The New Phone Thread

[Gally]

Possibly the most comprehensive "review" so far of the S21 Ultra. David is always independent and accurate in my experience also.

Everyone seems to have raved about it. The 3x camera is the one that really frames things like a DSLR and it seems so sharp. Very impressed.

 

[Gally]

Wouldn't be a review period without the man himself...

 

[sburrell93]

Went ahead and pre-ordered the S21 Ultra 256GB yesterday. 5G, 100GB, unlimited minutes/texts for £43 a month with £35 up front after my trade in with Vodafone. Seemed a good deal.

Excited for Friday now. Bit unsure about the size of it coming from an S10 but I'm sure I'll get used to it...

 

[Gally]

The shape of it really helps mate. Will feel twice the size from a 10. My missus is going 10+ to s21 ultra and even she thinks it will be big.

Your retinas are in for a treat. The s21 now has the best display on any smartphone.

 

[BIFCAIDS]

Went ahead and pre-ordered the S21 Ultra 256GB yesterday. 5G, 100GB, unlimited minutes/texts for £43 a month with £35 up front after my trade in with Vodafone. Seemed a good deal.

Excited for Friday now. Bit unsure about the size of it coming from an S10 but I'm sure I'll get used to it...

Jealous, I have to wait till the 15th of Feb for mine due to the colour.

 

[-Jamie-]

Probably gonna upgrade in March to a 21 Ultra from my S20, forgot I have an annual upgrade option with my current contract on new Samsung


Not that there's anything wrong with the S20 now, other than the s**t fingerprint scanner and not being able to have Full resolution and refresh rate at the same time

 

[Andy_con]

 

[sburrell93]

Got my Ultra yesterday, impressed so far. Not had much of a chance to test out the camera other than around the house but the optical zoom is pretty cool. The screen is awesome. The adaptive refresh rate thing makes it so smooth. Not even moved above HD resolution yet but it somehow still looks better than my S10 did on WQHD with a smaller screen. SPen is kinda cool but I'll probably never use it in practice (tried my tablet's SPen with it).

Battery seems great so far too. Off charge about 9 this morning and have been on it loads and it's still at 30% now.

It's notably bigger and heavier than my S10 was, but I'm getting used to it quick. S10 feels about the same size as a Nokia 5210 in my hand now 😂

 

[Gally]

The cameras are insane. Utterly insane. Some of the shots this thing is taking at 10x just blows the mind.

It is big. My phone is only just over a year old note 10+ and the s21u feels like a different level.
The photo processing on the new phones are what will set these apart. I said this back in January...



Fair play Samsung. It’s the first phone I’ve ever considered over the note range. Missus is super pleased with it.

Oh and to give some kudos to the camera. Read this article on the moon shots. Dslr? Madness.

Is Samsung's Galaxy S21 Ultra using AI to fake detailed Moon photos?

I never expected to go this deep down the rabbit hole. With so many conspiracy theories surrounding the Galaxy S21's 100x zoom, I found myself taking on the most unexpected investigation of my tech reviewing career.

www.inputmag.com

 

[-Jamie-]

Camera is a game changer

 

[Gally]

Not quite. Love the design and hello qhd+ 120hz screen. Undefeated again. Over 1000 nits of brightness! 😂

Latest test...

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

Interesting article on the moon shot. Only had a very quick glance over it but it is clear that the guy using the Sony camera can't actually use a camera. It's a superb camera and will get much better moon shots than what was posted, even without the editing. Hell, even my 7 year old battered Canon and lens can get better than that.

Bloody impressive from a phone though.

 

[Andy_con]

I note the new Samsung does not have a memory card slot and other companies may start doing the same thing.

Rather than have to pay out a monthly fee for cloud storage is there something you could easily setup at home?

 

[Ay Ay Ron]

I had a quick look at the prices of the 21 ultra on 02. Eye watering for 24 months.
not sure I could spunk close to £70pm on a phone and contract anymore. I used to think £50 was too much.

I pay £20pm for 100gb on SIM only. Is the phone really worth £1400 over two years?

 

[treemanx]

I had a quick look at the prices of the 21 ultra on 02. Eye watering for 24 months.
not sure I could spunk close to £70pm on a phone and contract anymore. I used to think £50 was too much.

I pay £20pm for 100gb on SIM only. Is the phone really worth £1400 over two years?

