Description
| Brand | Samsung |
|---|---|
| Manufacturer | Samsung Private Ltd. |
| Product | Smartphone |
| Country of Origin | South Korea |
| Charger | ? 1 Provided |
| Condition | New |
| Manufacturer | Samsung |
| Model | Samsung S Series |
Sale!
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra G9980 (5G) (256GB/12GB, Phantom Silver)
£1,411.00 £917.15
Out of stock
Email when stock available
Additional information
| Product code | ACE-57460 |
|---|---|
| Barcode | 8806090886218 |
| Brand | Samsung |
| Colour | Silver |
Ian C –
TLDR Great phone unless you need the Samsung Pay MST. If you dont need that feature, then Id definitely recommend this phone.After preordering, I received the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G 512GB about two weeks ago, and I loved everything about it except for one thing. After coming across an article mentioning that the new S21 series in the US does not have MST the ability to emulate the magnetic signal of a credit card to make payments at credit card terminals without NFC, I decided to return the device. This was a deal breaker for me, as many of the places I go still do not have NFCenabled payment terminals. Samsungs justification for removing this killer feature was that NFC is more ubiquitous now than it was years ago. While true, it is not completely ubiquitous, as again there are still many places which dont have NFCenabled terminals. Most major retailers have NFCenabled terminals, but a lot of smaller shops and businesses do not. And since the only reason a large swath of people are using Samsung Pay is for the MST feature, there is now no reason not to switch to Google Pay. Within the next five years, Id expect most if not all places in the US to have NFCenabled terminals. But until then, MST should be included in all Samsung model phones or at the very least, in the flagship models. I think once enough people stop using Samsung Pay due to this change, the MST feature will be reintroduced in future models despite Samsung saying it will not be included in new phones from the S21 onward.
N355 –
Own it for 3 months. I use my phones with my Mavic Mini 2. Previous I own a OnePlus7 Pro. After lots of research the S21 Ultra was a good upgrade. With in the first 3 days I notice the S21 Ultra WiFi RangeStrengthPenatration was 14 of the OnePlus7 Pro. The GPS Signal was the same as well Vs OnePlus7 Pro. With my WiFi 6 network on my farm with no other wifi around for miles. My OnePlus7 Pro would be at 12 bars on WiFi 6 AX 2.4 ghz at 500ft and 1 wall. Also depending on weather I was getting 1 bar which was useless WiFi at well over 1500 ft and 5 walls. With the S21 Ultra no WiFi until I was with in 50 ft of the router.Flying my drone on my property I now start loosing signal Vs the OnePlus7 Pro. The rangesignal stabilityreliability has been cut down by 14 due to GPS signal lost on the phone or low signal strength. In the city I have full strength cell signal with no issues. In the country the modem lacks the reach, I would never have notice it if I wasnt coming from the OnePlus7 Pro.Researching S21 Ultra GPS and Weak Signal Strength shows that many other S21 Ultra users are also experiencing this same issue.Those are the only Cons for the S21 Ultra. Everything else on the S21 Ultra is 1010 CPU, GPU, Storage, Cameras OMG its awesome.
SarahP123 –
I had the standard S20 previously, i was frustrated with the poor battery and the screen quality Compared to my colleague with an iPhone. So decided to bite the bullet give the ultra a go, and oh boy am I super glad I did. I can now get 1416 hours out of my battery, incredible, Im not an average user either, I game, research, spend an hour on my lunch watching videos. The screen quality, just knocks the S20 out the park, I didnt think the quality could get better as Id never seen a working ultra to me, that was the best Id get from Samsung. The screen vibrancy the depth just incredible. Ive not played around too much with the camera, Im messed around with the zoom, like any zoom on any camera unless you have super steady hands, honestly not worth it. But that being said, Ive not used it in an outside environment and so it maybe better. The only thing I dont like, the colour and design, I ordered silver, well to me its pink… I dont like the camera cut out either but again, this doesnt impact what I use the phone for this is me being truly picky. Overall 1010 if you are thinking between this and the 12 Pro max, this is as good, if not better in my personal opinion.
Gerben Liv –
I find it a little hard to get excited over my new preordered phone. Needed to get an upgrade even though I was a huge fan of the S8 design, the phone which had been my companion since its year of release. However, it isnt just the SDcard or edge screenlighting that I am missing. As an advocate of Samsung, this purchase let me down overall and heres whyConstructive feedbackI knew there was no charger included, but it feels unwelcoming even as a Samsung fan and frugal when I cant charge my newest purchase with a charger from previous generations. The Samsung website stated in text format that a USBC cable is included in the box as in the attachment. However, I learned this was not the case after discovering the CC cable. The only things I can charge it with at the moment is my laptop or using my cable and charger from the S8.Moreover, the battery drops quite fast compared to Samsung Galaxy S8 and warmed up quite a lot on day 1 without really utilizing any app or charging it. I hope this stabilizes and isnt because of the Exynos 2100 chip. The selfie camera also feels a little underwhelming since I use it quite often for personal video calls. The person on the other end doesnt notice any difference with the camera. Camera focus is not always accurate and cumbersome to correct.Personal preferenceBixby button has also been removed the small added benefit of having a customizable button would have been nice. The design at the back decent the front decent enough for a flat screen the sides firm but not appealing. The grip feels rather cheap and lacking smoothness. I understand that no charger is included supposedly for SDG goals, but the plastic waste on the phone can be replaced with foam for a more premium unboxing experience. Willing to give Samsung Free a try, but I doubt it will prove useful enough to integrate into my daily life.PositiveWhat I am a fan of is the Samsung Dex Windows integration and the wireless Windows connection. The fingerprint scanner under the screen is quite nice and fast, I grew fond of it very quickly. Splitscreen preserved, great Samsung passwordSmart Switch saved me some time.OverallAs someone that got people to purchase an S9 and S10 and got an SD card as a Christmas gift, this purchase feels rather ungrateful. I might have been better off with an alternative like S20 FE if it wasnt for the Exynos chip.
MikeyboyT –
Really Really enjoying the s21. Best phone Ive had in years, my last phone, a one plus 5T, was also amazing for when I got it and lasted me a good few years before the battery fell through the floor.Im loving the s21, features galore, an amazing camera the wide angle is truly wide and beautiful, great quality in pictures and films in 4k, great stuff.It is FAST the intelligent refresh rate for the screen is mad smooth and you definitely notice the difference when you swith it off.I have one major gripe though. Signal. Its poor, very poor. Has nothing to do with my location as I am on the same service provider o2 and in my one plus I had perfect signal always, no dropouts and almost always perfect calls. The s21 not so much, I use my phone as a hotspot to play games and watch YouTube through my xbox and I get terrible loading times, lag galore and it can take a while for the data to connect.I hope Samsung sorts out the signal issue as Ive seen other people having the same problem and its pretty dumb that a phone of this technological prowess and price, would have either a poor antenna, modem, or just optimization issues that prevent it from being fully realised.Still though, very happy with the device and will continue to enjoy it for another 5 years like my glorious one plus. Itll be a battle between the two manufacturers when its time to upgrade for sure.
rzlive –
Ive been a big fan of Galaxy phones for awhile. In fact I started with IPhone and once I switched to galaxy I never went back. Im not a strict Android fan and I do like some IPhone features that Android doesnt. But overall the freedom I have with Android I dont get with IPhone.What Samsung Galaxy adds to Android is the quality of the screen as well as some features like Samsung keyboard etc. Of course Samsung provides a lot of experimental features that dont function properly each time. But good news is that I dont care much about them.The new S21 Ultra finally provides a camera with a good quality. Samsung has always lagged behind apple in terms of picture quality. But I think this is the first time that I really cant complain about the pictures. The cost of having good pictures is a the cost of the phone and b the weight of the phone. This phone is really heavy and worst than that, the weight is unbalanced The portion of the phone that contains the camera is really heavier than the rest of the phone causing issues about how to locate it in ones pocket etc.I also dont like the fact that Samsung has removed the SD slot and the headphone jack. If there is one reason that I usually favor Samsung over IPhone is that it provided features that IPhone didnt. Looks like the more time passes, Galaxy and iphone are getting more similar. Then the question will be whats the point of sticking to either brand if they are enforcing their own preferences over the customersAlso, for a product that costs 1200 I personally want a charger in its package and I dont want to hear the same lame Tim Cooks excuse that were saving the planet by doing this If you cared about the planet, both companies would slow down in offering beta versions of their phones every other year and stick to releasing a phone ever two years.
Crimsonrainsoughtflower –
I got this phone on my birthday a week and a half ago.In comparison to my old Samsung A8 2018, it seems to be much faster but I also have had that phone for some time, and it was kind of being tortured because I was constantly reaching the storage limit and I used it 247, so Im not throwing shade at all, it was and still is a good phone. I have yet to check for any nifty tricks it can do. I am very happy with the cameras. Also, this was the first time Ive been able to take a picture of a starry night Im excited to take more pictures in a lightpollutionfree town next time I visit my home country.Overall, it seems to handle storage pretty well. Ive transferred everything and installed what I had uninstalled on my other phone and it all takes up about 50GB. However, the phone seems to still be very fast. I am of course pleasantly surprised by this. Still, this is 15 of its full capacity so I guess it would have been concerning if it wasnt working well.The original layout was a bit too big for me fonts, app icons, but that is of course adjustable, so I cant really complain. I even adjusted my keyboard to be more narrow, so that it suits my small fingers better.The phone is also significantly heavier than the a8, but its fine, its good workout for my noodle arms haha just kidding, its not that heavy, but I guess with a screen protection and a phone case it could be too much. Definitely doesnt casually fit in pockets like my other phone, but thats fine by me, I can just take the other one outside and switch when I feel like it.About the screen itself.. I must say, I am in love. It might be a bit hard to get used to if you have small hands, but watching a 4kI havent tried bigger resolutions video in full screen is an experience. The volume is also crazy loud I was joking to my parents of how I dont need a speaker with this phone, the phone itself is a speaker. It has the main speaker on the bottom, but it also has a small or two I cant tell if its a microphone hole or not speaker hole on the top I was watching a tiktok in the first day after getting it, and I felt like I was tripping, cause there was sound coming sometimes from the top and sometimes from the bottom, switching like some songs do with headphones, and I found that really cool.I of course tried filming in 8k however, I havent gotten out of my room much to be able to test it out with a really nice view. I noticed that the camera is sliding really smoothly, with a slight delay, so even if you move it a lot in 8k it does not do those really small shakes. At first when my sister pointed it out when comparing her IPhone, I thought it was odd, but now Im glad that it is this way. My hands can be unsteady sometimes and I would rather it have delay then have a blurry mess for a video.When taking selfies, because of the big camera resolution on the front camera at least in my opinion it is big, okay, all pores and whatnot are visible of course. This can fortunately be fixed or not, you do you, you can make your skin smooth directly in the camera app, and also make it lighter or darker, which is a plus for me since my face skin tone is uneven and it always looks kind of dark on camera. It looks like I have good lighting even though I dontYes, the phone does have a 30 zoom at least when you take photos, I cant remember if its an option for videos too, but they arent that clear, which is fine. I guess you could use it to just make out something you cant on your own, but it isnt really the most optimal for taking clear pictures of faraway objects.I also noticed that with the night mode on, there is little to no noise in a picture. Thats really awesome I cant wait to take pictures at night in the future, maybe on new years eve or something.The battery is also very decent. I already mentioned how much I already took up of the total storage, and still the battery is going strong and lasting me for a good while. I have no complaints.Overall, do I think the phone is worth its price Hmm.. maybe. The cameras are very good, it has a bunch of space, and I havent tried any cool games yet but I think it would hold out just fine. No more getting annoyed at how much it takes for apps to start up again, no shade to the a8, it lived a rough life, no more getting stressed over having nothing more to delete to make space because it was constantly full. I now also have all the Microsoft apps so that I can do homework and the like on my phone. I would say, if you want to buy it, maybe dont do it with a heavy heart holding onto the money and counting any cents and pennies, because then you will probably not get to enjoy the phone because you constantly think of how this and that isnt how you wanted even though you paid so much. Its just a phone, and its a pretty good one at that, so just forget about the budget for a small amount of time if you want quality, its probably something you use most of the time anyway so in my opinion its worth investing into. Im going to take good care of my phone, and I honestly hope that it will last me for a long time.
Nebroo –
Overall, not a bad phone, per se, it does however lack the feel of a 1000 phone. For a start, it is a Glastic case and the screen res is lower than some competitors who offer the near same specs for less money.The biggest negative for me, as usual, the shocking amount of bloatware and the constant attempts by Samsung to tie you into their silly apps and a Samsung account, I applaud them for the marketing skill at trying to tie folks into a long term relationship but, I need apps that sync across all of my devices, such as calendar and contact, without the need to intervene constantly such as to manually sync them, so I am stuck with two apps for various things, calendar and contact to name but a couple.This basically raises a couple of problems, firstly the lack of ability to kill or remove the unwanted apps, which sit in the background, using resources and space, spitting out the odd message about not syncing or working, blah blah blah blah blah. For example, I fired up Google Maps and the calendar app, which I have done my best to strangle and am using Google Calendar instead, complained about not having access to something or other, and of course, whenever I disable the notifications they seem to magically reenable themselves. So as I say, I now have a bunch of apps that I have two of, one from Samsung and one from Google and I am trying my best to strangle the Samsung apps but it is a frustrating game, to be honest.I had almost forgotten what a frustrating time I had last time, having to spend the first 12 weeks trying to get the apps working, having to compromise in a few too many places and whispering to myself that I would never buy another Samsung, obviously I am a berk and I am hoping that next time I remember just how annoying this all is and will look elsewhere.I dislike the interface immensely, compared to a couple of my other Droids, it looks like a childs interface, as in, something I see on kiddies devices, yes I know I can change the launcher and change some of the settings, but this just adds another load of mods I have to do just to be happy it is working for me, I despise the fact you cannot even get the apps to shut up let alone disable or remove them and I despise the fact that Samsung has put so much work into funnelling you into a Samsung account and forcing you to use their apps, which would be fine if they actually had some global value, when they should be working to make the experience more easily customisable, if I wanted to be tied down and live in a world where I can only choose the colour of my walls, I would have bought one of the walled garden phones.For me, a step back with a downgraded screen, lacklustre finish compared to other phones in this price bracket, ugly interface, stuffed with bloatware, lack of control over app usage and generally adding it all up, a poor value purchase.I am already considering flogging it as I am struggling to see a day when I am going to be happy with this phone.
FondOfPhone –
Ive had this phone since its launch a few months ago and had a great experience with the phone since upgrading from my Samsung Galaxy S9. It is incredibly fast, runs multiple apps at once with ease, the battery lasts so much longer than my previous phone, and the camera is just wildly fantastic. I love this phone and can easily see myself keeping it for a few years and not wanting to upgrade it for a good long while. The phone feels built to last and has a lot of nice features that should keep it running well and up to par with future phones beyond the next few iterations. That being said, going from my Galaxy S9 to my S21 Ultra meant I lost my expandable memory and my headphones jack, which were some of the most important features that my old phone had. While I have wireless earbuds the first generation Galaxy Buds and a usbc headset, I hate that I cant just use my old headphones anymore without buying a converter. This was a terrible design that every single phone manufacturer made and I do hope Samsung reconsiders adding a headphone jack back in. I have the same gripe about the expandable memory because that made my phone truly become an all around tool and mini computer. I used my expandable memory with my old phone and was irritated I couldnt use it with this one. Im tired of companies taking away valuable features that benefit the consumer removing the jack benefits them by increasing Bluetooth earbud sales, removing the expandable memory increases the likelihood people will upgrade or buy cloud storage for longterm consumption. Even with that, I still think the phone is incredible and I love using it.
Petpower –
Upgraded from s10.I love Display clearly consumes much less and is even cooler temp wise. Same goes for the phone itself. Lasts more than 24 hours for me. The camera is even better and 30x zoom looks like optical even though its semi digitalAI beyond 10x. Exynos got quite good, more fps in games and generally much faster experience than s10.Some dislikes Exynos still throttles sometimes due to high temps after gaming some heavy 3d games and then settles on a bit lower fps, Snapdragon is better here. It could fast charge over Wireless Qi using a 25w Mi Qi certified charger, until the last update, now it only slow charges 5w, Samsung says you need a Samsung certified original charger to fast charge wirelessly from now on. How could you do this SamsungIf they dont revert this downgrade through a new update I might switch to Iphone next upgrade, it just feels too sour.Some observations Exynos got half as much L2 cache in its CPU compared to Snapdragon, maybe it doesnt matter, maybe it does, but usually the more the better. If I pay 1600 for a phone I should not be getting a worse product depending on in which country I buy it, right So give me a Snapdragon or charge less to compensate. It has the best camera, and its overall probably the best Android phone you can get in europe right now I think despite its flaws.
