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
System Performance
Following our more in-depth review of the SoCs powering the S21 family, today we’re focusing more on the general system performance and user experience. In many instances, this aspect of a device is defined by the software making good use of the available hardware capabilities more than the actual hardware itself.
In the PCMark results, both the Exynos and Snapdragon S21 Ultras showcase massively impressive results. While the Snapdragon 888 variant of the S21 isn’t all that much of a massive upgrade compared to the Snapdragon 865 powered S20 series phones, the new Exynos 2100 S21’s are very much leaving its predecessors far behind.
The web-browsing tests are showcasing similar results, with the Snapdragon S21’s showcasing smaller generational boosts, while the Exynos S21 sees massive performance uplifts.
General Performance - Outstanding
In general, the performance of the new Galaxy S21 series this year is nothing short of outstanding. In terms of software optimisations and general responsiveness of the devices, they’re practically perfect, and essentially the way the phones now behave is as optimal as can be achieved whilst still remaining reasonable with every-day power efficiency.
While the 120Hz mode last year came at a great cost in power efficiency, and I even personally opted to use 60Hz in everyday usage because of that, the new adaptive refresh rate displays on the S21 series, particularly the superior implementation on the S21 Ultra, means that most people will be able to enjoy this highly user-experience augmenting feature without any major drawbacks this year.
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maxnix - Thursday, February 25, 2021 - link
Like no charger nor cable, let alone no high speed charger because you already have one, right?iphonebestgamephone - Thursday, February 25, 2021 - link
What right?iphonebestgamephone - Thursday, February 25, 2021 - link
Just saying, when i use a case its just for drop protection. If it protects from scratches or prevents other stuff getting scratched, then is that bad? Wjats with the 'already have' thing?Maxpower27 - Monday, February 22, 2021 - link
Counterpoint: no, it doesn't.TwoMetreBill - Monday, February 22, 2021 - link
Jewelry is the most important characteristic of a smartphone.Kangal - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
Shine bright like a diamond........apparently Samsung think consumers care most about the Ads for the phone.
rrinker - Tuesday, February 23, 2021 - link
Sadly, far too many consumers do. They have no idea what they are buying, only that it is the newest thing, bright and shiny, and has more megapixels.UltraWide - Monday, February 22, 2021 - link
What about the macro focus issues from the S20 Ultra? Is that problem solved with the S21 Ultra?Andrei Frumusanu - Monday, February 22, 2021 - link
The camera will switch over to the ultra-wide angle for close-up macro shots since it now has auto-focus drive. I can't tell any difference in the main module.TwoMetreBill - Monday, February 22, 2021 - link
So one can't shoot closeups with the 10x (240mm FF equivalent) telephoto? I do most of my almost macro work with 200-800mm FF equivalent lenses. Shooting up close with wide angle lenses is useless for wildflowers and most insects like butterflies. Either the critters are scared away, the image is ruined with shadows or the flowers are trampled in order to get close enough.