Samsung Galaxy S21 / S21+ / S21 Ultra

[The Game 161]

That’s pretty impressive. I’m in the boat where I wish the S21 Ultra ran iOS and had the shutter speed of the iPhone.

That would be the ultimate phone right there.

Yeah thats the issue. It’s why a lot of these YouTube comparisons comparing the best iphone with the best devices android has to offer is tough to compare due to the fact it doesn’t run IOS. Ultra has to be the best overall feature packed phone out there. There really isn’t anything missing from the phone at all. Problem is to choose a phone it has to have both the hardware and software that you prefer and need.

 

[Ludatyk]

That’s pretty impressive. I’m in the boat where I wish the S21 Ultra ran iOS and had the shutter speed of the iPhone.

That would be the ultimate phone right there.

That’s interesting. I’m not so firm on the idea of an OS running on top of another competitors hardware. I’m more in favor of features being picked up.

Ultimate phone for me would be camera tech of the 12PM… iPhone video is the best and point&shoot is arguably the best as well. The screen of the Z Fold 2… I enjoy the screen real estate and on top of that I get that 120hz. Although I enjoy iOS, but I like the flexibility of Android OS… all I need is iMessage ported over.

Problem is to choose a phone it has to have both the hardware and software that you prefer and need.

That’s why I feel it’s kinda difficult to compare Android phones and iPhones, at the end of the day… the software is the major factor.

 

[mjschabow]

Yeah thats the issue. It’s why a lot of these YouTube comparisons comparing the best iphone with the best devices android has to offer is tough to compare due to the fact it doesn’t run IOS. Ultra has to be the best overall feature packed phone out there. There really isn’t anything missing from the phone at all. Problem is to choose a phone it has to have both the hardware and software that you prefer and need.

100%. Jon Rettinger does a really good job on his reviews of always mentioning this.

And that seems to be what always pulls me back. Not the “ecosystem” per se. I mean, it’s not that hard to sell your stuff. But it’s the fact that iOS organizes my life better and the way I want. As fun as Samsung is, I tend to get frustrated after a while that I’m using 2 apps for situations, having to tinker all the time. Even the camera, while it has more settings, ends up feeling so clunky when I just want to take out my phone and get a good shot.

 

[The Game 161]

100%. Jon Rettinger does a really good job on his reviews of always mentioning this.

And that seems to be what always pulls me back. Not the “ecosystem” per se. I mean, it’s not that hard to sell your stuff. But it’s the fact that iOS organizes my life better and the way I want. As fun as Samsung is, I tend to get frustrated after a while that I’m using 2 apps for situations, having to tinker all the time. Even the camera, while it has more settings, ends up feeling so clunky when I just want to take out my phone and get a good shot.

Yeah my only issue with devices that aren’t iPhones is the amount you have to go into to change how you want. More options is nice to have but sometimes not what you want for certain situations.

My issue with camera comparisons for example is the photos people compare are often just stills of buildings or water/sea e.t.c. Not what i would call what a lot would use the camera for. Most of my photos are of family/pets e.t.c

One area where ultra is great and where i think doesn’t get enough praise is the close up macro shots which are impressive.

 

[mjschabow]

Yeah my only issue with devices that aren’t iPhones is the amount you have to go into to change how you want. More options is nice to have but sometimes not what you want for certain situations.

My issue with camera comparisons for example is the photos people compare are often just stills of buildings or water/sea e.t.c. Not what i would call what a lot would use the camera for. Most of my photos are of family/pets e.t.c

One area where ultra is great and where i think doesn’t get enough praise is the close up macro shots which are impressive.

Exactly! And agreed on the Micro. I ended up buying Moment lenses and Macro was one of them just so I can reproduce that, haha.

 

[Mellofello808]

You guys need to go a longer period of time on Android. Once it has been a year or 2, you will not be able to return to the shackles of ios.

 

[The Game 161]

You guys need to go a longer period of time on Android. Once it has been a year or 2, you will not be able to return to the shackles of ios.

I can use android with iOS but never to replace iOS. Ecosystem/ Apple Watch is why

If arguably the best phone out there in the ultra can’t tempt me nothing will

 

[t1328]

I can use android with iOS but never to replace iOS. Ecosystem/ Apple Watch is why

If arguably the best phone out there in the ultra can’t tempt me nothing will

I almost, almost switched to the Fold 2. I got most of what I had in the Watch from the Samsung Watch 3. I ended up missing the simplicity of having everything work together. The iPhone, iMessage, MBP, watch, etc. But the thing that killed it for me was actually the AirPods Pro and specifically Spatial Audio. Spatial Audio is on another level altogether. Now apparently the new buds support something similar.