Subisti4 –
I preorder this phone about a month before it released via tmobile. Was excited moving from the S9 to this phone, loved the previous device. Coming from previously being an iPhone user to Samsung their products won me over. The S21 ultra was no exception full of features and good battery life. The multi cameras it has are amazing. Takes extremely high quality pictures and videos. Battery life can be drained fast if using multiple apps that run data,video and audio, other wise one charge can last about 1.5days. The screen is very responsive and amazing resolution. Audio is perfect very loud if playing music or using speaker phone. Mics capture voice clearly. Down sides is that for a phone of this price you will only get few things with it. Expect to open a thin box that will only contain the phone, instruction manual and a charger cord. No head set especially since they removed the regular audio Jacks at least the S20 Ultra gave you that. And no electrical plug in for for you to charge the phone, considering this phone uses the new super fast charging box. So you will have to spend more money on those a head set if you dont own any Bluetooth ones and on a charger box. Last complain about the phone and it may be the biggest is the 5G reception. Indoors the phone will lose 5G and go into 4G or completely lose signal. May be the carries in part, the phone or combination of both. Over all I would recommend the phone to anyone looking for a new device to upgrade to.
McMcbrad –
The device itself is very well built. Its speedy, it has a nice, premium feeling. The nonshiny finish of the back doesnt accumulate fingerprints and skin oil. Havent played too much with the camera, but it does what it says. The display is an assassin. Its big, bright, smooth and colours just pop. For users who prefer a more truetolife view, there is a setting to make colours less vivid and processed. The sound quality of the speakers is not great however, it just feels too thin compared to iPhone which I had previously. There are extra settings and adjustments available, but none of them outputs better bass, which is a bummer. The software experience has definitely evolved, but is still awful. First, no music app can display a progress bar on lock screen… this is probably the worst drawback. The Samsung Pass app is great, but I have no more than 4 apps supporting it. Samsung should be doing more for the autofill adaptation. When switching between 2 apps, for example Chrome and Settings, every time you tap the settings icon, it wont take you where youve been, but it will take you to the settings main menu. The edgeswipe gesture to go back doesnt work at all sometimes. Overall, OneUI needs a lot of polishing.
Anonymous –
The s21 ultra is an impressive device. Great display which is arguably the very best out there. Its not a 5 star device unfortunately. I really considered returning mine and keeping my s10 for another year but that device is 2 yes old now and needed upgrading. My two main gripes with the device is the average battery life and camera performance. Battery Gets you through the day fine but nothing special. Bog standard in battery performance. Was expecting better given the battery capacity. The main weakness however, is the lowlight camera performance. Although improved with a software update still has serious issues. The focusing in lowlight isnt flagship level especially for a 1200.00 phone. The laser assisted focus just doesnt hold a candle to the dual pixel autofocus of previous Samsung units. The contrast levels are also stupidly high which also affects the quality of the lowlight images. I know its early days and the camera will improve with time but for a phone that costs this much the lowlight performance is a serious let down. Stops me recommending the device to anyone else. Samsung need to take stock and look again at their development cycle and strategy. Theyre releasing very expensive devices with beta software and fundamental flaws. You should be selling loads of devices because your offerings are compelling and not because folks dont have many other alternatives. After 6 years using Sony Xperia devices I switched to Samsung in 2016. Have bought the s7 Edge, s8, s10 and now s21 ultra but I doubt Ill be getting any others if something doesnt change soon.Message to Samsung, when you price a phone this high, make sure its pretty stellar all round before sending it to market. You will not be in a position of no competition forever. Alternatives will arrive and many will switch over if this continues.
JoeSings –
I was using the Galaxy S10 for the last 2 years. I preordered the S21 after watching the CES 2021 and received the phone on June 26.I have used the S21 and Im very impressed by the updates on the S10 which is a good phone itself.I was greatly impressed by smooth as butter transition from my S10 to the S21 by just connecting a wire.All my data, my preferences, even my wallpaper was perfectly mirrored on to the S21. Im not sure if its the same for other devices but I was very happy seeing that I didnt have to change a single thing on the S21 to make it my own.I also noticed the software is improved, its more responsive, has more features.The camera app has done wonders, each selfie or a picture I have taken look alot better and I think its a combination of both the camera hardware, the software and the screen.The screen is brighter and more responsive. I have had the phone out in AZ blaring Sun and have no problem looking at the screen. I had some issues when the content on playing on the screen was dark but its an improvement over my S10.I also, really appreciated the fact that this phone doesnt have the Bixby button. I thank you Samsung for that. Only God knows how many times I have triggered Bixby unknowingly.I am taking some time to get used to volume rocker being on the right side S10 has it on the left but its not gonna take long, Im sure.Overall, its been a good buy. Although I wish the battery had been a tad bit bigger, at least 4500 MAh. Thats the reason I gave perfomance a 4 star review.
Zioina –
Samsung is going backwards, their flagship is missing more and more each year. They just feel the need to follow Apple and dont care about their customers or android in general. Sure the cameras are better and the specs are newer, but in chasing Apple and price points they are getting worse.Things that are gone nowNo chargerNo headphonesNo headphone jackNo IRNo wallet or digital card supportNo SD expansion slotNo more Note seriesNew old old problemsBattery life worse and charging still slowHeat worse, phone overheatsCPU throttles badly under gaming or video loadsScreen refresh rate liesSoftware just keep getting worsePay to play cloud systemSamsung software full of adsPhone features behind paywalls and dlcoffer 8k video and no space to save itTo those defending the removal of the sd card slot, you most likely never used it or had a need for it. But for those who do use it, really need it, and the cloud and network based solutions are not an option. Why 1. They cost money 2. They are slow 3. Data is not free or unlimited 4. Does not work without data access 5. Is not secure or private 6. Your data is At the mercy of cloud providers.Im a power user, I store video, huge music local library, photos, and documents on my phone. I use it for work, gym, play, and creative endeavors. I dont have access to the cloud everywhere I go, and SD card storage is a must for me. I miss IR, I miss the headphone jack, I miss the charger, I miss nearfield for wallet. These are features found on other flagships and not on Samsung.If you are a power user, and you need more features, more space and more options this is not the phone or phone brand for you anymore. If Samsung does not change course I wont be supporting them anymore, and I will not recommend them anymore.Samsung please stop removing features, I want a Samsung phone not another Iphone clone.
Jonathan –
My Samsung journey started with the Note 4. Then we S7 Edge, S9, then Note 9. I was really hesitant to leave the Note 9, because the capacitive finger print scanner on the back was so great, the pen, and the haptic button on the front screen that you could press and get to the home screen. But after a few days with this phone, I dont miss any of it. The indisplay fingerprint scanner is excellent. Make sure you get SEVERAL different angles when you register your prints, and you will have zero problems unlocking your phone. The cameras are fantastic. The software just keeps getting better and better I honestly cant think of how Samsung could make their One UI any better at this point. Its perfect. Regardless of what other people say, S Pen support on the phone is excellent. I swap from my Tab S7 to this phone with the S Pen seamlessly, and I forget that Im not using a Note when I use the pen. The screen is flawless I love that Samsung has decided to go back to a flatter screen, with less aggressive curves. The screen no longer melts down the edges, but still has a gentle curve that keeps that traditional Samsung ergonomics that theyve worked hard to perfect. This phone is lighter than the Note 9, which was weird at first. I like my phone to have a little weight to it but I quickly adapted, and feel that the weight is perfect. The camera bump is not as bad as I expected it to be. I rarely notice it. It does interfere with my old standup style wireless charger. I will need to get one with a lower back to it so my phone will charge properly. I also love the matte back. As a user that prefers an uncased phone, the matte back is NOT a fingerprint magnet. THANK YOU SAMSUNG. THANK YOU. now I dont have to carry a cloth everywhere I go to wipe fingerprints from my phone all day. This is the best of the best.. do not hesitate to purchase this phone. It is worth the price tag.
Tom72 –
I am a Samsung fan for many years and decided to go with the Samsung S21 Ultra at Costco since they had a better deal than the Verizon stores. Like others have mentioned, there is no 3.5mm jack for your earphones. Samsung, please bring this back for us old schoolers. I have an open mind and instead of returning the phone, I decided to get the Bluetooth earphones. After a little education, it works fine. It just takes a little getting used to. I havent used an SD card slot, but I understand how important this is to other customers. Samsung, please bring back the SD card slot.When I got my phone, I connected my phone to my home Internet and immediately updated to the latest software. After transferring everything over from my old phone to the new phone using the Smart Switch app, I then activated my phone by signing into the Verizon Wireless website and activated it myself. My next step was to sign into all the apps that requires a signin. I havent had any problem connecting to my car and was able to use everything as before.I took some pictures and videos and they look good. Tip for video recording Move the camera slowly so when you watch it later, it wont be a blur Glad I dont have to buy new chargers as our old Samsung 8 cables worked. Also works on our same wireless chargers. I downloaded the 182page manual for this phone from the Samsung website and will read a little each day. One good thing that helped me right away was going to Settings, Tips and help to learn more about what I could do with this phone. Overall, I recommend this phone. Verizon Wireless did not pay me to write this review. I did this on my own to show that for the last 2 weeks looking for wood to knock on I havent had any issues with this phone. Peace Yall.
Christos Z –
I have had each of the upgrades each year since the S7 Edge and this is rather predictably the best phone so far. Having moved from the S20 Ultra, I find a much more refined implementation in the S21 Ultra. The black is rich and deep, retaining much of the light that his it. The design bold and striking….a real improvement on last year. This is driven by the camera, which this year really owns the space on the phone…it feels like the phone was built around the cameras and the screen… Again an improvement on last year, where the camera felt like it was such on at the least minute. The improvements arent simply cosmetic though, they make a difference in the usability of this device. The screen is, as we have come to expect, very much at the cutting edge. Rich vivid colours, which really pop from the black. Silky smooth in use thanks to the adaptive refresh rate, which can now be used with the phones full resolution switched on. This gives a fantastic user experience when using the phone. We also find an improved fingerprint reader, which means far fewer failed attempts to unlock the screen although there may still be the odd occasion where this still happens. Finally for me, this years addition of Wacom support to the S21 Ultra has been very welcome. I have been using the silicone case and S pen since getting the phone a week ago and couldnt be without it although I think its like Note like integration of the pen, rather than the case. The case itself is ok, although the black isnt as deep as that on the phone itself, and it does add some width to the phone itself. I hope we start to see third party cases which incorporate pen storage. Important to note that third party Wacom pens can be used with the phone. There are already some great options out there, and who knows, perhaps we may get a Parker option one day The cameras here are a very clear and marked improvement. Zoom is far more usable and the images are fantastic. This phone which not disappoint those who are interested in mobile photography. My battery life is about the same as it was on the S20 Ultra, but I am a heavy user, with most of the home media and automation being read from my phone. I have still noticed some heating, but I am using the phone in the silicone case. My phone was preordered through EE, I have claimed my Buds pro, and tag and waiting for them to arrive claiming isnt too difficult, but I do wish that they would arrive with the phone. To sum up, a great phone that delivers in most areas. Model used S21 Ultra 512 GB With 16 GB RAM
xman –
Ive had this phone for about 5 month. It is my first Samsung phone since the Galaxy S6. Ive been a big fan of the Google NexusPixels for years now, but didnt really like the Pixel 5 after trying it out for a week and wanted a change. This S21 5G is fast, has a great battery life, gorgeous 120hz display and can handle anything I throw it. I also appreciate the thought and effort the developers at Samsung have put into the refined version of One U 3.1… keep it upThat said, there is one MAJOR ISSUE with this phone that I have not experienced with any of my previous phones including the Galaxy S6. The issue is with the screen… it develops unsightly micro scratches EXTREMELEY easily. I am super careful with the screens on my phones and never put phones in my pockets with keys or other objects. I have a good case on my phone Spigen Rugged Armour that has a decent lip, so when I place the phone down it sits on the lip and not the screen. I use a high quality lint free microfiber cloth to wipe down the phone down every night and ensure it is always clean. Despite all of these precautions I am seeing more and more micro scratches appear on the glass. I thought at first it may be a screen protector that Samsung installed at the factory, but after further review I found out that Samsung was being cheap this year and the S21 5G did not ship with a protector… terrible for a 1200CAD phone… dont even get me started on the lack of a charger in the box In any case these micro scratches are on the glass, and very annoying to see when tilting the phone in certain light conditions.Samsung is claims that this Corning Gorilla Glass Victus is the toughest Gorilla Glass yet, with significantly improved scratch and drop performance. After reading a few reviews I actually believe there is a flaw in Samsungs manufacturing process here it wouldnt be the first time. Based on the reviews I feel some customers including myself received a flawed version of the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. Call it what you want but based on the level of care that Ive taken this is what I feel.
Anonymous –
Straight out of the box this phone strikes you with its awesome design. The camera bump merges into the body of the phone which for me gives it that luxury flagship phone feeling. Talking about cameras it does live up to the hype. Thing that impressed me the most was how good the night mode is It can see things that even my eyes cant. Coming from the Galaxy Note 10, the first thing you notice is the display, the 120hz is truly amazing it gives it that next generation feeling.But as anything in the world, the S21 Ultra does come with its flaws. Although having a very nice design, coming from the Note, I instantly noticed how thicker and heavier the S21 Ultra is. Its still comfortable to use but its something you need to get used to. Another thing that bothered me a little is the fact that the phone can get a little hot by doing simple tasks as watching a 1080p YouTube video or playing games. Talking about games, noticed that when playing Wild Rift if you accidently pull the notification bar down, when you send it back up the bar will stay there, covering essential parts of the game. But this is something that can eventually be fixed with a software update.Overall this is a great phone, with amazing features and good performance. Its not perfect but one of the best phones you could by right now.
hisp517 –
Seven months, two phones, both broken.My first S21 Ultra bricked after about 4 months. Black screen without warning and nothing would recover it. Got a warranty replacement.Have had the second one for two months and it spontaneously developed two screen cracks. Now, I know everyone with a cracked phone says, I didnt do anything… but I REALLY didnt do ANYTHING. Just opened it up and found the cracks. NEVER dropped. Not even set down hard or jostled. Phone is always in a Samsung case. You could examine the phone with a microscope and you wont find any other damage other than these inexplicable cracks. The only speculation I can offer is that the weather was warm, and so I wonder if thermal expansion causes the crack. But there is a fundamental defect if a screen can crack without any impact and completely unacceptable for a phone at this pricepoint.Having had multiple other phones that have survived years and which are now being used and abused by my kids, all without a crack or problem, I know a phone screen should not spontaneously crack.All that said, the camera is pretty awesome. Too bad I have to view the phones through two cracks in the screen.
Flossome –
I made the first jump to the Galaxy with the S10e, and was happy with it, but I needed something that would allow me to express myself a little more, and would assist in other activities in the future.So I made the even bigger leap straight to the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G.Granted, for now, I cant take advantage of the 5G capabilities, since I dont live near a compatible city for it, but I was able to trade in my old Galaxy which had a cracked screen and was able to get it at a discounted price, which was radThe cameras on this thing were the big selling point, but I have yet to find a personal situation where I can take advantage of its full capabilities.However, the S Pen and future S Pen Pro work wonderfully with the phone, and Ive attempting to jot down notes, either at work or whenever I possibly can.The only things I have to knock it for, is getting rid of the 3.5mm audio jack, and reading up that the battery is not userservicable. I wouldve appreciated the idea of having a Samsung phone in 2021 where the battery could still be fixed or replaced by the user especially not forgetting stories of the Note 7.And overall, the value of this phone is about onpar with flagship phones in its price range. My hope is that feature phones are able to come down in price over time.Overall, the phone feels very nice to use, and is filled to the brim with features. However, if userservicability is an issue for you, and youre on a budget, maybe the S21 line itself isnt for you. Stick with the S10 line, or even get a previous gen Note phone. They might hold a little more value in the long run.
Sabzi –
Im super super impressed with this phone. I upgraded from the s10 to the s21 ultra and Im amazed at the difference of the device. The fluidity on screen due to the adaptive display along with the wqhd resolution really makes this screen great to look at. Theyve updated the finger print scanner which is alot more easier to use coming from the s10 model, still getting used to the height of it but Im not noticing any delay and the unlock is instant. The way the volume rocker on screen appears is much more cleaner and I love the notification bar when you scroll from the top and how its somewhat translucent and separates the notifications nicely. The cute animoji update so I can have my dancing self as my lock screen is super fun. And the camera is absolutely brilliant I csnt even explain how amazing it is, I took a picture of my hand and all the creases and lines were so visible, I cant even see those clearly with my naked eye. So all in all, I absolutely love this device. Thank you samsung, truly makes my life abit better when a tech freak like me has a device that actually is worth the hype.
