The Always-On display “wakes up” the device unnecessarily, the fingerprint scanner does not work properly, the camera focuses automatically does not work well / the focus is in the wrong place, the battery drains too quickly – these are just some of the complaints the Galaxy S20 Ultra suffered Last year. Samsung internalized, was attentive and handled most of the complaints. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the best smartphone device currently on the market, also its price is a little less
Let’s start with the good stuff, and there are quite a few. More than the camera, which we will get to later, the most impressive thing about the S21 Ultra is without a doubt the no less stunning screen. The screen, AMOLED 2X, supports WQHD resolution of 1440 by 3200, with a high brightness level (1500 nits), sharp and full of life.
It is 6.8 inches in size and has an impressive refresh rate of 10-120Hz, which varies independently depending on the nature of use of the device to save battery life. The combination of a high refresh rate with a resolution at a density of 515 ppi provide the best screen on the market, right now, with a level of sharpness and smooth motion that we have never seen before.
Below the screen is a Qualcomm biometric sensor, which is wide enough to detect your finger quickly and easily. However, as with competing devices, we did not have one hundred percent success in identifying and improving them – just adding more than one fingerprint. Release via face recognition works well although the S21 Ultra has a bit of a hard time in dark lighting, for example in a car interior in the evening (and for detection with a mask on the face of course there is nothing to talk about).
Even those who love vanilla will be happy this time to get chocolate with crackers
Even those who love the Vanilla – Google’s “feature-free” Android interface – will get used to and really enjoy Samsung’s One UI 3.1. Interface rich in features and options so many that you can lose your hands and feet in search of any setting (save time and just type in the search bar what you are looking for. Next time you will already be presented with shortcuts).
Some of the useful features that Samsung offers: “optimizing” to improve battery performance, “protecting the device” from damage and “parental control” or “smart digital use” to limit children’s screen time on the device or your own. Not all of them are Samsung inventions only here everything is meticulous and works like a Swiss watch.
External connections, such as “continuing to use other devices” or linking to Microsoft windows (which allows you to read and write text messages on your computer, view and save on your computer images taken on a smartphone, etc.) also work seamlessly.
Some numbers and technical terms that may be confusing but give us a moment and we will put them in order
The S21 Ultra is available in a version with 12GB of RAM and 256GB of storage, or 16 and 512 respectively. The price of the “thin” version is NIS 4,699 and the more luxurious one, which will make you forget about the lack of a memory slot, is NIS 5,199. What else is missing from the device? Oddly enough scandalous the device comes without a charger (the kit only comes with a USB-C cable) and also without headphones; Samsung decided that what was good for Apple was good for them too and began to skimp on our expense.
A dual SIM slot is located at the bottom of the device next to one microphone and at the top are two additional microphones. The stereo audio quality is excellent and has successfully passed our noisy vehicle test, so you can use the speaker while driving in a car without a handsfree and on the other hand will even be able to understand you.
Even watching movies or series without headphones provides excellent audio quality and the sounds are rich and deep. We explored the subject with an episode in the Ozark (Netflix) series that is not steeped in happy music or sounds, and it made us want to turn off the TV and continue watching with the device.
Everyone’s talking about it so there’s probably something to it. or not
The device is available with two chipsets – the international version (sold in Israel) with a fifth-generation Exynos 2100 processor, and the one sold in the US and China with the advanced Snapdragon 888 processor. There are dozens of articles on the subject and no less YouTube videos comparing the performance of the two versions You with dry technical details: In most of the tests performed and available on the various sites, the two versions are similar in performance levels.
According to experts, there may be a negligible difference in the performance of the GPU (graphics processing unit), as some of the comparison tests performed in heavy games showed a small advantage over the Snapdragon version. In any case, when it comes to performance, take the worry out of your heart – just combine the Exynos processor with 12GB of RAM to get monstrous performance in any sector.
It really does not matter how many applications you develop in parallel or how much you grind the camera – it will not excite him. For it has a price. If you use a camera or graphics-laden games a lot – expect considerable warming on the back of the device. The battery of the S21 Ultra, with a capacity of 5,000 mAh, is sufficient for a day and a half of work even under work at a refresh rate of 120Hz. It includes a 25W fast charge option (or 15W fast wireless charge) and also the charging of other devices.
As you can see, the device is loaded with features and also supports the use of Samsung’s S-Pen if you have one. You will also find an IP68 standard for resistance to dust and water (up to a depth of one and a half meters and for thirty minutes) so those who are willing to try can take cool pictures underwater.
