Ultra size goodness for everyday use
Introduction
Back few month ago, Samsung has introduce the new Galaxy S series 2021 line ups that is targeted towards serious premium users with budget above RM3000. The S Series is also being known for fitting enthusiast flagship users usage with great performance without compromises. This follow-up further enhances a few hardware upgrades compared to the last year S Series product. Lets look at the new Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and lets all find out what it can do in this review.
So as a start, this year’s Galaxy S series comes in 2 models, the Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra all of the mentioned models does come with flagship range equipped Exynos 2100 SOC, the notable difference are the screen sizes, memory configurations and the camera sensors used. So no matter with model variant that you choose, you will still get the same S series experience. Do take note that certain countries also offer the Qualcomm Snapdragon variant, particularly in the Europe and US regions.
Design
The Galaxy S series is built similarly across all 2021 S series which made of hard plastic at the back with chromed color matching on the sides and buttons. The back part of the phone is completely in plastic, but the material feel is smooth, giving an elegant feel for a flagship phone. On the camera side, Samsung gave it a new island design fitting in all quad lenses, sensor and the flash. Overall the color blend pretty well. I personally love the Black color which looks sleek, the color is really refreshing and fitting the youth targeted audience with the latest SOC and camera enhancements.
Continuing on the black color on the camera design, the same color applies to the side of the phone and the bottom/top part as well. The bottom of the phone you will spot the speaker, one USB C port and the dual SIM tray with the microphone, while on the top there is 2 more unit of microphone. This ensures good call quality and loud speaker enjoyment. No headphone jack but its a pretty normal thing for not having one.
Display
Over the display department, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is powered by a 6.8 Inch FHD+ 120Hz screen with Gorilla Glass Victus that supports HDR10+. Display is vibrant, clear, colors were display at a good accurate level. It has adaptive refresh rate display which means when the screen is sitting idle, it will run at 60FPS, once you start your browsing and work, it will automatically adjust up to 120FPS. Such performance does take a toll on the battery life, but not by much, depending on your daily usage and just a handful of games does support 120FPS gameplay.
Camera
The Galaxy Series has never fail to impress when it comes to the camera performance. The selfie images are well bright and good, and night shots works ok with its 40MP PDAF pixel sensors. Over the rear camera you have one 108MP lens, 2 sets 10MP telephoto lens and another 12MP ultra wide lens accompanied with a flash. A few shots were taken as above and the results is truly works well. A sample of 10x zoom, normal, 108MP and automatic shots taken were balance, with little noise. On video recording you get support up to 8K 24FPS, while 8K video recording has minor jittery, the video taken is really clear with little to no compromises. FHD video is awesome with stabilization features.
Performance
Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is powered by the Exynos 2100, 256GB of internal storage and 8GB RAM. Call quality is excellent whether its a 3G call or even via VOLTE, WoWIFI option is available as well when enabled, delivering crystal clear voice quality. 5G connectivity will be the highlight of this phone, when any of the local telco launches 5G, the Galaxy S21 Ultra will get it as well, ensuring blazing fast speed for multimedia and streaming. Over to WiFi, the S21 has WiFi 6 built-in, test at my home AC based router gave me a blazing over 1.1GBPS local speed, if you have a WiFi 6 router, you will be able to take all the advantages without issues.
Over to the gaming side, this phone is a solid performer, PUBG is one of games that runs on 120FPS maximum, during the test there it takes it quite smooth with very little drop on frame. Other games such as Shadowguns supports it as well over optimal framerate without stutters. 60FPS games such as Mobile Legends and Genshin Impact runs well, specifically on Genshin Impact, it is still a very graphically intensive game, but the S21 takes it up with occasional frame drops, just set all to medium settings and its a good to go on your Tevyat adventures.
Benchmark performance exceeds most expectations, delivering impressive numbers as shown above. Such score is very comparable with the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888. While it is just a synthetic score, if you are currently using an older Snapdragon or coming from a Samsung Galaxy S9 or 10 series, this is a worthy upgrade.
Battery performance wise, you will get around 9 hours of it, a mix of calls, surfing, email, streaming, and a few Mobile Legends matches. Turn on the battery saving mode under 20% will get you around extra 2 hours of conservative usage. While it is known that the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G does not come with a charger, you can always get any third party compatible PD charger. An 18w charger will charge up the phone in slightly less than 3 hours from empty to 100%.
Specifications
| Processor | Exynos 2100 5nm SOC |
| Graphic | Mali-G78 MP14 |
| Display | 6.8 inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 1440 x 3200 HDR10+ 120Hz |
| Camera | Rear : 108 MP, f/1.8, 24mm (wide), 1/1.33″, 0.8µm, PDAF, Laser AF, OIS 10 MP, f/4.9, 240mm (periscope telephoto), 1/3.24″, 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS, 10x optical zoom 10 MP, f/2.4, 70mm (telephoto), 1/3.24″, 1.22µm, dual pixel PDAF, OIS 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm (ultrawide), 1/2.55″, 1.4µm, dual pixel PDAF, Super Steady video Front : 40 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.8″, 0.7µm, PDAF |
| RAM | 12GB LPDDR5 |
| Storage | 256GB UFS 3.1 |
| Battery | 5000mAh with PD fast charging |
| OS + UI | Android 11 + ONE UI Ver 3.0 with GMS |
| Price | RM4999 |
Conclusion
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is definitely a great device for those who look for a fresh new device in 2021, or for those who wanted to upgrade from the previous device. This year 5G is definitely a major topic too among tech lovers waiting for every local Telco to launch the services and this is the phone that you might want to get. Other than that this phone comes with Samsung DeX which acts as a desktop on your larger display, or just mirror it on your existing PC/Laptop/Mac and continue the work and productivity at your office or home. At RM4999, its mid higher tier pricing is reasonable given the fact alone that you are actually paying for a premium SOC that also ensures at least 1 version of Android upgrade.
Pros
- 120Hz Refresh Rate Display
- Has reverse charging
- Excellent performance
- Good display contrast
Cons
- No MicroSD Card Slot
- Plastic back/rear
- Quite heavy
- Plastic back/rear