CellPerspectives –
The goodI appreciated that the S21 Ultra was about the same width and only a bit taller than the S8.Wow the camera zoom is incredible even if it is a bit pixelated at full zoom.I love having the special lenses to improve pictures for various distances.I love the document detectionscanner feature in the photo software that will detect, square, and adjust photographed images for use.I still appreciate the voice activated photo feature.Ive enjoyed having the added functionality of the Spen.The improved brightness, resolution, and full screen usage capability makes daily use enjoyable. Audio and speaker volume are noticeably better, too.Wish it were betterAlthough I got the 512GB storage option, after just over 3 months of usage the memory is already 30 used between apps, system, photos and videos. Im really missing the removable microSD card feature.Although the camera is amazing, Im finding I will need a better camera for my travel photography needs.Good luck finding much selection on cases that includes securing the Spen especially if youd like a combination with any other capability or would like one thats slightly fashionable.The S21 Ultra is noticeably heavier from the S8 and due to the lenses and other internal components noticeably off from a centerofbalance perspective when you hold it.Overall Im happy with the upgrade and hope this phone will be usable for the next 4 or more years. I started using Samsung phones with S3 and havent seen a reason to change since.
Rob R –
The S20 Ultra was my first Samsung phone after many years of buying LG. I loved the S20, but a couple of issues were really annoying. The worst was the fingerprint sensor, and less bothersome were a couple of camera quirks. To my delight, the S21 Ultra solves both and provides several other upgrades.The S21 Ultra fingerprint sensor by Qualcomm is larger, faster and more sensitive than its predecessor by Samsung. Finally I can unlock the phone without all those retries and failures. The S21 camera laser assisted focus really rocks and solves some annoying bad focus effects especially closeups on the S20.The additional nice features of this phone are the much speedier Snapdragon 888, which has an embedded 5G modem and should therefore run more efficiently on its 5nmbased chip. Tests Ive read have this processor neckandneck with the best Bionic from Apple. The smooth contours of the phone are better thoughtout, and I simply just LOVE the camera options as Im a major camera geek and think the photos from these optics really do rival my DSLR. Sad too, since I have a lot invested in those big clunky camera bodies and lenses… Oh well. They will just have to stay home when I travel and collect dust.
Batman –
Upgraded from a galaxy s9. Dont get me wrong. This isnt a bad phone. But it does miss the mark in a few areas where I feel it counts. Ill start with the pros first. The camera coming from the s9 I do see some improvements notably in the software. Features which appear to be exclusive solely to the s21 ultra do to it having 4 cameras. Also has laser focus. The display As always, Samsungs displays never cease to impress me. Though if you want the WQHD, youll need to shell out the extra cash for the s21 ultra. The s21 and the s21 feature only 1080p displays. Overall build the physical built overall is quite nice. The back is plastic but not cheap plastic. Not a finger print magnet like its predecessors. Metal frame and a nearly bezzless display combined to make a quite nice, even sophisticated package, though not a wide range of colors at launch. But for me, as long as I have my black, I dont care. So I subtract no points. Processor Each new phone typically boasts the usual more powerful processor claim. I havent put it through benchmark tests but from real world use, the OS is quite snappy and moving from app to app and menu to menu has no lag at all. Overall a pleasant experience. Battery life The s21 features a much larger battery the the s21 and s21. Two days in so far and it seems to hold up to daily activities rather well texting, some light gaming, facebook, etc… S Pen if you just so happen to have an S Pen from an old Note or Galaxy Tab, it will absoluty and finally work on the Galaxy S line of phones. Though there is no storage on the phone itself for the pen, but you can purchase a case that has an integrated S Pen holder.Okay. Now for the CONS…. Camera Now I know what you must be thinking. But you said the camera was a PRO. Yes I did. However, even with the various software and hardware improvements, the image quality does not seem to be so strikingly amazing compared to my s9. Even when shooting in 108mp mode, the results seem only marginally better. Adding to this, I dont believe the sensor is truly 108mp, rather each mp is divided into 9 parts allowing the sensor to capture more detail and thusly produce an in my experience somewhat sharper image. Furthermore, I do not understand what the point is to put so many cameras into a phone. Sure you have your telephoto, for example, which should enable you to maybe get a nice shot of the moon. However, if lunarphotography or any other kind of long range shooting interests you, even an entry level DSLR will yield far superior results. My opinion leave smart phone to the selfies and MAYBE wide angle. Leave everything else to actual cameras. It will make room for other things like my next point. 3.5mm HeadphoneMic input The modern smartphones have become an especially handy and even accessible solution for vlogging. With the ability to shoot 4k and the s21 ultras 8k, you can yield some very acceptable results and very easily. But good video does not make up for garbage audio. And unless you are using a mic, garbage is what you will get. I dont care what smartphone you are using. The other reason the removal of the 3.5mm jack is problematic will become painfully clear if youre somebody who flies a lot. Once you put youre phone in airplane or flight mode, those Galaxy Buds Pros you just bought will be of no use to you. Now Im sure there is a USBC to 3.5mm adapter available, but my point stands and for this the entire s21 lineup loses 1 star. Expandable storage Samsung have we not been down this road before I know you guys know how much people value the option for expandable storage. Say goodbye to another star. No headphones or charge brick in the box In an age where every single thing comes with a charge brick, I think this was probably a good move. We all have 500 of those kicking around at this point. But the lack of headphones is unacceptable. A decent pair of USBC headphones absolutely should have been in the box. At the very least, a USBC to 3.5mm adapter given that they removed the jack. Fingerprint sensor Theres not much I can say other than that it has so far been nothing short of a frustrating experience. It was MUCH better on the s9 and when it was on the back of the phone as compared to under the display on the front. Maybe the next iteration will return to this design in lieu of featuring 75 different cameras.I hope some of you find this review to be insightfull given that you will potentially be spending upwards of 1,000.00 or more on this phone. Again, I dont totally hate the phone but it feels as though there has been a bit of a departure from past years in terms of Samsung listening to the desires of the consumer. I think this will be something that will hurt them in the bigger picture.
medic05 –
In my opinion this is not a flagship.I usually go back and forth between iOS and Android. When I do, I try a different brand Android each time. So far Ive tried 4 different brands and 5 android phones, this is my second Samsung Galaxy S series. This is one of the worst performing phones Ive owned on the android side of things. The worst was my other Galaxy S phone. Im stuck with this for 2 years The face unlock takes a long time to read your face with very little chance it will recognize you. I think within the 6 weeks of ownership I have reprogrammed the face recognition about 4 times. The fingerprint scanner does not work with a glass screen protector, and the screen protector provided by Samsung scratches so easily you almost need to get a foam sheath to put it in.The battery will give you a day, but thats it. You are not squeezing another day out of it. The positives about the camera are the ability to put a hand up to take a picture. The ability to quickly remove some objects out of the background and not be noticed. The one take feature is nice as well. However, The selfie camera is not as good as my older phones, as it is only 10MP, and the ever so boasted 64MP rear camera on the back is useless unless you have great lighting. So you are actually stuck with a marginal 15mp camera that over exposes most things. The camera also freezes too much. So if you are trying to get a picture of something quick, you probably wont. Out of the box there is so much setup for the cameras it crazy.Certainly there is so much setup for this phone out the box I wouldnt even consider it smart. Maybe it is too smart for me Not a brand or line of phone Ill be buying again. In order to get what they say is the best of the S21 series with the best camera and features you have to get the ultra. Just as well to get a tablet I feel. Certainly I have a 7 tablet and I wouldnt carry that around on the daily. Not everyone wants a huge phone to get the features, and we shouldnt have to. Maybe an S21 and an S21 premium in the various screen sized would be the ultimate selection for people.Notifications are abysmal. Samsung kills apps with its software to force better battery life. Lots of information to back up that statement with a little google search.Because of the app killing, notifications are suppressed until you unlock the phone again. Ive done all of the suggestions Ive found on youtube and other forums to make sure the critical apps do not go to sleep, but no luck. Im not getting any notification from my security cameras multiple brands until my phone is unlocked. In the event of a break in, I certainly wouldnt be able to catch anyone on the property. Not that it would matter in Canada Anyway.The side buttons either control the ringer or the media. You have to open the volume menu to adjust the notification volume. I could say this is good and bad. Its good that I can keep my ringer on but notifications and text messages off. Its bad that I have to open all the volume sliders to do it. Maybe we could have more option of what the side buttons control.With all of that said it does work as an everyday smartphone if you dont have high expectations. If you are a techy person, like myself you probably wont like this phone. You may like the ultra, but shouldnt have to buy something so big if you dont want to.The design is really nice. It is thin, and the perfect size for me. It fits well in my pocket and the screen vs bezel is perfect. Its light, but its also plastic. Which I like. Everyone hated it when Samsung went glass. Then they got mad when they switched back. Well, pick what you like. Plastic is cheaper to fix. Thats a bonus and I like it.It did not come with a charging block because of the manufacturers trying to save on wastage. For some reason the phone manufacturers think people are buying these expensive phones every single year and only provided people with a new style block for one year. So unless you buy a phone every year you probably didnt end up getting one and the cable they provide us useless from the get go. Thank god for third party products.The sound is also not very good on this device. Not as good as I would have hoped or wished for. Unfortunately I didnt outright buy this phone and am stuck with it for 2 years. Fortunately what I did pay for it makes the next two years with it more palatable. Sorry Samsung, I consider this phone a fail. I really was excited for it and wanted to love it. I just cant.
Kd35 –
I really like this phone, its fast, smooth and an excellent camera. Very responsive to my touch. My dislike is how responsive it is to my touch, lol the screen is soo large that its hard to hold the phone and nagivate without touching another part of the screen you dont intend to. I have accidentally closed things several times because there is no free space to touch the screen while you search for what youre looking for. Secondly the fingerprint built on the screen is mostly accurate but you have to hold the phone very flat and place your finger exactly the way you scanned your finger the first time. I upgraded from a note 9 and I liked my fingerprint scanner on the back of the phone where I would naturally hold it. This phone is very heavy especially in a case and I notice my thumb and hand tires after texting because of the support I have to give while holding this phone. My overall impression is if only it werent soo heavy I could comfortably enjoy it, but my wrist and fingers get tired from taking the weight of this phone while texting or surfing the web. Looking apart from that, its an excellent phone Even better for a person with bigger hands. Like my husband has very large hands he likes the weight and size of it. I just hope my carpel tunnel doesnt come back. Honestly the way i hold this phone naturally to type, im thinking the z fold 2 would be better suited for me, albeit i would be giving up the powerful processor or camera for comfort. Welp i guess it comes down to how much the weight and size bothers me. I think my case exacerbates it because its like a storybook case so when i have the opened piece all the way to the back it feels bulky and unsteady, so that could be the problem as well. I think i will exchange this case for one that covers the back of the phone and start there. But i really like this phone upgrade.
MikeBM –
Bought a new S21 on the deal with free galaxy buds.Phone meets my expectations, a few little quirks that I had to get familiar with but overall a good experience. At the same time I bought the Samsung LED View Cover. Its a good cover for protecting the phone, great idea to put a card slot on the inside, it now leaves me somewhere safe to carry my card without carrying my wallet. However, the LED function is just a gimmick and rediculously expensive for what you get. LED display only shows for a very short period of time and is pretty pointless. You can create a LED image for your contacts or create your own. The create your own facility is piintless, its basic and just about impossible to write draw anything clearly. Theres a nice LED clock which shows when you close the cover but this goes off aftet a few seconds. If you want to see the time you have to open the case to activate it so you may aswell look at the screen, Id suggest you buy a far cheaper alternative.Camera is pretty good but theres not a simple Macro operation specific for close ups, you use an associated setting that dosent work well at all. Regarding tbe battery although a greater capacity than my S8, I havent noticed much of a distance.Overall a great phone and camera, buds are great but stay away from the gimick cases
Starhunter –
I bought this on the early promotion back in March, wondering if it was worth moving up from the S20 5g. SHORT answer, an emphatic YES The thumb print recognition is vastly superior, I only have the very occasional failure to recognize the first try vs the older phone that seemed to be a constant battle. Pictures and videos are way better, and it handles multiple apps simultaneously with no problems. Only two things I dont like….1 no headphone port and 2 no memory card slot. With the headphones, I also bought the Galaxy pro buds thinking theyd be great. Not so much…. they randomly drop bluetooth connection when on calls or when listening to music, forcing me to take them out, put them in the case, close the case then take them out and put them back in my ears. Fairly useless if you ask me and not worth 200. The memory card thing is personal preference and Im only half full on the internal memory so probably not going to be a big deal. Five star on value because of early deal with trade in brought cost down to 600, otherwise this would be maybe a 3 star for value.Overall, love the phone and would highly recommend
Ebzz –
Its nice quality and size. Picture clarity is also very good. Wish the fingerprint sensor had remained on the back of the phone though. Downside is that the charger and earphones have been removed. Samsung have said its to reduce plastic but it seems to me as just another avenue to make extra money. Of Im paying over 1000 for a phone I expect to have a charger in the pack. The logic of people using their old chargers is stupid because not everyone is upgrading from the same brand. I last used my S9 2yrs agonajd no longer had the charger. There will be a lot of people similar to me orbthose that are using Samsung for the first time and dont have a charger from their precious phone to use. So I pay 1000 nearly 2000 if on contract for a phone without a plug adapter or earphones. Including the cable only is also useless because beyond the S20, all other Samsung phone charging cables are not USB C on both ends so those costumers will still need to buy a new adapter plug that will fit the USB C cabke mouth or whole charger set on their own if they compare prices. It is also common sense that earphones do not last like some chargers do some chargers also last only for a few months. Expecting someone to still have their old earphones from their purchase or contract 2yrs ago is nothing short of stupidity to be honest. Also how can you expect people to use their old earphones if the end of the earphones has now been changed to the USB C mouth Again not everyone is getting the S21 after already preciously having the S20 and even if they do, 80 chance the earphones dont work anymore. If Samsung really want to save plastic they should include options to add or remove a charger and earphones to their basket when purchasing and that too FREE OF CHARGE. Making your costumers spend 50 extra on basic accessories in the guise of saving plastic is good costumer service at all.
Kingslayer –
I bought this phone a little while ago qnd immediately fell in love. Its fast, has a beautiful display, the 120 hz mode is magic to my eyes. My girlfriend is a professional photographer even she is amazed and the camera quality My only 4 issues I have with this product is how consuming the 120 hz and the vivid option for the display has on the battery, along with the pretty noticeable camera bump. The camera bump isnt a huge issue if you get a good quality case.I got the black silicone case with the spen One of the other things Im not a huge fan of is having the spen in the case itself. I switched from the galaxy 10 having the spen slide into the phone to charge was one of my favorite features Regardless of where the spen is stored, it works amazing with this phone I enjoy using it to take notes, draw on pictures, doodle when I get bored. My last issue with this phone would be the default sms app seems to lag when sending receiving texts. Normally this wouldnt be a huge deal as I switched to Google messages, but I use my galaxy watch 3 often to send texts when I cannot use my phone there is no Google messages app I can download on this watch. Other than those 3 cons I believe this is an amazing phone I cant wait to see how elsewhat else samsung will do to push the mobile market forward to its limit Overall I would give this phone a solid 4.55
UltraPudding –
Ive been a Samsung Galaxy user ever since the s5. Im quite a picky person and usually if I spend 1000 on a phone Id like it not only to perform amazing, but to have that ultra premium look as well. I thought up until s20 my personal opinion that Samsung phones just didnt look and feel that premium, considering the price. Ive just got the s21 ultra and it completely changed my mind. The phone looks unreal it feels as expensive as it actually is. Its not a light phone, but I guess thats because of the battery and all the cameras, etc. Id recommend youd get yourself a decent case for it and the best part is you dont need a screen protector, because it comes with one already applied on the screen, straight from Samsung I loved that as Im the worst person to apply screen protectors on any display, let alone a slightlycurved onesPerformance wise the phone is, if not, the best then amongst the best which to be honest is the price range of 1100 anyway, but that ultra premium look and feel I mentioned I think only Samsung does have it at the moment. The 120hz display is just something youd fall in love with straight away The only downside is the battery going down kind of too quick, but then again it takes around 5 minutes from 20 to 50, yes you read that right 5 minutes, with the 45w superfast charger You can charge it for less than 56 minutes, if youve got it on airplane mode with wifi turned off. Considering phones used to charge for an hour and 30 minutes, Id say thats incredibleI havent been playing around with the camera that much, but the few pictures I took looked as if a professional photographer has taken them.Overall Id say its definitely not a cheap device, but then again the competitors are capped at the exact same price range. The design is outstanding, as well as the performance, so I would recommend this phone to anyoneThank you Samsung, for finally making the absolute perfect phone in my opinion
DPerk –
95 of the phone is awesome. Fast, responsive screen, great size, awesome battery life, and the people whining about the headphone jack or microSD clearly do NOT have this phone, or bought it, stupidly, without researching it at all first or are just whining.My only real complaints are that I am always getting a that last shot might be blurry when using the camera. Maybe it is because my toddler is fast, haha, but generally I find myself doublechecking that I wiped the lens clean and trying several more times to get the shot correct. Never really had that problem on my Pixel XL, and not much on my Note 10 before this.The other complaint is that this purchased directly from Samsung, unlocked, along with my Note 10 purchased at Best Buy, locked to Verizon, will drop the audio from my mic when Im talking for any extended period of time. My mom, my brother, a coworker… sometimes it is after 1015 minutes, other times it is after only 4 or 5 minutes… SUPER annoying, and I cannot find a fix, and Samsung has not been able to help me at all about it. Never had any issues with my Pixel XL that I had for like, 3 years, prior to getting the Note 10, trading that in for this mostly BECAUSE of the audio failures… Really frustrating. I dont see a TON of complaints about this from other users, either, but it is recurring with me, and only on Samsung devices, but I cannot figure out what the common denominator is, aside from it being a Samsung. Happens on wifi and cellular data, always the same carrier, no similarities with the people that it happens with… I think theyre all Verizon, but it doesnt happen when Im talking to businesses that, I believe, are on land lines… Super strange.
