Hi all, I'm thinking about buying a Samsung S21, I wanted to consult with you. Who uses it, tell me your impressions, I am interested in the camera and especially the battery as it works? And is there a significant difference with the newer model S22?
GurgMar said:
Hi all, I'm thinking about buying a Samsung S21, I wanted to consult with you. Who uses it, tell me your impressions, I am interested in the camera and especially the battery as it works? And is there a significant difference with the newer model S22?
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You know you are in s21 ultra? Completely different phone.....
S21 is solid phone if you can get it for good money.... if you have funds for s22 buy s21 ultra and never look back...i hope it does make sense
I love my S21 Ultra. I cant upgrade to 22 yet. But with my upgrade path, I have been on the Odd track (as in Note 9, S21, then S23, etc). The camera is awesome. The bootloader being locked sucks but I have pretty much debloated it to the point where I am happy with it. Battery life is great if I don't play any games. If I do, it drops quickly.
I haven't looked at the S22 because of the non-upgradability. However, the Ultra has a pen (nice but not needed). I rarely used the pen on the Note 9.
The camera bump on the S21 vs S22 is significant. The 21 has quite the bump but once you put a case on it. you wont notice it.
Anyways...I love my S21 Ultra!
Thank you! You confirmed what I thought!
GurgMar said:
Thank you! You confirmed what I thought!
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You're welcome!
Related
Coming from the S20 Ultra. NOt sure if its worth the upgrade. Anyone upgrading from S20 Ultra?
Here.
My reasons are the S Pen (I miss the Note experience), adaptive refresh (without entering on screen settings every minute), the Phantom Black color (my carrier sent me a grey S20 Ultra and I hate it) and the camera (hope the S21U won't have the same focus problems of the S20U). And my carrier gives me 680€ for my S20U (a half of the S21U 256GB price).
Im on the Note 20 Ultra now and ordered the S21 Ultra. I skipped the S20 last year so thought Id check it out this year.
The camera and fingerprint sensor Im looking forward to trying but all im all not much of a jump from the note.
force70 said:
Im on the Note 20 Ultra now and ordered the S21 Ultra. I skipped the S20 last year so thought Id check it out this year.
The camera and fingerprint sensor Im looking forward to trying but all im all not much of a jump from the note.
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It's also thicker and heavier than Note 20!
Bigger battery!
Not worth the upgrade besides the camera. It is heavier and thicker. It is more like a downgrade if anything. No microsd, smaller display, same battery. Will wait for next year's
force70 said:
Bigger battery!
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absolutely right
lucky_strike33 said:
Coming from the S20 Ultra. NOt sure if its worth the upgrade. Anyone upgrading from S20 Ultra?
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Significantly better focus on the S21 ultra, plus 3x AND 10x optical zoom.
If cameras are your #1 consideration then yes, upgrade. If not, then you are probably better to waiting for S22U release.
Hello,
So as ATT plans to kill my Huawei Mate 20 x I am forced to change phones and well, there is really nothing big in the market aside from the fold 2 which I did not love.
So, I am considering the S21 Ultra at least to get a nice set of cameras with this forced upgrade.
How are you guys liking the phone...any recent feedback based on new firmware upgrades is welcome
Thanks
No SD card slot. That means no data drive or easy factory resets.
Rounded display corners ugly it up bad... a weak offering from Sammy.
Go with a used Note 10+512gb Snapdragon or a new Note 20U.
Drop dead gorgeous displays. A used 10+ in excellent condition can be had for $650 at B&H Photo, a trusted vendor.
The S21 Ultra, Hong Kong variant (SM-G9980, CSC - TGY) is a great option for a number of reasons. Snapdragon SoC, recieves updates directly from Samsung sooner than US branded devices, no carrier bloatware, dual sim's, unlocked bootloader, none of which are available on the AT&T device. If call features and a warranty are a priority buy AT&Ts device but without a MicroSD and only 256GB (200GB usable) consider if that works for you. AT&T doesn't offer the 512GB any longer but the Hong Kong device still does at select retailers.
