2021 is finally here, and with the arrival of the new year, comes the arrival of new gadgets. Every year, Samsung is usually the first one through the door when it comes to launching smartphones, and even this time, it is no different. Today, the South Korean tech giant launched its latest flagship-the S21, in an online event.
Starting from the top, the lineup includes three phones: S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra. While the first two have a lot of similarities (to the point that they might just be the same phone in different sizes), the S21 Ultra is clearly the ‘Apple’ of Samsung’s eye, and has received significant features that make it stand out from its siblings.
The Samsung S21 Ultra is the only one of the trio that comes with a curved display, and will measure 6.8″ diagonally. In contrast, S21 and S21+ are both set to have flat displays, coming in at 6.2″ and 6.7″ respectively.
While the curved display is a distinction rather than an advantage, Samsung has made sure that ‘Ultra’ stands true to its name, and have a little edge over the other phones in the lineup. The S21 Ultra is the only one of the S21 family to have a 1440p+ resolution. Moreover, it is the only S21 model that has overcome the limitation of its predecessor, and offers 120Hz refresh rate at Ultra resolution. Compare this to S21 and S21+, which only offer this higher refresh rate at 1080p (since 1440p+ is not available on these phones), and the difference in performance is obvious.
S21 and S21+ both boast a triple camera setup at the back, inspired by its predecessor S20. This means that both devices come with 12-megapixel ultrawide lens, 12-megapixel wide camera and 64-megapixel telephoto lens with 30x space zoom.
However, Samsung went all out with the S21 Ultra, which comes with 5 cameras on the back. Apart from bumping up the number of the S21 and S21+’s cameras to 12-megapixel ultra-wide and 108-megapixel wide, the S21 Ultra also has a 10x optical magnification and a new 3x telephoto camera.
However, this does not mean that any of these devices are a pushover by any means. All three S21 variants come with Snapdragon 888 or the new Exynos 2100, depending upon the location of the device. These are the best chipsets available in the market right now, and thus, no matter what model you choose, performance should not be an issue for you.
That being said, S21 Ultra comes with an overkill 16 GB RAM (which is same as my top of the line gaming CPU) and 512 GB secondary storage. S21 and S21+, in contrast, boast 8 GB of RAM (which I feel like is enough for a smartphone) and allow users to choose from 128 GB or 256 GB of storage.
The S21 comes with 4,000 mAh battery, while the S21 has 4,800 mAh, both of which can be charged by a 25W charger. However, the S21 Ultra comes with 5,000 mAh battery, and is supported by 45 W charging.
If it’s already not clear that Samsung wants you to shell out more money for the S21 Ultra, maybe this will change your mind-S21 Ultra comes with support for S Pen. That’s right, for the first time ever, a S lineup device will be able to make use of the S Pen, Samsung’s trademark technology. However, the phone will not come with the Pen in the box, and users who wish to get it will have to buy one separately.
Talking about what’s coming in the box, Samsung has decided to not include a charger in its packaging after all, following the precedent set by Apple during the iPhone 12 launch.
The S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra are priced at $799, $999 and $1,119 respectively, all of which are a $200 drop off from last year’s S20 variants. Pre order start today, with shipping starting from January 29.