RenegadeCoder –
Ive been exclusively purchasing Samsung Android phones for nearly as long as youve been selling them, but over the last couple years youve not only been systematically removing the features which distinguished your products from their competitors, but even going so far as to copy the negative elements which drove your customers away from those competitors in the first place.As an audiophile and a publictransit commuter, there is absolutely ZERO chance that I will ever want or use wireless earbuds I see somebody nearly lose one on the train weekly, but you bafflingly decided to copy Apples universally hated removal of the 3.5mm jack. So not only am I unable to charge my phone while listening wireless charging doesnt work through waterresistant phone cases, but Im expected to walk around with an adaptor sticking out of the charging port in my pocket, as if that wont break when I sit down Its a blatantly anticonsumer design which encourages damage to the charging portThen youve made this S21 Ultra model centered around its overpowered camera, but removed support for expandable storage, so whats the point of taking photos at 40108 MP and 8K videos that I wont be able to store Cloud storage for that kind of volume is not cheap, or even particularly available for most people.Have you ever heard even one consumer react positively to these changesI love my S10, but it needs to be replaced and unfortunately, everything youve released since have been steps backward. For the first time in over a decade, my next phone will NOT be a Samsung.
Rrhyon –
Ive been using this phone for three months now, and overall my experience has been almost unanimously positive. Nothing is perfect, rightOverall, my devices performance has been stellar The Speed…amazing, Im able to multitask and swap between apps with near to zero delay Full disclosure sometimes it goes too fast, it must be my old age The screen quality…amazing, its Samsung, what more do you need The battery life…extremely amazing I sometimes will game heavily for 34 hours continuously, and only use maybe half of the juice The Camera…great, the photos and videos taken are generally exceptional but at the same time I rarely feel like they are perfect, but I might just be a terrible photographer, so keep that in mind. Speaking of the camera, this phone is TOP heavy. So make sure you have a good grip towards the bottom of the phone, otherwise it may take a tumble The SPen to me works just as good here as it did on the note series, minus a few features, and the inscreen fingerprint sensor still works great, even with a screen protector.My only complaint would be the lack of expandable storage potential. I can make 128Gb works, but Id rather store my clutter on an SD card rather than internal storage.
Christ0 –
I came from an S9 to the S21 Ultra. It makes more sense than the s21. Simply the best phone on the market. Everything about it screams quality. However, Samsung left this range open to criticism. They should have stuck with the 45watt fast charging though I understand the reason for not going for the insane speeds others are doing and given the customer the option to have the charger or not. The SD memory should have stayed, a basic requirement for a device this expensive. However I mainly miss the iris scanner in these mask wearing days tho unlocking with my Galaxy Watch Active 2 is pretty slick. I have not had much need for an sPen but I still love that the Galaxy S now has that capability. I got one with my S6 Tab Lite and its nice to have that seemless integration. On a side note, the kickstand on the tough Samsung case is made of play dough. Seriously, it cant support the weight of the phone. Its terrible. I have However swapped it for the stand from the S9 case which is much more durable. Also with this case on, its near impossible to align the GwA2 watch for reverse charging. I am also slightly underwhelmed by the camera. Im not sure what I expected to be honest, but pictures always feel over sharpened. This reads like a list of hate, but actually this is one of the best computers I have ever bought. DeX on board is the reason why I upgraded my phone and not my laptop. Octacore processor and 12gb RAM Thatll do nicely. If Windows 10 or a full Linux distro ever ran natively in DeX, I dont think Id buy another Computer again. Mind you, that would also make owning a tablet worthwhile too.
Flipper –
I was a very happy Google Pixel4 owner. I mistakenly thought that smartwatches were ready for primetime so I bought a LTE Galaxy Watch 3. I spent a week, many calls to Samsung and my carrier, and countless hours attempting to get the watch to work with the Google phone but it just wouldnt work. If I were smarter, I would have returned the watch and been done with it. Instead, I upgraded my phone to a new Samsung Galaxy S21. The watch connected properly but, unfortunately, the Watch stinks. The two things I needed it for, podcast listening and exerciser monitoring, barely work together. The software is so clunky, unreliable, and difficult to use. Im an IT consultant so Im not a technoidiot. How Samsung doesnt have an easy, reliable podcast player is beyond me. Ive been forced to invent crazy, inconvenient workarounds to get it to work at all. In fact, I usually bring my phone with me which makes the stupid watch completely redundant. The phone might be fine but in my particular situation it was a total waste of time and money that Ill be paying for for the next two years.
Madamplayer –
I have always loved and been loyal to the Samsung galaxy brand. This phone however I feel is moving too far in the direction of its biggest competition which is a huge mistake to make. The reasons that people choose Samsung galaxy over its obvious competitor is because of the system operating software, the ability to expand memory with micro sd, and the camera. Well, apparently not only was a decision made to remove the audio jack but also the ability to expand memory was removed as well. Not wise The lack of expandability makes the other important purpose of the galaxy more of a chore than a feature. The camera is amazing but now you have to hassle through uploading and downloading to and from the cloud in order to take photos and videos in the way most of us do. I am NOT happy about this. So now the only obvious difference between the galaxy and its competition is the operating system and frankly, what difference does that really make with other advantages removed. I am not happy at all with this purchase and I regret making it. If this is the direction Samsung is taking, this will have been my final purchase from the company.
Fredintheshed –
Coming from the Note9 the S21 ultra 5g has a lot to beat but hey we are some 4 years on so the S21 ultras going to be a monster yes sadly NO… Im now 3 days into getting my Ultra and I want to throw it in the bin. I keep asking why have you done this Samsung Firstly I found it lagging on touch response and had to go in and increase sensitivity and switch off a whole load of stuff just to get it respond quick enough to my touch input. Now they have removed the home button wake up feature in favour of a Double Tap on the screen. its just hard work the home button was simple and quick, now I spend ages pecking at the screen hoping it will wake at some point Having to double up on things instead of keeping it simple seems to be a theme. if you run dual sim you can only call back on the sim you were called on, when the note gave you the option in the record which sim to use. When writing a text you have to select the sim ahead of sending the message in the Note9 you had send 1 or 2. Its just not as slick or intuitive as I was hoping for. It has some good features you can assign a default sim to a person so family by default can be on my own sim and clients on my work one. all in all at its price point Im left regretting the purchase for now. Samsung, why take away simplicity the silly part is that it may have a great camera that ive not even used yet but unless the rest is slick and simple its a paperweight to me
Brooke83 –
So Im no techy I use my phone for basic purposes, so this means exactly how wonderful this device is, is probably lost on me. However I probably represent a large demographic of your phone users and im so disappointed that Samsung have followed suit with iPhone in removing chargers I appreciate a lot of people may reuse accessories but should this not be an option What if your charger is damaged, wore out etc no option other than to buy one to be able to use the device Apologies but this looks like money making not eco friendly decision making. What if its your first Samsung Your accessories is now unsafe… are you not pushing consumers to use cheaper products that may impress performance. If this was an eco choice the charger should be an option OR you should be able to trade old chargers in. I wouldnt buy any other electrical device and expect to purchase a key component of use separately. And to be told when I raised this that I should of done my research…again Im not a techy, BUT I actually did research this time. Even spoke to a Samsung adviser and at no point was this mentioned. Well done for aligning yourself with iPhone and money grabbing at any opportunity
SportsDuck –
Got lucky and was able to find this as an open box and on sale. Had the phone for a couple of weeks and heres my initial thoughts and Im only going to focus on a few thingsCAMERAOne of the main driving factors in getting this phone was the dual optical lenses and coming off the last few LG V series phones Im not afraid to use the ManualPro modes. It is challenging but I was able to get some social media worthy shots using the 100x zoom as you can see in the pictures attached where I progressively went from 1x to 100x 1x, 3x, 10x, 30x, 100x. All of the pictures were used holding the phone in my hand no sticks or tripods or anything like that. Im not crazy about the layout in the Pro mode but it will take some getting used to. Played around with the slomo video with a roller coaster and it was excellent.My biggest gripe with the camera is for whatever reason flames from tiki torches had a strong bluepurplish hue as you can see in the picture.SCREENThe screen is absolutely gorgeous. Great for watching videos. I never understood the hype about 120hz refresh rates until now, but it is still not enough to be a must have for me. I am not a fan of hole punch cameras but there are some great wallpapers out there that hide it.That being said I cannot get the underscreen fingerprint reader to work for me. Maybe Im used to the nuances of the LG V60 or maybe the Zagg screen I have is throwing it off.BATTERYSo far so good. Get through the day with no real problems. Only once was I low where I had to top off but that was a very intense day at an amusement park but even then I think I could have gotten through the day without topping off.SPEEDOverall the phone is fast for my needs. The 512GB storage is great for longer videos and quickly storing them. I dont go by artificial bench scores but I have seen real world tests that push the processor where the 865 was faster. But again, for the typical user the speed is very fast.OVERALLFor what I paid for the phone and with some incentives I got on top of it yes, it is a great purchase for the money. It takes great pictures overall and the lenses are extremely flexible. The battery is great for the typical user. If you are looking for a phone for point, shoot, post, there are better options out there if Im just looking at an MSRP comparison. If you are not afraid to use the phones pro modes or other features then yes this phone is a good option. I do wish there was a headphone jack I know, its dead with the major players but I still prefer it to listening to audio and its nice to have the capability to use better peripherals such as external mics.LONG STORY SHORTThe phone is great but not worth the MSRP price. If you can get it during a promotion eg, sale, open box, extra for your trade, other forms of store credit, etc. then go for it. If you are a pointshootpost photographer, you may be better off going elsewhere unless you are really looking to take advantage of the dual optical lenses
Aashil30 –
Phone is extremely overpriced, it should be worth around 700 at most. There are also literal ads within some apps imagine paying for a phone especially over 1000, thinking you own it, and still having ads playing inside the phone this is alone enough for me not to want to use this phone.Some things people dont talk about1. Cameras are good but the UI in the camera software is not that great except for Pro mode, which is pretty nice.2. The software experience overall isnt very intuitive. There are some settings which are buried deep within the Settings app. Its also not very friendly with Google Photos for example, every time you want to delete a photo using Google Photos, it will ask you via prompt if youre really sure you want to give Google Photos access.3. Google Maps access this is one of the most infuriating potential harmful issues. Typically youd imagine that any navigation apps Google Maps, Waze, etc. would need access to the phones GPS all the time by default. This is not the case in this phone for some reason. When you open up Google Maps, it will ask you via a prompt if you want to give Maps access to the GPS either only this one time, only when the app is open, or not at all. The option to give Maps access to GPS all the time isnt available unless you dig deep into the settings grant the Maps app permission separately this is such a stupid design especially if you expect Maps or other navigation apps to just work normally as they should. Granting the app access to GPS only when the app is open doesnt work if the app isnt in the foreground for example, if you get a call while youre driving and Maps gets minimized and the Phone app opens, then GPS route navigation will be lost imagine dealing with that while youre driving trying to navigate.4. Ads this is another infuriating issue. Why are there ads in a phone that I paid full price for, and on top of that one that is unlocked fully There is no option to turn off ads in the settings and Samsung has very predatory setup process when you first setup your phone it will automatically optin for sending them personal data and showing ads. There is a very jank way to disable ads and its not supported natively within the Settings of the phone in other words, youre paying over 1000 for a smartphone that will have ads. This is absurd and absolutely unnecessary.If this phone was 700 I would still be annoyed with all those things but slightly less. If this phone was 400, I probably wouldnt complain that much about most of these issues. But at over 1000, this is ridiculous at best and people should find these practices unacceptable.
Bimm –
Have been wanting to upgrade as my s9 was dying and on release of this phone was almost unusable at times. Was eyeing the s20 note but decided to wait on this. Love the pen and the length as it doesnt make my hand cramp like the note pen but hate that it doesnt have a convenient storage space for it unless you bought the pen and case bundle. Camera is great and the touch response is much better than the s9. Size is great. Wasnt sure how i would feel about the size at first but Ive grown to like it much more than the s9s awkward not small enough but not big enough size. Battery is great as I use it all day constantly on call games etc and it lasts. So far so good. Only problem was calls were great and still are but lately Ive had complaints from people I talk with that the mic when on speakerphone has been pretty weak so Im not sure if the mic has gotten weaker in performance since Ive purchased about 3 or 4 months ago or not. Can get hot but seems to cool pretty quickly in comparison to my older Samsung phones Ive had. Need more case options that include spen holders and in white please
TheOneInYellow –
My beloved S10 Ceramic Black was my favourite Galaxy phone of all time, and Ive owned many Samsung phones since the Omnia SGHi900I was saddened to trade that in towards the brand new S21 Ultra 5G 512GB Phantom Silver, but the new phone is LEAGUES superior to my previous one, which was a workhorseI do a lot of amateur photography, mostly based around my watches, and my S10 taught me lots in pro shooting.The S21 Ultra ups this on a big scale, from 12bit RAW pictures for editing later in Photoshop Lightroom and Express, to the extra 16GBs of RAM for more grunt.The gorgeous 2K screen with adaptive 120Hz refresh rate is obscenely beautiful to look at and enjoy, and makes my editing very precise.Extra battery capacity, better camera modules, super slick One UI 3.1, Bixby routines macro level automation with Smart Things, …I can keep listing away the various features I enjoy.Though not yet used my other big draw was finally Spen support for an S series phone.My first stylus phone was the Omnia SGHi900, then years later Note II 3. Ive missed pen support, especially with my style of photography and editing, but now that this is available and with official and third party stylus support I can finally do accurate and precise work on my phone.Im waiting for the Spen Pro release but just happy that this is something available for the S21 Ultra.Theres so much to discuss but my time thus far with my new phone, and the joy of working on it, especially on photography, has made me extremely happy.Wonderful hightech product and a worthy title for Ultra
BuDWiZe –
Had a bumpy first 2 weeks shooting video with phone overheating. after a cpl of weeks ph turned off unused apps and it doesnt really seem to heat up anymore. I am a photographer and the cameras on these phones can get some great results. Obviously no where near my dslr but i also dont want to drag that with me everywhere i go. Videos are very good quality. There does seem to be some focusing issues at times though that i have enountered. Not sure if there are any settings i need to change for this but its been a bit of a nuisance at times. with 4k8k video They should have kept the micro SD card as you can fill even 256 gig up pretty quickly. I burned through storage so fast at a boxing eventphone itself is great much better design than my old s9. Software is snappy much prefer the screen vs the s9 iteration. No idea about the speed vs snapdragon here in australia.Battery is lasting a long time for me. I dont use 5g so i set it to 4g and below.Ive taken supurb photos under fluorescent lighting which is very low light situation. its especially good to select the 108mp mode and then resize it yourself in ps and you nice sharp and clear photos. If i could upload a cpl of samples here i would have.
