- Samsung Galaxy S21
- Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Summarized
The Galaxy S21 is a successful all-round smartphone that has been reduced in price compared to its predecessor. Samsung has made some concessions to make that lower price possible, such as a screen with a lower resolution, a vulnerable plastic back, the storage that is no longer expandable and the fact that a charger and earplugs are not included. Not everyone will be happy with that. Nevertheless, the smartphone has succeeded as a total package for its lower price. Although the S21 has not changed enormously compared to the S20, the total package is attractive and it is a very nice device to use.
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Pros
- Good all-round camera system
- Very smooth Android experience
- Nice bright screen with adaptive refresh rate
- Nice new fingerprint scanner
- One of the few relatively compact smartphones in its category
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Negatives
- Plastic back is fragile
- No charger included
- Less RAM than S20
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Summarized
With the Galaxy S21 Ultra, Samsung pulls out all the stops. The device has a clear and beautiful OLED screen and a camera system with a good new primary sensor and two versatile telecamera. The S21 Ultra is 100 euros cheaper than its predecessor, but offers a greater difference compared to the S21 and S21 +. It is therefore one of the most complete smartphones you can buy, although it is a pity that no charger is included and that the storage cannot be expanded anymore. If you don’t mind your phone being a bit big and heavy, and you don’t want to compromise, consider the S21 Ultra.
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Pros
- Very good and versatile camera system
- Very smooth Android experience
- Beautifully clear screen with adaptive refresh rate
- Nice new fingerprint scanner
- Good battery life
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Negatives
- Sometimes the camera software makes crazy mistakes
- No charger included
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Your piggy bank may not have been ready at all, but the S21 series will suddenly be released two months earlier this year. It may have been strategic reasons why Samsung decided to release the Galaxy S21 devices about two months earlier than usual. For example, the manufacturer is closer to the annual release of Apple and Samsung is ahead of Huawei. The advance is happening simultaneously with another strategic line-up change. There are still three devices in the high S segment: the Galaxy S21, S21 + and S21 Ultra. But the distinction between those devices has become a lot bigger.
In our opinion, last year’s S20 Ultra differed too little from the S20 + and S20 to justify the much higher price. Plus, the camera suffered from autofocus issues, camera quality suffered from weird software bugs at first, and there was no 45W charger in the box – despite support for that. Samsung has completely omitted this from the S21 series this year. Anyway, the S21 Ultra is a nice step forward, especially in the camera area, with a new primary sensor and not one but two telecamera.
However, the S21 and S21 + have not only gotten upgrades, but also a few downgrades from their predecessors, although it is a very personal matter whether you actually find them downgrades. For example, many people find the plastic back of the S21 fine, because they immediately put a cover around it. The resolution of the screen has also been reduced and the cheaper two S devices have a 1080p screen instead of 1440p for the first time since the Galaxy S5. But also here, given the reactions to the Galaxy S20 FE: many people do not think it is the most terrible downgrade. In fact, people choose to set their devices to this resolution to extend battery life or to be able to choose a higher screen refresh rate. Another point is that you can no longer store a microSD card in these devices.
All in all, this seems like a strategy that has been in the planning for a while, and at first glance it seems pretty smart. The prices of the devices have all gone down, with the S21 even costing 200 euros less than its predecessor. Unfortunately, we did not get a Galaxy S21 + from Samsung, so we focus on the S21 and S21 Ultra. That shouldn’t spoil the fun though, as there is still plenty of upgrading to be discussed at length.
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