The Samsung Galaxy S21 is the latest and greatest series from the world's largest smartphone manufacturer. The Galaxy S21 series looks more balanced this year.
At the same time, there are still three models in the line, and each has its own pros and cons. In this article, we'll help you navigate the series and find the phone that works best for you (and your wallet). We've collected all the information about the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Samsung Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra review
Samsung launched the Galaxy S21 series on January 14, 2021, much earlier than usual. This may be due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.
Pre-orders for three phones in this series opened on January 14th.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
If you want the most powerful phone in this series, the Samsung S21 Ultra is for you. It features the largest 6.8-inch display, the largest 5000mAh battery, and the best camera array with a 108MP main sensor. It also comes with 16GB of RAM.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus
The Galaxy S21 Plus is the middle child. It has a slightly smaller 6.7-inch display and a 4,800mAh battery. It has three rear cameras instead of five and only 8GB of RAM.
However, due to the fact that you lose this series of features, the entry-level price is significantly reduced.
Samsung Galaxy S21
Finally, the vanilla Galaxy S21 is the smallest and weakest of the three. On the other hand, you get a more palm-friendly 6.2-inch display and pretty much the same specs as the Galaxy S21 Plus. However, you need to sacrifice a bit in battery capacity as Galaxy S21 battery - 4000 mAh... The back is made of "Glasstic" plastic, not real glass, which is unimportant, because the smartphone is usually carried in a case. But your wallet will be happy.
Should you buy Galaxy S21 phones?
It has long been a tradition that the Galaxy S phone is always one of the best smartphones of the year. Objectively speaking, there won't be many phones released in 2021 that will offer the speed, power and reliability of the Galaxy S21 smartphone.
If all you do with your smartphone is surfing the web, answering emails, scrolling through Instagram and sending messages via Whatsapp, then even the smallest phone from the Galaxy S21 line will be overkill for you.
If you are not chasing the status of the gadget, you better save a lot of money and buy a budget Android phone that will do everything you need without any problems.
It's another matter if you are an experienced user who absolutely needs access to 5G and a cool camera in your pocket, and the price is not an obstacle for you.
People who use their phones to their fullest and need the very best are likely to benefit from owning a Galaxy S21 phone. After all, this smartphone has a good foundation for the future and can serve you for more than one year.
All phones are powered by the latest flagship chip (Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 in some countries and Exynos 2100 in all others). They also have plenty of RAM and internal storage, which power users will surely appreciate.
If you're a photography lover, the Samsung Galaxy S21 lineup is a great choice. The second-generation 108MP sensor makes the Galaxy S21 Ultra's camera one of the best for photography in 2021. Although Samsung has yet to consolidate the leadership in mobile video that has held the iPhone.
Galaxy S series phones have always been a great investment for power users.
How Good Are The Galaxy S21 Cameras?
Overall, Samsung's flagships have excellent cameras. If you want one of the best photo and video phones in the Android world, you can't go wrong with the latest version of the Galaxy S family. We expect this trend to continue in the 2021 series.
There are five premium cameras on the back of the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Together they create the most advanced camera phone Samsung has ever produced.
Here's what's included in this module:
- 108MP wide-angle - ƒ1.8, 0.8um, with autofocus (AF) and optical image stabilization (OIS)
- 12 MP ultra wide-angle - ƒ2.2, 1.4um, with autofocus and 120-degree field of view (FoV)
- 10 MP telephoto lens - ƒ2.4, 1.22 μm, with autofocus, OIS and 3x optical zoom
- 10 MP telephoto lens - ƒ4.9, 1.22 μm, with autofocus, OIS and 10x optical zoom
- Laser autofocus sensor
The 108MP sensor is the main lens. The 2020 Galaxy S20 Ultra had a similar sensor, but this is the second generation version, so be prepared for huge image files if you shoot at the highest quality settings.
The 12MP ultra wide-angle lens lets you capture large scenes in the frame without physically moving backwards.
Taken together, the Galaxy S21 Ultra's camera hardware makes it the most powerful camera phone Samsung has ever released.
As many as two telephoto lenses allow you to zoom in on an object without losing image quality. One of these lenses has a 10x optical zoom. That's double the 5x optical zoom offered in the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which used to be the zoom champion on Samsung flagships. In this way, optical zoomwill probably be the best on the market this year.
Keep in mind that Samsung still uses the 'Space Zoom' branding to describe its 100x digital zoom feature in the Galaxy S21 Ultra. In practice, 100x digital zoom produces terrible image quality. We recommend avoiding such magnification with a smartphone, even if it is capable of it.
Finally, the back of the Galaxy S21 Ultra has laser autofocus sensor... In the case of the Galaxy S20 Ultra, the focus was questionable. We really hope Samsung has made a significant change, as the person who paid that much for the phone shouldn't get out-of-focus photos.
At the front, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has a 40MP camera, the same as the previous model. Selfies on the Galaxy S20 Ultra are known to have taken just fine, so it's understandable we'll see similar results with this new model.
