The iPhone 12 Pro Max pulls ahead in this photo of a golden retriever.

Specs and performance

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This is Samsungs vision of smartphone excess for 2021: five cameras led by a 108MP sensor, two telephoto cameras, 100x zoom and 40MP selfies, plus 5G, all-day battery life and up to 16GB of RAM all packed into an Android phone with a 6.8-inch 120Hz Quad HD display and an upgraded in-screen fingerprint sensor that has a 1.7x larger surface area than the one on last years phone. The S21 Ultra didnt flinch as I sliced through multiple enemies in Grimvalor while delivering console-quality visuals. Many people have been turned off by the fact that the S21 series doesnt include a microSD card slot for expandable storage, and, frankly, were with you on that.

Samsung is developing a second stylus. Caution: while it's cheaper than last years Ultra phone, it remains pricey for average consumers, and it doesnt come with a microSD card slot nor does it include a charger. And you can make out a pretty amazing amount of detail when you zoom in.

Plans, Small Overall, if you were looking for the pinnacle of Android phones, the S21 Ultra had been it.

s21

It's bright, vibrant and doesn't make you choose between the highest resolution and highest refresh rate like its predecessor. The company told TechRadar that 25W has been optimized enough to the point that 45W matters very little, although wed also suspect few people went out and bought the special 45W charger.

UScellular. But theres enough positive change here to offset any minor discomfort, enough that we're now confident this Ultra phone finally lives up to its name.

The warranty replacement was simply a POS. The S21 Ultra also fared well on the 3DMark Wild Life graphics benchmark, hitting 34 fps.

Unfortunately, while you have a range of storage options to choose from for the S21 Ultra 128, 256 or 512GB Samsung ditched the microSD card slot.

Its 5,000mAh battery matches the Galaxy S20 Ultra capacity, and youre going to get all-day battery life if you stick with Samsungs default settings. However, things work a bit differently here: theres no S Pen included with the phone and, even when you make the separate purchase, there's no way to embed the stylus into the body of the phone. Charging: 25W wired, 15W wireless.

Our Galaxy Z Fold 3 vs. Galaxy S21 Ultra face-off breaks down the differences.

The display is best-in-class, the cameras are much improved and you can even use this thing as a Galaxy Note if you want to.

I've done several things in the settings to fix this but no luck.

You can expect the price to continue dropping over time.

This is why we shy away from benchmarking phones in such granular detail. Plans, International You can still find it from other retailers and wireless carriers, but make sure you're paying less than the $1,199 debut price, as that will get you a newer Galaxy S22 Ultra.

This one is improved but still not stellar given that it is a 5000 mAh battery.

It's the first S series phone to support Samsung's S Pen. Samsung is bucking trends in 2021.

Great camera.

Keep in mind that theres no microSD card slot for expandable storage, so if youre keen on taking lots of 4K 60fps or 8K 24fps video, you may want to look into the pricier 256GB or 512GB storage sizes and the latter of those sizes also bumps up the RAM to 16GB. NY 10036.

The RAM wont make much of a difference in a phone, but youll definitely notice if you run out of storage space. Video: 8K 30 fps/4K 60 fps I saw download speeds exceed 160 Mbps. Matt received his journalism degree from Penn State University. Thats been fixed in the S21 Ultra thanks to the addition of laser-assisted phase detection autofocus, which was absent on the S20 Ultra (the Note 20 Ultra did have this).

So you dont have to choose between the highest resolution and highest refresh rates. It is easier to see at my age. One UI 4.1 delivers many of the Galaxy S22's camera features to older Samsung flagships.

The dual telephoto lenses (3x and 10x optical zoom) get you very close to your subject, and the new Zoom Lock feature keeps things steadier with digital Space Zoom.

He's tested over 1,000 phones, tablets and wearables and commands a Twitter account of 1m+ followers.

Please refresh the page and try again. We've recognized as the best designed device in our Tom's Guide Awards 2021 for phones. There are some things I dont like about this flagship. Though you can use any old Note stylus with your phone, we appreciated the fact the new S Pen is larger and easier to grasp than the toothpick-sized Note S Pen. Thank you for signing up to Tom's Guide.

Samsungs redesigned in-screen fingerprint sensor, which uses ultrasonic technology courtesy of Qualcomm, makes its debut on the Galaxy S21 series.

When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission. It's also of course one of the very best Android phones and ranks among the best Samsung phones. You can use this tag in combination with the SmartThings Find app to track down everything from your keys to your bag. This helps save on battery life. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is one gorgeous-looking smartphone so much so that we didnt bother to put a case on it during testing.

This is a tale of design beauty and the performance beast. Trending price is based on prices over last 90 days.

The colors on the iPhone were a bit more accurate, with its screen achieving a Delta-E score of 0.07, compared to 0.35 for the Galaxy S21 Ultra. It makes it easier to unlock the phone, and I found that the S21 Ultra didnt ask me to press the sensor again like previous phones. The base-level 128GB of internal storage with 12GB of RAM might not be enough for everyone.

But here are the key things to know. Samsung says the S21 Ultra has a 3 million:1 contrast ratio, which is 50% higher than the S20 Ultra. The phone tends to heat up and is extremely fragile.

You can make out fine detail in the bark, and the phone does a great job capturing the clouds against the blue sky even while dealing with all of the shadows in the foreground.

Cameras are nice but the rest of the phone needs to do its job too for such an expensive piece of equipment. ing such a cheap, over-priced ripoff that fails in the first ten minutes.

