Samsung Galaxy Unpacked reaction: The S21 family

Samsung unpacked 2021 has finished and with it several products have been announced, the most important of those products being the phones. The S21, S21+, and S21 ultra are the 2021 Samsung flagships and most flagships usually bring a certain formula, specs, camera, signature screen, and some type of software gimmick or standout feature for taste. The S21 series was one of the more interesting announcements from unpacked, in this first reaction I'll go over the specs, features, and tradeoffs, along with my initial reactions. Let's get started. 

S21 Ultra 

I want to start with the main event, the S21 Ultra. The S21 series bring out an innovative design that helps to streamline the monstrosity of a phone that is the S21 Ultra. The design includes a gorilla glass back and front with an aluminum frame, it also molds the camera bump into the frame making it feel less like a bump and more like an extension of the frame. All phones are also IP68 water and dust resistant giving it more protection from the elements of the world. It also allows for some cool color combinations such as Phantom titanium, Phantom silver, and Phantom Navy, to name a few, with all finishes across the lineup in matte coating. It also has support for mm wave and sub-6 5G, as I've said before I really don't think it's a big deal at this point so I will decline to comment further. For some hands-on here's some videos I've embedded from MKBHD, The Verge, and Android Central.  

 
 

The S21 Ultra brings a Snapdragon 888 in the US and an Exynos 2100 in the rest of the world, I've already done a reaction on the 888 and I'll include the link at the bottom of the page. The storage has been downgraded with 12GB-16GB of RAM and up to 512GB of storage with no MicroSD card or any other way to expand storage. Not much of a problem with the advances of cloud storage but do make sure you get enough RAM and storage if you do buy the Ultra. These basic specs do give it an edge above its siblings bringing up to 2 times the RAM and storage along with a bigger screen. Speaking of that screen let's talk about it.  

 

Image Credit: Android Central

Image Credit: Android Central

The screen is whopping 6.8-inch Quad HD+ AMOLED panel with a 120Hz refresh rate, that 120Hz is also now available at full resolution meaning that you can burn your battery like never before. I'm only joking but the battery life is liable to be awful at full resolution and 120Hz, there's only so much the Ultra's 5,000 mAh battery can handle. Biometrics include a new ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner to open your phone with your fingerprint. I also want to mention that Samsung is finally minimizing the curved edges of earlier phones with visible side bezel and exceedingly small curves in the screen, in the hands-on from several sources you can see for yourself.  

 
 

Image Credit: The Verge

This screen also includes a digitizer to become the only S-series phone to support an S pen, specifically the new standalone S pen and S pen Pro. The S pen will cost $40 with the Pro variants price being unknown for now. the available S pen will not support air gestures or Bluetooth integration such as with the Note series, the S pen pro promises to add that functionality to the S21 Ultra. The Ultra doesn't have a spot to stow the S pen, that's why you can buy two variants of cases that provide a spot for the pen to stay at the expense of extra thickness and width added to the device. This might be the first "Ultra" besides space zoom and it makes sense, adding an optional S pen helps set the stage for eventual Note replacement while allowing some to grab an S pen without having to buy a Note.  

 
 

The cameras are also an interesting part of the S21 Ultra with a 108MP primary sensor, 12 MP ultra-wide, 10MP 3x telephoto and 10MP 10x telephoto and uses both sensors data for space zoom, and a 40MP selfie camera. The S20 Ultra suffered from severe autofocus issues due to its high megapixel main camera, the S21 Ultra has fixed that issue all while improving their pixel binning technology to allow that 108MP sensor to output 12MP images, although you can always shoot in full 108MP whenever you want. The ultra-wide is a basic ultra-wide with the degree to which it can zoom out is yet to be shared. The dual-telephoto cameras provide increased optical zoom and higher quality 100x zoom, AKA space zoom. As for video the S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra can all record in 4K 60FPS and 8K at 30FPS, there are some other features such as director mode that allows you to switch between lenses mid-film.  

 

Image Credit: Android Authority

Overall cameras have improved and although there are potential issues with the high megapixels but I'm confident that with the S21 Ultra Samsung will continue its camera ventures and continue to be in 3rd, behind the Pixel and the iPhone, unless Samsung has made some sweeping changes, I don't see the bracket changing anytime soon. The S21 Ultra will be available on 29th at the starting price of $1,199. 

 

S21+ and S21

The S21 and S21+ are somewhat different phones from their Ultra brother but their still every bit of the high-end as before. They follow the same design language with the S21+ having a glass back, glass front, and aluminum frame. The S21 has a plastic polycarbonate back, with a glass front, and aluminum frame. Quick note, all S21 models will support wireless charging, so no need to worry about the plastic back of the S21, both are also IP68 water and dust resistant. They also come with unique color combinations such as Phantom violet, Phantom Gold, and Phantom black with other colors also available on both S21 and S21+. Another quick note is the omission of millimeter wave on the base S21 with the S21+ supporting mmWave and Sub-6 just like the Ultra. Here are some hands-on from The Verge and MKBHD in video format. 

The Specs stay relatively the same as the Ultra with the difference being RAM and Storage, up to 8GB of RAM with up to 256GB of storage, with no MicroSD card support either. Omitting it here leaves some people with only 256GB of local storage, an oversight from Samsung.  The screens continue to impress with the S21 bringing a 6.2-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate, unlike the Ultra both the S21 and S21+ cannot go to full resolution with the panel at full resolution. The S21+ brings a 6.7-inch Full HD+ Dynamic AMOLED with a 120Hz refresh rate.  With both screens being ridiculously detailed and the S21+ being only slightly smaller than its Ultra brother, as with the Ultra both phones have ultrasonic fingerprint scanners for biometric security. The battery for both models will also vary but should be good enough for most with a 4,000 mAh battery on the S21 and a 4,800 mAh battery on the S21+.  

 
 

Image Credit: The Verge

 
 

The cameras are identical on each model with a 12MP primary, 12MP ultra-wide, 10MP selfie cam, and 64MP telephoto. These not only make for a neat camera housing but also for a classic 3-lens array. As for video you'll get 4K at 60FPS and 8K at 30FPS, as far as that resolution goes, I just don't think it'll make difference as long as Apple continues to dominate for video, let's hope Samsung can make a difference in that department.  You may have noticed the lowered RAM and storage along with the plastic back of the S21, these compromises are to allow for new $799 and $999 price tags for the S21 and S21+. This allows for more accessibility for these phones, I really do love Samsung's new FE philosophy that allows for some compromises for a lower price. The S21 and S21+ will be available on January 29th for $799 for the S21 and $999 for the S21+. 

 

My thoughts

Honestly, I feel that Samsung is doing ok with the S21 series keeping the best from the S series while introducing new features such the S Pen support in the S21 Ultra. I can't wait to see the coming reviews and tests to see just how good these phones are.  

 
 

There were some other announcements as well such as the Galaxy Buds pros, I'll react in a separate post along with some other CES-related news.  

 

Best, 

BenTechCoder

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