And that's exactly why I won't be getting it. You can get an O2 sim contract for £8 per month (10gb data). That and the phone is underwhelming to me. Will ride out a sim contract and just buy a flagship outright if any decent ones come out.

Sent from my SM-G973F using Tapatalk

 

[sburrell93]

I note the new Samsung does not have a memory card slot and other companies may start doing the same thing.

Rather than have to pay out a monthly fee for cloud storage is there something you could easily setup at home?

You can get USB-C memory card readers. Plug it into the bottom of the phone and transfer photos etc off onto a memory card as and when you like. I bought one when I done the North Coast 500 for getting the videos off my GoPro onto my phone and it worked a treat. Imagine it'd work just as well the other way round.

I had a quick look at the prices of the 21 ultra on 02. Eye watering for 24 months.
not sure I could spunk close to £70pm on a phone and contract anymore. I used to think £50 was too much.

I pay £20pm for 100gb on SIM only. Is the phone really worth £1400 over two years?

I kind of agree with this. If I hadn't got the deal I did at £43 a month there was not a hope in hell I'm paying 70/80 quid a month on a phone. Companies are starting to rip the piss a bit with the overall costs too. I'm sure some of Vodafone's unlimited data contracts worked out like £1700+ all in over 24 months.

On saying the above...come back to me tomorrow when my trade in arrives back with Carphone Warehouse and they inevitably tell me my near perfect condition S10 has got 3 sides missing and the back is cracked in 47.9 pieces and my great deal turns out f**king terrible when I get zero for my trade in 😂

 

[Gally]

SanDisk Memory, Devices & Accessories – Buy Online | MyMemory

SanDisk is a leading supplier of memory cards including SanDisk SD Cards, SanDisk Ultra II, SanDisk Cruzer Blade and SanDisk Memory Stick Duo

www.mymemory.co.uk

For removing and transferring files. It's easy to say buy bigger storage but cloud storage is cheap.

Fwiw I save everything on my phone between card and phone. I have a 1tb card in mine just now. That will all change soon! 512gb probably enough.

It's easier to cloud store without having an SD card attached also. Backs up easier.

 

[sburrell93]

Mega impressed with the battery in this phone. Off charge yesterday morning about 8am and I've only just plugged it back in. 7 hours screen time including a bit of Spotify use in the background and stuff.

Seems like Samsung may finally have sorted out the shitty battery life on exynos models. The fact it's a 5000mah battery probably helps too lol.

 

[imprezaworks]

Battery on my p20 pro is ace. I struggled with the 11 battery

 

[dann2707]

Wonder if I can trade in my s20 for it. Got it march last year.

 

[Gally]

The trade ins were epic from Samsung this year, offered my missus over 500 for her s10+ but it was a contract upgrade she had anyway.

Some of the note 10+ trad in prices were silly against the ultra and still offered buds etc free.

Camera has really surprised me aswell as battery. Exynous since they moved nm size have upped their game.

 

[-Jamie-]

Mad they would only give 450 for an S20 Ultra

 

[Gally]

Did you see some of the screenshots online? Some guys were getting 650 for some phones. Was mental. There were a few articles about it also.

 

[Crayola]

I have an S9+ and theyre still the same price as what I paid for it over 2 years ago!!

I've been eyeing up the S21 but honestly the S9+ does everything I need, I just wish the battery could keep up with how much I use the thing😂

 

[Andy_con]

Mega impressed with the battery in this phone. Off charge yesterday morning about 8am and I've only just plugged it back in. 7 hours screen time including a bit of Spotify use in the background and stuff.

Seems like Samsung may finally have sorted out the shitty battery life on exynos models. The fact it's a 5000mah battery probably helps too lol.

battery on my s20 5g is utter s**t.

 

[-Jamie-]

Did you see some of the screenshots online? Some guys were getting 650 for some phones. Was mental. There were a few articles about it also.

They seem very keen to get more people onto S21s then, I'm due an upgrade to the latest Samsung in March in my contract, never realised so hopefully they have the free watch as the gift this time as my buds barely get used

 

[Gally]

Apart from my Nespresso machine, buds plus are my most used item! I love them. The wing tip alone stops me buying another pair. I will trial my missus' ones when they come. Maybe time for an upgrade!

