Which one should you buy? Samsung Galaxy S21 vs S21+ & S21 Ultra By Phandroid

Samsung is kicking off 2021 with a bang unveiling the new galaxy s21 lineup today about a month earlier than it typically does now due to the pandemic. Today's launch event was completely virtual, which is perfectly fine, though it would have been nice to have some hands-on time with the new devices, but our review units are currently in the mail, so we should have those within the next day or two for now, let's go over the details of the new phones. There's definitely a lot to talk about. So, let's get started just like last year, Samsung's 2021 lineup consists of three different devices: the galaxy s21, the s21 plus and the s21 ultra. The differences between the s21 and the s21 plus are less apparent than they were last time around, but the galaxy s21 ultra has been beefed up even more delivering that ultimate smartphone experience. If that's, what you're into for all those who have been following along with all the leaks and the rumors regarding the galaxy s21 lineup, the designs of these phones shouldn't be at all surprising, all three sport the same overall fit and finish with a glass back panel with a rear camera module.

That's been pushed over all the way to the left and all the way up to the top to meld into the metal frame of the phone. It's really quite elegant when you compare it to what Samsung delivered in 2020. Okay, so I know everyone wants to get to the specs and how these devices differ. But let's talk about pricing for a minute, because this is really important. Surprisingly, all three of these devices are coming in cheaper than their 2020 counterparts.

A welcome change. After three years of skyrocketing prices across the board, the galaxy s21 lineup is 200, cheaper, coming in at 799, 899 and 11.99, respectively, for the galaxy s21, s21 plus and the ultra well, the phone's price isn't technically a feature that people actually buy. It's definitely one of the most compelling reasons you should actually upgrade to these devices this year. That being said, there are a handful of compromises that needed to be made in order to achieve those lower prices, specifically for the two cheaper devices, the s20 and the 21. Now, if you're, comparing specs between last year's models and the new s21 devices, you'll notice that the s21 and the s21 plus have been downgraded from 12 gigabytes of ram to 8 gigabytes and the resolution of their displays that 6.2 inch and 6.7 inch AMOLED displays have dropped from quad, HD, plus to full HD plus. Now, if you've been keeping track, the last time that a Samsung flagship device had a full HD plus display was with the galaxy s5, which was years ago.

To be honest, I don't think either of these downgrades is going to be a huge issue for most buyers, since android performs really well with eight gigabytes of ram, and I personally set the resolution of my galaxy s21 plus last year to full HD plus so that I could always take advantage of the 120 hertz refresh rate. Now. The new phones do come with the 120 hertz refresh rate again, but this time around Samsung is going with a flat display which will reduce glare and improve usability by reducing the number of false taps on the screen. When it comes to performance, all three phones are going to be using the same snapdragon 888, with integrated 5g connectivity in North America and some Asian markets with Samsung's Enos 2100 for markets in Europe and India. Now, while I haven't tested the chipset quite yet, Qualcomm claims that the snapdragon 8 can deliver a 25 improvement on the CPU side, while the integrated arena 660 GPU is expected to deliver a 35 in graphics, rendering.

Needless to say, the three Samsung Galaxy s21 devices are going to be incredibly powerful this year. So you can throw pretty much anything that you wanted it without seeing any issues in performance for all of you interested in what the cameras can do. The camera setup between the galaxy s21 and the s21 plus is identical both of them featuring a 10, megapixel selfie camera that peeks through the display up front and a triple camera module on the back featuring two 12 megapixel cameras for the standard and the ultra-wide cameras, while the 64 megapixel sensor is being used for the 3x telephoto camera, which, when you put it all together, is the same exact setup that we got last year, save for the time of flight sensor. That's been removed from the galaxy s 21 plus for batteries you're looking at the same setup as last year's with the s21 coming in at 4 000 Williams, while the s21 plus featuring a slightly larger 4, 800 William hour cell switching over to the galaxy s21 ultra. This is where you want to spend your money if you're looking for that ultimate smartphone experience.

Some basics here are going to be the same with the regular galaxy s21 and the s21 plus, including the snapdragon 888 chipsets, ip68 dust and water resistance, support for 5g, with millimeter wave and sub 6 networks, fast wired and wireless charging and, of course, reverse wireless charging thrown in there as well. But the real difference is come down to the display battery capacity cameras and memory. If you really need a quad, HD plus display. This is where you're going to find it with a 6.8 inch, AMOLED display featuring that same 120, hertz, dynamic, refresh rate 1500 nits of brightness, which is extremely bright and a 3 million to 1 contrast ratio. Needless to say, this should be the best display that you've ever seen on a smartphone.

The base model for the ultra does come with 12 gigabytes of ram, which should be enough for most, but you have the option to pay more. If you want gigabytes and then there's the option of upgrading from 128 gigabytes of storage to 256 or all the way to a full terabyte. Now, I honestly don't know who on earth would need anything more than 12 gigabytes of ram in a smartphone. But if you do, the galaxy s21 has definitely got you covered on that front, but also keep in mind that none of these phones come with a micro, SD expansion slot in the s21 series. So you're limited to what comes in the phone itself when you purchase it.

So if you're looking to upgrade storage might be the way to go. One of the other reasons to consider the galaxy s21 ultra is for its cameras, the phone sports four sensors on the back of the phone with a 108 megapixel main camera, a 12, megapixel, ultra-wide camera and then two 10 megapixel cameras for its 3x and 10x zoom cameras. Samsung is still, of course, using its term space zoom for its zoom capabilities on this device, but this time around they've dramatically improved the stabilization with a feature called zoom lock, so that the subject stays centered in the viewfinder. Without you having to use a tripod, Samsung says that they've also solved the focus issue that they had on last year's galaxy s20. Ultra by adding laser autofocus to help that 108 megapixel main camera sensor to find and lock in on its subject, a lot quicker Samsung is also bumping up.

Video capture from all five cameras on the galaxy s21 ultra to 5k 60fps, including the front-facing 40 megapixel camera, and just like last year's device. The 108 megapixel camera can also capture 8k video, but this time around, it's also able to extract a single frame from the 8k video capture so that you can save it as an image as well. On the battery front, the ultra packs a 5 000 William hour battery cell, which should guarantee a full day of battery life under nearly any condition and as rumored. You also get the s pen support like Samsung's note series, which is a first for a galaxy s device. It does come as a separate accessory, though, or you can use an s pen that you might already have lying around.

What you won't get, though, is a place to store it inside the device, but Samsung's got you covered on that front as well, since they will be selling a case that will have a slot for the s pen on the side. As for availability, Samsung is kicking off pre-orders, starting today January, the 14th, with a retail debut across the globe, starting on January, the 28th and that's gonna, do it. Let me know what you think of the new galaxy s21 lineup in the comments below and which device you're probably going to buy. My money is probably on the standard, galaxy s21, but I know a lot of you have got your eye on the ultra as well. Thank you guys so much for watching.

If you want to see my full review of these devices and camera comparisons as well, make sure you subscribe to the channel and hit that bell icon thanks again, and I'll catch you in the next one uh.

Source : Phandroid