Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Review
Samsung
Galaxy S21 Ultra review after using it for more than a month, cameras, top
features, photo and video comparison, problems we encountered while using it,
and our recommendation on whether you should have them.
samsung s21 ultra Review
Well, it's
been a little over a month since I started using Samsung s21 ultra and in this
review, I'm going to guide you into what it has been like to use this phone
over the past month, my first impressions of the features that really highlight
the experience of setting this phone up and how it compares to other phones. I
have used both Android and iOS and we are going to do some deep dive into the
camera system of this phone because it is awesome. So, there's a lot more to
this review.
Design - Samsung S21 Ultra
Let's dive
right in first and talk about the design from this phone. The S21 Ultra feels
solid. I mean that in both its build and its weight. This phone weighs a ton
compared to most phones that weigh 229 grams, but Samsung designed this phone
in a way that makes weight control easier. The Galaxy S21 is almost an
alternative like the iPhone 12 and Pixel 5, but it's much longer and because
they didn't make it wider, they ended up making a phone that was as easy to
hold and comfortable as possible with a phone that weighed a lot.
Now, one more
thing that I want to mention is how beautiful this phone actually is, I got the
phantom black version. And personally, it looks amazing. The back doesn't show
the fingerprints easily and the way they integrated the camera clips with the
band surrounding the phone really well Samsung does a great job of wrapping
this phone and I love that all sides of the phone were also protected by a film
and everything was packaged very well.
Setup - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Next, let's
talk about the setup process and how I'm going to talk about the setup process
with this phone. I'm going to talk about it as if I never owned a Samsung phone
before because well, this is actually the first Samsung phone I have ever owned
and before you spark me in from the comments because I know some of you will. I
know I don't know how I've lived on this earth up to this point I've never
owned a Samsung phone. I get it.
To set up
any smartphone nowadays, there have been some quirks here. The first step is
not to log into the Google account that you use on a previous Android device to
import settings like Wi-Fi. The second weird thing is that you have to download
a specific app from Samsung called Smart Switch to your Android device,
transfer from it and let both Pixel 5 and Galaxy S21 Ultra run Android.
There should
really be a way to transfer wirelessly from one Android phone to another
regardless of the manufacturer of the phone. This should make this process much
simpler. Now one of the downsides of the S21 Ultra was something that originally
came to me because when I was setting up the phone, I didn't create a Samsung
account, I discovered almost everything use is a Google product and I don't
really need to set up a Samsung account so I did it - she.
If you log
in with your Samsung account or create an account and are not careful, you will
do so by subscribing to the really annoying ads that Samsung will place as
alert notifications and other Samsung apps.Also given that this phone costs
over a thousand dollars, it's totally ridiculous. For me, Samsung treats you
that way with ads.
To turn off
the OS the ads you can go to on your Samsung account page in the settings head
to the privacy section and select the Personalization service and make sure it
is turned off. You also need to be careful when opening some Samsung apps for
the first time. There will be an additional switch for ad customization
services. You will need to make sure that we are not identified in these
applications if you want to try and limit ads from appearing in the United
States.
Screen - Samsung S21 Ultra
Okay, so now
that we've talked about the initial setup of the phone now, let's talk about
some of my impressions of the S21 Ultra Samsung s21 ultra after using it for
over a month.
The first
thing you really notice about this phone when using it is the screen and that
smoothness of movement is one of the best screens I have ever used on any
smartphone. 120Hz screen makes everything feel clean and fast.
Display and high refresh rate
Samsung's
single UI animation allows high refresh offer to be the real star. Applications
load very quickly thanks to the phone's processor as well as its support for
Wi-Fi 6 and the processor is able to handle almost everything. I manage to
throw it into everyday use.
Battery Life - Samsung S21 Ultra
The battery
life for me was also good. Even with a 120Hz display, I still get around seven
hours of full screen time. Charging and battery can easily last all day in
normal use The phone is another hardware feature that really sets me apart. It's
very good.