Adi bar –
I was actually pretty disappointed with the new phone.Last version I had is galaxy s8, which I was very happy with it until the battery got very weak to a point that it doesnt last more than 4 hours after 2 yearsDidnt have enough use yet to see how the battery in the new phone, I hope it is much much better.Advantage Nice, big screen but still almost the same small size as the versions before I love the design and colors like the extra options on the quick access Probably do not relate to the phone but transfer all the data was super quick and easyThe reasons I was disappointed are the follow Feels too much like imitating iPhone I dont appreciate the fact that you cannot add external SD card or another SIM card as that was great option I was also not aware of this before buying, else I would not get it, also the fact that the phone does not come with regular earphones anymore and there is no specific place to connect the earphones. now I need to get new earphones and a adapter so I can talk on the phone and of course charge at the same time One of the things that this phone was all about is the camera. I honestly dont see the photos looks better the overall pic look nice, but if getting a little bit closer the quality does not look so good I expected a lot more in the standards of today The fingerprint sensor many times does not read the print well, with the galaxy 8 it happen mostly when moisturewetness was involved. now it happens all the time. Received cable type C on both sides without adapter to the wall This is ridiculous that you dont get it with the phone and insulting for me as a customer with the price of the phone. now I need to get a new cable or special adapter
Ce2002 –
Had this phone for coming up to two weeks now and its really impressing in every way I use it for. I definitely feel I have made the purchase worth it. Here are some of the reasons why The camera Excellent quality videos and pictures, stunning night mode also. Its very versatile and never fails to impress me I have found the ultrawide incredibly useful when taking photos and videos, and the quality across the whole picture is consistent in this mode. Battery life Even with a lot of use, the battery has easily lasted me the whole day, and this is without having to use powersaving mode or having to turn off other powerhungry features. Display The large screen has a great display despite only being a 1080p display, I dont notice a difference from my previous S9s QHD display which is very good for watching video services such as Youtube on, and the 120hz refresh rate is silky smooth when scrolling or changing between apps. These are the main reasons for me, but this phone is an impressive allrounder for me. I would definitely reccommend it to anyone wishing to upgrade.
Lost Customer –
Cant tell you how i disappointed I have been with Samsung for removing these two features. These features were the selling point for me and based on what I have read here, for many other customers. However some genius in samsungs product design decided that they wanted to eliminate these and drive away your customers by trying to be more like Apple. Well congrats, you have succeeded. If anyone any samsung is listening, let me explain a two points 1. We loved the micro sd feature because it allowed us to protect our data and give us freedom to bring what we want. Mirco Sd card is the probably the only feature that has allowed me to minimize loss of data every time I switch my android phone. Due to the competing cloud platforms and settings preset by the carrier, the phone manufacturer and google, I always end up losing one thing or the other during phone transition. Mircro SD allowed me to do away with worrying about these. Now that this feature is gone I am left with no choice other than to either go another manufacturer or stick with my old device or might as well switch to Apple for that matter.We liked your product precisely because its not like Apple, so dont try to be like it.
Senia –
I would say the pros outweigh the cons it just depends on what you prioritize first when it comes to picking out a phone.I appreciate that they lowered the price and its not crazy expensive like the Galaxy S20 Ultra because the S21 didnt include a charging block, nor Bluetooth earbuds. I already have all that stuff, so it was nice to be able to only pay for the phone. It allows you to choose from the different earbuds from Samsung, or even earbuds from a different company that is drastically cheaper if you wanted to. If you dont like finding all these things separately, then this could be an inconvenience for you.I gave the style 4 stars because they only had certain colors for certain phones I wanted Phantom Silver, but they only had that for the 128GB, and I wanted the 256GB which only came in Phantom Black. The phone is huge. If you take lots of selfies, you may need to start lifting some weights. You get used to it though I always get the plus versions, so Im used to a big phone, but if you are really switching things up, it might be really heavy to you. I was able to find some camera lens protectors that cover the whole camera which was nice there were also some cases that slide and cover the camera which I thought was cool.The phone does not come with a micro SD slot, but its 2021 and cloud online storage services are being used more, and its not hard to transfer data over to a portable hard drive. I have stacks of micro SD cards that I havent looked at in forever, or I have already transferred that data to my portable hard drive. I use them for my Nintendo Switch now. Also, I would only be able to store certain things on to the SD card anyways. Removing the micro SD slot is kinda like going paperless if you think about it. Its one of those things where its nice to have the option, but its not an issue, unless you use use them for a specific purpose and absolutely need that feature. In addition, the missing aux port isnt great either, but I can live without it I dont really use it anymore anyways. You can get a USBC to aux for fairly cheap if you need it.The reason I like Samsung over Apple is because you are able to customize it in greater detail. Im glad they got rid of the Bixby button and you are able to disable the app so it doesnt bother you although, I do wish we could uninstall it. There are only volume buttons and a power button which you can customize super simple. I use widgets a lot. Changing all these settings and displays can be timeconsuming, but its nice to be able to set up your phone to fit your wants, needs, and personality. I believe Samsung phones cater more towards techsavvy people not that people with iPhones arent techsavvy, just when people make the switch from an iPhone to Android, it can be overwhelming and there is a lot to learn. They do have an easy mode you can switch to if you want it to be simpler though.No issues with overheating. The battery isnt as amazing as I thought it would be its still good and better than my old phone. Your battery life will depend on how much you use your phone and your phone display settings. However, it does charge incredibly fast.The camera definitely needs a review of its own. In a nutshell, they fixed the focusing issues they have had with their previous phones at least for me it seems that way, and it does have a focusing sensor. My pictures come out insanely well and I feel like it has elevated my Instagram. Theres a lot you can do with the cameras, so I believe this would be great for content creators. You can tell the video stabilization is better as well. Although the ability to shoot in 8K isnt necessary, it is a nice feature to have when 8K TVs are the norm making this phone more relevant for the long run.Overall, very happy with this phone and glad I took advantage of the preorder specials. If youre picky, thinking of switching from Apple to Samsung, or this phone is a big financial investment for you, I would maybe go over some YT videos on people doing tests or comparisons to see if they have what youre mostly looking for. Hope this helps.
kely –
Purchased the phone as a gift. Paid full price for an unlocked 256gb phone. The speed and camera were fantastic. Due to the lack of a jack and a removable sd card, I almost opted for the IPhone.The recipient partially uses it for business but really liked the camera and the 5g.Since the phone was so expensive, it was treated with extreme care and with kid gloves.After 6 weeks while deleting some emails, and while having a 64 charge the screen went black. Tried several soft resets but to know avail. Per Samsung, It was taken to the local Samsung repair shop. They said they may be able to replace the phone. Unfortunately it was back ordered by a couple of weeks….Remember, this is also used as a business tool. They said they could order a new screen, but it would still be a few days for them to receive it. I am not happy spending top dollar for a phone that will now have to be disassembled after only 6 weeks in use. It seems after a repair, the phone is never the same as factory assembled. In the meantime, the recipient who spends a lot of time on the road is without a replacement phone. Customer service at Samsung was very good. However, after reading dozens if not hundreds of reviews from several sources, and with similar problems I cant say I recommend this phone. Additionally, I wanted to purchase the 512gb version of this phone. I was really looking forward to getting one. Fortunately it wasis, not yet available. If it had been available, I would be wondering how long until mine failed. One final note. If available, there was the possibility of replacement with a refurbished phone…I dont want a phone that an unknown someone else has owned. I purchased NEW and if there is a replacement, I expect the replacement to be a NEW phone.
Anonymous –
I WANT MY S9 BACKI will start off by saying the cameras are amazing, the 120Hz display is beautiful and the UI is super smooth, FINALLYSince my wife and Is S9s would stop receiving updates the S9 is the last phone that applied for a trade in deal. Decided to get two S21 Ultras. Huge mistake. I have been with Samsung since the S3. Every year the glass is supposed to get better but only seems to get worse. Gorilla Glass Victus is actually softer than previous glasses. After 3 weeks my wife has a chip in her screen and has never gotten a scratch or chip from normal use. The insurance wont cover it either because its too soon. I have never used screen protectors and never had an issue. But I will no longer buy phones with curved displays because it seems like there arent any good protectors. Plus, the ultra sonic fingerprint reader doesnt work well with a screen protector. Also, I tried recording a memorial for the whole family and after 20 minutes of recording video, the phone overheated and stopped recording. I really wish I could return these phones. I really wish ATT sold Pixel devices. Im done with you Samsung.
Camelot –
I gave it 3 stars because there are a few things I dislike or need improving. With the UI 3 you cannot shorten the screen to remove the camera out of the way on app. The front camera isnt flat and is slightly indented. Buggy OS Samsung Keyboards keeps forgetting the key you selected to be to the left of the spacebar. Also, set to UK English, it displays some menu items in American English. Had a spam text, blocked the number but no option to report it. Heavier than the S10 Only 512Gb where I had the S10 1TB before. The phone is wide and with the flip case with the pen removed, its uncomfortable to hold. The SPen works great but the lack of software restricts it tremendously. Holding in landscape to do a screenshot has the power volume down opposite another button so easy to catch button on left side at the same time. Phone comes with lots of bloatware which needs uninstalling after setup. Samsung Cloud is being replaced with OneDrive but the integration of backing up your messages, settings etc isnt there so not sure what will be done. The default home screen designs are repulsive but it never comes with a black only theme. The AOD lock screen cimes with a few more dynamic pics and the cats are almost all horid pics not like the usual Internet pics. Ringtones have changed and only a few are ok so add your downloaded, paid for music. Camera is a pain as you may wish to take one pic but it may take one that is like a short video so I hate it when it is like that. In all, as a phone its fine but as a replacement for a S10 is a bad choice.
MissTree –
I upgraded from the galaxy S7 active. So I already knew I was going to be impressed just because I was so many models behind. I was very much looking forward to the camera features. Everything is crisp. Honestly I can see more details and more things clearly through the camera than I can through my glasses lol.The Spen works wonderfullyusing it to write this actually I use it constantly. Highlighting text, doodling notes, coloringwhich is super awesome Its every utensil I ever need all in one..Ive had the phone for a month and am still learning new tricks I can do with it. But even though Im still learning it its not difficult to use out of the box. Like its easy and pleasant straight off then Everything else you discover over time is just like a nifty little bonus. Like a buried treasure that gives you a hint on your map to another buried treasure and so on and so on lol.I went from charging my old phone about every 34 hours of continuous use to I take it off the charger when I get up and Im not charging it again till the evening after all day of using it.Seriously a FANTABULOUS phone. No matter if youre upgrading from a dinosaur like I did or a new model. Everything about this phone lives up to expectation and even more. The S21 Ultra is definitely what your pocket needs lol.
Eneret –
I bought this phone in the middle of May 2021 and Im now wishing I had just bought another s9.Why is the little flashing LED notification light no longer there How hardexpensive was it to include this I miss it alot.Quite disappointed about the lack of an headphone jack. Didnt samsung mock apple when they removed theirsAnother missing feature, removable storage. Not to mention you dont get a charger, or obviously headphones anymore.This model is not as hardy as the s9. I bought a pricey, recommended cover for this new s21 ultra and a month ago, after the phone in its slippery as case not many options available when I purchased, I normally went for leather backed or rubber backed cases for grip dropped to the ground, its first and only fall so far the s9 took an absolute, literal hammering and never broke anything and now it has a smashed AF lens. I take 100 or more photos a day for my work so this is not great. The cameras are quite unprotected in this cover.I am regretting this massive, super expensive upgrade. Wishing I had just bought another s9 to replace my trusty, hardy, tough, capable previous one that lasted me since I got it when it launched. Only replaced because battery was very tired.
AlexO28 –
I went with the S21 because I didnt want a huge phone. I didnt think too much about the fact that its the bottom end of the scale but there have been a few things Ive noticed. It heats up INSANELY hot when plugged into my car for Android Auto. So hot, I cannot touch the sides of the phone and need to hold it in front of the aircon. Its also become really hot when playing music while on charge. In terms of the camera, its brilliant BUT when switching from camera to gallery, the phone seems to have a little meltdown before allowing me to go to gallery. This did get better with the last update but is still an issue and finally the battery. Im a decent user but wouldnt consider myself a heavy user. Im not playing games, just the usual, music, phone calls and social media but I cant make it through the day without a full charge. When comparing to my almost 3 year old Galaxy S9 it was better on the heat and camera and about the same on charge but that is to be expected of a phone of that age. Not sure if I love the fingerprint reader on the screen, it seems to not be a sensitive as my S9Wondering if I should have just accepted a bigger phone and gone for the Ultra or Plus. It does have some other cool features that I like and the camera is VERY impressive.
Meg98 –
So impressed with the S21 Ultra, Ive never gone for a latest edition of a phone but Im so happy I did. The phone itself preforms amazingly. The phone is so responsive, quick to react to your touch and just so smooth with it. The camera is honestly out of this world for a phone camera and one reason I actually brought the phone. Only downside was my selfies are now so good its bad, basically catfished myself through my previous phones bad camera quality… Only downside relating to the camera is Snapchat but that is at a fault of their own and not with Samsung, if you take a video youll see how bad the quality is. The video will be grainy and lags but you know your camera is better than what it produces via snapchat. Battery life is incredible it lasts me all day and if I forget to charge it at the end of the day ill still wake up the next morning with enough charge. Features to the phone havent blown me away but thats because theyre familiar Ive used a Samsung for both my personal and work phone for the last 5 years but do find on the S21 ultra the features run smoother due to the great performance of the phone and you can use everything longer without draining battery life. Finally… lets just appreciate how beautiful the design of this phone is. I dont think id give up on the curved display and so glad this version of the S21 range offers that. I usually go for a black phone but due to it being out of stock from the place I brought the phone I had to go with sliver but I dont regret it because it looks so smart. So happy with this phone would highly recommend as it is worth the price you pay.
LewisS –
Having owned several Samsung S and Note phones in the passed I expected high expectations for the S21. Although despite knocking Apple not to include a charger and earphones then doing the same beggars belief. The performance of this phone is quite good and the form factor size is what I prefer. Nice job on that Samsung. The one underlying area I cant excuse Samsung for is its short battery life. My 4 year old LG and Pixel 4a 5G whithe smaller batteries simply kill the S21 for battery life. I sold a Note 10 to buy the S21 and I am disappointed in doing so because the battery life on the S21 is appalling in comparison. I am a light user and set my phones in the same way but the S21 suffers from unexpected short battery life. I had to find extreme ways on Youtube and Samsung advice to save the battery life and becoming paranoid at the same time. Not sure whether it is an Exynos chipset thing again as opposed to the SD888 the US gets. Absolutely no improvement in this area. I prefer to use the Pixel phone so the battery lasts me a little longer.
Cornel –
So I switched from an iPhone to a galaxy s21, and here is my opinion. not defending Apple over Android, both have issuesFor starters the phones are to big. They dont fit into pockets properly, you cant hold it in one hand and work the screen with your thumb, for example the x to close a screen is in the top left corner, but no normal size hand can reach it with your thumb so I have to redirect my hands to do so. Second there are an unexeptable amount of accounts to make, for Samsung, then for Android, and then every app wants an account to customize the ads… Just goes on and on with giving every bit of information out. Third Google maps needs to understand that even tho you arent supposed to use it during driving, we all do, and why not make the layout a bit easier to navigate your routes, address. What a headache to try and do on the fly.All in all the phone is amazing as far as camera and speed and battery goes, but its hardly usable in everyday quick app uses which I want my phone to be. If Samsung and apple didnt own the phone market Im sure a much much better solution could be invisioned. I cant be the only one that wants a easy, reasonable sized, tough, good quality phone without all the trendy stuff Attached.
DOCHAL –
I buy Samsung for the water resistance. Here is my question why dont you guarantee your phones against water intrusion and of course each case should be based on its merits but no warranty for what makes the phone essentially more expensive than possibly better special phones albeit not waterproof. In saying that my friends all have Vivo and Oppo phones at a quarter of the price and there speakers and sound leave Samsung for dead even when I am sure make sound systems.Now I realise phones have a shelf life or like expectancy, bad business if you make a phone that can last for ever but I recall many moons ago throwing my Nokia 101 for the older folks who remember buttons at a cat windscreen. It shattered by windscreen but not a mark on the phone and it worked perfectly. Sure I deserve it but my question is with all your technology and innovation and established customer base why can I throw a cheap phone and break a windscreen but if I drop a top shelf phone from 2 or 3 feet complete with a quality phone case and additional screen protector your screen cracks and even after repair is no longer waterproof alas my S9. Some techies may love all the features to launch a space shuttle but a majority of your customers would rather you focus on technology which I am sure you have to make the screen rack or shatterproof at reasonable heights For all your great features why not be a leader and finally give your loyal average customers a phone with a screen that wont crack when simply falling out of your pocket. We all know the technology or resources exist to apply it so why not be an industry leader in the glass screen or back on some models and finally give us some quality speakers and whats the go with no memory card option even if it was an option at a slightly higher price.
