Is it possible to recover the incomplete combustion of the previous model?
I touched Samsung's latest and top-of-the-line smartphone, the Galaxy S21 Ultra. With the addition of a sleek new design, four rear cameras, unique new features, and S-pen support for the first time in the S series, the price has been reduced by more than 20,000 yen.
What is the power of a full-spec smartphone that brings out all of the power of the Galaxy!?
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
What is this? : Samsung 2021 premium model.
Price: $ 1,200 (about 125,000 yen, Japanese release price undecided).
Likes: Gorilla Glass 7 front and back, 10x optical zoom camera, long battery life, 120Hz display, large & fast fingerprint sensor, first S-pen support in the S series.
What I don't like: Needs a bit more storage, 4K and 8K videos are often too sharp, no microSD card slot, no headphone jack, not cheap.
The first thing you notice is the difference in design. The rear camera has no bulges, and the lens is made of metal instead of glass, making it more durable. The reason why we used Gorilla Glass 7 on both sides is to ensure both the appearance and strength, but the black matte finish on the back is impressive. I don't know if I really spent that much time choosing it, but it has a presence that reminds me of the SR-71 Blackbird and Batmobile. Of course, you can also choose white if you prefer.
Next is the screen, the colors are just like a dream. I feel like I've been shown once again that Samsung is the world's best mobile display. The 40MP selfie camera has a small punch hole in the middle. The 3,200 x 1,440, 6.8-inch OLED display curves gently toward the edges.
The best thing is that it supports variable refresh rate! The S20 Ultra and Note20 Ultra supported this for the first time, but the S21 Ultra expanded the variable range from 60 to 120 Hz to 10 to 120 Hz. When viewing still photos, the pace is automatically reduced to 10Hz, so you don't waste your battery.
When watching videos, the frame rate of each video fits perfectly, and when playing games, you can play at 120Hz. But what surprised me the most was just browsing the web. I realized the power of the variable refresh rate (VRR) that everything is so smooth with a high refresh rate.
If the best display conditions are sharpness and responsiveness, I can't think of a smartphone that can beat the S21 Ultra's image quality and refresh rate. High-end models already have 120Hz screens, and without them, you can't compete. More confident than ever.
Another noteworthy point is that it now supports the S pen like the Galaxy Note. Since it is an option, there is no slot on the main body of the smartphone, but there is a case with a pen slot that is sold separately. With this, you can finally draw and take notes with a pen on the Galaxy S series (although it will take some time to support it, so I couldn't try it).
The S21 Ultra has an on-screen fingerprint sensor that is 1.7 times larger than the S20 Ultra and much faster. It's not talked about much, but it's a nice place to be. The in-display fingerprint sensor is often said to be better on the back, but that's not the case with the S21 Ultra. Today, when face recognition is out due to corona, it is very helpful. Every time I go out, I think I'm glad I had this.
The US market model S21 Ultra has a built-in Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 with 12GB/15GB of RAM and 128GB/256GB/512GB of storage.
The microSD card slot has been removed from all models of the Galaxy S series this year. Some people may say goodbye to Samsung, but it's the same as removing the headphone jack, and the entire smartphone industry is moving in that direction right now.
My biggest gripe is, "Then get 256GB instead of 128GB! You can't expand it with a microSD!" I wonder if it's a salvation. Other premium smartphones usually cost twice as much.
Although it can't compete with the iPhone 12's A14 chip (Geekbench 5's multi-core CPU bench result is 3,614 vs. 4,261, the iPhone 12 Pro Max wins), but the S21 Ultra During use, I did not feel that the processing was slow. Apple's latest chip is theoretically better, but this is the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. There is no blind spot no matter what you do.
And after all, the S21 Ultra's biggest weapon is the rear quad camera. This is configured like this:
< class="emphasis" >・108MP main camera
・12MP ultra-wide-angle camera
・3x optical zoom
・10x optical zoom
If you thought "space zoom" was stupid PR, the S21 Ultra is a space zoom, no joke. Putting aside the question of 100x zoom for the time being (there's no point in digital processing because you can increase the magnification as much as you want), 3x and 10x zooms are really convenient. The defensive range expanded at once.
If you increase the magnification by 10x and aim at the cityscape of New York, the Empire State Building 6-7km away will be sharp and clear. You don't even need a tripod if you use the new zoom lock function (AI-based image stabilization). The all-purpose telephoto zoom is the appeal of digital cameras and mirrorless cameras, but it feels like it's the first mobile that has a feeling of use similar to that. I became more and more depressed. Even when compared with the 3x optical zoom, which has a lower magnification, the image quality is superior to the 3x super-resolution zoom by Pixel 5's software processing.
Furthermore, the S21 Ultra is equipped with a laser AF sensor, which eliminates out-of-focus blur. Samsung is generally known for its more yellowish photo processing than the Pixel 5, but the S21 Ultra felt more true to the raw colors I saw with the naked eye. What surprised me the most was the night mode. There were a few shots that beat Google's Night Sight mode. For example, the 9th Kaonashi yarn below is much clearer than the Pixel 5.
In modes other than telephoto, the S21 Ultra has improved processing performance. Single Take lets you take slow-mo footage and snaps at up to 10fps with one tap (vs. 2-3fps last year), and the portrait mode is much better than the previous lackluster Live Focus. In director mode, you can also display your face in the corner like a celebrity like this (2:50-). If you concentrate too much on taking pictures, your face will soon protrude out of the frame, but once you get used to it, you'll learn how to keep it always in.
8K video recording is also possible, and high-resolution photos can be extracted from the video. Well, 4K and 8K are too sharp, and moire (interference fringes)-like stripes sometimes appear in the video.
S21 Ultra has a large capacity battery of 5,000mAh, so the battery life is the longest among all Galaxy S smartphones. In the video viewing test, I got a good result of 16 hours and 45 minutes. Only the Moto Edge+ (17 hours 18 minutes) and the Asus ROG Phone 3 with a 6,000mAh monster battery (16 hours 56 minutes) beat it in last year's test.
It's a pity that the microSD card slot has disappeared, but the Galaxy S21 Ultra has the best screen, maximum magnification (highly practical) telephoto zoom, It is a smartphone with an in-display fingerprint sensor with excellent sensitivity. It's more than 20,000 yen cheaper than last year's Ultra, and 10,000 yen cheaper than the Ultra Brothers Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Considering wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, enhanced photo processing performance, convenient camera mode, future-oriented UWB (Ultra Wide Band) support, etc. Yes, I felt that reality was finally catching up with Samsung's big words.
It may be a little better in processing performance, but the iPhone 12 Pro Max can't ignore this.
Corrected [2021/01/28] Fixed a typo