Narrowed my decision down to 2

[Rumblee1]

Well I've narrowed my decision on a new phone down to 2.the galaxy s21 ultra, and the Sony Xperia 1iii. Waiting for comments on the Sony to come out. If they're good, I may go with the Xperia for 1 reason. The sd card slot. That's a big plus especially where I use all mac computers at home and using ANDROID FILE TRANSFER is touch and go. I wasn't happy that Sammy took away the 3.5mm jack either. But I can live without it even though it forces me to carry around a separate DAP. I was going to go for the ZTE axon 30 ultra, but it only has one 5g band (n41), and not sure it's future proof enough. I'm currently using a ZTE axon 10 pro and it's been incredible. Fast, beautiful amoled screen, sd expansion, 3.5mm jack, but the cameras are just good, not great. We'll see what happens.

 

[fuzzylumpkin]

Use Bluetooth, or a USB-C headphone adapter.

I'd go for the ultra, think is obvious, because I did. I'm not sure I'd rely on Sony to update the thing, although that's mostly personal bias. You should also be able to get an ultra with a good discount at this point.

I'd avoid ZTE like the plague.

 

[Kizzy Catwoman]

Good luck with your choice. The Sony has been a good phone on previous models and I think they improved their cameras a lot.

 

[o4liberty]

The ultra is getting rave reviews I have the regular s21 5g and it's awesome.

I came from the note 20 and both are about the same this one is a little smaller.

 

[jtcannonball]

I love my 21U and the rate of updates from Samsung with this phone makes me even more impressed. The Sony updates to their phone tech the last year have been really awesome but I'm not sure where they fall with software updates.

 

[Morty2264]

I've heard awesome things about Sony and have often been close to buying their devices at one time or another. I'd say go for it, especially if the SD card slot is important to you.

Good luck, and let us know what you decide!

 

[o4liberty]

Which one did you get?

 

[Notefan161]

Cameras seem better than previous Sony cameras but ultra still seems better by some distance

 

[Rumblee1]

Well I went with the s21 ultra. Phantom black, 12gb ram and 256gb storage. To be honest, I realize that it's got one of the best cameras and is fast as hell, but in some ways I love my ZTE axon 10 pro better. The fingerprint reader on the s21 is a pain in the ***. Took me 45 minutes just to get it set up. And if you don't press down on it in just the right way it won't read. My lg v30, and my axon 10 were easy and instantaneous. Also this phone is heavy. But I'll get use to that. I did set up face unlock and that is helping. Hope samsung can send a fix for the fingerprint reader. I do not use screen protectors. I'm glad I overlooked the Xperia 1iii. Many initial reviewers are very dissapointed with this phone.

 

[o4liberty]

Well I went with the s21 ultra. Phantom black, 12gb ram and 256gb storage. To be honest, I realize that it's got one of the best cameras and is fast as hell, but in some ways I love my ZTE axon 10 pro better. The fingerprint reader on the s21 is a pain in the ***. Took me 45 minutes just to get it set up. And if you don't press down on it in just the right way it won't read. My lg v30, and my axon 10 were easy and instantaneous. Also this phone is heavy. But I'll get use to that. I did set up face unlock and that is helping. Hope samsung can send a fix for the fingerprint reader. I do not use screen protectors. I'm glad I overlooked the Xperia 1iii. Many initial reviewers are very dissapointed with this phone.

Totally agree with the fingerprint sensor Samsung still hasn't gotten it right yet period!!

 

[TheAngryToaster]

On Mac just use samsung dex to transfer files. It is literally drag and drop. I just transfered some pdf files and pictures between the 2, to make sure. I have an M1 MacBook Air.

On the dex part you have to click and hold on the document/photo for a few seconds before it pops up as an icon. Then drag it over to you mac and let go. Works perfectly and removed the need for Android file transfer which is not very good. In fact when you install dex you have to remove android file transfer.

I would honestly go for the samsung for the native dex support on Mac.

 

[Rumblee1]

How is it with transferring from Mac to galaxy? Is this done via USB hook-up, or wireless?

 

[TheAngryToaster]

How is it with transferring from Mac to galaxy? Is this done via USB hook-up, or wireless?

You have to plug the phone in the Mac. Launch Samsung dex and then use the native file explorer on the phone. If your phone is plugged in and dex is running in the background on the Mac. You get notifications as well on your Mac via dex. You can simply open dex to reply to texts as well while the phone is plugged into your Mac.

 

[TheAngryToaster]

How is it with transferring from Mac to galaxy? Is this done via USB hook-up, or wireless?

Transfer works both ways and the phone has to be plugged into the computer.

Forgot to put this in the other reply haha.

 

[barondebxl]

If go for the ultra just because you can get it much cheaper. It has the better camera and the better battery life as well.