 

[Mellofello808]

Everything is subjective, but I personally turn off all of those continuity features. I have nothing to hide, but I share 3 mac's, and 3 ipads with my SO, and she doesn't need to be constantly bombarded with my semi raunchy work-guy friends group chats.

Basically all of my friends have migrated from using SMS anyway, and it is either FB messenger, or Telegram, both of which are multi platform, so if I wanted to have all my devices beeping in unison I could.

Every other use case I have is on a multiplatform service for cloud storage, photo back up, email etc. Even if I were using ios/mac os as my main devices, I need access from my work windows PC at all times, so I cannot use apple services.

Basically the only feature of the iPhone that's beyond reproach is the Apple watch. It's true it is far and away the best smart device on sale. However that's a pretty sad State when that's the only real positive thing that you can say on why you must keep an iPhone

 

[Awesomesince86]

Maybe it's because I don't have an Apple Watch or MacBook, but I don't get what's special about the iOS ecosystem. I have an iPad pro and frequently am an IPhone user. I like that I can easily reply from texts and stuff from my iPad but Google Messages has the same feature but through any browser rather than only one app. The rest of the ecosystem features don't impress me. icloud is absolute garbage for me because of their file system on iOS. Continuity is ok because certainly not a must have.

I will say that I understand the love for the Apple Watch. I used one briefly and it was nothing special for my use but much better than any android alternatives.

 

[Klyster]

This was kinda cool...

My takeaway is you save money on not needing lots of lenses.

Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Mirrorless Camera: Can a phone win?

A brief comparison between the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Panasonic Lumix GH4

www.phonearena.com

 

[vladi]

This was kinda cool...

My takeaway is you save money on not needing lots of lenses.

Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Mirrorless Camera: Can a phone win?

A brief comparison between the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and Panasonic Lumix GH4

www.phonearena.com

Ultrawide and telephoto on pretty much any phone are super poor ans can't come close to main sensor, they are there for convenience and marketing novelty. Ultrawide is good for video and telephoto is good for portraits if focal length is 70-80 but quality is nowhere near main sensor.

This comparison has caught me by surprised, I thought it's going to be another one of those phony iPhone vs Canon comparisons where they pick scenes that cannot show any advantage of a dedicated camera. But this comparison completely exposes Samsung HDR, addiction to saturation and artificial sharpness and blur. That sculpture shot in portrait mode is next level of cringe with faux blur, sharpen then sharpen some more and toxic blue sky. Funny thing is when you walk into BestBuy TV section all Samsung TVs have saturation and contrast cranked to eleven, i guess that works so they just went on with it across the board.

When it comes do dedicated cameras they still blow out phones big time. Cheap ZV1 kills iPhone in video by quite a margin and ZV1 video is really nothing spectacular when compared to NX80 dedicated tourist camcoder that costs only two grand. Difference is obvious by naked eye on 55 UHD TV and even more so on computer monitor once you go to edit it.

 

[t1328]

Maybe it's because I don't have an Apple Watch or MacBook, but I don't get what's special about the iOS ecosystem.

Yup. That would do it. Please keep in mind I love both Android and iOS. I’m not a fanboy. Having said that, I have used the Google Messages web browser integration with a Fold 2 and a Note 20 Plus. The key difference when you use an iPhone with an MBP are the watch, the Phone, the Airpods and the MBP and how they integrate. With the MBP, I simply don’t have to even take my phone out of my pocket. Everything from messages, to phone calls, etc shows up on the laptop, or I can glance at the watch and reject a call from there if I prefer. Every Wifi network I’ve joined or Airpods or other BT device I only need to join on one of the devices, it is then connected to all of them.

I can use the Airpods alternating between Zoom or Teams meetings and phone calls, still without taking the phone out. Then there’s the Spatial Audio I mentioned in another post with an AirPods Pro or Max with an iPad Pro. I get 5:1 surround sound without bothering others in the house.

They really make you invest in the whole ecosystem, but when you do, it makes a huge difference. Without it. It would be a very easy decision favoring a Samsung.