Make sure you check our Samsung promo codes page for any remaining offers and discounts on this older phone.

We found the 6.8-inch body to be easier to grasp than the 6.7-inch iPhone 12 Pro Max, and thats in large part thanks to the curved display and overall narrowness of Samsung's device. Samsungs backend software will automatically adjust between 11Hz and 120Hz, depending on your activity: reading an eBook (low) vs playing a 3D game (high). We were able to jot down quick notes and bring up all of the Air Command options, which include a variety of features you can use without touching the phones screen. While we havent done in-depth side-by-side comparisons yet (not-so-subtle: yes, well be updating our reviews when weve done so), both seem very snappy, even if the Geekbench 5 scores weve gotten dont quite measure up.

We also tested the screen brightness of the Galaxy S20 Ultra outdoors, and it automatically amps up to a super-bright 1,500 nits when necessary.

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Get anything else that's built to last and outperform this large expensive "cheap glass" phone.

In addition to the deep, Vantablack-like Phantom Black color, theres also a Phantom Silver color on sale everywhere, while Samsungs own online store offers an additional three options: Phantom Titanium, Phantom Navy and Phantom Brown. You could customize actions and remotely command the Galaxy Note 20 like a magician with a wand.

And, unlike the regular Galaxy S21, you don't have to make nearly as many trade-offs.

Samsung nearly perfected the big-screen phone with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. #GalaxyS21Ultra pic.twitter.com/ONJPWtdUZYJanuary 15, 2021.

Battery: 5,000mAh

See our full Samsung Galaxy S21 review for more.

Both the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S21 Plus have a smooth Gorilla Glass back while the Galaxy S21 is stuck with a polycarbonate (read: plastic) back that feels less smooth to the touch.

The iPhone 12 Pro Max averaged 54 fps.

Check out our iPhone 13 Pro Max review (opens in new tab), Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 Shame on Samsung for making such a cheap, over-priced ripoff that fails in the first ten minutes.Read full review.

Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab). 120Hz Refresh rate. It's the cameras where the Galaxy S21 Ultra stands out the most against the S21 and S21 Plus. The 108MP main camera can capture 12-bit HDR photos with 64 times richer color data and more than three times the dynamic range of the S20 Ultra.

This is still Samsungs best screen, but for many other reasons.

A Samsung moderator posted that the adaptive battery should solve some of the issue, but some members are saying that even after a week they are seeing no change. In addition, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is one of the first phones to support Wi-Fi 6E, a new standard that delivers faster speeds and more overall bandwidth when you have a compatible Wi-Fi 6E router.

This is something to be aware of.

Apple's phone delivers faster performance from its A15 Bionic chip, and you get a strong Ceramic Shield front display that's designed to be more durable.

Its a bit big and heavy, and the lack of a charger and microSD card slot both sting.

Resolution: 1440 x 3200 The original purchase just stopped detecting the original SIM and 2 replacement SIM cards. There was a problem.

3200 x 1440 pixels

A post shared by Matt Swider (@mattswider) (opens in new tab). Visit our corporate site (opens in new tab).



As of this writing, Best Buy is selling a carrier-tied version of the Galaxy S21 Ultra for $849, while unlocked versions can be found at Amazon for $750.

And while the S21 Ultra is fast, its still a step behind the iPhone 12 Pro Max.

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Why would I use a tiny phone lens to get professional results?

You wont find a charger inside of the box either; like Apple, Samsung cites e-waste as the reason the power brick isnt included.

So it may take zoomed-in photos with the main sensor and then just crop to simulate that zoom. Rear cameras: 108MP wide (f/1.8), 12MP ultra wide (f/2.2), 10MP telephoto (3x zoom, f/2.4), 10MP telephoto (10x zoom, f/4.9), laser AF sensor

The S Pen is just a bonus.

Weight: 227g

For example, its large display stretches the hand at 6.8 inches, yet the curved edge-to-edge screen means that bezel is almost non-existent, and that 40MP front camera hides behind a tiny punch-hole thats easy to ignore after a few minutes of watching a video.

Switched from Google Pixel3XL and will NEVER go back. Samsung sells a Silicone Cover with S Pen included for $69.99 (opens in new tab). With Super Steady mode on the S21 Ultra engaged, I captured smooth footage even as I walked fast up a hill. There was a problem.

The Fold 3 is a big, powerful phone that Samsung has intended to succeed the venerable Galaxy Note line (RIP).

Whats the catch?

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra (Black) at Amazon for $1,049, Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra vs. Galaxy S21 Ultra, Silicone Cover with S Pen included for $69.99, Galaxy S21 vs Galaxy S21 Plus vs Galaxy S21 Ultra, One UI 4.1 delivers many of the Galaxy S22's camera features to older Samsung flagships, Razer back to school sale takes 50% off gaming accessories, Samsungs affordable OLED TVs just came to a halt heres why, Zoom security issues: What's gone wrong and what's been fixed, The best tech tutorials and in-depth reviews, Try a single issue or save on a subscription, Issues delivered straight to your door or device.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is Samsung's latest foldable, showcasing the company's prowess when it comes to display technology and hardware design.

Storage: 128GB, 256GB, 512GB

But now that the Galaxy S22 is the new kid on the block, Samsung has announced that it's bringing some of that phone's camera features to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, like nighttime portraits with the telephoto lens. i enjoying this phone, the best phone that i ever had. The zoom functionality on both is optical, though Samsungs camera software oftentimes has a mind of its own.

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