Touch
They can go
from really subtle to really intense and overall. I think Samsung has done a
really good job with touches on this phone. It's very much comparable to the
touch experience on iPhone. Although I will say I think my iPhone 12s touches
are just hair better and that could happen due to the devices the two companies
are using or I could just be the way iOS tree of tactics versus Android.
Amplifiers
The speakers
on this phone are decent, as Samsung uses backfire. The speaker is at the
bottom of the device and the speaker is inside the screen towards the top of
the phone that we have seen using other phone manufacturers in the past. Sure,
it looks loud enough but it has also been found with other TT phones This
screen has loudspeaker technology like the Pixel 5 when compared to a regular
front-facing phone and speakers, like the iPhone 12, the sound output from the
iPhone 12 looks more clear.
Eye protection shield
Another
thing that I love about this phone is all the adjustments you can make to the
screen. One of those features that I absolutely love is called IComfort Shield.
It changes the color temperature of the screen throughout the day. It's easier
on your eyes, especially in the evening hours, so the daylight will be more
blue during the day and the screen will turn more amber the evening before you
go to bed.
Well I wish
the phone had an ambient light color temperature sensor with another phone that
manufacturers like Apple used I think the eye shield features still get what
you want perfectly in a phone screen. Less blue light in the evening. You can
even change the screen color temperature yourself if you like and you can put
it in a table which is something I do because I feel the auto mode doesn't do
that turn the screen amber enough for my light. Ning.
Samsung One Ui vs Pixel UI
Now one
question you might have especially if you have watched a lot of YouTube videos,
especially the ones about Pixel and Android devices is what the UI does. I like
better user interface than Samsung or straight from Google Pixel. Launcher
version of Android and I must say I still am.
Pixel
launcher for Android is just hair better than Samsung overall I think Samsung
beat it very good UI and I didn't find much that I don't like in comparison to
it in stock. Android experience gets pixels except I wish it had Google
Assistant call screen and all for me the features available on pixel phones as
exclusive features. Also, Samsung's 1UI weirdly ignore focus mode scheduling
which is something I rely on that helps keep me away from distracting apps at
night and is integrated into the Android OS.
Samsung app drawer
So, I'm not
sure why it's not in Samsung. OS Now The only thing I really don't like about
Samsung's 1UI is the app drawer I used a lot for the Google app, it's a big
list that you can scroll through and you can do it Soon Samsung devices feel
like they just took home screen pages from Apple and imported them into the app
drawer. It looks like a retro design that gives Google's experience on pixels
and Apple's decision to let users get away from having to scroll through
multiple pages of home screens.
change the font
One of the
other single cores that Samsung's UI can do is that you can not only change the
font size of the UI but the actual font itself. When you do that sometimes, it
will actually change the fonts inside the apps which just seem kind of weird
like looking at Twitter with a cool jazz font that looks kinda silly.
Edge panels
Now since
this screen is so huge, Samsung has a feature called Edge Panels that you can
access by swiping from the right of the screen to open a small panel that you
can access Customize to show your favorite apps. You can also use this feature
to create a split screen mode, which I already think is quite well done. To use
it if you already have an app open, you can open the Edge panel, drag the app
file from it onto the screen, and then open it. This split screen app can also
save your favorite split screen pairs for edge panel too.
Unlocking the S21 Ultra
The Galaxy
S21 Altra unlocking is one of my favorite things about this phone because it
doesn't have only one way to authenticate in a two-way phone and under the
screen is the biometric fingerprint sensor and face unlock.
Fingerprint sensor
The
fingerprint sensor under the display in my test is quite reliable as long as
you had a good fingerprint scanner when you first set up this feature. If you
don't need to recheck all parts of your finger, and you find I have to do this
for one or two. My fingers then worked better.
