The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra & S21 Review: The Near Perfect and The Different
by Andrei Frumusanu on February 22, 2021 12:00 PM EST- Posted in
- Smartphones
- Samsung
- Mobile
- Galaxy S21
- Galaxy S21 Ultra
Camera - Low Light Evaluation
Low-light photography of the new S21 series devices should be relatively uneventful. Both the Ultra and the regular models don’t have any superior light gathering abilities compared to their predecessors, so in general the differences between the generations should solely lie in terms of software algorithm updates – if there’s actually any.
[ S21U(S) - ] [ S21U(E) - ]
[ S21(E) - ] [ S20+(E) - ]
[ Note20U(S) - ] [ iPhone 12 Pro - ]
[ Mate40 Pro - ] [ Mi 11 - ]
[ Mi 10 Pro - ] [ Pixel 5 - ]
[ X-T30 ( ) ]
In the first scenario, we see the S21 phones showcase excellent results in their respective night modes. There are small differences when it comes to colour temperature and blacks, where the new Ultra phones don’t seem to be as fine-tuned as the Note20 Ultra or the baseline S21, but generally fall in amongst the best performing phones.
[ S21U(S) - ] [ S21U(E) - ]
[ S21(E) - ] [ S20+(E) - ]
[ Note20U(S) - ] [ iPhone 12 Pro - ]
[ Mate40 Pro - ] [ Mi 11 - ]
[ Mi 10 Pro - ] [ Pixel 5 - ]
[ X-T30 ( ) ]
This scene really wasn’t kind to the new Ultras, as the Note20 Ultra produced significantly better and more realistic shots in all capture modes. We’re again seeing some of Samsung’s stark software inconsistencies at play.
[ S21U(S) - ] [ S21U(E) - ]
[ S21(E) - ] [ S20+(E) - ]
[ Note20U(S) - ] [ iPhone 12 Pro - ]
[ Mate40 Pro - ] [ Mi 11 - ]
[ Mi 10 Pro - ] [ Pixel 5 - ]
[ X-T30 ( ) ]
The S21 Ultra issues continue here as well, the Snapdragon unit is just far blurrier than the Exynos and the Note20 Ultra, while the Exynos’ colour temperature is too cool and overcompensates the orange sodium lamps.
[ S21U(S) - ] [ S21U(E) - ]
[ S21(E) - ] [ S20+(E) - ]
[ Note20U(S) - ] [ iPhone 12 Pro - ]
[ Mate40 Pro - ] [ Mi 11 - ]
[ Mi 10 Pro - ] [ Pixel 5 - ]
[ X-T30 ( ) ]
In this scene I was curious to see the dynamic range the phones would be able to retain in night mode – those lamps actually weren’t all that bright at all, it’s just that the rest of the scene was just very dim.
The Samsung phones didn’t improve all that much generationally, and still lag behind the leader in low-light dynamic range, Huawei.
[ S21U(S) - ] [ S21U(E) - ]
[ S21(E) - ] [ S20+(E) - ]
[ Note20U(S) - ] [ iPhone 12 Pro - ]
[ Mate40 Pro - ] [ Pixel 5 - ]
[ X-T30 ( ) ]
This scene is easier to analyse, as essentially, we’re seeing little to no differences with the new S21 series phones bar a bit of colour temperature variations.
[ S21U(S) ] [ S21U(E) ]
[ S21(E) ] [ S20+(E) ]
[ Note20U(S) ] [ iPhone 12 Pro ]
[ Mate40 Pro - ] [ Mi 11 ]
[ Mi 10 Pro ] [ Pixel 5 ]
[ X-T30 ( ) ]
Going into lower light situations, we’re seeing larger differences. The S21 Ultra Snapdragon falls flat on its face here in terms of night mode processing as everything is a blurry mess. The Exynos variant fares significantly better, and is actually along with the Exynos S21 the best results of any phones night modes, going as far as clearly depicting the Orion and Pleiades constellations in the background sky.
[ S21U(S) ] [ S21U(E) ][ S21(E) ] [ S20+(E) ] [ Note20U(S) ]
[ iPhone 12 Pro ] [ Mate40 Pro - ] [ Mi 11 ] [ Mi 10 Pro ] [ Pixel 5 ]
[ X-T30 ( ) ]
Lastly, just for fun and because I had an unusually clear night sky, I tried out pointing the phones at the sky to see what happens. These are all handheld shots without a tripod. Sadly enough, the Ultra phones lagged behind the regular S20 and S21, and far behind the Huawei Mate 40 Pro.