 

[Klyster]

Anyone had the latest update yet?

 

[Tulani]

Google's new document scanner app for Android is worth checking out

We’ve been “scanning” documents ever since they put cameras on smartphones. Taking a quick photo of a bill, receipt, contract, or any other paperwork has …

bgr.com

 

[vladi]

Google's new document scanner app for Android is worth checking out

We’ve been “scanning” documents ever since they put cameras on smartphones. Taking a quick photo of a bill, receipt, contract, or any other paperwork has …

bgr.com

Very clever! I like it! Google is the absolute leader in physical to digital recognition and contextual translation and this app is another proof of that. It's no coincidence they showcase apps abilities with a receipt as they want to snatch your buying habits

 

[vladi]

Yup. That would do it. Please keep in mind I love both Android and iOS. I’m not a fanboy. Having said that, I have used the Google Messages web browser integration with a Fold 2 and a Note 20 Plus. The key difference when you use an iPhone with an MBP are the watch, the Phone, the Airpods and the MBP and how they integrate. With the MBP, I simply don’t have to even take my phone out of my pocket. Everything from messages, to phone calls, etc shows up on the laptop, or I can glance at the watch and reject a call from there if I prefer. Every Wifi network I’ve joined or Airpods or other BT device I only need to join on one of the devices, it is then connected to all of them.

I can use the Airpods alternating between Zoom or Teams meetings and phone calls, still without taking the phone out. Then there’s the Spatial Audio I mentioned in another post with an AirPods Pro or Max with an iPad Pro. I get 5:1 surround sound without bothering others in the house.

They really make you invest in the whole ecosystem, but when you do, it makes a huge difference. Without it. It would be a very easy decision favoring a Samsung.

Microsoft has a very similar Windows to Android phone integration on Windows 10 as messages and phone calls appear instantaneously. I haven't tried it and I'm not sure if it can be done without Microsoft Android launcher on the phone but I guess it could be done since they've partnered up with Samsung.

 

[The Game 161]

Everything is subjective, but I personally turn off all of those continuity features. I have nothing to hide, but I share 3 mac's, and 3 ipads with my SO, and she doesn't need to be constantly bombarded with my semi raunchy work-guy friends group chats.

Basically all of my friends have migrated from using SMS anyway, and it is either FB messenger, or Telegram, both of which are multi platform, so if I wanted to have all my devices beeping in unison I could.

Every other use case I have is on a multiplatform service for cloud storage, photo back up, email etc. Even if I were using ios/mac os as my main devices, I need access from my work windows PC at all times, so I cannot use apple services.

Basically the only feature of the iPhone that's beyond reproach is the Apple watch. It's true it is far and away the best smart device on sale. However that's a pretty sad State when that's the only real positive thing that you can say on why you must keep an iPhone

I wouldn’t say it’s just down to the Apple Watch. For me I just prefer the software on iOS over android and obviously love the hardware on android. Apple Watch is massive reason why I have the iPhone as my daily but overall I prefer social media apps on iOS and do feel the apps are better and more polished. I don’t use Snapchat but apps like Twitter, Instagram, tik tok are just simply better on the iPhone and of course the whole house has Apple devices so competing with activity rings daily and sharing albums through iCloud is also another massive positive to iOS.

 

[mjschabow]

I wouldn’t say it’s just down to the Apple Watch. For me I just prefer the software on iOS over android and obviously love the hardware on android. Apple Watch is massive reason why I have the iPhone as my daily but overall I prefer social media apps on iOS and do feel the apps are better and more polished. I don’t use Snapchat but apps like Twitter, Instagram, tik tok are just simply better on the iPhone and of course the whole house has Apple devices so competing with activity rings daily and sharing albums through iCloud is also another massive positive to iOS.

Yep pretty much me here too. It's not being "Stuck" in the Ecosystem. I actually broke out of the Ecosystem just fine. It's really not that hard to do. But after 2 months on Samsung, I just finally decided that I just missed the polish of iOS and since switching back, it's already made my life easier, plus the app tracking and screen time controls for my daughter.

But as I said before, if there was a way I could stay in the Apple Ecosystem and have the S21 Ultra running iOS, I'd choose that phone in a second.

