Should you buy the Galaxy S21 Ultra in 2023 - a comprehensive review
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A few weeks ago, a rather close relative of mine approached me with a casual request that made me question both the limits of my patience and their ability to navigate the modern technological world.
"What phone should I buy," they looked at me quizzically, expecting me to come up with a definite answer on the spot. "It needs to have a great camera, not lag at all, and be cheap, you know. Also, I don't want an iPhone, they are too complex, recommend me a Samsung, " they added. Thank goodness, this narrowed down the possible selection of phones I could recommend to a manageable amount and spared me the arduous mental gymnastics.
Embracing my inner desire to guide them through the wondrous and magnificent world of mobile technology, a task that most millenials are quite familiar with, my mind engaged inто "thinking mode", racing through our specs database and existing device reviews, trying to narrow down the selection to one or two devices at best.
My sage and slightly annoyed advice consisted of two devices the relatively new Galaxy A54 and... the aging Galaxy S21 Ultra. Yes, don't give me that look, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is still a mighty capable Samsung device, even though it's half-way through its lifecycle and would no longer be supported in two years or so. Both are now actually in the same price range
(Image credit - PhoneArena) Galaxy S21 Ultra in all its glory
Just as any prior traditional Samsung flagship, the Galaxy S21 Ultra was a large and quite powerful phone with a superb and very capable camera system, as well as excellent battery life and tons of additional hardware additions that made this one stand out among all other Android phones.
There was only one major issue. Starting at $1,199, the Galaxy S21 Ultra was one expensive morsel to swallow.
So, now that two years have passed and the phone has been twice-succeeded, bringing its price down, should one consider buying the Galaxy S21 Ultra? Although it's a device that's already half-way through its life-cycle and will no longer be supported in a couple of years, I feel that a case could be made in favor of getting one, especially if you stumble upon a killer deal.
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Galaxy S21 Ultra Specs: Still relevant in 2023?
Although the Galaxy S21 Ultra is now more than two years old, it's actually not outdated at all. Actually, that flagship is pretty much very similar to its successors of the Galaxy S flagship lineup.
In the US, the Galaxy S21 Ultra was equipped with the latest Snapdragon chipset at the time, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, which was an impressive improvement over the previous Snapdragon 865 chip as far as performance goes. In the rest of the world, the Galaxy S21 Ultra was powered by Samsung's own Exynos 2100 chip, which was built on a 5nm manufacturing process (just like the Snapdragon 888).
Moreover, with 12GB of RAM, the Galaxy S21 Ultra actually trumps both the Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra, which come with 8GB of RAM. For a flagship Android device, RAM is quite an important aspect of the hardware loadout that could greatly improve the overall performance. The same can be said about native storage: with either 128, 256, or 512GB of fast UFS3.1 memory, the Galaxy S21 Ultra was available in various versions that could fit just about any person's memory needs. Provided that they don't need a microSD card slot, of course, as the phone has none.
(Image credit - PhoneArena) Galaxy S21 Ultra had an excellent camera
The most exciting aspect of the Galaxy S21 Ultra? Make no mistake, it's always the camera system with these high-end Samsung phones, and this one is no different! If you're not getting excited about the camera, you're using it wrong!
The Galaxy S21 Ultra trotted along with Samsung's third-gen 108MP ISOCELL sensor with improved autofocus. The latter addressed the autofocusing issues that plagued the camera system in the previous Galaxy S20 Ultra. As with most previous Samsung flagships, the camera is usually the most intriguing part of the whole package, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra is no different.
Most exciting, however, was the new 10MP periscope camera with humbling 10X optical zoom, which, in concert with the 3X telephoto lens, was capable of delivering up to 100X Space Zoom. That's as exciting as it gets in the Samsung camera world, as even the newer Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra reiterate the same camera setup with mostly the same camera specs. Surely, their periscope cameras might be slightly better, but that should not take away from the Galaxy S21 Ultra's zooming prowess.
| Galaxy S21 Ultra | |
|---|---|
| Display | 6.8-inch 1-120Hz QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 (US), Exynos 2100 (ROW) |
| Memory & storage | 12GB LPDDR5 RAM + 128GB storage 12GB LPDDR5 RAM + 256GB storage 12GB LPDDR5 RAM + 512GB storage 16GB LPDDR5 RAM + 512GB storage |
| Camera | Wide: 108MP F1.8, 1/1.33" sensor, 0.8um pixel size Telephoto: 10MP F2.4 3X optical zoom, 1/3.2" sensor, 1.22um pixel size Periscope: 10MP F4.9 10X optical zoom, 1/3.2" sensor, 1.22um pixel size Ultra-wide: 12MP F2.2, 1/2.55" sensor size, 1.4um pixel size Front-facing: 40MP |
| Battery | 5,000mAh, 25W charging, 15W wireless charging |
| Software | Android 11, Android 12, Android 13 One UI 3, One UI 4, One UI 5 |
Software Updates: Time is running out
As I mentioned earlier in my preamble, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is currently at the middle of its life cycle. Having been released in early 2021 and with Samsung promising four years of major Android/One UI software updates, the Galaxy S21 Ultra will be supported until early 2025. This means that the phone is scheduled to receive Android 14 this year and Android 15 in 2024, but probably no Android 16, as the latter will probably launch in the summer of '25, or well past the phone's "expiration date".