 

[sburrell93]

I noticed the trade in prices on the S20 series phones with carphone warehouse were actually lower than the S10 series. No idea why!

battery on my s20 5g is utter s**t.

My S10 was the same. I never ever got anything close to what it was supposed to get. Was charging twice a day by the time I got rid of it last week, sometimes more with heavy use! The S21 is absolutely miles ahead though.

 

[-Jamie-]

Apart from my Nespresso machine, buds plus are my most used item! I love them. The wing tip alone stops me buying another pair. I will trial my missus' ones when they come. Maybe time for an upgrade!

I don't tend to listen to a lot of music etc outwith the car and even then that's rare in the M3 and the daily ends up being podcasts on the hours trip to work so a watch would be more useful [emoji28]

 

[ForceIndia]

Apart from my Nespresso machine, buds plus are my most used item! I love them. The wing tip alone stops me buying another pair. I will trial my missus' ones when they come. Maybe time for an upgrade!

Sound quality has moved on significantly over the past 12 months, I do still use the buds but the sound quality isn't great compared to some pretty cheap options now out.

 

[Pistachio]

I had a look and I'm getting £300 for my S10. £25 a month for 3 years. Or £25 a month for 2 years with the upgrade program and a new phone in 12 months. I'd be tempted if I was going with Samsung again.

Can anyone with an S21 say if the notifications issues are the same?

 

[sburrell93]

I had a look and I'm getting £300 for my S10. £25 a month for 3 years. Or £25 a month for 2 years with the upgrade program and a new phone in 12 months. I'd be tempted if I was going with Samsung again.

Can anyone with an S21 say if the notifications issues are the same?

What issues mate? I've not noticed anything funny on mines so far anyway.

 

[Pistachio]

What issues mate? I've not noticed anything funny on mines so far anyway.

It's an issue with samsung/android in general that has affected S8, S9, S10, S20's where notifications don't light up the screen consistently. They flick on for half a second then the screen goes off. Edge lighting doesn't always work. For me geo fencing rarely works either. So smart lock can't be used reliably

 

[BIFCAIDS]

Got a notification today from Samsung saying my phone was nearly ready and will be shipped for The 15th wooo. However, I get the buds pro and smart tag on Monday.

Im dubious about the buds after watching Dank Pods review of the previous ones, I have a feeling my £100 Sony bins are gonna be better than £220 buds but we will see, at least they were free.

 

[sburrell93]

It's an issue with samsung/android in general that has affected S8, S9, S10, S20's where notifications don't light up the screen consistently. They flick on for half a second then the screen goes off. Edge lighting doesn't always work. For me geo fencing rarely works either. So smart lock can't be used reliably

I've not seen any issues with edge lighting so far but it's never something I've looked for tbf. I think I've seen what you're on about on my S10 previously. I hardly pay attention to notifications mind you and my phone is almost always on silent/DND apart from calls or messages from a few select contacts.

Have you tried Bixby routines rather than smart lock? I use it regularly to keep my phone unlocked when I'm connected to certain WiFi networks (home, work) or Bluetooth devices (in the car) and it's never let me down. Much more reliable than geo-fencing IME.

 

[sburrell93]

Has anyone had experience of claiming their free gift from Samsung (for earphones or anything) on previous releases like the S20, and know how long it usually takes to receive them?

I claimed for my buds pro and the smart tag thing on release day last week and the claim only just got approved this morning and says it could be up to 45 days to get them now!

 

[-Jamie-]

Mine showed up a couple weeks after the claim, No email or anything just turned up at the door lol

 

[Gally]

Always had them about 30 days later roughly. Never not received the item in fairness.

 

[Pistachio]

I've not seen any issues with edge lighting so far but it's never something I've looked for tbf. I think I've seen what you're on about on my S10 previously. I hardly pay attention to notifications mind you and my phone is almost always on silent/DND apart from calls or messages from a few select contacts.

Have you tried Bixby routines rather than smart lock? I use it regularly to keep my phone unlocked when I'm connected to certain WiFi networks (home, work) or Bluetooth devices (in the car) and it's never let me down. Much more reliable than geo-fencing IME.

No I've never used bixby really. I'll need to try that cheers.

My phone was on DND last night and a WhatsApp text lit up the edge lighting. Don't really understand that

 

[Gally]

Bixby routines is one of the best things on any phone ever! Google it!