Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra

[animalx]

God the battery drain on the s21 ultra is insane.

Yesterday I was at work, outside of the wifi zone, so my phone was on 5G. I was listening to podcasts while I was busy, but didn't turn on the screen for a few hours.

It dropped 50% in battery by mid afternoon just sitting on a table.

Did you look to see what was draining it?

 

[Dave245]

If both watches show difference in the fitness results, how do you know the Apple Watch is more accurate?

Genuinely curious and I’m an Apple Watch 6 user, so hoping you’re right.

Because I have a specific running route and I know the mileage. The Galaxy Watch 3 has cut off sections of the route, where as the Apple Watch hasn’t.

 

[Mellofello808]

Did you look to see what was draining it?

It didn't say. It said that pocket casts drained a few%, but didn't explain the crazy drain.

 

[animalx]

It didn't say. It said that pocket casts drained a few%, but didn't explain the crazy drain.

You wouldn't happen to be running Facebook would you?

 

[gilverx]

The S21U is definitely better, still early for me, but I’d say 20-25% longer. My mini has been surprisingly decent! The 12 mini is starting to feel like a keeper to me.

I see. Definitely s21u is better, just wanted to know to what extend. 25% more for double sized battery doesn’t seem really much though.

yeah, my mini has been getting 5-6+ hours of SOT (my s9+ had trouble getting 3 hours of SOT) Really liking the portability.

 

[Robbosan]

Surely the Ultra battery life would be twice as good as the mini, it’s Apples smallest budget new design phone.
An embarrassment if it’s not.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Surely the Ultra battery life would be twice as good as the mini, it’s Apples smallest budget new design phone.
An embarrassment if it’s not.

Is the 12 pro Max’s battery twice as good as the mini’s?

 

[Robbosan]

Is the 12 pro Max’s battery twice as good as the mini’s?

Should be yeah, it’s way more than 25% better, how is your ultra going?

 

[Shanghaichica]

Should be yeah, it’s way more than 25% better, how is your ultra going?

Have the 12 pro max...

 

[Klyster]

Does the iphone mini have a 120hz 1440p screen?

 

[Robbosan]

Have the 12 pro max...

Well get a mini and test it out then, the poster above was saying their ultra is only 25% better than their mini. Guess they should know.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Well get a mini and test it out then, the poster above was saying their ultra is only 25% better than their mini. Guess they should know.

Not interested in the mini it’s too small.

 

[Shanghaichica]

As Flossy says scumbag zoom in action here:

https://www.reddit.com/r/S21Ultra/comments/llsaol

 

[mjschabow]

Because I have a specific running route and I know the mileage. The Galaxy Watch 3 has cut off sections of the route, where as the Apple Watch hasn’t.

Not sure what the deal is but I've had the complete opposite experience. I have the same running routine and I've seen less than a tenth of an mile variance between the Apple Watch and Galaxy Watch Active 2.

 

[nospleen]

I see. Definitely s21u is better, just wanted to know to what extend. 25% more for double sized battery doesn’t seem really much though.

yeah, my mini has been getting 5-6+ hours of SOT (my s9+ had trouble getting 3 hours of SOT) Really liking the portability.

Yep, I get about 6 on my mini and 7-7.5 on the s21U.

For the other comments below, I certainly didn’t expect it to be twice as good. The larger, high refresh screen, more ram will eat some battery. The s21u has excellent battery life.

 

[ratdog07067]

Question, probably mostly applicable to those in the US. Which app are you using for SMS/texting. I'm still using an iPad for now,along with a Windows laptop. I'm on Verizon, and tried using the Verizon Messages+ app. It works OK, but for some reason I cannot get it to play nice with the mute connected phone option in the Wearable app. My phone buzzes (and it's a long buzz) when I get a text message even when I'm wearing my watch (Active2). There is an app for the iPad as well, so that helps.