We may be jumping to Tmobile since they have the Samsung buy one get one free deal. But looks like my phone WILL work on Tmobile so we may not even need to swap phones.
(Not a flex)
I've had the S10+, S10 5G, S20 Ultra and now S21 Ultra. I can confidently say I love the S21 Ultra and will be keeping this one. A bit annoyed there is no SD card but it's not a huge issue, just use Google drove to back up crucial files and no MST. Was nice to have but even where I live they are adding NFC everywhere.
100% recommend this phone. Fixed all the issues I had with the S20 Ultra. Updates have been good (except this month). Firmware updates have also ironed out the bugs
I traded in a rooted Note 20 Ultra for a stock S21 Ultra about three months ago and have zero regrets. I'm not a fan of the case selection for the Note series and don't care for the sharp corners or pen.
Misterxtc said:
I traded in a rooted Note 20 Ultra for a stock S21 Ultra about three months ago and have zero regrets. I'm not a fan of the case selection for the Note series and don't care for the sharp corners or pen.
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Zizo Bolt case for the Notes. Excellent protection and it enhances usability.
I rarely use the spen but there's no substitute when I need it.
Smart Select is great.
It's write on jpeg feature is fast and easy.
It's remote shutter release is very useful.
No SD card means you're boned when doing a factory reset especially if you have a large data base. It makes reloads needlessly awkward and time consuming at best.
It would take hours to reload my data base alone.
These phones now support 1tb cards, a Lexar .5 tb V30 cards are $65 now. An SD card slot is a no brainer if you use it as intended, as a data drive with a fast, high capacity SD card.
By storing copies of your apps and updates on the card you no longer need Playstore to load them after a reset. That saves time and ensures you get exactly the apps and version you want.
Misterxtc said:
I traded in a rooted Note 20 Ultra for a stock S21 Ultra about three months ago and have zero regrets. I'm not a fan of the case selection for the Note series and don't care for the sharp corners or pen.
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What was your experience with your rooted Note 20 Ultra? I just purchased a used Note 20 Ultra on eBay today and hope the bootloader is unlockable to possibly root. I use a rooted Note 8 running Oreo right now and, with the way I configured it, is an awesome phone. However, the processor sucks DragonBalls. Are there good rooted features on the Note 20 as there were for the Note 8?
Well, just to clarify, I have decided to go with the S21 Ultra if I need to upgrade my phone as I prefer it over what I saw from the Note 20 Ultra and others.
keep in mind that the S21 Ultras are plagued with a camera service wakelock that drains the battery whenever motion is detected so expect a drain if you will be moving a lot with the phone in your pocket. Still no fix from samsung but some custom ROMs have sort of addressed the issue to some extent.
shaolin95 said:
Well, just to clarify, I have decided to go with the S21 Ultra if I need to upgrade my phone as I prefer it over what I saw from the Note 20 Ultra and others.
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No buy one get one free on the Ultra, only the S21 base model with T-mobile's promotion.
varcor said:
No buy one get one free on the Ultra, only the S21 base model with T-mobile's promotion.
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I am Buying the Ultra and getting the regular one free for my wife.
shaolin95 said:
I am Buying the Ultra and getting the regular one free for my wife.
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Get a good case before you start carry it around. These phones wuv to corner hit and face plant... do not use without a case.
blackhawk said:
Get a good case before you start carry it around. These phones wuv to corner hit and face plant... do not use without a case.
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Yep always order cases and tempered glass for front and cameras for my phones
Thanks
Go for it amigo. You'll be happy.
I have had my s21 ultra 5g four 6 months now and I am extremely happy with it. I have the big boy 16 gigs mem and 512 gigs storage. I've had no prob with it.
i like it. i'm on att but I am running into possibly a bug or a problem with one or 2 of my apps where notifications from the app will wake the screen whether or not you have accidental touch protection on. super frustrating on that front but otherwise it's a solid phone in general.
shaolin95 said:
Hello,
So as ATT plans to kill my Huawei Mate 20 x I am forced to change phones and well, there is really nothing big in the market aside from the fold 2 which I did not love.
So, I am considering the S21 Ultra at least to get a nice set of cameras with this forced upgrade.
