S21 S21+ S21 Ultra hands-on reviews

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ironass

ironass

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Mar 9, 2015
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With the imminent release of the Galaxy S21 models the first hands-on reviews and videos are coming out.

This hands-on review from GSMArena is pretty thorough on Galaxy S21 & S21 Ultra...

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s21_and_s21_ultra_handson-review-2217.php

Whilst this video deals with the unboxing and camera for the S21 Ultra...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1xN4syYmlA

This video pretty well covers unboxing, gaming and camera for the Galaxy S21...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9XKN0IGjfA

Have you got any reviews of the Galaxy S21 range to share?
 
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Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Some impressive camera samples in this short impressions video:

 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Overall early impressions seem pretty positive, assuming you can accept the loss of a few things.

I think Samsung made the right calls on what to leave out to bring costs down. I wish they offered a 512GB storage option for the S21+ model at least, but generally, they've made the right calls on nearly everything else -- flat screen with FHD is perfectly fine with me!

And One UI looks better than ever. I'm honestly quite impressed by it. Looking forward to a little more features coming from the Pixel 4 XL.

Hope we see more reviews. I believe the embargo date is 21st...
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

ironass said:
With the imminent release of the Galaxy S21 models the first hands-on reviews and videos are coming out.

This hands-on review from GSMArena is pretty thorough on Galaxy S21 & S21 Ultra...

https://www.gsmarena.com/samsung_galaxy_s21_and_s21_ultra_handson-review-2217.php

Whilst this video deals with the unboxing and camera for the S21 Ultra...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v1xN4syYmlA

This video pretty well covers unboxing, gaming and camera for the Galaxy S21...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R9XKN0IGjfA

Have you got any reviews of the Galaxy S21 range to share?
Click to expand...

Preview or retail units?
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Awesome, a GSM Arena review! Thank you for sharing it! I'll check it out!
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

certainly seem more positive they I think they were for last years models or even note ultra
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Ragnarianrok said:
GSMArena's camera samples are really good!
Click to expand...

I hate how all these camera previews never cover pics of people. Coming from a pixel, I want to see if Samsung has gotten any better at skin tones, indoor pics, anything with movement in it. I feel like any modern phone camera can take decent shots outdoors in good lighting, and that's mostly what you see here.
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Ragnarianrok said:
GSMArena's camera samples are really good!
Click to expand...

Great! I look forward to seeing them! The only weakness Samsung has - in my opinion, anyway - is its camera. Definitely not as good at the Pixel. But I'm excited to see these samples!
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Sam Mobile updated their review beginning with this snippet on battery:

"The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first Samsung flagship in the last couple of years to have impressed me with its battery life in the first week, or, well, the first day. Usually, Samsung’s flagship phones drain quickly in the first few days in my experience, but that’s not the case with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Most noticeable is how consistent the drain is. The battery percentage doesn’t drop every other time I unlock the phone, which is not something I can say for my Galaxy S20 Ultra.

In fact, I’ve never seen 5+ hours of screen on time on any flagship during the first couple days of use, not in recent memory at least. The S21 Ultra? Well, I ended the first day with 2% left on the battery meter and around 5 hours and 50 minutes of screen on time and 16.5 hours of total time off the charger. Yes, these figures might seem normal to some, but for me, they’re better than anything I’ve seen for quite some time. Again, this is after just one full day of use, and once the phone has understood how I use it, battery life is bound to get better."

https://www.sammobile.com/opinion/early-impressions-galaxy-s21-ultra-24-hours-of-use
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Guyinbox said:
I hate how all these camera previews never cover pics of people. Coming from a pixel, I want to see if Samsung has gotten any better at skin tones, indoor pics, anything with movement in it. I feel like any modern phone camera can take decent shots outdoors in good lighting, and that's mostly what you see here.
Click to expand...

Agree. I want to see more of that too. Coming from a pixel 4 xl, I'm really hoping the s21 camera is at least on par.
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Ragnarianrok said:
Agree. I want to see more of that too. Coming from a pixel 4 xl, I'm really hoping the s21 camera is at least on par.
Click to expand...

Even compared to the note 20 ultra, I prefer the pixels photos of people/faces. It also handles movement of kids and animals much better.

Samsung has said that they won't automatically smooth people's faces by default on the 21 line, so hopefully you can get pictures of the family that don't look airbrushed.
 
Re: S21/+/Ultra hands-on reviews

Guyinbox said:
Even compared to the note 20 ultra, I prefer the pixels photos of people/faces. It also handles movement of kids and animals much better.

Samsung has said that they won't automatically smooth people's faces by default on the 21 line, so hopefully you can get pictures of the family that don't look airbrushed.
Click to expand...

Yeah, I agree. Pixel photos tend to come out better from what I've seen, too. It's one of the greatest (maybe the greatest?) strength of the Pixel.

Coming from a Pixel 4 XL and the Pixel 3 before that, it was definitely something I appreciated. However, it was beginning to feel like that one feature was keeping me hostage and locked to Pixel devices. This is why I'm hoping the S21 is finally the right time to jump ship. If they can finally get their still-photography on par, then I'll happily trade in my Pixel for the better design, features, and general hardware prowess of Samsung. Plus, video-taking appears so much better on non-Pixel devices. Honestly, the Pixel's bare-bone camera experience is starting to age for me.

One UI is the other factor. I'm really impressed with what I've seen in its development and progress toward a cleaner and more sensible skin. Some of the little extra features are also appealing. Coupled with the timely security updates that have consistently been coming from Samsung, I'm optimistic the experience will be just as good overall.

We shall see in a couple of weeks! Fingers crossed.
 
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