The native Messages app is pretty nice except there's no way to interact with messages on the iPad. The watch integration is nice.

Google Messages is OK, and I can access it from the web, so can send/receive from the iPad.

I'm pretty sure no one I know will switch to a new app just to chat with me so Signal, WhatsApp, etc. are probably not in the equation.

 

[Ludatyk]

Question, probably mostly applicable to those in the US. Which app are you using for SMS/texting. I'm still using an iPad for now,along with a Windows laptop.

Umm.. I think I'm a rare case. I use iPad for iMessage, most of my family and friends use iMessage... so that's been my main source of exchanging messages.
In cases I text... I use Samsung Messages, I would prefer to use Google Messages for RCS purposes. But I like the tablet UI of Samsung Messages with my Fold2. If Google Messages supported tablet UI, I'll switch quickly. But then again... I hardly use text to exchange messages.

 

[5105973]

I’ve just been catching up on all the reading here. It’s been super busy here so I haven’t gotten to fully settle in despite using the S21 Ultra as my main phone most of the time.

And by settling in, I mean I haven’t been organizing my apps and widgets any particular way. My husband is sealing up my pink S20 at this very moment. It is time to bid it safe travels to Samsung for my $700 credit. I will miss the color very much and the perfect display. It didn’t have any pwm detectable to my eyes. But I had a major frustration with the fingerprint sensor and I wasn’t in love with the camera performance, either.

I am very content with my S21 Ultra. While I will greatly miss that perfect pink shade of the S20, I’ve had a blast admiring this very awesome shade of black. And from what I can see silver is a stunner, too. All of their colors turned out great this year.

I use iMessage on my Apple devices so I haven’t had to face the issue of finding an acceptable substitute. In a pinch I just use the built in messaging system. I’ve been sharing files via email links. I am still considering my options for a messaging service/app just to know what good and viable options are out there.

I saw the discussion on wearables here. I liked my Fitbit very much. I think I stopped wearing it because the charger was designed by drunken monkeys. I liked tracking fitness on it better than on my iPhone at the time. But now just about any option can work for me. I’m in my mid 50’s with bad knees. There’s only so much activity to track.

But I prefer Apple watches overall because Apple scales them down for small women’s wrists and I am dependent on the haptic taps to notify me in advance of turns and lane changes when I’m using Apple Maps. I like the selection of bands available for Apple Watches. I like the complications better.

I currently have a 12 mini and 12 Pro Max and the S21 Ultra up and running constantly. I have a Pixel 3XL I don’t do much with anymore.

In my current lineup, if I had to do it all over again knowing how fabulous the S21 Ultra was going to be, if I wanted to save the money and put it to something else, then I would have just gone with the 12 Mini and the S21 Ultra as my big phone.

But with the pandemic we cut down our expenses drastically. Gasoline was a major expense living out where we do and having to go considerable distances to schools and work. The delivery systems fell apart so Christmas gifting to extended family was more modest than most years. Our local postal system seems to have evaporated. It took two months to get things that were mailed to us. 1 to 2 months for our recipients to get what we mailed to them. Some things we gave up on entirely and then they just recently showed up!

So anyway I’m happy I didn’t have to worry about picking between the 12 Pro Max and the S21 Ultra. I enjoy them both very much.

I guess the question for 2021 is what will my upgrades consist of. I don’t think I’ll upgrade the mini. I’m not sure there will even be a mini. I usually upgrade for improvements in camera and displays and modems. Modem is fine. I don’t know if camera and display are such a big factor for owning the mini. I guess if they made it so the pwm didn’t punch me in the eyes I’d go for it.

With the two bigger phones, I’m pretty happy with everything as it is, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see what the rumors are.

I have to say with these three phones I’ve had the best owner satisfaction I’ve experienced in years. And it’s a first for this to happen with both platforms simultaneously. The year I was so excited about my S9+, I found my iPhone lacking in the connectivity department. When I was happy with my Xr and my 11 Pro, I had complaints about my Samsungs.