How are you guys liking the phone...any recent feedback based on new firmware upgrades is welcome
Thanks
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Love it, came from an Asus ROG Phone 2.
paul_cherma said:
keep in mind that the S21 Ultras are plagued with a camera service wakelock that drains the battery whenever motion is detected so expect a drain if you will be moving a lot with the phone in your pocket. Still no fix from samsung but some custom ROMs have sort of addressed the issue to some extent.
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Wait what ??? Got any links with more details about this ?
techbrutha said:
What was your experience with your rooted Note 20 Ultra? I just purchased a used Note 20 Ultra on eBay today and hope the bootloader is unlockable to possibly root. I use a rooted Note 8 running Oreo right now and, with the way I configured it, is an awesome phone. However, the processor sucks DragonBalls. Are there good rooted features on the Note 20 as there were for the Note 8?
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Sorry for the late response. The only thing I miss with a rooted Samsung phone is ad blocking options. Other than that having a borked phone that can't be updated properly is not appealing to me. I'll go to the Pixel line if I want root in the future but for now I'm content with my Ultra.
Hi, just ordered S10 ultra with exynos and now saw some comparison.bi thought it would just be speed difference but it seems exynos makes images worse. Had this been "patched" during the year or is the exynos image quality much worse? I bought in Sweden so no option for snapdragon
This is S21 thread, not S10
Sorry title was correct but not the post. I am talking about S21 ultra
pixellegolas said:
Sorry title was correct but not the post. I am talking about S21 ultra
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the only way to know if there is a difference would be to have the two phones in hand and to do your own tests, on the internet they sometimes found the SD sometimes the EX in front of nothing really clear
pixellegolas said:
Hi, just ordered S10 ultra with exynos and now saw some comparison.bi thought it would just be speed difference but it seems exynos makes images worse. Had this been "patched" during the year or is the exynos image quality much worse? I bought in Sweden so no option for snapdragon
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Exynos 2100 variant is not much worse, nor is it much better than its SD888 counterpart this year (unlike in previous iterations)
Breaking from tradition, this year they're pretty comparable, especially after all the updates and optimisation. Stick to Android 11 initially otherwise your opinion of the phone will tank really quickly.
However, the SD888 version does have an edge in gaming. If that is super, super important to you, it may be an issue. But otherwise, for day to day usage both are practically the same phone.
I think I might be looking at to many comparison videos right now one showed me closeup images of both and it looked like totally different phones. One was much more smudgy. I am hoping that we one day can get that warmer look at iphone produces on selfies, it just tints the images to a more pleasing yellow/red
Hopefully getting phone tomorrow for testing. I have a S9+ right now
Hi, the Exynos is definetly worse in image and video quality. The noise processing is very aggressive and the images are indeed smudgy. Go for the snapdragon without hesitation. Also, I am on the Android 12 update on my Exynos and the issue is still there. You can see a proper comparison here:
pixellegolas said:
Hi, just ordered S10 ultra with exynos and now saw some comparison.bi thought it would just be speed difference but it seems exynos makes images worse. Had this been "patched" during the year or is the exynos image quality much worse? I bought in Sweden so no option for snapdragon
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Click to collapse
You're raising your concerns a bit late since you've already ordered the exynos device, right? Just because you're in Sweden it doesn't preclude you from buying the snapdragon variant, most retailers ship worldwide. I concure with @enigmaamit's advice, hold off on updating to Android 12, it's a hot mess. The only features you might miss are the MicroSD and 3.5 Jack.Enjoy your new phone, it's a big improvement over the S9+.
Hi... Currently I have the S21 Ultra and really enjoy the phone. I always wanted a note, but due to pricing in my country, I couldn't afford a note on contract. I have seen the specs for S22 ultra and is quite excited with the prospect of getting a s pen with the S22 ultra built in. I wasn't convinced to get s pen separately in a case for the S21 ultra. Will you upgrade/ who is exc2for the release of the S22 ultra??