Anonymous –
I have been using Samsung smartphones for a very long time, but now for the first time I have decided to purchase the newest Galaxy S serie. It might seem crazy to spend big amount of money for just a smartphone… but Samsung galaxy S21 stole my heart. Starting with the design, I decided to choose pink version, which makes the phone outstanding, and rose gold details give very interesting, and beautiful look. The size of the phone is handy, you can easily keep it in the pocket. Its my first day of using this phone, but I have already noticed that battery is lasting long, and phone works very smoothly. I was also surprised how easy it was to back up data from my old Galaxy s8. It took just few minutes to get all my old apps, contacts, photos thanks to Smart Switch. Im really happy with the quality of photos especially with 30x zoom. I cannot wait to test cameras further, especially in difficult conditions like for example water.I was only a bit disappointed when I discovered that there was no charger and headphones in the box, but the Google Nest I have received as a gift for my purchase some how composites it.To sum up, I am glad that Im an owner of Galaxy s21. Im looking forward to testing all new features and I hope that my first day impression about the smartphone was right
CGT1 –
The software that comes with this phone is a constant irritation, with a lot of really poor user interface design from a practical perspective. For example, something as simple as the alarm clock you cant dismiss the alarm for the day if you wake up early you have to complete shut off the alarm clock altogether and turn it back on afterward your wakeup time has passed.The phone also came with a lot of useless garbageware that you cant get rid of. The Bixby routines are specially engineered to invade your privacy, while the phone eventually became insistent that the Google assistant has to be turned on to use any voiceactivated features that you could previously use simply by tapping the microphone icon in the search bar.Once I reviewed what the Bixby SW does and the permissions it requires to do it, I simply disabled it all which of course reduces the usability of the devices features I value my data privacy very highly.This S21 was supposed to be an upgrade from my Motorola Droid Turbo 2, but its engineering simply isnt as good.If you dont value your data privacy, dont mind sloppy SW engineering, and dont mind paying the price, its a decent device.
gramps –
I was really excited to get this phone. Ive been using a Pixel 2 XL since it was released so I was long overdue for an upgrade. Id seen all the positive reviews, how amazing the camera is, etc etc. So I picked one up a little over a week ago and my experience has been very disappointing.The phone is very, very fast. It has a lot of great features and the camera is excellent if not overhyped a bit. I didnt realize how big in the hand this was until I was using it every day but I got used to it.Three days into ownership, things began to fall apart. The fingerprint sensor worked only 10 of the time. Whenever Id play music onto my bluetooth headphones, the apps would play for 10s and then stop. Id hit play again and seconds later, it would stop. Didnt matter if it was Spotify, Youtube, Tidal, they all did the same things. And finally the phone started to get very warm. Not set something on fire warm, but warm enough to know it was in your pocket.I dont know if I got a dud, but I also know my last three Samsung experiences have not been positive. This included. I honestly just dont know if they can make a quality product anymore. Ive had two of their TVs and now this device which all have had quality issues in very short order. I guess Ill head back to Pixel.
Jonboy1984 –
I upgraded to the new S21 from my previous longlived S8 which I loved. Its a much heavier phone but obviously extra components, a slightly bigger screen and far, far superior battery made me expect that. Functionality is very similar but frequent misplaced letters when typing which has never been an issue before. Also had a few occasions where an incoming call cannot be answered as the swipe on the screen would not work.I understand the move to wireless connections but still feel a jack for headphones would have been nice, even if only for occasional use. I feel when you are charging what Samsung are for their galaxy buds it effectively increases the cost of the phone my buds were free in an offer but my partners were not.Looks and feel is great, as ever. Slight bugs at the start which I hope will be resolved in updates soon. Fantastic camera, needs work on signal retention but some of that may be my carrier. Plenty of capabilities for what I want. I just feel I was expecting a bit more than Ive got for the cost. Feels very much like a very small boost on my S8, rather than multiple generations later jump I thought Id get. Still like it though. Great phone
Pink Flamingo –
Just had to replace a phone, in an emergency, for our Daughter. Purchased the Samsung GalaxyS21. Price was, what we consider, in our opinion, outrageous We felt rippedoff and disappointed Further, Samsung has not included a charger, or headphones and has deleted the slot, to insert a Micro SD Card, for expandable memory. Saying they didnt think it was necessary, is akin to Ken Olsen saying that he saw no reason for a person to have a computer in their home. If you already have an USBC charger, that you think youre going to use, you might want to think again. It will work, but as slow as molasses Its not designed with the power rate, desired by the S21 and new line of phones. We only discovered this, when we brought it home and tried to set it up. They went back to a flat screen, which is better than the rounded infinity screen and the colour we bought her, is pink. So, shes happy about that. We still had to also buy a phone case and a separate screen cover and insurance, to protect the investment. Now were looking for a new charger We have been buying Samsung devices for years It appears our loyalty has been betrayed. We, currently, have 3 Samsung phones and 3 tablets. Time to start looking at other manufacturers Its a nice phone, but its not the Crown Jewels, for the price
MadDogFL62 –
After 3 weeks of using my S21 Ultra, I couldnt be happier. Fantastic features and runs Android 11 and Samsung One UI 3 like a champ. Files, etc. go to the cloud, so no expansion card is a nonissue. Never got close to 256 on my last 3 Samsung phones anyway. Lots to do and learn with this device I dedicated a few hours to YouTube reviews about the phone, how to optimize, and how to take advantage of all the cool things the cameras do. I have great battery life and I strongly believe that these setup and configuration reviews from the Pros on YouTube helped me accomplish that. Phone is no heavier than Note 10 or S20 the weight comes with the territory. Never really used my stylus on my Note either I am fine with Samsung taking that extra space for battery Getting about a day and a half off of a full charge. Runs great on LTE or WiFi. Charges fast on my Samsung Fast Charging Station. Works great with all of my Samsung watches and Samsung Buds too. I also get updates for my phone and Galaxy Wear frequently. Its good to see Samsung focused on finetuning the phone and peripheral experience.
Ahsoka –
So about this phone after a few months, the cam is amazing on both video and taking photos. The AI driven edit mode is just out of this world. I love the speed, nothing ever hangs, I pick up the phone and it just works.PhysicalWhat I like most about it is the slim form factor, the feel of it is amazing and I love what Samsung has done with the hardware buttons with the customizations. The screen just glides without error. The typeC connection works with any hub like adapter.SoftwareSo it runs Android 11 and to be honest the phone feels like stock android with a little Samsung Flair, you can remove most of the little pre installed apps but you honestly may find use for them so just try them. The OS does not take up much space and I recommend the 16gb version.Battery life is about 1.5 days for my use and I game on mine, it keeps really cool at all times. The ultra charge is neat if you really need it but really just keep normal charging and turn off fast and ultra charge unless you need that 10 min 80 percent battery. The OS is slicky smooth, I do like my own launcher, I use Nova Launcher and with the S21 it is simply amazing. The Samsung Dex is like a perfect linux desktop to work on.It does not have an SD card slot which is fine because it has lots of space as is and a simple SSD will work with it for extra storage.The price is really the only con, but you do get an amazing phone with all the features you could ever want.Now with the S Pen, the S pen works flawless on this phone, I love taking quick notes and when I am done just send it off, or in a meeting taking notes with this thing is amazing. I love the option to handwrite in combination with or without a keyboard and it transcribes my messy handwriting perfectly. It also learns a bit from you every time you use it so amazing.I recommend the Spigen Liquid Air Armor Designed for Galaxy S21 Ultra Case 2021 case they have on Amazon or the Black Case Logic Caseology Vault Compatible with Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. I use both on my two s21 ultra 512gb.This is my daily driver and hopefully Samsung will improve on this winning design.This pairs really well with the Samsung Tab S7
Cregtech –
…however I have issues with the focus on the middle 2nd lens that require me to refocus manually. It causes moments to be missed when you go for a quick photo. Its the same with video which is frustrating as I use it or for filming.Once that manual set up is done the quality is second to none and some of my videos have drawn attention as to what camera I was using such was the quality.I am also able to run my entire buiness from the device too. Its powerful enough for video editting on the fly and the flow and documtnet sharing features mean I can quickly put my files to my PC quickly and easily.The purchase experience was simple enough buying direct from Samsung but quite why I had to varify and claim my ear buds I dont know. They knew I had bought the phone so why not just bundle the ear buds in rather than a 6 week process to apply, be varified and then waitThe free 3 month YouTube premium doesnt work as you need to sign up for it via the ore installed you tune app. If this isnt your first Samsung device you will likely restore apps and setting from a backup so YouTube wont recognise the new devicepromotion.
griff –
I owned a refurbished Galaxy S6 for years. I loved it but broke the glass beyond repair. I decided I would invest in the best possible replacement. Exhaustive research ensued and based upon the features, price probability that I would not be upgrading for some time to come the winner was the Galaxy S21 Ultra.There were too many positives to ignore. Now in regards to price, I had decided that paying a several hundred more was not a negative. The reason for this is the incentives that Samsung offered. I received a student discount, another discount because the phone could not be delivered on time due to situations beyond Samsungs control and a discount from them directly. I had planned to buy it on Amazon, but they could not get the phone to me for at least one month. Samsung, despite the problems in Texas with the snow, had it delivered within 10 days. An amazing feat it being that all other alternatives were 1 month and beyond. Their customer service along the way was truly outstanding.The features on the S21 Ultra are mind bending. The telephoto zoom lens at 100X rivals those found on top of the line stand along DSLs. The rear wide angle lens has 108 Mega Pixel capabilities The quality of the photos video are extraordinary. As for the video, I could literally make a film using the Directors View mode Simply astonishing.The display resolution is top of the line. One thing about the S6 that I loved was its 500 PPI screen resolution. There are very few phones out there that can rival this even now. The S21 Ultra is a much bigger screen and better at 3200 X 1440. It boasts crazy good Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10, 1500 nits peak. This was something that was essential and it was a major factor in my decision to purchase it.In regards to why I was in the market for a new phone, I wanted the best specs on safety for the device. It comes with scratch resistant Gorilla Glass Victus which is as good as it gets. It also has top of the line IP68 dustwater resistant up to 1.5m for 30 mins. The fingerprint scanner works great and is a big security plus.The processor American version is an insanely fast Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G 5 nm. There is zero wait time for the paces I have put it through so far. My needs are not massive, but it is a workhorse nonetheless. The LiIon 5000 mAh battery lasts all day easily and I am a heavy video user.The sound quality is excellent. The AKG tuned 32bit384kHz audio delivers big. Additionally, when I popped in my existing SIM card, my network activity was seamless. 5G connection within seconds I live close to a 5G source.There are so many features that I havent mentioned and really, I would have just put a link to their specs page if that was all info to offer. But this phone has become a rival to my custom desktop rig that I built myself. It is that good. The notion that the computer isnt required to be turned at the start of my day is unheard of in my routine for the past 20 years. Everything I use fits on the 512Gb internal storage.So I wholeheartedly recommend this phone. I am extremely pleased with it and it is the perfect upgrade to my 5 year old phone that had its screen crushed. I have no issues with paying a little more to move into an elite class. And you better believe I guard this baby like the treasure it is
Orcun –
I have been using Samsung Galaxy series S8, S10 and S21Ultra 5G, respectively for a long time. One of the strongest aspect of Samsung is their friendlyuser interface and innovative approach. Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is my most recent smartphone, which allows me to have great experience for my daily, as well as, professional life. The battery life, size of the screen, high quality of photo options and allowing me to use pen as in note series, provide flexibility. I believe, after having this product, you will be highly satisfied during your private and professional usage. The only possible downside issue might be the thickness variation at the camera site compared to to thickness of the product, which means the back cameras are a bit out from the surface. However, you should note this is associated with all those different features, i.e. high zoom, high resolution etc., and I think it is worthy. Moreover, with many different types of covers, you wont even realize this. I hope this comment would be helpful, Best
PeterSam –
You could be forgiven for thinking that phone designers gradually build on previous designs and continually better the product. But, they dont. This phone has an incredibly good camera but, the file size is very large. Therefore the only option that you would really consider is the 512GB and it isnt currently available in the UK. Never mind, you can have a lower memory option of 128 or 256GB and store photos on the micro SD card, except you cant because they decided not to provide one with this phone.The conclusion is that its an excellent phone with a lovely screen, superb image quality and many good features. It is perhaps one of the very best but, the features that would have set it substantially ahead of all the competition and score 5 stars are not available yet namely, the micro SD card and the 512GB option for the UK. The performance is excellent and it is capable of running 5G which is useful if you happen to be in an area offering it. Much of the UK struggles to operate 3G, let alone 4G or 5G. You need to be careful when purchasing because many of these phones offering the 512GB option are available but, they are not the UK version. They are International or US versions and this fact is rarely included in the advert but, will generally be supplied if you ask the question before purchase. The design would be worthy of 5 stars if the 512GB option was available in the UK now and if the micro SD card available on earlier phones had not been omitted from this model. The cost is similar to other major competitors with the same or similar features,
Makayla –
I was given this as a present and so far im really enjoying it. I am able to play extremely high graphic mobile games on here, and play for at an hour and a half before the battery is in its 4010 range. It does overheat after playing on these types of games. But thats easily solved by turning it off for 1020 minutes. The battery life is extremely well. If you plan on downloading a high graphic game, itll likely have a larger file. But no worries The games download fast and work quickly. The charging is a bit slow, but that could just be the length of my charger. But a plus side would be, it has a long battery life. I loved how when it was raining the phone had no damage or anything. One thing i would be careful with is hot water, that will likely damage the phone. I try and keep it out of water even so. I would say the size is pretty well designed too. The camera quality is almost like an actual photographer camera. It has aperture, IOS, focus, flash, and other settings as a professional camera would have. I do dislike the camera quality if you zoom in too much, as then it becomes a bit blurry. But you can take extremely close up photos with this with no worries The storage is pretty well too. You should likely get a case before using the phone, as mine was a bit annoying without a case to properly hold, and protect it. Id also like to point out to make sure your hands arent greasy or dirty. Also keep the camera clean. The phone doesnt lag at all either. It has nice vibration settings and sounds for notifications and alarms too. Youre also able to use a 15 second or 10 second video for your lockscreen. But only for the lockscreen. Those who i know were extremely surprised about how great my phone was when theyve only ever had apple products. I have to agree with them too, i use primarily androids until the last 7 years as i could only find apple, but the Apple IPad i have is extremely lesser than this phone. Speakers are extremely well. The phone is thin too. Light weight also, you can feel its weight, but its more light weighted than heavy.
Btha –
Samsung has gone an ruined the Galaxy phone line with the S21 model. Compared with my 2 year old S10 this phone is on par at best or WORSE in every single aspect. I routinely upgrade to the newest Galaxy every 2 years and have done so since the first Galaxy model arrived, however, this latest upgrade does not feel like an upgrade at all.Let me highlight some of the features now comparing to the S10Screen Smaller which I actually wanted and has a weird aspect ratio, its too narrow and wide. worseStorage Bigger but FIXED so no SD card can be added. worseMemory same on parCamera about the only thing thats better on this phone really, but I preferred the 2x zoom selection option on the S10 more than the 3x option on the S21. betterAudio this is BY FAR the worst feature of the S21 compared with the S10, WHY Samsung would not include a 3.5mm headphonemic jack is downright stupidity Both the Bluetooth options and adaptors are terrible options compared to the simple 3.5mm headphonemic jack of the S10. I actually used true wireless earbuds with my old S10 but the utility of being able to plug in wired headphonesmic was invaluable compared with the inability to do so on the S21. On a related note the Samsung Typec to 3.5mm adaptor dongle is GARBAGE. And on another related note the Samsung galaxy buds physically hurt to wear after very short time possible a worse design even compared with the S21. One would have thought that if they wanted to force a change to Bluetooth headphones they would come up with a wider range that suit more people but I digress WORSEAccessories be warned, this phone DOES NOT come with a charger, cable, adaptor, headphones etc. which honestly would all be handy given the limitations highlighted above. The one thing it did come with was a Typec to Typec cable included which made the process of switching my appscontacts etc. over a breeze but only to discover the same apps work less well on the S21 compared with the S10. worseOverall I really am struggling to find the change to this new model an upgrade in any way. It seems to be overall slower with the same set of apps and even the Bluetooth which is being force upon us seems to have a worse time connecting compared with the S10. I hate to say it as im now stuck with this phone but the S10 was a superior phone.
