Galaxy S21 Thread

Are you picking up the Samsung Galaxy S21?

  • Total voters
    43
Poll needs a "Not sure yet" and/or "waiting for deal" option, as I may be able to get one 50% off and will be buying one that way if so.

Not sure between the S21+ or Ultra yet, depends on the camera quality differences and if I can tolerate how large the Ultra is, since I really don't want a phone much larger than my current 2 XL that barely fits in my current bike mount (with a slimish TPU case) and hand comfortably. If only the Ultra was the same size as the 21+ or Samsung would stop with the stupid feature parities between the smaller and oversized phones; they should just all be the same sans battery and display sizes IMO. Esp. now that their even downgrading the displays on the smaller phones without cutting their cost much, if at all, over the previous models (the only reason their cheaper this year again is because the 5G modem is built into the SD 888 SoC now, where it wasn't on the SD 865 SoC). Never mind them not including the charger anymore either.
 
Not picking one up, but that's because I already got a Note 20 Ultra 512 GB last year and will instead be looking at their 2022 or 2023 offerings.

However, the S21 Ultra marks the first time I would consider a Galaxy S model going forward, because they actually bothered to add the Wacom EMR digitizer required for the S Pen to work - but they also quietly removed MST and all incentive to use Samsung Pay with it (perhaps I should go buy an old Gear S3 to work around this), removed the microSD slot and didn't even bother giving us a slot for the UFS memory cards they're finally selling after teasing 'em back in 2016, and it's generally just leaving me concerned about Samsung's future direction in flagship smartphones.

It remains to be seen whether the S Ultra and Note Ultra, for all intents and purposes, combine in future releases. It'll definitely make phone shopping a little easier in that the S lineup was always the mainstream one, and the Note was rather niche in comparison.
 
I don't really see any reason to upgrade from my Huawei P30 just yet. The lack of memory card slot is annoying and it remains to be seen how well the Exynos 2100 performs this time.
 
Most likely getting the S21 Ultra. Getting tired of Apple’s shenanigans. It has pen support, but it’s not the full blown features of the Note. Has anyone heard if they’re making a new Note?
 
Looks like they'll give me $250 for my S8 if I pre-order so I'm considering doing that. $550 for the S21 isn't bad. Not quite as good as the $425 I paid for the S8 when trading in my S6, but decent.
 
The S21 looks to be the phone to get of the bunch. But I am in the camp of I no longer care about having the best phone/newest chipset. I want to see the 400-500$ range heat up from the big carriers
 
*Note - I was going to pull the trigger....and the price for my trade in was $350....I guess it doesn't update until you click on the statement regarding the condition of your phone to be all good. so now the total is $759.99....ugh....saving is $490...probably keep old phone...lol*



Well right now Samsung is offering $700 trade in for your old phone, I have an s9+ that is normally worth $350 trade-in, but they're offering $700 for the time being. If you're with AT&T they are offering an additional $100 off. If your company is part of ticketsatwork.com there's an additional discount of like up to 67'ish dollars.

So right now I can, and probably will, order S21 Ultra for $427.49, for the 256mb version (the 512 isn't part of the AT&T -$100.00 - but both the 128 and 256 are).

I'm just debating if I want that Samsung Care + package as well....hmmm...

1611506380615.png


I have edited this post a few times...LoL - forgot to mention that you also get $200 for accessories....not too shabby?
 
Last edited:
I picked up a Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G as an upgrade from my Pixel 4XL. The last Samsung phone I had was my Galaxy Note 7 that I had to send back because of the battery recall.

I have only had the phone for a couple of days so far, but I am pretty happy with this phone compared to my Pixel 4XL. Build quality is insane compared to the Pixel 4XL I had that had the back glass peeling off... It feels great in the hand and the camera bump actually gives a nice place to rest your finger for a secure grip on the phone. The camera lenses are recessed under the camera bump making it less likely that you will smudge them by accident with your fingers, best design I have seen to date. The matte black is also my idea of perfect aesthetically and functionally since it seems to resist fingerprints pretty well.

It seems like Samsung has really polished their software experience a lot since my Note 7. Performance is great and so far other than them trying to steer you to a few apps here or there, the added features they have don't get in the way and some are actually useful. They even include Google Messages, out of the box and it is the default messaging app on the home screen. RCS messaging worked perfectly right out of the box. Very happy to see that.