Of course, each major Android update will arrive with a new version of Samsung's One UI software. The latter delivers a hefty amount of extra features on top of the stock Android interface, which millions of users across the globe have come to love and cherish. In fact, it wouldn't be an overstatement to say that for many people, Samsung's custom interfaces equal Android.
Moreover, the South Korean giant promised five years of security patches, which means that the phone will be as secure as it gets until 2025. This should put give you a certain peace of mind. Overall, if you want a phone that will be maintained for multiple years to come, you will have to make some compromises with the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Performance & battery life: Still capable
Aside from the S Pen support and the slightly different design, the newer phones obviously come with newer, faster, and more efficient chips. In the case of the Galaxy S23 Ultra, we are actually having a single chipset on all markets across the globe, the Snapdragon 8 Gen 2 for Galaxy chip. As one would imagine, two years in the mobile world mean a lot as far as performance comes and goes, especially when synthetic benchmarks are considered.
The same applies to battery life. Although all three devices have similarly sized 5,000mAh batteries, only the much newer Galaxy S23 Ultra has better battery life thanks to its more efficient chipset on board. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S22 Ultra lags behind thanks to the somewhat troubled Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, which had some serious teething problems and didn't live up to the hype at the time.
In the PhoneArena custom battery tests, which aim to simulate different use cases for modern phones, with their displays manually set at 200 nits, the Galaxy S21 Ultra actually surpasses its direct successor and only falls behind the Galaxy S23 Ultra when it comes to battery endurance, which is quite an achievement in itself.
Comparison versus Galaxy S22 Ultra and Galaxy S23 Ultra
(Image credit - PhoneArena) Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Galaxy S23 Ultra
Surely, the big difference between the Galaxy S21 Ultra and its successors is the S Pen stylus on board the newer phones, which sort of makes them direct descendants of the Galaxy Note flagships of old. If you've been an avid S Pen user before, getting a Galaxy S22 Ultra or Galaxy S23 Ultra would probably make much more sense, but don't be too quick to shoot down the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Samsung's 2021 flagship actually has support for Samsung's S Pen stylus, even though the accessory isn't included in the box and should be purchased separately. Samsung even sells a case with an built-in S Pen silo, which emulates that "Galaxy Note utility" for the most part, but isn't as elegant of a solution as the Galaxy S22 Ultra or the Galaxy S23 Ultra.
The Galaxy S23 Ultra comes with a much more detailed 200MP main camera, and seemingly has more software improvements in the camera department that make it one of the best camera phones available right now, but let's be real––even two years in, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is no slouch at all. In fact, it's every bit as capable as its immediate successors and will allow you to capture your cherished memories as lovely photos.
All three devices come with large 6.8-inch AMOLED displays that look excellent; however, the newer phones have slightly brighter displays, but don't scoff at the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Price comparison: Affordable at long last!
Although the Galaxy S21 Ultra started at $1,199 for the entry-level 128GB version of the phone, things couldn't be any different in mid-2023.
In fact, although you can't get the phone from the official Samsung sources anymore, a quick scour of Amazon reveals that you might actually find the aging flagship for less than $400. Quite a steal, obviously, but have in mind that we're talking about a pre-owned devices here.
You might usually find the phone at Best Buy as well, usually below $500 as well, although the single listing on the online store was sold out at the time of writing (mid-June 2023). Of course, we are talking about a pre-owned device here as well. Don't expect to find an brand-new, unopened box with a pristine Galaxy S21 Ultra; some sacrifices have to be made.
| Phone | Price |
|---|---|
| Galaxy S21 Ultra (second-hand, renewed, or refurbished) | $375-$500 |
| Galaxy S22 Ultra | $949.99 |
| Galaxy S23 Ultra | $1,199 |
Conclusion
"Thanks for the suggestion," my relative uttered as I rest my case as to why the Galaxy S21 Ultra is the perfect phone for them to buy in mid-2023. Even though I didn't spare any of the negatives, I felt the lovely rush of mental relief as I watched them slowly get sold on the idea of buying a two-year old Samsung flagship. One less relative to advise on hardware, for the time being at least.
All in all, if you have a limited budget and are willing to hunt for a good deal, but would still love to dip your toes into the Samsung flagship experience, then buying the Galaxy S21 Ultra instead of Samsung's current mid-range phones makes a lot of sense.
If you find an excellent deal on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, don't hesitate to shortlist it.
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