Low-light verdict: Pretty much the same
Low-light photography on the S21 series, hasn’t really changed all that much from the S20 series. Frankly speaking, in some scenarios, it might be even worse due to the immature software, particularly on the Snapdragon S21 Ultra. We didn’t really expect any improvements this generation as essentially, it’s all pretty much the same hardware, but I was still disappointed to see that the software side of things is still handicapping Samsung from achieving better results.
The same conclusion applies here as on the daylight shots, in that we don’t really have a conclusion. The results are too inconsistent, and I’ve already had two newer firmware updates I would need to re-test things on. The picture quality will undoubtedly improve, but it’s getting quite tiring to wait months for Samsung to sort things out.
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theblitz707 - Wednesday, March 3, 2021 - link
I dont get when people say android lag. My s10+ never lag in daily usageprobedb - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
Have the S21, previously the S20+. Far prefer the S21, flat screen...it's in a case so makes no difference. Screen res, well since the S20+ required you to go FHD to use 120Hz then it makes very little difference and I use it a lot every day. Fingerprint reader is waaaaaaaaay better, like orders of magnitude better. The S20+ was awful for the delay in recognising your print, much faster on the S21. The S21 just feels faster overall as well. Perfectly happy especially since Samsung did a very good trade-in on the S20+, plus selling the free tag and phones meant it cost very little overall.eastcoast_pete - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
Thanks Andrei for the review. Just one fly in the "currently on sale in the US" for the S21 Ultra: yes, that's correct, but only the 128 GB storage version is on sale, the others are "out of stock". And, absent an option for expandable storage, I wouldn't buy a premium phone with less than 256 GB. Videos and photos eat storage.Andrei Frumusanu - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
True for the 256GB, but the 512GB is also in stock at $1,179.99 which is less than the 128GB MSRP.pse - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
Excellent review, as usual, Andrei. I was hoping to see a few video samples as well. I've found, by looking at other online samples, that there are significant differences in low light video processing between the SD888 and the Exynos 2100, I was wondering if you found similar results in your tests. Cheers!Andrei Frumusanu - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
Frankly speaking any results right now are outdated as Samsung is pushing out firmware updates at a fast pace with the cameras behaving differently.We'll revisit everything in a few weeks/months.
The hard truth - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
There's no talk about the video aspect of the camera in this review. Therefore this review is incomplete and poor.JoeDuarte - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
Note that the actual price can be well below half of MSRP if you buy directly from Samsung and trade in an older phone.I'm paying $285 instead of $849 for the S21 256 GB model. I'm trading in a Galaxy S10E. I feel like the S21 is a steal for $285.
Also, Samsung is on Rakuten with 10% off, so I'm getting $28.50 back. So now we're down to $256.50.
I'm getting a "$100 Samsung credit" as well, but I haven't looked into that. I guess it's for the Samsung store? Maybe I can get some earbuds or something.
I posted a screenshot of the deal/order here: https://imgur.com/a/7iPWqw6
I'm not clear on their statement math, but the bottom line is that I got the phone for just over $250. (I think they assessed sales tax on the full list price of the phone though – I'm not sure if that's normal or locale-specific.)
ottonis - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
First of all, many thanks for this huge test/review! Really very informative and useful information.However, is there test planned on the video capabilities of these phones?
flyingpants265 - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
no headphone jack = no buy, it's an open and obvious conspiracy to make billions in revenue from crappy wireless headphones.no front speakers = no buy, I don't care if most people don't notice the difference, how the hell can you purposefully make subpar products for ~14 years straight? Front stereo speakers are obviously superior, you can listen to youtube in landscape mode or use a small kickstand, you can use the phone with a gamepad, and get full sound without having to mess with bluetooth, headphones, or the crappy sidefiring speaker which isn't even close, stop making excuses.
Also, all phones should be 100% rated for underwater use. Obviously the battery should be replaceable when it starts to degrade. Again, it doesn't benefit a manufacturer to make an indestructible phone. But it would be a great idea for any company with low market share.
Android royally sucks. We're ~14 years in or something now, SoCs have increased in power and have 12GB RAM, but they still can't do the very basics of what I could do with Windows 98SE or 2000, namely, have multiple windows open/loaded into RAM and switch between them instantly. Press alt-tab on your computer a few times and tell me how long that takes. Compare that to phone "app switching" and phone "keyboard lag". The OS and apps are poorly written, there is no excuse for that. Removing features, garbage obfuscated slow UI. Crap.
Of course this is just the beginning. Every single day, humanity just makes excuses for mediocrity and ends up getting screwed by billion-dollar companies. At least if I'm going to have a $1000 brainwashing/tracking device, I want it to be designed properly. And yes, I could do better on all accounts. There's a giant hole in the market for an... ACTUAL GOOD PHONE.