Cameras seem fine to me. Admittedly it is a bit overwhelming with so many choices when taking photos, but I do like options so...

Speakers are solid with no noticeable vibrations or distortion, even while on speaker phone. More than decent enough for phone speakers.

I ended up buying a Galaxy watch 3 at the same time. I have been using a Fossil Sport, mostly for notifications more than anything. That thing basically never got me through a day before going dead unless I disabled the tilt to wake gesture which is unacceptable to me for a watch. This Galaxy watch 3 is SOOOO much easier to read, battery life seems to go down by 20%-25% / day, meaning battery life is no issue and the included watch faces even have second hands and second counters, that is a HUGE deal to me. There were only a couple pre-loaded options on my fossil watch and 3rd party watch faces decimated the battery life even more... Integration between the watch and phone, as expected is excellent. There is even an included speakerphone function which works surprisingly well and allows you to toggle back and forth from the watch to the phone as needed. I can even use the wireless power share to charge it from the phone which eliminates the need to bring a special charging cable with me when I am away from home. I'm way happier with this purchase than I expected to be to be honest.
 
Canon said:
I picked up a Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G as an upgrade from my Pixel 4XL. The last Samsung phone I had was my Galaxy Note 7 that I had to send back because of the battery recall.

I have only had the phone for a couple of days so far, but I am pretty happy with this phone compared to my Pixel 4XL. Build quality is insane compared to the Pixel 4XL I had that had the back glass peeling off... It feels great in the hand and the camera bump actually gives a nice place to rest your finger for a secure grip on the phone. The camera lenses are recessed under the camera bump making it less likely that you will smudge them by accident with your fingers, best design I have seen to date. The matte black is also my idea of perfect aesthetically and functionally since it seems to resist fingerprints pretty well.

It seems like Samsung has really polished their software experience a lot since my Note 7. Performance is great and so far other than them trying to steer you to a few apps here or there, the added features they have don't get in the way and some are actually useful. They even include Google Messages, out of the box and it is the default messaging app on the home screen. RCS messaging worked perfectly right out of the box. Very happy to see that.

Cameras seem fine to me. Admittedly it is a bit overwhelming with so many choices when taking photos, but I do like options so...

Speakers are solid with no noticeable vibrations or distortion, even while on speaker phone. More than decent enough for phone speakers.

I ended up buying a Galaxy watch 3 at the same time. I have been using a Fossil Sport, mostly for notifications more than anything. That thing basically never got me through a day before going dead unless I disabled the tilt to wake gesture which is unacceptable to me for a watch. This Galaxy watch 3 is SOOOO much easier to read, battery life seems to go down by 20%-25% / day, meaning battery life is no issue and the included watch faces even have second hands and second counters, that is a HUGE deal to me. There were only a couple pre-loaded options on my fossil watch and 3rd party watch faces decimated the battery life even more... Integration between the watch and phone, as expected is excellent. There is even an included speakerphone function which works surprisingly well and allows you to toggle back and forth from the watch to the phone as needed. I can even use the wireless power share to charge it from the phone which eliminates the need to bring a special charging cable with me when I am away from home. I'm way happier with this purchase than I expected to be to be honest.
Click to expand...
Glad it's going well. It seems like Samsung is taking some lessons to heart, even if it's still in full Samsung mode in some areas (gimmicks aplenty, focusing more on specs than experience).

The Galaxy Watch 3 is probably the best smartwatch for Android devices, full stop... although I'd say that's as much a commentary on the sad state of Wear OS as anything. I maintain that Google has no idea how to support Android on anything that isn't a phone, and that usually means letting a platform languish. My theory is that Google has a Microsoft-circa-Steve-Ballmer mindset where it expects to dominate categories merely by showing up, and has no idea what to do when Samsung, Apple and others kick its ass.
 
Just picked up a S21 Ultra - there's a 50% off accessories deal so I was able to get a Tab S7+ for a great price along with it. Pumped to get it!
 
Jinxycat said:
Just picked up a S21 Ultra - there's a 50% off accessories deal so I was able to get a Tab S7+ for a great price along with it. Pumped to get it!
Click to expand...
That S7+ is a sweet tablet with a gorgeous screen. I tried one, but returned it because I still preferred my iPad Pro.
 
Commander Shepard said:
That S7+ is a sweet tablet with a gorgeous screen. I tried one, but returned it because I still preferred my iPad Pro.
Click to expand...
Great to know, thanks. I'm looking forward to it - it's been a while since I had a fully capable tablet.