Yes I can see little issues here and there, but nothing that makes me yearn for upgrade time the way I felt about my S20’s fingerprint sensor.

 

[mjschabow]

I’ve just been catching up on all the reading here. It’s been super busy here so I haven’t gotten to fully settle in despite using the S21 Ultra as my main phone most of the time.

And by settling in, I mean I haven’t been organizing my apps and widgets any particular way. My husband is sealing up my pink S20 at this very moment. It is time to bid it safe travels to Samsung for my $700 credit. I will miss the color very much and the perfect display. It didn’t have any pwm detectable to my eyes. But I had a major frustration with the fingerprint sensor and I wasn’t in love with the camera performance, either.

I am very content with my S21 Ultra. While I will greatly miss that perfect pink shade of the S20, I’ve had a blast admiring this very awesome shade of black. And from what I can see silver is a stunner, too. All of their colors turned out great this year.

I use iMessage on my Apple devices so I haven’t had to face the issue of finding an acceptable substitute. In a pinch I just use the built in messaging system. I’ve been sharing files via email links. I am still considering my options for a messaging service/app just to know what good and viable options are out there.

I saw the discussion on wearables here. I liked my Fitbit very much. I think I stopped wearing it because the charger was designed by drunken monkeys. I liked tracking fitness on it better than on my iPhone at the time. But now just about any option can work for me. I’m in my mid 50’s with bad knees. There’s only so much activity to track.

But I prefer Apple watches overall because Apple scales them down for small women’s wrists and I am dependent on the haptic taps to notify me in advance of turns and lane changes when I’m using Apple Maps. I like the selection of bands available for Apple Watches. I like the complications better.

I currently have a 12 mini and 12 Pro Max and the S21 Ultra up and running constantly. I have a Pixel 3XL I don’t do much with anymore.

In my current lineup, if I had to do it all over again knowing how fabulous the S21 Ultra was going to be, if I wanted to save the money and put it to something else, then I would have just gone with the 12 Mini and the S21 Ultra as my big phone.

But with the pandemic we cut down our expenses drastically. Gasoline was a major expense living out where we do and having to go considerable distances to schools and work. The delivery systems fell apart so Christmas gifting to extended family was more modest than most years. Our local postal system seems to have evaporated. It took two months to get things that were mailed to us. 1 to 2 months for our recipients to get what we mailed to them. Some things we gave up on entirely and then they just recently showed up!

So anyway I’m happy I didn’t have to worry about picking between the 12 Pro Max and the S21 Ultra. I enjoy them both very much.

I guess the question for 2021 is what will my upgrades consist of. I don’t think I’ll upgrade the mini. I’m not sure there will even be a mini. I usually upgrade for improvements in camera and displays and modems. Modem is fine. I don’t know if camera and display are such a big factor for owning the mini. I guess if they made it so the pwm didn’t punch me in the eyes I’d go for it.

With the two bigger phones, I’m pretty happy with everything as it is, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see what the rumors are.

I have to say with these three phones I’ve had the best owner satisfaction I’ve experienced in years. And it’s a first for this to happen with both platforms simultaneously. The year I was so excited about my S9+, I found my iPhone lacking in the connectivity department. When I was happy with my Xr and my 11 Pro, I had complaints about my Samsungs.

Yes I can see little issues here and there, but nothing that makes me yearn for upgrade time the way I felt about my S20’s fingerprint sensor.

I definitely still struggle with being away from Apple's ecosystem (and still prefer it over this crazy world of endless choices) but the two main factors in sticking with this one are:

- It's simply better than any iPhone out there. The S21 Ultra is by far the best piece of tech I've ever owned.

- I don't want to deal with selling on Swappa after almost getting scammed.