Upstate –
CAMERAI will add a photo that almost no one believes I took with the S21 Ultra. It is amazing. No tripod, no extra lens, not even leaning on a rail. This freehand picture of the moon blew me away and I took it I know there is a lot more to learn about the camera capabilities.The camera is a huge plus.5G5G service is still so limited that it is difficult to say whether it is the advantage it is claimed to be. I will say that internet is often better than it was with my old phone, but still has big giant gaps that frustrate.THE PHONEThe form is fine, I miss the headphone jack and do not understand why a phone that cost more than my first new car does not include a charger. Its a bit bigger than I am used to, but not uncomfortably so. The bump on the back for the camera lenses is a bit offputting. That bump also makes it a little tough to use the wireless charging option on anything other than a dedicated charger.CALLSThe quality of calls is good, but frankly, it drops and allows as much interference as my old trusty S7. Its the third decade of the 21st century. Its time for cell phone service to match up to ancient land lines. And its not all infrastructure. This phone, as did its predecessor, drops calls altogether when interrupted by incoming texts. That may be a caarrier issue, but it is bothersome and sometimes very inconvenient.STORAGEI waited for the 512gb version because the phone does not have an SD card slot. So far, so good, but it usually takes a while for storage to run out as new apps get bigger, more specific and take up more space.SAMSUNG UNIVERSEI went all out and got the ear buds, the watch and the 45w charger. Oh, it uses a stylus too. I misplaced my stylus within 24 hours and had to replace it, but havent used it since. The buds are cute, but substandard and not well integrated with the phone. The sound quality is dime store. But oh that watch The watch will be available for a fraction of the list price any day now. It too is not wellthought out or thoughtfully integrated with the phone. Its awkward to use. The features are a shadow of the actual app to which it connects. The battery life is about 24 hours so if you want to use health monitors while you sleep, be ready to give up the watch for part of the next day. So as a platform for peripherals, the S21 is still playing catch up and with the other big phone company announcement this week about music quality, Samsung is about to eat some dust. Better buds and an overhauled watch, for example, could bring the universe up a notch. Right now they dont and it may be that the core product isnt quite ready for them. The ultra fast charge, however, is top shelf, even though it requires me to replace all my USBs with USB C cables now.THE PRICEYes, its fun. Yes, it has a great camera. Yes, it reboots the ability for OS upgrades for a couple more years. Yes, it will probably be great on 5G. Yes, they can always improve the extras as the main device has a wildly strong processor. Yes, I like it, but is it worth over 1300, over 1,700 with the doodads Its just hard to say yes at this point.I am going to check that I would recommend the product in the next section, but only with this caveat, if you are the kind of person who likes to ooo and ahhh more than uh huh, go for it. If you need a phone, dont care about the camera, live in about 85 of Americas geography, never used an accessory except your Bluetooth earpiece and you dont rely on your phone as your primary computer, go find a 1971 Plymouth Duster, for the same money.
Zach –
I bought this phone back in the beginning of March, and I absolutely love it. I went from a Galaxy s10 to this beast. Now, normally Id wait until either my phone would quit working on me, or a minimum of 3 years before buying a new one but the camera on the s21 Ultra looked amazing. So I decided to take a leap of faith, and the camera has not disappointed me. Not only that, the phone charges super fast from 20 batter to 100 within 40 minutes I dont even have to charge it over night anymore, which will prolong the lifespan of this battery. The phones processor itself is really good, switching between apps and games without any troubles. The display is vibrant as you would expect of a Samsung. And the back is no longer made of glass, rather than a smooth plastic dont worry, it doesnt feel cheap so if youre worried about dropping your phone, thats one less thing to break. Now for the only complaint that I have the screen is still curved which makes for one heck of a time finding a good tempered glass screen protector. Now Im a repair technician myself, and I have experience with these types of phones and the UV adhered tempered glass, but the average consumer does not hence the widely negative reviews on the UV tempered glass, which boils down to installation mistakes So I hope one day Samsung will give us a premium phone thats a flat screen one more, seeing as the curve really doesnt suit a purpose rather than to look nice. That one small complaint aside, I absolutely love this phone, and just take a look at these few pictures to see what this amazing camera is capable of
Galaxy man –
This phone is powerful fast with amazing wireless reception. Its easy to operate if you have had previous versions of galaxy phones. However, I still regret replacing my Galaxy S9 plus with this new S21 Ultra. The phone is really heavy. There is no notification lights on it to let you know if new calls or messages had arrived. My S9 had a green flashing light coming on whenever phone was locked and screen was off, indicating that a call was missed or new messages had arrived. The S21 doesnt have it. You have to push the power or unlock it to see if anything has arrived. Also its an expensive phone without micro SD slot, same mistake Samsung did with S6. The finger print and face recognition is really below expectation. The S9 had the finger print spot on the back of the phone, in a perfect location right in the middle. All you needed was to grab the phone and touch your finger to the back of the phone. And by the way, it would never miss my fingerprint no matter what.weight of the phone is not balanced because of the several cameras on the top left. The body of the phone to the bottom is way lighter than the top like a hammer. When you hold it to read, attend a meeting, talking over the phone, you feel the discomfort of this unbalanced overall weight distribution. Be careful Or you may drop your phone as you drop the hammer while holding it softly from the bottom side. I cant understand why so many cameras are needed. I need a great smart phone not a compact Canon SDR camera. You will have serious problems with your hands and wrist if you hold this phone for a while. Another future missing for a really long time after galaxy s5 is the video playback single shot or picture by picture. Before, you had two buttons forward and backward that enabled you to see your taken videos picture by picture to save a nice and clear snapshot of your kids who was running or dancing but not anymore. If I hadnt traded in my Galaxy S9 phone, I would have got rid of this smart hammer.
Will –
As a hardcore die hard loyal Samsung customer, Im very disappointed in this phone. Sure the camera is really awesome, but Samsung shot itself in the foot removing expandable storage and the headphone jack from the S21 line of phones. This really sucks. On top of that it seems the only models available are the 128g models because everyone is sold out of 256g 512g phones. I bought this phone because the sales rep at my Best Buy location indicated this phone still had the SD card slot for expanded storage which it clearly does not. Now Im going to return the device because 128g wont cut the mustard. For the first time in over 10 years, Im looking at other brands. I use my expanded storage and my headphone jack daily Im not willing to give up these features. Samsung needs to bring back these features and recognize their customer base doesnt want an iPhone or we would have bought an iPhone. Samsung quit trying to copy Apple and keep the features that have set you apart in the past or you will lose more customers like me.
Double Diamond –
An amazing phone with great performance and excellent cameras. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is super fast, with smooth animations and packed to the gills with all the latest bleeding edge technology Samsung has to offer. The display on this phone is nothing short of amazingThe 120Hz AMOLED screens high refresh rate, coupled with its 1440p QHD resolution and High Dynamic Range HDR colors, makes everything appear as close to real life as possible. Its like looking at the world through a crystal clean window. This display is also great for watching movies thanks to is widescreen 209 aspect ratio.This is a true flagship phone made by Samsung. The CPU and GPU in this phone, can handle any game you throw at it very well, thanks to the Snapdragon 888 SoC that powers the S21 Ultra.And the S21 Ultra cameras are clean, bright, focused and sharp 99 of the time, under most everyday lighting conditions. And this is thanks to improved AI and 1x 10x optical lenses, which is a superior way of zooming compared to just digital Zoom, which most smartphones rely on. The selfie camera also is sharp, focused, bright and very clean and detailed. So thats a big plusThe S21 Ultra also uses a larger image sensor that has a native 108Mp resolution. By using a 9 to 1 pixel binning technique, this allows the main camera to create sharper, brighter 12Mp photos, by capturing more ambient light in the surrounding environment.So all in all, a great top of the line phone. The only thing that I wish it had, was a small insert to hold the optional SPen just like on the Galaxy Note line of phones.But otherwise I cannot complain. Battery life seems good and the phone fits well in the hand.
Anonymous –
I am really exciting this new Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. Before I was owned NOTE 9 which one I also was crazy about. But the new Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G its the best phone I think at the moment in the whole world. It has a great camera with the very clear picture and a lot of adjustments. In the beginning I look quiet skeptically on stated camera features as 108megapixel resolution and very big zoom, but after few pictures made, I saw the really great picture, as well as very good zoom, for example I make some pictures with 6x or 8x zoom and it was vey good quality pictures with the note 9, good pictures was only with max 2x zoom I also trying to use 100x zoom to see some far objects not for photos and it was quiet good as well it is not possible to make good pictures with this huge zoom, but I can see the things what I need. The front camera also very good quality, my selfies became better now Because of my work I use the phone almost 24 hoursday, and this phone can work 1 1.5 days My Note 9 can work 12 20 hours. Display of the phone very clear, I really like fingerprint reader on the display as well. The phone do not lose connection ever. There very good sound. I have the most powerful version with 512 Gb SSD and I am really happy with this smartphone with all the features.Before I decide to by this Galaxy S21, I checked a lot of reviews and ask a lot of people, because, because of my job, I need powerful phone, with good camera, big SSD and stable connection. I stay with Samsung long time, but this time I was thinking about IPHONE 12 because it was released earlier and it was announced as very powerful phone And the meantime as I know Samsung stopped to produce Note models, which I really like, but as soon as I heard about the release of new S21, I changed my mind the same timeMy conclusion is If you are businessman and you need really good smartphone, which one you will use a lot, you need to take Galaxy S21 Ultra of course onlyIf you real businessman and you work a lot,Buy your Galaxy S21 and you will break this world
Stupotty65 –
What can I say other than WOW I was lucky enough to have my husband buy me the S20 for my birthday in October last year, but when I saw that I was actually eligible for an upgrade with Sky to this epic phone, I grabbed the swap with both hands And I get a free pair of Galaxy Earbuds thrown in as a Samsung member benefit Retail price on the buds alone, more than outweighs the cost of upgrading to this absolute behemoth I cant understand why other reviewers have given it 1 or 2 stars due to its overheating and short battery life I didnt experience any of this with my Ultra handset, so cant empathise with these low scores on the doors Miss Ford Hahaha The stacked performance of this beautiful phone will mark a line in history as one of the most powerful featured phones, just on its picture video performance alone The ingenuity of the design with its ultra clean and crisp edge to edge display, with a legendary refresh rate and with Dolby Atmos audio playback, it will keep you entertained for hours and hours Im going to leave my review there for now, because Ive only had the phone for 3 days and I have so much more to explore and experience Well done Samsung I didnt think that you could top the Note 10, but you beat it into a cocked hat and then some Cant wait to update my review when Ive had a chance to have a proper look around Be safe and take care all
DYR Photography –
Ive had this S21 Ultra 5G for just over a month and I can say Im impressed with it. Its miles better than my LG Phones, which is what I upgraded from.I do wish Samsung offered more control of Manual Exposure Settings, when being used by 3rd Party Apps like Filmic Pro. A few more options in the 24 FPS would be nice for Video. Other than that, the 4KUHD, Hyperlapse, and Slow Mo Settings to name just a few really are incredible. I run multiple DSLRMirrorless Cameras and Video Recorders but its Phones like this are the reason why Camera Companies passed peak sales years ago. Yes, Depth of Field is important but this S21 Ultra 5G moves in and out of focus quickly.If youre using a Gimbal, I recommend you get a bigger unit than the Zhiyun Smooth 4. I have one and I needed to add a clamp to bring the S21 into proper balance so the motors werent overworked.Other than that, its Top Notch Kit. I look forward to seeing what the next 2 to 3 years will bring. Its not about 6k, 8k or 12k, because of File Sizes, but more about what we can do with those files. Its an exciting time. This phone has enough features to keep you happy for 3 to 4 years.
Anonymous –
As I heard the news that the S21 series would be launched earlier than conventionally I waited to upgrade my phone. And the wait is worth it. When all the videos on YouTube started to share leaks and later on the launch and reviews from the S21 series the anticipation for being able to get it started growing more and more. As I have been using the S10 1TB for over 2 years and always loved all my pictures and videos I made from all the greatest moments in my life I wanted to make sure to have the best of the best with the Galaxy S21 Ultra 512GB. Using all its power and going to a 120Hz display is just such a big improvement.Now I have been able to use the phone for a week I noticed, that even though I have been skeptical of all the prelaunch review, non of the anticipated specs and camera functions have let me down. The one thing which I was afraid of having a exynos processor was fast battery drainage compared to a snapdragon device. I noticed that for my daily usage on highest resolution my phone has enough power to support me the full day.There is one thing that I do miss the charger as I update my phone every 2 years my charger has max 10W output so fast charge is still slow charge. So I will have to wait for my new charging brick to arrive before I can fast charge my device.This for me is a tiny spec on a otherwise perfect product. Using all its cameras and new features like single take and directorsview have made all my days using the S21 Ultra truly Epic Thanks Samsung for this awesome product
CharlesA –
So much power but it is hindered by bad design. Very very powerful processor but unfortunately all that horsepower is wasted since it thermal throttles almost immediately in everyday use. Combine that with the constant Bluetooth issues and crappy cameras and it is a none starter. I really regret switching from my old phone to this. I could almost live with these issues but the nail in the coffin is the wireless radio. Because it is a garbage 5g device it is always hunting for the faint 5g service around here and basically means I never have mobile data connection despite a strong 4g signal. It wasnt a problem when I could manually turn off 5g and only use the 4g signal. Never had a problem after turning off 5g. Now Verizon patched out that ability to turn off 5g and it never has mobile data connection because it is always connecting and dropping the signal but refusing to stay on 4g. So congratulations to me for buying a way too expensive phone that takes terrible out of focus pictures and doesnt work on Bluetooth half the time and rarely has mobile data. Yay me.
Lexxiah –
I loved this phone so much. Super fast, amazing screen and awesome camera.I am 52 and have hands smaller then average. I knew this phone was a behemoth but convinced myself it was way worth it. I got 2 pop sockets to brace it correctly and oh man it was awesome for a while.However after the 4th time I dropped it on my face and ended up looking like an MMA fighter I decided to reevaluate my phone needs. Then my doctor mentioned my TFCC wrist injuries were flaring pretty badly and I couldnt help but think this was exacerbated by the overpowered in a great way brick I was carting around.Is this phone super gorgeousYesIncredibly fast with excellent processingYesThe best camera Ive ever usedYesMeant for small people with easily damaged facesNoNot Samsungs fault at all, this is easily a 6 star phone and if you have normaltolarge hands this is great for you. For those of us who are handsizechallenged, well just have to wait for companies to realize small people would like incredible phones, too.I mean, Titans arent the only people who want that beautiful screen and phenomenal processing, right
Adam H –
Ive been a Samsung fan for the last five years. Previously owned the Galaxy S8 and decided it was finally time for an update.I choose the Galaxy S21 as it was reasonably priced and had all the features I required. Never been one to go for the latest phone but felt this one was definitely worth it.The screen size is the same as my S8, yet there is less phone this is great as it fits in my pocket better and feels less cumbersome whilst using it.I love how the screen fills the entire phone also, no wasted space, as well as the front camera being placed within the screen.The features are incredible and Im still slowly getting through them all. Syncing your Google account to your Samsung account has never been easier feels very efficient and cohesive.Ive never been fussed on how good a camera is until using the Galaxy S21. I cannot believe how much fits in the new wider camera, feels like a true reflection on how you view the world from your own eyes.I also did the tradein option, very good service as well as the free gift promotion helping prompt my purchase. Would recommend this phone to anyone wanting a new or latest phone at an affordable price.
still waiting –
Upgraded from Note 9 S21 512G. Its a good phone. As an Android phone it does all the usual stuff competently. I DO miss the head phone jack but I will note the Bluetooth connection to wireless headphones works better than my Note 9. I miss the extra storage capabilities. I had the 512GB Note 9 with a memory Card as well but Its useable some places I go there is no mobile network I also note that in marginal reception areas I dont find it works any better than the Note 9 either. Also the changing of the buttons each time I upgrade is annoying. Very I find the buttons far less well designed than the note 9. I really upgraded it for the camera although I note that the GPS works better than on the note 9 it it just me or do Samsung GPS seem to always get buggy after a few years or so having owned most of the Notes thats been my experience I can see they put a lot of effort into the cameras but I dont think they are quite there yet for what I want anyway. I still miss my note with 16 MP images and IM still waiting for Samsung to reach that base level again. 10 MP is NOT enough for a good image. I dont believe 12 MP is either myself. So the main camera is impressive but its frustrating because its the ONLY decent sensor and its quite wide. if the Ultra wide and the 3X had the 64 mb sensor and the 10 X had the current ultra wide sensor I think this would actually been real jump forward. As it is , its not enough for me to NOT carry my point and shoot as well. The cameras are ok for forgettable snap shots and the 10X camera isnt bad for using to read signs etc a fair way off but the only GOOD sensor is the wide one. I also realise that its still an impressive achievement BUT to me 3 of the camera sensors produce shots at quality levels that are pushed too far. Less camera sensors of better quality would have made for a better flagship product. Maybe Im not usual BUT I would prefer to trade off less cameras for better sensors images.