Face unlock
The face
unlock is surprisingly fast S 21. It is used by Ultra because Samsung uses only
the front camera to achieve this and it feels just as fast as Google can unlock
the face on the previous Pixel 4 XL. Now, I doubt it's as safe as the face
unlock technology used by Google and Apple that uses face depth sensors, but
for most people I think it will be fine and I have to say that having two
authentication methods in the phone was a game changer for me I used this Phone
during the last month. Sometimes I'm at home and want to surf the web and pick
up the phone and before I even get a chance to put my thumb on the fingerprint
sensor the phone really unlocks with the face unlock. It's really a fast and
great experience. Then there are other times when I'm outside and around I'm
wearing a mask or singing calendars or whatever else gets in the way of my
face, maybe a hat with a low visor etc.for those situations, you get the fingerprint
sensor that still gives you a very fast way to authenticate in your phone,
Especially when compared to having to type in a passcode.
Bixby vs Google Assistant
Another
weird Samsung S21 Ultra, this one is Bixby. Am I using it? Well, it sounds a little
more robotic than Google Assistant or Siri but it is. Thing. If you're like me,
you probably already have Google Assistant speakers in your home and want to
use a. Remote as a primary assistant on this phone and by default Samsung
doesn't really allow it you can reset double press of power button to turn on
Google Assistant. However, there is a solution. You can only download ixby
button assistant remapper APK. Install that then open the side switch for
advanced settings then under double press select open the app then select the
Reset Bixby button assistant tool as the app and boom.
Now when you
double press the power button, Google Assistant will start another thing that
is so good in Android compared to iOS that you can really customize this phone
to your taste. For example, suppose you are a Google fan, you really like
Google pixel player and what they do software on pixel phones, but you really
like Samsung devices better. So what you can do because of Android is that you
can actually download a pixel player that someone made that looks like the
official Google Pixel launcher put that Samsung S21 Ultra and with this phone,
it's really easy to do. Applications. Choose default apps. Home app and switch
from Samsung One UI to any home app you want.
Camera
Well now one
of the things that really set this phone apart is the camera system. I think
what Samsung specifically did with the S21 Ultra is smart that gives you both
in 3X and 10X optical zoom. What I want to take is an enlarged image that I
find I either want to zoom in a little bit or zoom in at the maximum and it has
visual options for this result and the images have nice crisp appearance and
good resolution versus using the zoom software on other phones the pictures
they take will look. Are blurry or it will not have good resolution or quality.
10x optical zoom (zoom)
Overall, the
Galaxy S21 Ultra is a beast when it comes to photos. Having 3x1x wide angle
optical and 10x zoom cameras gives you a lot of versatility when you shoot with
a smartphone and I love it. See the details you get on a statue in the city
center. Be careful with the 10x optical zoom. That's how far away from me to
get a 10x zoom shot with a smartphone. Yes, that's how good the 10x zoom camera
is on this phone.
Super zoom
Now, the
phone has a super zoom feature which is a must. The party trick for me but it's
not something I found very practical but another feature I didn't even notice
that I was on this phone until the phone asked me to shoot in full 3-4 high
resolution at 108MP and the images produced by this mode are just amazing
coming from a smartphone.
Compare photos
In terms of
how much you can crop the image and still have a detailed usable image. When
comparing the Galaxy S21 ultras photos to iPhone 12 and Pixel 5 and yes, that's
not a perfect comparison because iPhone 12 Pro Max. It will produce better
photos, so keep that in mind. In general, the Galaxy S21 will outperform the
other two when it comes to zooming due to the optical cameras with different
focal lengths, neither the iPhone 12 nor the pixel 5 can even zoom to 10x like
the Galaxy S21. Now the iPhone 12 Pro Max can reach the maximum pixels at 7x
zoom. Here is a comparison of 3x zoom between all of these three phones. You
will notice that the Galaxy is the clear winner.
When you
look at how these phones perform with the LED flicker removed with all of them
turned on, you will see their default settings that the iPhone performs
slightly better in this scenario compared to the S21's photos and pixels. When
shooting with the main camera of each phone, there isn't much difference
between them unless you are shooting in Samsung's 108MP mode, the differences
in color and tone are the last thing you'll notice when comparing the S21
Ultra's pixel photos and iPhones.