Apart from the screen there is also an excellent camera. And modern and clean design
After quite a few complaints about the camera system of the S20 Ultra (especially regarding the color shades), Samsung internalized and the situation has improved immeasurably. A quick glance at the array of cameras is enough to shake even the heart of the great skeptic. The photo array is highlighted on the back of the device on top of a metallic bulge; An interesting design decision but one that makes it difficult to position it horizontally (for example when you try to lean it on a wall or next to the computer screen in your work area). It bothered us. The back of the device is made of glass with a matte finish. It looks good and it’s hard to leave fingerprints on it.
The camera array includes four cameras and a laser sensor for autofocus: the main camera has a wide 24mm lens and a 108-megapixel sensor with an f / 1.8 aperture key. It is also equipped with an optical stabilizer and a laser sensor for autofocus. In most cases it works great but Not so surprisingly he finds it difficult to focus on photography of very dark colors.
Above the main camera is an Ultrawide camera with a 13mm lens and a 12-megapixel sensor with an aperture key of f / 2.2. The other two lenses are optical zoom lenses – one is a 240mm lens with an X10 optical zoom and a 10-megapixel sensor and the other It is a 70mm telephoto lens with an X10 optical zoom and a 10-megapixel sensor. Both are equipped with an optical stabilizer.
Brief focus on focus: When the sensor detects an image of an object up to 30 cm away the focus enrichment mode is automatically activated allowing a type of macro photography with a focus that extends over a wider part of the image. It works not bad even in non-ideal lighting like Which can be seen in the following image.
Video capture is possible in 8K at 24 fps or 4K at 30/60 fps. You can of course shoot at a lower quality (1080p at 30/60/240 fps) but after you get used to 8K and 4K everything else will look ungrained. The video quality is excellent and the image stabilizer (available only in 4K video) does the job and the result is smooth and pleasant; Somewhat reminiscent of video photography on Apple’s advanced devices and even surpasses them.
Selfie here, first there
The selfie camera is also impressive in numbers as well as in performance. With a 26mm lens (very wide compared to the competition) and a 40-megapixel sensor with an aperture key of f / 2.2 is hard to go wrong. The images it produces are excellent and it is better than the main camera of some quality mid-range devices. The images are rich in details, the colors are sharp And accurate.Real Pleasure.The selfie camera supports 4K video shooting at 30/60 fps and the result is no less impressive.
When we approached the front camera array we arrived with a high bar of expectations and it broke pretty quickly. how is it possible ? The cameras in Samsung devices are always good but this time the result is particularly good. The colors are rich and deep, the images are sharp and accurate. No side effects or color noise.
The camera copes well with light and shadow differences, as its range of dynamics is very impressive, and it delivers superb images even in direct sunlight. The same is true of the wide lens that delivers wonderful images with impressive color accuracy and sharpness. It’s time to go for a walk in nature or go up to Jerusalem to photograph the snow.
The optical lenses do a good job and super quality images can also be extracted from them. The problem is that you need to maintain stability while shooting and in dark lighting the image quality decreases.
Lots of features in the camera segment as well
The camera mechanism is loaded with quite a few features and we will mention just a few of them: there is no need to switch to portrait mode since close-up photography of an object is automatically detected. Upon detection, “Auto Focus Enhancer” mode is activated (and a yellow icon appears on the lower left side of the camera interface). In our opinion, this is an upgrade that saves a manual transition to portrait mode.
Another feature – BIXBY VISION works so efficiently that it is scary to think what can be done with the information we know about. Beyond the BIXBY VISION mode and focusing on the object in front of you – from a tourist monument to a shirt designed with glowing text – brings impressive search results to the photographed object.
Did you see any product in the store that you liked and wanted to find out more about it? Say no more. Let BIXBY pass for you. Another feature, which we especially liked, is “May View” – a video shooting mode in which all the camera lenses are displayed and you can choose to switch from one to the other while shooting.
The bottom line
Samsung has listened to complaints about the S20 Ultra and unlike the one we will not mention its name – internalized and fixed. It’s fun to know that the manufacturer is attentive to its non-captive audience. True, it is not that she distributes her devices for free, quite the opposite – this is one of the most expensive devices on the market today.
As it is simply superb in almost everything – its screen is amazing, the camera does not fall behind and even “simple” uses like the operating interface – are very enjoyable. Aside from the high price tag this is the most complete, and one of the most designed, device of the past year.