For the first time since 2017, this year's Galaxy S lineup has identical cameras in the regular and Plus variants. Over the past three cycles, the Plus model would have offered something extra, like more sensors, higher quality sensors, or even an extra lens. However, this year both phones will deliver the same picture quality.
Here's what's included in the Samsung Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus:
- 12MP wide-angle camera - ƒ1.8, 1.8um, with autofocus (AF) and optical image stabilization (OIS)
- 12 MP ultra wide-angle camera - ƒ2.2, 1.4um, with autofocus and 120-degree field of view (FoV)
- 64 MP telephoto lens - ƒ2.0, 0.8 μm, with autofocus, optical image stabilization and 3x "hybrid optical" zoom
These three lenses are a triumph in the world of mobile photography. A standard wide-angle lens is used for general photography. The ultra-wide sensor allows you to capture more image in the viewfinder without the need for physical backward movement. A telephoto lens gives you the ability to zoom in on your subject without compromising on quality.
The Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus are certainly not as versatile as the S21 Ultra, but the average person is likely to be pleased.
In terms of zoom, you get 3x "hybrid optical" zoom. This is marketing jargon, which essentially means that a certain percentage of the 3x magnification will be optical (i.e. lossless) and another percentage will be digital (i.e. lossy). This will likely result in decent quality photos at 3x magnification, but the quality will not be as good as what you will see with the clean optics of the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Basically, the cameras of the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus should be good for the average person. Even for professional photographers, high-quality lenses allow you to capture stunning photos and videos on the go. The Galaxy S21 Ultra will offer more versatility and slightly better quality, but that's overkill for the average person.
Battery life for Galaxy S21 phones
The battery life of Samsung's flagships has been good over the past few years. There are usually phones on the market with a larger battery for comparison.There are also usually phones that use battery capacity more efficiently than Samsung phones. Overall, though, Galaxy S phones offer ample battery life in terms of what modern advances have to offer us.
When you consider that the battery capacity of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series is the same or greater than what we saw in 2020, you can be confident that Samsung will continue to perform well in this regard.
In the case of the Galaxy S21 Plus, the battery capacity is slightly larger than last year's model. This strongly suggests that our tests will be better this year. In the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the younger Galaxy S21, their capabilities remain the same.
By the way, the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus have lower resolution displays compared to last year. This will surely help them extend battery life, as the display is the main source of power drain.
Galaxy S21 vs. Galaxy S20 series: what's different from last year's models?
Like any tech product, this year's Galaxy S21 phones are better than last year's models in many ways. However, due to the underpricing, some of the specs of the phones are actually weaker than those of the Galaxy S20 series.
Below you will find the most significant differences from this year's models. Please note that these are not all differences, but only highlights.
- Design: Samsung has added elements to the Galaxy S21 series to enhance the look and feel of the device. The rear camera module is now more recessed into the side of the phone, which gives it a special look. There are also more color options to choose from. The younger S21 is made of "Glasstic" plastic, not real glass.
- Displays: The displays may look the same as last year, but they are different. The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus now have flat displays. They also have a lower resolution: 1080p instead of 1440p. However, the Galaxy S21 Ultra retains the 1440p curved display from last year.
- RAM: the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus have less RAM than last year (8GB versus 12GB). The Ultra model, however, remains the same with 12 or 16 GB.
- Storage: Every phone has the same level as last year: 128GB of internal storage. However, this year the vanilla and Plus models have 256GB versions, which was not the case last year. Unfortunately, right now, only the Ultra model has a 512GB variant.
- MicroSD Cards: None of the Galaxy S21 phones have microSD card slots. This marks the first time the entire lineup has lacked this feature since the Galaxy S6 lineup.
- Cameras: The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy 21 Plus have the same front and rear camera settings. This hasn't happened since the Galaxy S8 series.
- 5G: not yet relevant for Russia and the CIS.
- S Pen: for the first time, a Galaxy S device can support Samsung's S Pen. Usually reserved for the Note series, the S Pen only works with the Ultra variant of the Galaxy S21 line.
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 2
The Galaxy S21 series will face stiff competition in 2021.
Since it's very early days, there aren't many phones that directly compete with the Galaxy S21 lineup. At the moment, the only officially released phone with a Snapdragon 888 processor is the Xiaomi Mi 11, which is currently only available in China.
We will see more phones from other manufacturers with the SD888 throughout the year. The next major launch of the year will likely be the OnePlus 9 series. We expect the SD888 to run on the OnePlus 9 and OnePlus 9 Pro. However, we do not yet know when these phones will arrive.
If you don't want the latest and greatest processor, there are still plenty of 2020 phones out there that will offer massive processing power, good battery life, great cameras, and more. We recommend that you consider the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which is now quite cheap. The Google Pixel 5 and Sony Xperia 5 II are not bad either.
Finally, if you agree to get out of the Android world, there is always the Apple iPhone 12 series. The iPhone 12 Pro and iPhone 12 Pro Max are the most comparable devices in class to the Galaxy S21. However, the smaller iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Mini will also offer faster speeds and decent photos - albeit with dual rear cameras.