If you REALLY miss the Note range with integral S-Pen slot then yes, maybe, and depending on price you can get selling your S21 Ultra
For all other reasons, NO the S22U is an S21U with an S-Pen slot and very few enhancements or upgrades over the 2021 models.
termdj said:
Hi... Currently I have the S21 Ultra and really enjoy the phone. I always wanted a note, but due to pricing in my country, I couldn't afford a note on contract. I have seen the specs for S22 ultra and is quite excited with the prospect of getting a s pen with the S22 ultra built in. I wasn't convinced to get s pen separately in a case for the S21 ultra. Will you upgrade/ who is exc2for the release of the S22 ultra??
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S22 ultra doesn't seem like a huge upgrade over the S21U. If an integrated S-Pen is an absolute must-have for you, then by all means get the new phone. But other than that, I don't see a compelling reason to buy one. The S21 Ultra is still an amazing phone even after a year. And honestly speaking, the design is so iconic, I would choose this over the S22U design anyday (based on all the leaks). But that is a highly subjective matter, so it's upto the buyer. If you can afford it and justify it, go for it. Life is short, do the things you enjoy
Not sure if it's worth but trying to beat the boredom of "life in the time of Covid" I went ahead with the reservation, aiming for the 'ultra'.
Hey, it's not a marriage - I can still send it back if I don't fall in love with it on the first sight.
I know the specs aren't that much better then the S21 ultra, but the s range has always been way cheaper in south africa then the note, so I would like to have the s pen, but it all depends on the price on contract
No, I won't be upgrading. First off there are very few improvements, nothing is innovative. Secondly there have been numerous problems in producing the Exynos/AMD SoC. Thirdly it will ship with Android 12 which to date is still plagued with numerous bugs. The S21 works much better on Android 11.
it happens to almost all phones.
i still own s10 plus, works perfectly
I also get the s21 ultra
tempteing to get s-pen th0
dezborders said:
If you REALLY miss the Note range with integral S-Pen slot then yes, maybe, and depending on price you can get selling your S21 Ultra
For all other reasons, NO the S22U is an S21U with an S-Pen slot and very few enhancements or upgrades over the 2021 models.
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Samsung is generous with trade-in, plus if you resever now, you save 50!
In south africa there is no trade in deals... Just the normal carrier deals... So, hopefully it won't be too expensive
Tbh I don't think it worth upgrading to the S22 Ultra, it's got to the point now where any improvements are only minor even the camera on the S22 Ultra will only be slightly better than the S21 Ultra, plus i wouldn't be surprised once One UI 4.1 hits the S21 Ultra these improvements are brought down from the S22 Ultra.
I've had my S21 Ultra since last July this has been hands down best phone I've ever owned from Samsung, & i've had practically most of the S range & Note's over the years, the only downside to keeping the S21 Ultra really will be waiting slightly longer for updates once the S22 series has launched.
So I'm going to keep enjoying my S21 Ultra until the S23 Ultra next year.
Will see how it goes and what offers and trade ins are available. I have always been an S series user but loved the Spen support on the Ultra. It is a beast and having got the 512gb 16gb ram I could run it another year or so without any hiccups given that I haven't used it to its full pontential due to Covid.
Only thing I am worried with the S22 Ultra is the 45 Fast Charging and the Crammed 5000mah battery which although welcome I am afraid it might have those 'burst into flames' issues samsung had and how the new amd graphics might come with its own issues with Android 12.
No doubt it will have even a more Awesome battery life compared to the S21 Ultra and better Spen support with bluetooth and stuff. I am sure with the New Expert Raw and the Spen Bluetooth functionality they will promote it as a mobile Photographers Dream phone not to mention the ease of editing with the Spen.
Have my options open and will see how it pans out.
Wouldnt want to be a guinea pig for SD 8 Gen1. New and unproven soc.
For S21 Ultra users, the trade in deal needs to be great, otherwise it is not worth the upgrade, simple as that imo
Thanks for everybody given their input....