Any feedback on the new Galaxy Buds Pro? I have the Buds + and I sold my Buds Live (not for me) - wondering how the Pro version is.
 
Got the S21 ultra with the Canadian trade in deal on my S9. 64GB was getting too small. I got the 512gb since 256gb was OOS. It came back in stock right after I confirmed purchase.

So far everything's been good. The only annoying thing is the uneven back with the camera pod. The phones fits in the hand better than expected considering the size.
 
Secretweapon said:
Got the S21 ultra with the Canadian trade in deal on my S9. 64GB was getting too small. I got the 512gb since 256gb was OOS. It came back in stock right after I confirmed purchase.

So far everything's been good. The only annoying thing is the uneven back with the camera pod. The phones fits in the hand better than expected considering the size.
Click to expand...
Gotta like having eight times the space. I've only used half the space on my 256GB iPhone; 512GB is practically a bottomless pit unless you record a lot of video or insist on local storage for everything.
 
Yea I can't see myself ever using that much space. Then again I have friends who are up to 380GB on their 512 models. Lots of kids/family videos eats up the space fast.
 

Attachments

  • Screenshot_20210227-200457_Google.jpg
    Screenshot_20210227-200457_Google.jpg
    57.8 KB · Views: 0
Just received a Galaxy S21 Plus, Phantom Black. $175 after trade in of my Note 20 directly through Samsung.

Happy with the phone so far. It's definitely fast and the resolution is just fine for me. I've yet to check out several features but so far it is working good.

The one thing I am very happy about is the 5G reception. Much better than the Note 20.
 
I got the phantom black S21 Ultra @ best buy for $849 with no trade in. Phone is huge.. by far the largest phone i've owned. Previous phone was a OnePlus 6. Getting used to the sides.. hate the curved edges but at least they are minor compared to years past. Cameras are amazing.. honestly this is the reason I got the phone, I wanted the best cameras you can find in a non apple phone. I don't really have 5G in my area yet so it's not a big deal to me as of now. Battery life is very good so far, I swore off Samsung years ago but here I am.. back for another round. So far the bloat does not seem as excessive as in the past.. not really pushing Bixby or whatever that much. I like that there is a lot more Google integration and support out of the box for most if not all google services vs. samsung. I typically keep phones for the long haul so this one seems worthy so far.
 
jbean7457 said:
I got the phantom black S21 Ultra @ best buy for $849 with no trade in. Phone is huge.. by far the largest phone i've owned. Previous phone was a OnePlus 6. Getting used to the sides.. hate the curved edges but at least they are minor compared to years past. Cameras are amazing.. honestly this is the reason I got the phone, I wanted the best cameras you can find in a non apple phone. I don't really have 5G in my area yet so it's not a big deal to me as of now. Battery life is very good so far, I swore off Samsung years ago but here I am.. back for another round. So far the bloat does not seem as excessive as in the past.. not really pushing Bixby or whatever that much. I like that there is a lot more Google integration and support out of the box for most if not all google services vs. samsung. I typically keep phones for the long haul so this one seems worthy so far.
Click to expand...

Samsung has definitely been much better-behaved as of late. In part because Google can hold it over a barrel, I'm sure, but it might also reflect a realization that it was being duplicative with little effect. That Samsung still hasn't released the Galaxy Home (and probably won't ever, at this rate) three years later says a lot about the company's changing attitude toward its software features.

As I like to tell people, the S21 Ultra would be my go-to phone if I had to switch from Apple. I love mobile photography, and it doesn't get much more powerful than this on the Android side.
 
Agreed, the bloat is significantly less than any other previous samsung phone i've used
 
I've taken some amazing photos with my S21+ as of late & I'm thoroughly impressed with it. Probably my favorite phone so far (minus the lack of an sd card slot).
 
I wonder if S22 will have the graphene battery finally. Would buy the S21, but I'd feel stupid when a graphene model strikes next year, as I tend to keep my phones for 5 years at least.
 
Very tempting as my IP7 is having tons of issues. But the rumored under-screen camera for S22 is too good to pass up as I really really really despise notch and punch hole cameras.
 
Just bought my wife her mother's day present, a S21+ plus open box lol. This thing should absolutely destroy her old Note 9 right? 😅
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top