GalaxyNut73 –
When I bought the Note 9 and configured faster animation speed and custom UI i thought a phone couldnt get any better. BUT…the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is almost indescribable. BEST battery life in a handheld mobile device, BEST load time for apps and animation, incredible promode photo capability with Directors view topping the list of amazing features, 108x zoom provided my first ever picture of the MOON. On a phone Unmatched. Fastest processing ever achieved and lightning fast interconnectivity with my broadband. Seamless Bluetooth switching from car to Buds Live and Galaxy watch…you name the features and this phone tops the list. It even transfers files to my Samsunt T7 external ssd directly via my usbc cable. Dropped face down on concrete from 4 feet and slid accross the floor…not a scratch. I could stand in a retail electronics store and sell this phone 100 times over and never get tired of talking about it. Love it.
MandiniS21 –
I switched from the iPhone X to Galaxy s10 3 years ago, and I have not looked back. Since then, I purchased my Galaxy S21 Ultra 5 months ago, and knew I was in for a pleasant surprise, and I was rightThe performance is incredible, and the integration between the phone and my other Samsung products is truly next level, and the integration of the S Pen has made my work life easier and made gathering notes at meetings incredibly easy.My battery lasts me throughout the day without a problem I use my phone pretty heavily throughout the day for work. After a 13 hour day out on the road, my phone will still have about 15 battery.The camera has features that takes my photos to the next level. Single Take photos and the 108 MP camera capture so much incredible content to the point that youd think a professional took the photos.DEX Mode The last favorite feature Ill touch upon is Dex mode. This allows you to connect your phone to a TV and turn it into a mobile computer. This single feature has revolutionized how I conduct my meetings for the better.These are only a few of the features that Samsung has incorporated into their devices, there are plenty others like Power Saver, multi window, and much more that really make the phone amazing.I recommend this phone to anyone who wants to truly get the most value out of their phone, and with Samsungs deals the phone can be purchased by anybody.I cant wait to see what Samsung comes out with next NotGoingBackToiPhone
Dann –
Good phone for Android peasants, almost every app had complications or glitches when using them, the battery life was subpar. The camera was great but the color correction was terrible and made everything lighter than usual. Compared to iPhones there is no competition, tried to give it a chance but the smoothness you get on 60hz screen on an iPhone blows the Samsungs 120hz glitchy and lackluster feel. Also uploading any picture or video to any sort of social media looked terrible despite it looking amazing on your phone. Android will never catch up to iPhone when it comes to OS and no matter how good the camera or screen are. iPhone also has a better camera, extremely good battery life, it has constant updates to make your phone feel new all the time, I have a XR and this phone feels much faster and smoother than the S21 Ultra. The only pros to the S21 are customizability, and being able to download or change your phone without having to jailbreak or hack your phone. I do not recommend this to anyone. Sometimes the charger wouldnt charge it and its have to replug it into the phone for it to recognize it
Snkrkarma –
So I upgraded some would argue it wasnt from a Note 20 5G Ultra. Now I have been a fan of Note series for 1 thing and 1 thing only…the S Pen it just makes what I do everyday that much easier for me. So I decided to with the S21 Ultra, and wow its a great phone. The camera wasnt something I used a lot in the past, but now I actually am taking more photos daily. The size is perfect, its lightweight, but the only reason Im giving it 4 out of 5 stars, is that since I am a 247 S Pen user, the case makes it a little bulky since there is no internal slotholder for the S Pen sold separately. But at the same time it gives the phone some durability if I drop it or knock off my nightstand. Do I recommend the Phone I would say yes, but with a tradein or promotion running. The initial price tag is a bit steep, still, but overall I am very satisfied with the phone and learning new features as I go along I feel like was almost a test run to see the followers of the stylus user market, without having the Note name attached to the device. May not fit everyones expectations, but as an avid Note lover, I would buy again if this is the experience I knew it wad going to be
DaKorona –
Its been a while since I owned a Samsung phone. The last flagship I got from Samsung was the Galaxy S5 though Im a huge fan of the note series. I almost got the Galaxy Note 20 before I realised this phone existed. I have the European Exynos 2100 version which is a slight let down. Snapdragon 888 has better thermals and performance but even at that you cant turn your nose up at this phone. The cameras on both front and back are incredible. They show a new level of detail and are comparable to even some DSLR cameras in image quality. From day one I put this device in an Otterbox case and its heavy. I dont mind the weight so much but its something to be mindful of. Android 11 with one U.I 3.1 is a pleasure to use. One thing I dont like is that I cant use the keyboard to post emoticons on the end of sentences in Twitter posts. My last phone used stock Android and I got used to that feature. The phones responsiveness, download and install times are excellent. Ive not used the 5G yet because my carrier doesnt currently cover my area but its good to know its there for future, or should I find myself in the city Anytime soon. Customisation is a major plus with the galaxy store offering tons of free personalisation content from complete themes to wallpapers and icons. All in all, I got this phone simply because I didnt like the competition. This didnt stand out all that much to me but after some reviews I decided to go for it. Im more than happy this was my choice. The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is an absolutely stellar phone. With additions like Samsung Dex, this can literally become a desktop in your pocket especially with the 12GB of RAM Check out next dock and youll see what I mean. Especially usefull if you writecode or want to remote into that beefy PC back home. Dont consider this. If you need a phone and have the extra dosh laying around just buy it. Its excellent.
Kalibria –
I am awaiting my third phone today. The first one I bought brand new on May 10th began to overheat as soon as I activated the camera. I called about the issue the end of Mayearly June and they told me I would have to go in store to get it looked at. Im a nurse who works 12 hour shifts. The first chance I had to get to the store was June 14th. Because I was now out of my 30 day window, I had to get a refurbished replacement phone instead of a new one. Im wasnt happy about that. I asked if maybe I could at least get the color phone I wanted as they were out of stock when I got the original phone, but I was told that is impossible for some reason. Anyway, I received my second phone on June 15th and went through the setup and transfer process again, applied my otterbox film for protection… again and everything was okay for a day. The phone was a tad slower than the first and seemed a little more glitch. Then yesterday I went to open the camera and I continued to get a warning message that simply stated that the camera failed. I took it back to the store where instead of an agent helping me, I was placed on the phone there where I waited on hold for 30 minutes and then stood there for another 30 minutes while the person on the other line tried to troubleshoot my phone. Again this was unsuccessful and I am being issued another refurbished replacement phone. Again I asked for the other color and again for some reason thats too much to ask. So now again I await my second used phone to which I will have to setup and transfer my data to… along with going through the warranty process on my otterbox protector to await another of those because the last was wasted in a used, defective phone. Im not thrilled with Samsung or Verizon at this time. Never have I considered switching to an iPhone until this recent experience. Not happy at all.
Anonymous –
I replace my phones every two to three years, unless some kind of ridiculous bump in technology warrants a faster upgrade. I currently have the S10 5G with 512 GB of storage, and it has been a fantastic phone. I have never run out of storage space even when freely taking photos and long videos on vacation preCV19 or while at the pool and even underwater with my kiddos. It has been 2 years, so I was considering the S21 5G as an upgrade, but I was completely put off by the lack of the 3.5mm earphone jack. This is an absolute dealbreaker. In similar price points, most wireless headearphones do not compare to the sound quality of wired alternatives. And even if an argument could be made for a specific wireless earbud, I highly prefer wired in general. I am not completely put off by the lack of expandable storage, but of course I would prefer it. If the S21 5G had a 3.5mm port and expandable storage, I would have upgraded IMMEDIATELY. Now, Ill either consider an alternative brand or wait to see what Samsung does with their next offering.
hgoldman77 –
Its stateoftheart in terms of camera, sound, speed, HD screen all great. Its a tiny desktop computer in your hand. I got the silvercolor back so slippery its like its covered in lube. The black matte finish is nicest and not as slippery. The silicon case wstylus is also slippery but much less than the silvery S21. If you get the metallic finish you will drop this phone. Its also big, bulky, heavy to the point of stressing your hands if you hold it too long. So, if you want state of the art tech with a large screen to watch vids and take great pix, go for the Ultra. Also, the stylus is nice but its kind of a pain in the neck. I use it for more precision when Im typing text, but I dont use it very much. Writing with it is silly. Pen and paper make more sense to me. So, if you just want a great phone that you can grip in your hand and slip into your jeans pocket, and you dont care about screen size, or you dont need the absolute fastest operating system you can buy, you should consider a different phone.
JonE UK –
Camera is unbelievable and general user interface has improved on what was market leading anyway but and it is a big BUT 1 The DEX mode is completely not fit for purpose anymore to the point it should be removed and customers offered refunds if that is what they want. The full front back glass makes the phone too hot within a few minutes and DEX just cuts off. Pointless if you are doing some work or a PowerPoint presentation using the screen as a pointer. This is as bad as much as the cameras are good. If you have the screen on for more than 20 minutes the phone gets very hot indeed. Are you using up old Note 7 batteries2 The FAQ section of the main sales page states the Galaxy S21 have hybrid sim slots allowing a microSD cards. This is a lie and misleading advertising. Again give money back if mislead. This would save Samsung pence when it cost us pounds to buy it within the phone. Please dont follow anymore Apple ideas.3 The SPen compatibility on the Ultra is great but to effectively use it you have to spend an enormous amount more on a Samsung case and dumb basic pen then when eventually Samsung sells a similar smart Bluetooth SPen to those given as standard on the latest Galaxy Notes you have to throw away the dumb SPen and I assume based on the expensive dumb SPen in the region of 4050 to get a proper SPen. Unless you off a free or reduced upgrade from a dumb SPen you have had to spend well in excess of 100 for what comes as standard on a Galaxy Note. Cheaper for the almost empty box but the extras quickly rack up the price.In summary, a brilliant and world leading hot mobile phone but with a useless DEX feature, no as advertised hybrid Sim slot for a memory card and a hundred pound plus SPen optional extra.
Vivas81 –
Begin with the bad thinks.Its heavy and I didnt fount that crazy evolution or new thing that I was found on any new galaxy some years ago when I read the new things and said whaaaaaat, how this can do that. ok. The zoom its amazing and the AI of processing pictures are amazing, but personally I would like have the possibility of deactivate this funtion some times. To much contrast or detail you know arent there. Otherwise you never feel stuck. Is really really fast. The sensation of 120hz screen is lovely and is automatic and you never feel the decrease of hertz, very nice.The camera its amazing but I like the reality and have some dislike about the automatic AI contrast and repixel but its incredible how works. The night picturea are stunning to much light can enter, but sometimes the AI overfeed. Grate phothos but Im obsesive with this thinks. The autonomy its very good but you know. This is almost a computher and sometime drybthe butery like one.Finally. Worth it YES. more if you check the other phones and I give it only 4 stars because always galaxy amaze me, actually its a 4.6 oh and bonus. The integration with computhers are great, I use a macbook pro and finally can use and share with any problem very good.
JTurn –
This is my first foray into Samsung Android phones, being a stock Android advocate and Pixel user for the past few years. Ill say up front, this phone blew away my expectations. I upgraded from a Pixel 3XL, which served me well but suffers greatly from Googles ridiculous decision to only include 4gb of RAM. The S21 Ultra feels like an ALMOST universal upgrade the screen is significantly better both in resolution and in refresh rate, which makes this feel unbelievable smooth, the performance is better, and the extras that Samsung provides are a nice touch. I cant help but miss some of the pixel features Ive come to rely on, though…You dont need me to tell you the areas where the phone excels, every review on the internet will focus on that. From my perspective, here are the areas where I wasnt as impressed as I expected…The cameras are very versatile, but being honest, the main shooter isnt much of an upgrade over the Pixel 3xl. In fact, the pictures seem objectively worse in some situations. This is a disappointment and probably speaks more to how amazing the Google Camera app is. The zoom functions are unmatched here, but the day to day shots feel like Ive actually taken a step back which is very disappointing. Many shots are coming out blurry and generally not great. This is contrary to what all the reviews have said and was a surprise to me.Some of the software aspects of OneUI are lacking compared to vanilla Android and Pixel in specific. The most glaring omission here is call screening. Anyone thats used this on a pixel knows how amazing it is. This cant be enabled on the S21. Ive scoured xda and the like for a solution but Ive found none.Another missing feature is a seemingly small one, but its annoying to me. Android 11 added a feature to visual indicate which notification was the just recent to come in. This was a hugely useful feature for anyone that has a persistently large amount of notifications like me. This isnt available on the S21 which is disappointing. At least notification history is there.Next, the split screen experience is objectively worse on the S21 than on vanilla Android. On vanilla Android, you can lock an app on the top half of the screen and then freely switch between apps for the lower half of the screen. On OneUI, you have to specify which two apps are split screen and if you hit the home button, both apps close. This is annoying for me since I like to keep Nest open on top and use the bottom for various other apps. Ive gotten around the by using Nest in pop up mode which works well but its not quite as good.Finally, the navigation on this phone frustrates me compared to the Pixel 3XL. On the pixel, there was a hybrid navigation option where you could have actual home and back buttons on the bottom while also having gestures for app switching, multitasking, etc. There is no equivalent on the S21 either you go all gesture or all button. The hybrid approach was far superior in my opinion.Overall, theres no doubt in my mind this is the best phone you can get overall right now. I just wish it didnt have the downsides outlined above.
rumo –
I upgraded from a Galaxy S10 that has expandable memory, a phone jack and phone charger. You wont get that on the Galaxy S21 Ultra. I could take a screen shot on the Galaxy S10 much easier than the S21 Ultra. To shut off the phone is a one button press on the Galaxy S10 but on the S21 Ultra its a two button press on the right side. I found that to be more difficult than the S10. I dont like all the buttons to be on the right side and lower than the S10. It probably works better for someone whos left handed. I think the Samsung should have left the button placement alone. I purchased a 128 GB phone. Its enough for my basic phone use. I found going to the My Files icon then select Analyze Storage, scroll to the bottom and it allows you to free up memory space by deleting all the files you dont want instead of a 30 day auto deletion. I also deleted all the bloat apps and that gave me for memory on my phone. I do like the S21 Ultra and will have to adjust to the new button design. The battery life goes all day with average phone use. The sound output making calls, listening to music and watching videos is good. The phone works well with the 5G connectivity. Website browsing on 5G is noticeably faster. I wouldve given the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5 stars but the button placement, lack of memory expansion, and a phone charger could have made this phone a real winner.
VijayTT –
I purchased this back in February and had to actually wait a month for it to arrive. The wait was well worth it. I am very happy with this device. My previous device was a Galaxy S6 Edge, which was also excellent but was now fully worked its life. I have had iPhones before as well as older Galaxy S4, Original Galaxy S and HTC smartphones previously. I have to admit this is one of Samsungs best effort yet. The camera is awesome, battery life is exceptional, beautiful screen and of course performance and software updates has bee. Surprisingly very good. My only feature that I miss and which could have been useful due to covid is the heart rate and blood oxygen sensors from older models. I mean the simple fix would be to get a smartwatch to do this so its not a deal breaker. You wouldnt think of watching a movie on a device this small but your eyes will be in for a treat. As per usual Samsungs vivid AMOLED screens are the best in the industry. The battery life for a moderate user is easily two days. I rarely charge to full, just plugging in for a quick top up and Im good until the next day. That being said, remember you have to buy your own super fast charger as it doesnt come in the box. Also you should note if getting a 3rd part charger you need to make sure it has the PPS feature for super fast charging to work. I learnt this the hard way Overall there is very little to no issues I have had with this device for the past 4 months. I am very impressed with the progress Samsung has made. The device is stable and performs near perfect each and Everytime. I would consider this a workhorse of a device this especially for business users. I look forward to many more years of great service. As a side note, this device supports UWB so if you have the Galaxy Buds Pro they pair seamlessly with it. Its an overall good user experience. As I finish my review I have to repeat that the camera is absolutely beautiful. The photo and video quality is amazing and you wont be disappointed. There is some slight lag however the latest software update has reduced this lag greatly. Im sure features and performance will keep improving over time. Great job Samsung
Babishko –
This phone is a genuine hardware marvel and possibly the most advanced phone ever built to date. At least on a hardware level. It is a blazingly fast phone with remarkable features especially in the camera department. When taking photos this phone is incredible. Night mode is superb as are photos taken with any of the four cameras especially the zoom cameras which are brilliantly stabilized and take great pictures even up to 30x. How it has the stabilization and hardware to genuinely take non blurry and quite passable pictures at 100 x is astonishing and really brought a smile to my face. The phone can get a little hot when using the camera though I feel. Video is not good to be honest. Yet. I love shooting 4k 60fps video and on my old Note 9 this is a joy but on my Exynos 512Gb S21 ultra the low light video quality is poor in comparison with much more noise and there is a stabilization problem on the 10x camera when recording 4k 60fps video on it. To me these are all fixable software problems that the right updates can rectify. I have faith in you Samsung and I believe you will get the video problems sorted and make this phone a genuine piece of perfection. I really look forward to this.