The long-awaited Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra has already been officially presented. And now we can say with confidence that it is
And yet, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is stillhas the same huge battery, but it has a record-breaking camera package under the hood that will easily make it the world's best camera phone. The following is a detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Galaxy S21 Ultra review
Colors, display and case for S Pen
- 5 colors — Phantom Black and Silver, Brown, Navy Blue and Titanium.
- 6.8 '' 2x Dynamic AMOLED display with 10-120Hz adaptive refresh rate at 1440p resolution
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is huge.It's slightly smaller than the S20 Ultra though. Thankfully, Samsung's new Contour Cut Camera design, which combines the camera space with a steel frame, adds enough aesthetics to the device that it doesn't look as big and blocky as it could be.
However, to complicate the history of ergonomics,For the first time, Samsung has equipped the S21 Ultra with an S Pen digitizer outside the Note family, and has made the stylus available for the phone in some cases. With it, the base price of $ 1,199 will be even higher, but the width will be even wider, so there will be no choice but to use the phone with two hands.
The positive thing is that Samsung«shaved» bottom bezel and shrunk the 6.8-inch display panel slightly compared to its predecessor, just enough so that it looks the same as with the S Pen case, which is to say gigantic. The display, called Dynamic AMOLED 2x, is still curved on the sides, so it is quite possible to hold it and operate at least the middle part of the screen with one hand.
Samsung has equipped the S21 Ultra with the latestQualcomm's ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, which is thankfully much larger and faster than the fingerprint readers in the S10 and S20, which were slow and cumbersome to use compared to the competition.
On the screen, Samsung told us that "The Galaxy S21 Ultra does its best for those who want the very best from Samsung."
Pay attention to this "brightest" part and10-120Hz specifications at full 1440p resolution. Yes, that means the S21 Ultra features the latest LTPO OLED display technology that delivers both a record 1,500 nits of peak brightness and a battery-saving, dynamically allocated refresh rate that can drop to 10Hz when you're looking at static images or zooming in frequency up to 120 Hz when scrolling. This granularly adaptive refresh rate — this is what makes the S21 Ultra's display stand out in particular.
Samsung lost to competitors last yearOnePlus or Oppo with a static high refresh rate that only ran at 1080p and was constantly at 120Hz, which had a big impact on the S20 Ultra's battery life, but now the company has fixed all the bugs, making the S21 Ultra display the best in this year.
Best camera
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Camera Features: What's New?
- S21 Ultra Camera Specs: 108MP Main / 10MP 10X Zoom / 10MP 3X Zoom / 12MP Ultra Wide / 40MP Selfie Cameras.
- New S21 Ultra photography features: 12-bit HDR RAW photos, vivid night mode, portrait mode with improved separation for selfies, zoom lock for clear shots up to 100x.
- New video features for S21 Ultra include ultra-stable 60fps video, 8K snapshot, director's view, and one-shot playback with dynamic slow motion.
Remember how Apple bragged about the iPhone 12can record and play Dolby Vision HDR? Well, it's still 10-bit, while the S21 Ultra not only introduces a suite of dual-zoom cameras, but also upgraded its image processor to provide 12-bit capture, for “64x richer color data and 3x wider dynamic range ”.
In addition, the phone is equipped with a 108-megapixelSamsung's third-generation autofocus sensor, which will hopefully fix the focusing issues that plagued the second generation in the S20 Ultra. Both the 10MP 10x periscope zoom and the 10MP 3x telephoto lens have Dual Pixel autofocus for maximum camera focus, as we all know how shaky and blurry objects can be when zoomed in.
In addition, the phone is equipped with a 108-megapixelSamsung's third-generation autofocus sensor, which will hopefully fix the focusing issues that plagued the second generation in the S20 Ultra. Both the 10MP 10x periscope zoom and the 10MP 3x telephoto lens have Dual Pixel autofocus for maximum camera focus, as we all know how shaky and blurry objects can be when zoomed in.
But why do you need two zoom cameras?Well, depending on which object you click and select, the AI module automatically chooses which zoom camera to use as the medium and long range zoom capabilities have very different scenarios and require different technologies to work properly.
With imaging capabilitiesSnapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100 chipsets, the Bright Night 108MP sensor now captures 12MP images without binning, which is unmatched as the sensor can take multiple photos with different exposures much faster than before in a much longer time frame. brighter night mode with clearer and better exposed low-light shots.
Software and performance
Along with Samsung's latest One UI 3Compared to Android 11, the Galaxy S21 Ultra adds some Samsung's tried and true stylus apps and features to justify having a digitizer. The S Pen needs to be purchased separately with a dedicated case, but it does all of the hovers, clicks, annotations, and drawing in the Samsung Notes app you would expect from it.
The fact that the phone comes with at least12GB of RAM in 128GB / 256GB configurations and a whopping 16GB / 512GB model means it can handle whatever task you throw at it, whether you have the Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100 version.
Both chips are created using an economical 5nm process technologySamsung's EUVs are the fastest growing in the Android world, and they have built-in 5G modems to further optimize power consumption. Exynos performs better than Snapdragon in benchmarks, so it does better, but we'll see consistent performance over time.
Operating time and charging speed
The 5,000mAh battery is suitable for a full day without a charger, according to Samsung.
- Ultra Fast Charging 25W (Wired)
- Wireless charging 15W
At first glance, the top model S21 shouldoutperforms everyone in the lineup because it has the largest battery and the same key power benefits as the other two — 5nm Snapdragon 888 or Exynos 2100 processors with built-in 5nm 5G modems and new, more cost-effective antenna materials.
Key element for increasing timebattery life of the Galaxy S21 series compared to the S20 — display resolution FHD instead of QHD — however, is missing from the Ultra equation. Considering the S21 Ultra features the same 5,000mAh battery as the S20 Ultra and the same high pixel density display, the only increase in battery life over its predecessor should come from the 5nm chipset and 5G antennas, right ?
Well, not quite like that, because this time it's hisThe QHD display will be of the more modest LPTO variety, rather than the LTPS panel with 120Hz static refresh found on the S20 Ultra. This alone will lead to a reduction in energy consumption by 15-20%. When we add the dynamic refresh rate that LTPO allows, which only uses 120Hz when it matters — for example, when browsing and scrolling or during interface animation, — The battery savings can be as significant as using a lower resolution display.
This is why the battery life of the S21 Ultra will be beaten during performance tests. All in all, the battery life of the top two Galaxy S21 lineups should be a sight to behold.