New camera sensor for even more light/detail
New CPU with ray tracing and best GPU available (plus fastest multicore)
S-Pen with higher latency and accuracy than previous
Best screen on market with even more brightness
And hopefully flat display instead of waterfall wasteful curved screen (fingers crossed on this)
Pls upgrade is free to me, so it's a 'hell yeah' from me.
lywyn said:
New CPU with ray tracing and best GPU available (plus fastest multicore)
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torontocomfortzone said:
Samsung is generous with trade-in, plus if you resever now, you save 50!
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In the USA yes Samsung is ultra generous with trade-in. In UK not so much ...
Outside of US, ebay and FB Marketplace selling prices are much higher than trade in.
lywyn said:
New camera sensor for even more light/detail
New CPU with ray tracing and best GPU available (plus fastest multicore)
S-Pen with higher latency and accuracy than previous
Best screen on market with even more brightness
And hopefully flat display instead of waterfall wasteful curved screen (fingers crossed on this)
Pls upgrade is free to me, so it's a 'hell yeah' from me.
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"New CPU with ray tracing and best GPU available"
Samsung has experienced numerous production issues with the Exynos 2200 SoC. Out of an entire wafer only a few chipsets are functional. Raytracing is misleading since there are currently no apps capable of raytracing integration on smartphones. In Geekbench 5 tests the Exynos/AMD 2200 was out performed not only by the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 but the Snapdragon 888 also. There may be a few good reasons to buy an S22 but hoping for a better SoC isn't one of them.
Exynos 2200 is even weaker than the Snapdragon 888
Exynos 2200 is even weaker than the Snapdragon 888. The new flagship chipset Samsung lost to all competitors.
www.google.com.mx
TheInfiniteAndroid said:
For S21 Ultra users, the trade in deal needs to be great, otherwise it is not worth the upgrade, simple as that imo
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It will probably be enough for the lower end ripoff 8GB version IF they do a trade-in
termdj said:
Hi... Currently I have the S21 Ultra and really enjoy the phone. I always wanted a note, but due to pricing in my country, I couldn't afford a note on contract. I have seen the specs for S22 ultra and is quite excited with the prospect of getting a s pen with the S22 ultra built in. I wasn't convinced to get s pen separately in a case for the S21 ultra. Will you upgrade/ who is exc2for the release of the S22 ultra
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Click to collapse
Here's how it's going to sound...you would have read all the views here and it's mostly a no to the upgrade. But, this thread was a validation for your already made up mind to go ahead with the S22U. Comrade...don't sweat it...if your heart says goes for it..and you have the means for it...go ahead enjoy! As @enigmaamit said here... life's short..enjoy it to the fullest...Go ahead...take the leap of faith...
I am definitely looking forward to the S-Pen being built in. I do a lot of photo editing using my fat fingers so having the pressure-sensitive pen will save me a lot of "undo/redo" time.
The latest "leaked images" show the screen flatter without the curved edges and I like that clean look. I can upgrade for free with my network so I am ready to leap!
Hi.
Anybody have any idea when one Ui 5.1 will drop officially for the S21 series?
I am holding on to my S21 ultra as I feel most of the features of the S23 ultra are software based and so don't feel the need to upgrade.
2 years from preorder and its still a solid phone.
Also samsung haven't sorted out the shutter lag it seems on the S23 Ultra.
For photos it seems to have moved to more vibrant and hdrish photos for the S23 series as compared to the s21 series.
What do you guys think
S21U is definitely a solid phone.
5.1 is nothing to be very excited about. There is no life changing features to wait for. The current software in my opinion is good enough for everyday use. Camera is still as excellent as it was, maybe even better.
Battery life has decreased a little but not by much. There's no particular reason why I would ever change device.
mpore14 said:
S21U is definitely a solid phone.
5.1 is nothing to be very excited about. There is no life changing features to wait for. The current software in my opinion is good enough for everyday use. Camera is still as excellent as it was, maybe even better.
Battery life has decreased a little but not by much. There's no particular reason why I would ever change device.
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I feel at least 60% of the S23 ultra show off is due to one ui 5.1 and software optimisation.
Especially with the camera via Expert raw .
If you compare the s21 ultra photos to the S23 ultras the s23 ultra tends to lean towards more vibrant and hdrish photos compared to the s21 ultras muted photos.