 

[5105973]

My D Brand camera skins arrived! I wasn't expecting to see them this soon. I forgot I ordered so many. I got matte and leather and carbon fiber all in black. I got enough for me and my husband to use. I installed the matte. It's just stick on. I didn't need to use a blow dryer on it. It looks pretty much like the existing finish so it doesn't even look like I did anything. With the black finish on the camera bump now protected I can branch out from the two Samsung cases I have that covered the camera bump.

I am disappointed in the purple silicone case. It's really pretty and well designed but it is a dust magnet and worse, concentrates the dust around the camera lenses. I don't need that aggravation.

So I've been using my Samsung rugged case. I like it a lot but it drastically changes the look of the phone. I like the kickstand for watching videos, though.

I just installed my clear case from Casekoo and it looks nice. I think I'll stick with this combo for awhile. I just attached a pop socket to hold the phone up when I watch videos. I liked the Casekoo clear cases on my 12 mini and my 12 and 12 pro when I had those latter two. I also got one for my 12 Pro Max but it squeaked. Lol. The glitter version I got fit well, though. So I decided to give them a try for my Samsung. It came with a little phone easel to hold your phone up but I already misplaced it. I've got so many cases and stuff I need to sort through.

 

[kkh786]

Have been loving the S21 Ultra thus far no complaints bar one.. my pinky fingers on either hand are taking severe punishment due to the shear size of this beast!

This is all the more shocking as I have just moved on from 9 months of the S20 Plus!?

I'm going to give the S21 Ultra a few more days to learn to cope with it.. if not will need to contemplate downsizing again!

 

[mjschabow]

My D Brand camera skins arrived! I wasn't expecting to see them this soon. I forgot I ordered so many. I got matte and leather and carbon fiber all in black. I got enough for me and my husband to use. I installed the matte. It's just stick on. I didn't need to use a blow dryer on it. It looks pretty much like the existing finish so it doesn't even look like I did anything. With the black finish on the camera bump now protected I can branch out from the two Samsung cases I have that covered the camera bump.

I am disappointed in the purple silicone case. It's really pretty and well designed but it is a dust magnet and worse, concentrates the dust around the camera lenses. I don't need that aggravation.

So I've been using my Samsung rugged case. I like it a lot but it drastically changes the look of the phone. I like the kickstand for watching videos, though.

I just installed my clear case from Casekoo and it looks nice. I think I'll stick with this combo for awhile. I just attached a pop socket to hold the phone up when I watch videos. I liked the Casekoo clear cases on my 12 mini and my 12 and 12 pro when I had those latter two. I also got one for my 12 Pro Max but it squeaked. Lol. The glitter version I got fit well, though. So I decided to give them a try for my Samsung. It came with a little phone easel to hold your phone up but I already misplaced it. I've got so many cases and stuff I need to sort through.

I think the Rugged case is my favorite. Great grip for winter dry hands.

 

[5105973]

Have been loving the S21 Ultra thus far no complaints bar one.. my pinky fingers on either hand are taking severe punishment due to the shear size of this beast!

This is all the more shocking as I have just moved on from 9 months of the S20 Plus!?

I'm going to give the S21 Ultra a few more days to learn to cope with it.. if not will need to contemplate downsizing again!

I feel your pain. I went through that with the iPhone 12 Pro. It was so heavy! Oddly enough the 12 Pro Max solved my problem as it was so large I could grip it better and stop using my pinky finger as a shelf.

With the Ultra being narrower I was back to my bad habit but the kickstand on the S21 Ultra rugged case gave me something to grip the phone. Now on my clear case I'm using a pop socket. Once Loopy cases releases a black case for the S21 Ultra I may try that.

 

[Tulani]

Samsung's bringing some Galaxy S21 features to older phones with a software update

One UI 3.1 won't make your S20 into an S21, but you will get some of its features starting tonight

www.androidpolice.com

 

[Dave245]

At this point the Galaxy Watch 3 will definitely be going back. It keeps missing off sections of my runs, I can’t have that later in the year with the London Marathon and the upcoming training.