 Ultra is the only S21 model that comes with a 1440p OLED screen, unlike the previous generation. And even better, it now supports 120Hz at that high resolution, so you don't have to choose between high frequency and high refresh rate. This new Ultra screen also supports Adaptive Refresh Rate which can vary between 10Hz and 120Hz, like the Note20 Ultra.
The latest Galaxy has the latest chipset, of course. All models of the world are using the new Exynos 2100 SoC via Samsung (like the one we're reviewing), while the USA and China will get devices running on the Snapdragon 888 instead. RAM is driven by 12GB, and there is a limited 16GB model, too.
The camera has seen an acceptable increase. The wide snappers remain almost identical - the 108MP Shooter with f / 1.8 26mm lens and the 12MP cam with f / 2.2 13mm optics, but now has autofocus. The zoom system has been completely redesigned, however - it now has two 10MP images, one 3x optical zoom and one 10x optical zoom with a 240mm periscopic lens.
Other notable suggestions to mention - 40MP selfie with AF, stereo speakers, Wi-Fi 6e, 5G connectivity, ultrawide-band connection short distance connection, fast and wireless charging for large battery 5,000mAh.
This year is not a good start for fans of the wealthy retailers, however. Like Apple and Xiaomi, Samsung removed the chargers and headphones from retail boxes and shipped each Galaxy S21 with a cable only.
Specifications
- Body: 165.1x75.6x8.9mm, 227g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), glass back (Gorilla Glass Victus), aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins), Stylus support.
- Display: 6.80" Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1500 nits (peak), 1440x3200px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 515ppi; Always-on display.
- Chipset (International): Exynos 2100: Octa-core (1x2.9 GHz Cortex-X1 & 3x2.80 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A55); Mali-G78 MP14
- Chipset (USA/China): Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 (5 nm): Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680; Adreno 660.
- Memory: 128GB 12GB RAM, 256GB 12GB RAM, 512GB 16GB RAM; UFS 3.1.
- OS/Software: Android 11, One UI 3.1.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.8, 24mm, 1/1.33", 0.8µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 1/2.55", 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, Super Steady video; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm, 1/3.24", 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom; Telephoto: 10 MP, f/4.9, 240mm, 1/3.24", 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom.
- Front camera: 40 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8", 0.7µm, PDAF.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 8K@24fps, 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30fps.
- Battery: 5000mAh; Fast charging 25W, USB Power Delivery 3.0, Fast Qi/PMA wireless charging 15W, Reverse wireless charging 4.5W.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, ultrasonic); Stereo speakers; NFC; FM radio (Snapdragon model only; market/operator dependent); Samsung DeX, Samsung Wireless DeX (desktop experience support), ANT+, Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), Ultra Wideband (UWB) support.
Images
The Note10 retired on a 3.5mm jack, and now the Galaxy S21 retires microSD. Samsung does this for a small price difference between 128GB and 256GB models - just € 50. It is up to you to decide if this compensation is sufficient, however.