 

[Ludatyk]

Microsoft has a very similar Windows to Android phone integration on Windows 10 as messages and phone calls appear instantaneously. I haven't tried it and I'm not sure if it can be done without Microsoft Android launcher on the phone but I guess it could be done since they've partnered up with Samsung.

Yeah, I think Microsoft is partnering up with Samsung to bring some seamless integration between Android and Windows. And it kind of makes sense… since Apple has a tight control over iOS and macOS. But your right, you don‘t need a Microsoft Android Launcher to get the benefits of phone integration on Windows. Just need a compatible Galaxy phone.

 

[The Game 161]

Yep pretty much me here too. It's not being "Stuck" in the Ecosystem. I actually broke out of the Ecosystem just fine. It's really not that hard to do. But after 2 months on Samsung, I just finally decided that I just missed the polish of iOS and since switching back, it's already made my life easier, plus the app tracking and screen time controls for my daughter.

But as I said before, if there was a way I could stay in the Apple Ecosystem and have the S21 Ultra running iOS, I'd choose that phone in a second.

Agreed the s21 ultra is A great phone. Get tempted everyday to pick one up and I know I will love it as it’s not replacing my iPhone but with it. Just can’t justify the cost and trying to balance it using both in similar ways. Very tempting though

 

[Tulani]

Samsung created a whole Hulu series that’s sponcon for the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G

Contestants compete to be “America’s best mobile photographer.”

www.theverge.com

 

[SteveJUAE]

Yeah, I think Microsoft is partnering up with Samsung to bring some seamless integration between Android and Windows. And it kind of makes sense… since Apple has a tight control over iOS and macOS. But your right, you don‘t need a Microsoft Android Launcher to get the benefits of phone integration on Windows. Just need a compatible Galaxy phone.

Correct this old chat about integration between laptop and phone etc is largely trivia differences now between Iphone/Mac vs Android/W10

As usual with a W10 and Samsung combo you have more options and choices over IPhone and Mac but Apple do seem to make it easier in some respects

Link to windows and your phone app just gets stronger and stronger and works both ways ie you can run your phone apps from your laptop etc or have you phone apps on your laptop without the need to have a Apple ARM based laptop

This is before we even think about DEX options too and pros of Onedrive over Icloud or Office integration

 

[t1328]

Correct this old chat about integration between laptop and phone etc is largely trivia differences now between Iphone/Mac vs Android/W10

As usual with a W10 and Samsung combo you have more options and choices over IPhone and Mac but Apple do seem to make it easier in some respects

Link to windows and your phone app just gets stronger and stronger and works both ways ie you can run your phone apps from your laptop etc or have you phone apps on your laptop without the need to have a Apple ARM based laptop

This is before we even think about DEX options too and pros of Onedrive over Icloud or Office integration

I tried Microsoft’s integration with the Fold 2, and also tried Dex. At the time I had a Dell XPS 17 plus my MBP for work. Microsoft’s integration is through an app called Your Phone. It is very buggy, at the moment. I’m sure they’ll improve it over time. But for example right now, the handover between the phone and the computer is broken. So if I get a call and I pick it up on my phone while the Your Phone app is open, audio automatically switches to the computer instead of the phone. In fact I cannot pick up a call on the Fold 2 if I’m anywhere near the XPS without Bluetooth distance.

By contrast, on the Mac. I’m given an option of where I want to pick up the call, and it stays on that device.

Dex is very nice in many ways, and particularly if you travel a lot and go somewhere with just a BT keyboard and mouse where you may already have a TV in your hotel room. You can literally use the phone like a relatively good Office editing laptop.

But it’s not yet built as a good replacement for separate apps for messages, phone calls, photos etc. It’s more akin to opening a virtual machine with your phone in it on your desktop. Sure there is a lot you can do with it, but it requires a lot of fidgeting and it doesn’t filter noise out. So you end up getting every notification that’s enabled on the phone bothering you on your laptop. It works the same way on the Mac btw.

So these two options sound similar, but they’re not yet there. I hope they will be. Microsoft has a very good reason to improve the Your Phone experience, and it has already improved dramatically from when it was launched. But Apple does the whole thing as one closed off company. So they have the advantage of developing the entire integration themselves.

 

[Shanghaichica]

Samsung created a whole Hulu series that’s sponcon for the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G

Contestants compete to be “America’s best mobile photographer.”

www.theverge.com

I would love to watch this if I had Hulu in the UK.