IPhone
photos tend to be brighter in tint to a slightly warmer green tone as pixel
photos have a slight purple tint and overall coolness overall says S21s nearby.
The same mean goes for the selfies produced by every iPhone that tend to look a
bit warmer and have a little glossy, sweet look to them.
Pixels for
whatever reason here in our test shot look awesome with anything done with
highlights and shadows around my shirt and then this galaxy selfie that's fine.
really good. Slightly cooler than the iPhones we expect also Samsung finally
allows you to turn off all face smoothing allowing you to see all the details
and imperfections of my face as it is in real life, that's a decision.
Video quality
I applaud
now when it comes to video, these cameras generally have more distinct
differences as with photos, the cameras that the Galaxy S21 changes give you a
lot of versatility when shooting video. Well, the 1X main camera sensor
produces the best shots of my opinion, the other one is the cameras are not too
far away and produces some usable shots which give you have options for the
story you want to tell through the shots you take. It also provides you footage
that you won't get with other phones at this time. Price even iPhone 12 Max
won't give you 10x optical zoom for videos When comparing the video produced by
the S21 with other phones like my iPhone 12 and Pixel 5 again, no comparison.
Ideal because the iPhone 12 Pro Max shots will do that to be of slightly higher
quality.
With all
phones on default settings and not using any super stabilization or any other
stabilization mode in general, there is a recurring feature when comparing and
comparing videos from these three phones. IPhone shots tend to be a little
warmer than the Galaxy S21 or pixels and brighter with less noise overall.
Now take
this example from a sky-to-lake shot.The S21 and Pixel both produce more noise
in the shot compared to the iPhone. In another comparison with this panning
shot in front of an old house, the iPhone has slightly less noise and produces
a brighter image. They requested 21 changes in skewness of the video with a
grade of A. Slightly
more purple and the 5 pixels seems to look warmer at the end of the shot
probably due to the phone's auto white balance setting, but overall I think the
iPhone still produces the best shot here.
This is
another example of a street view. The changed iPhone and S21 shots are pretty
similar here. I think the iPhone shots are. Just. Hear better and then the
five-pixel shots are just as bad as you might not see them whenever you are
viewing them on the phone screen, but when you zoom in or view these shots on a
larger screen file, like in the iMac, they seem to apply the animation filter
to the stills. . It just looks strange. Overall, I think in general the iPhone
video quality is better than the s21 ultras, but the altar gives you more
options when composing your shots with the multiples of the cameras of
different zoom lengths and you can even shoot at 8K, if you need it. So all of
these things combined make the S21 Ultra a really great choice for phone camera
and still photography.
Well, these
are my thoughts on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra after using it for over a
month. The hardware in this phone is pretty good. really good. It feels like an
excellent phone and Samsung's good decision to sprinkle its apps with ads and
trying to get users to subscribe to add customization is disappointing. It is
easy to find a workaround. Really this was the source of my main problem with
this phone, which is telling you something. It is a really well executed
product. Now, for me personally, would this be the phone that I have. Always
around me no, maybe not.
Well, I
found that I really liked the size and screen of this phone while at home
reading articles about it while browsing social media. On the flip side when
I'm outside, I find that the size of this phone is just that it's kind of
cumbersome fitting in my pocket, it feels very big and heavy and I find I
prefer a slightly thinner, designer phone when walking out and about. Therefore,
I might be attracted towards the Galaxy S21 or S21 plus.
But if you
go with one of these phones, you lose the awesome camera system from the Ultra.
So, it really depends on how long you wait for one of the best video clips and
stills phone cameras this year. You can probably buy them for a slightly
manageable phone to put in your pocket and take with you while you're outside
in general, I think that's a great option for people who They like big screen
phones or want one if not the best camera system yet on a phone in 2021.
Well, I hope you found this explanation helpful and informative and if you did and liked it make sure to add your opinion in the comments below and if you have any questions whatsoever about the Samsung Galaxy S21Ultra phone, be sure to leave them in a comment below. If you want to see more reviews like this on Samsung Google and other tech products, thanks for watching.
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