introduction
Ultra vs Ultra, the very obvious working title of it was. The Galaxy S21 Ultra marks the third iteration of Samsung’s search for the ultimate cell phone, so we thought a comparison was in order.
We limited it to just two contenders – the new model against the Galaxy Note20 Ultra from around 6 months ago. A trio with the S20 Ultra crossed our minds, but maintaining our sanity prevailed over curiosity. While the number of samples in this simple one-on-one has grown exponentially (due to number of cameras, weather changes, rework due to software updates), we appreciated our careful choice. of participants.
Given that the Note20 Ultra was in many ways an improvement over the S20 Ultra, and the last-gen S-series, now one year old, is less of an attractive purchase option, we feel our choice has its downsides. merits beyond our own convenience. Plus, with the S21 Ultra’s S Pen support, isn’t that really a new note in disguise?
Okay, with our choices already streamlined, let’s go over what’s inside these phones.
Equipment
The latest Ultra comes with a whole bunch of new hardware, including the identical primary camera at first glance. In fact, the entire camera setup is previously unknown.
This main unit now uses a second generation 108MP Nonacell sensor, the Isocell HM3 (the smallest 0.7 µm HM2 pitch does not count in our book). Its main improvement over the HM1 is Smart-ISO Pro, which takes advantage of the imager’s native dual ISO capability by using both gain levels in the same shot – Samsung makes this clear in a video.
However, it wasn’t just the sensor that changed – the lens is now wider at a 24mm equivalent (26mm on previous Ultras). Its aperture remains f / 1.8 and it is always fixed – we miss the dual aperture capability of older galaxies. Optical stabilization is of course still present.
Another new addition on the Ultra v.3 is the autofocus on the ultra-wide-angle camera, the one we’ve been walking around for at least two generations of Galaxies. It uses a 12MP 1 / 2.55 “sensor with 1.4 µm pixels, as on the note, only these new pixels now have dual pixel AF capability. Samsung cites 120 degree field of view on both lenses while the aperture is f / 2.2.
Which brings us to the TVs. The S21 Ultra has two, each equipped with a 10MP 1 / 3.24 “sensor with 1.22 µm pixels. One is a mid-range 3x telephoto lens (approx. 70mm equivalent focal length, aperture f / 2.4), the other uses a double fold periscope lens design to achieve 10x zoom (240mm, f / 4.9). Both lenses are stabilized.
The Note20 Ultra, on the other hand, has a single telephoto lens at an intermediate 5x zoom level – around 120mm. The 12MP 1 / 3.4 “sensor it uses has 1.0 µm pixels, while the stabilized lens has an f / 3.0 aperture.
This deviation in the native zoom levels offered made for a really nice and straightforward comparison. Not. The camera app didn’t help much in this regard either. How? ‘Or’ What?
Camera app user interface
The camera app doesn’t have a preset button for 3x zoom on the Note, nor a 5x shortcut on the S21 Ultra. Still, both have a 4x button for some reason – which we didn’t use because it wasn’t on the list of native magnifications for both phones.
Realistically, however, outside of the comparative review, the lack of a particular zoom level preset shouldn’t be taken as opposed to Samsung’s good camera app. The fact that the secondary zoom level buttons get in the way of changing modes, however, has been a nuisance in general use, so there’s that.
The basics will be familiar though – swiping left and right will switch between the available modes, and there is an option to rearrange, add, or remove some of the viewfinder modes. A lot of the modes you’ll want aren’t present on the S21 Ultra out of the box (like Night and Portrait modes), but let’s say that’s Samsung’s way of encouraging you to set up the camera app. as you wish. . Speaking of which, this is definitely the “ Portrait ” mode from the S21 generation – older Samsungs called the false bokeh mode “ Live focus ”.
Vertical scans in either direction will switch between the front and rear cameras. Oddly, not all phones support this simple gesture – Galaxies do.
The familiar shaft designation for the zoom control is here, too – on the note, that means three threes for the ultra wide, two shafts for the main cam (moderately wide), and a single shaft for the telephoto. The S21 Ultra adds another unique (but more detailed) tree for its 10x tele.
As before, once you hit the tree toggle, an additional set of buttons appear, with additional preset zoom levels. These include the ultra wide ones (0.5x on the note, 0.6x on the S, because ‘x’ means slightly different things on the two) and the 4x that we mentioned and go to the extremes (up to at 50x on the note, 100x on the S). Pinch zoom also works, of course.
The viewfinder has the usual icon set with the adjustment gear wheel located in the upper left corner of the screen. The Galaxy S21 get the video resolution moved in the viewfinder, on the note you have to go to the settings to change that. Minor changes on the new phone include additional settings for Single Shot mode, bokeh effects for Portrait mode, and a Director’s View mode for video where you can see what all cameras are capturing at once.
Pro mode is where you can select ISO and shutter speed, manually focus (with a peak) and select white balance, as well as choose metering mode and AF area. . A major development on the S21 Ultra is that you can now access the Ultra Wide Camera in Pro mode, the Note cannot. Again, neither can use the TV (s) in Pro mode.
Maybe that will do the trick for a preamble – now we can move on to some sample images.
