The best smartphone from Samsung is here and it’s the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. It’s a proper upgrade from the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra as the smartphone has fixed most of the problems that we encountered on the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra including better performance and the auto-focus camera. So the question still remains, is the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G a good smartphone? Or should we skip it? Check it out in our review below:
Design and hardware
Without a doubt, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Series 5G is one of the best-looking smartphones in the market right now. At the front, we got here a large 6.8” Dynamic AMOLED 2X display which is really vivid, and a 2.5D glass while at the back, we got here a premium matte glass back which is the best matte glass that I’ve seen but of course, the smartphone is still slippery so I still suggest that you use a case when you use this smartphone. As for the camera module, it has a new design that is unique to the smartphone series. It has a contour-cut camera that looks like it merged to the sides of the smartphone. It does look cool and unique and honestly, it does look a lot better compared to the previous generation. However, the camera module is too thick but it’s way better than the Note20 and also the Galaxy S20 smartphones.
As for the thickness, the smartphone comes with a thicker design compared to its brothers but it feels just right in the hand and also in the pocket but again, the smartphone is still slippery to the hand so better use a case for this one.
As for the ports, we only got here the USB-C port which is capable of 25W Charging and of course, there’s wireless charging support on this one in case you don’t want to charge your smartphone with wires. For the speakers, I can definitely tell you that I’m really happy with how loud and clear the speakers are and it’s definitely good for listening to your Spotify playlist or even watching on Netflix
As expected, the smartphone comes with 5G inside, and in our usage of the smartphone, we get to experience speeds of up to 300Mbps via Smart 5G and it’s very amazing as I can download and stream in 4K without hiccups on the smartphone.
A really good display
One of the reasons why you should go for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G over the other Galaxy S21 smartphones is the Dynamic AMOLED 2X display of the smartphone with a Quad HD+ resolution. It also comes with a 120Hz refresh rate that automatically adjusts depending on what the smartphone needs so you can save more battery on the smartphone. The quality? It’s excellent. The colors are really good and whatever way you look at it, it’s vivid, bright, and it’s a perfect display for a smartphone.
Another cool addition to the display of the smartphone is the support for S-Pen
There’s no curved display on this smartphone but man, the bezels on this one is just amazingly thin so it still does look great for me. Since this is AMOLED, the blacks are really good the colors are perfect on this one. The brightness? It’s really great too. Definitely one of the best smartphones displays out there.
Improved battery
For the battery, the smartphone comes with a 5000mAh battery and also comes with 25W fast charging which is lagging behind some other flagship smartphones that have 3x faster charging. Nonetheless, it was just fine for me as I can get 9 hours and 43 minutes on PC Mark which is better than I expected since most Exynos smartphones aren’t like that before. In my real-life usage, the battery has improved and it can last up to a day of usage.
Software
Just like before, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G uses OneUI and this time, it’s based on Android 11. Well, it’s still good. It’s fast, swift, and it’s very user-friendly. The UI of the smartphone is as good as before and it’s not a problem at all. It’s still smooth as expected and of course, there are the other Samsung applications that come preinstalled on this one including the Galaxy Store and Samsung members.
Better thermals, better performance
One of the things that were improved in the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is their usage of the Exynos 2100 chipset. It’s a big change from the previous generation as it offers better cores which will give you better cores and better thermals. In my review, I noticed that the smartphone’s Exynos 2100 has improved and it was cooler in my normal usage.
In terms of performance, unfortunately, the smartphone still lags behind the Snapdragon 865 but it’s still a pretty good one for a flagship smartphone. Check out the results that we got on the smartphone:
Surprisingly, it went better than I expected thanks to their usage of the ARM Cortex cores instead of their own Mongoose cores but I hope that Samsung can still improve their Exynos processors in their next generation.
As for gaming, it has also improved as the smartphone can get better results in our Gamebench results. In our test, we didn’t have any problems running PUBG Mobile on the smartphone unlike the previous Exynos processor and our results in Genshin Impact has definitely exceeded my expectations but of course, it’s still not a perfect processor. Check out our gaming review of the smartphone below:
Great camera
The camera of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G has been improved too and just like the predecessor it comes with a 100x space zoom. As for the camera, we got here a 108MP main camera along with 12MP ultrawide lens and two telephoto lens which enables us to do 100x space zoom. And I was surprised that the 100x zoom has a drastic improvement on the smartphone and of course, the 108MP main camera now has better quality and the autofocus issue has now been fixed. The smartphone can still shoot at 8K however we’re still fixed at 24fps. And for the selfies, we got here a 40MP main camera that performs really well even at lowlight conditions.
As you can see in the shots, the quality was really fine and the colors were really good. I also noticed that the contrasts has improved too and also the dynamic range of my shots whether I use the main camera or the ultrawide camera of the smartphone.
Actually, I’ve used the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G in some of my shots and videos and they can definitely replace my camera in some of my usage.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is definitely a flagship smartphone that you would love. It’s what the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G should’ve been. It’s a beautiful smartphone with all the features that you want and need for its price. It features a really great and premium design, the camera was awesome, and display is excellent. The smartphone’s processor might’ve improved but it’s not a perfect one but it has definitely improved from the previous generation.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is now available in the Philippines and you can get it for Php69,990.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G Specs
- 6.8-inch WQHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x Display 120hz refresh rate
- Exynos 2100 Processor
- 12GB/16GB RAM
- 256GB/512GB Internal storage
- 108MP wide lens + 12MP Ultra wide lens + 10MP Telephoto lens + 10MP Telephoto lens
- 10MP Selfie camera
- In-display fingerprint scanner
- IP68 water and dust resistant
- 25W Super Fast Charging
- 5000mAh battery
- OneUI 3 based on Android 11
