- Jun 16, 2007
- 3,102
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The new Galaxy S21 series was announced today. I'm still soaking in all the information. I dumped some specs below for comparison.
Some things that popped out to me.
* Updated Look and Colors
The new look is cool. I like the colors, but wish there was a blue option. The camera module looks cool, but wish we could have a camera that didn't make the phone wobble on a table.
* No MicroSD or Charger
I was surprised Samsung has dropped the microSD slot for all of their flagship phones. Not a deal breaker, but definitely disappointing news.
Also the power brick is removed. Samsung showed video of people rescuing sea turtles as justification. It didn't make me feel better.
* Lower prices with Sacrifices
All three phones now have a $200 cheaper starting price from last years S20 series. But the S21 and S21+ have some sacrifices from last year to lower the price tag.
- S21 and S21+ both have only 1080p displays. This might not be a noticeable sacrifice though since the S20 from last year could only run 120Hz at 1080p and most people chose that over 1440p at 60Hz. But I would have liked to see at least the S21+ get the 1440p at 120Hz display that the S21 Ultra has.
- S21 has another sacrifice, the back is plastic instead of glass. However the trade off is plastic is lighter and more durable, so I still don't think that's much of a sacrifice.
- S21+ also loses the 12GB memory option that the S20+ last year had.
* 1440p at 120Hz Finally (S21 Ultra Only)
The S21 Ultra finally gets that long awaited display that can run 1440p and 120Hz at the same time. Also it uses an adaptive refresh rate, so it'll run between 10Hz and 120Hz depending on the need.
* S21 Ultra supports S PEN
The S21 Ultra also supports the S Pen. The pen is not included and there is no storage slot for the pen (but some cases with include a pen slot). Also looks like there will be a larger pen size made available to use with this phone since the pen doesn't need to be tiny to fit inside it like the Note series. Cool feature, but for me I know if the pen doesn't store inside a device then I'll almost never use it.
I think Samsung did a great job balancing things out between the three price ranges. I don't see any duds like Samsung has had in the past. Like last year the Note 20 was a joke option compared to the Note 20 Ultra and the S20 Ultra was just way overpriced last year, while this year the S21 Ultra looks like a great option.
Some things that popped out to me.
* Updated Look and Colors
The new look is cool. I like the colors, but wish there was a blue option. The camera module looks cool, but wish we could have a camera that didn't make the phone wobble on a table.
* No MicroSD or Charger
I was surprised Samsung has dropped the microSD slot for all of their flagship phones. Not a deal breaker, but definitely disappointing news.
Also the power brick is removed. Samsung showed video of people rescuing sea turtles as justification. It didn't make me feel better.
* Lower prices with Sacrifices
All three phones now have a $200 cheaper starting price from last years S20 series. But the S21 and S21+ have some sacrifices from last year to lower the price tag.
- S21 and S21+ both have only 1080p displays. This might not be a noticeable sacrifice though since the S20 from last year could only run 120Hz at 1080p and most people chose that over 1440p at 60Hz. But I would have liked to see at least the S21+ get the 1440p at 120Hz display that the S21 Ultra has.
- S21 has another sacrifice, the back is plastic instead of glass. However the trade off is plastic is lighter and more durable, so I still don't think that's much of a sacrifice.
- S21+ also loses the 12GB memory option that the S20+ last year had.
* 1440p at 120Hz Finally (S21 Ultra Only)
The S21 Ultra finally gets that long awaited display that can run 1440p and 120Hz at the same time. Also it uses an adaptive refresh rate, so it'll run between 10Hz and 120Hz depending on the need.
* S21 Ultra supports S PEN
The S21 Ultra also supports the S Pen. The pen is not included and there is no storage slot for the pen (but some cases with include a pen slot). Also looks like there will be a larger pen size made available to use with this phone since the pen doesn't need to be tiny to fit inside it like the Note series. Cool feature, but for me I know if the pen doesn't store inside a device then I'll almost never use it.
I think Samsung did a great job balancing things out between the three price ranges. I don't see any duds like Samsung has had in the past. Like last year the Note 20 was a joke option compared to the Note 20 Ultra and the S20 Ultra was just way overpriced last year, while this year the S21 Ultra looks like a great option.
| Galaxy S21 | Galaxy S21+ | Galaxy S21 Ultra |
| 6.2" 1080p adaptive 120Hz AMOLED display | 6.7" 1080 adaptive 120 Hz AMOLED display | 6.8" 1440p adaptive 120Hz AMOLED display |
| Snapdragon 888 | Snapdragon 888 | Snapdragon 888 |
| 8GB memory | 8GB memory | 12GB or 16GB memory |
| 128GB or 256GB storage | 128GB or 256GB storage | 128GB, 256GB, or 512GB storage |
| Wide angle, Ultra wide angle, telephoto camera rear cameras and front camera | Wide-angle, Ultra wide-angle, telephoto camera rear cameras and front camera | Wide-angle, Ultra wide-angle, 3x telephoto, 10x telephoto, Laser autofocus |
| 4000 mAh battery | 4800 mAh battery | 5000 mAh battery |
| Matte polycarbonate (plastic) back | Matte glass back | Matte glass back |
| Gray, white, violet, pink | Black, silver, violet, pink, gold, red | Black, silver, titanium, navy, brown |
| $800 starting price | $1,000 starting price | $1,200 starting price |
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