Hardware Breakdown Presents: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
It's a bit early for Samsung to release their new flagship smartphone, but better early than never, right? What I'm talking about, you ask? I'm referring to Samsung's new Galaxy S21, which they unveiled last week at their annual virtual unpacking event, which was held early this year. Usually, I'll do an "Everything you need to know" article entailing newsworthy product releases. But we're going to get right to it and do a hardware breakdown on Samsung's new top-end device, the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
So let's get out the screwdriver, pry open the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and examine the essential hardware and features. Let's get started.
The Processor and Chipset
As expected, the new flagship smartphones from Samsung upgrade it's chipset and processor, now having a Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 ( US), 64-bit Octa-core processor, a 2.9 GHz maximum clock speed, and 3x 2.80 GHz + 4x 2.20 GHz Cortex.
The Memory and Storage
Samsung has gone the Apple route and ditched the SD card, giving consumers only one storage option. With that said, the storage options are 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB. On the memory front, here's where it gets rather interesting. Memory caps off at 16GB, but only if you purchase the 512GB model. With the other two storage options, you'll get 12GB of memory. Still, a significant amount of memory compared to Apple's current top-end flagship, the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which only has 6GB.
The Display
Samsung arguably makes the best display on any smartphone on the market, period. The Galaxy S21 Ultra certainly doesn't disappoint; it's rocking a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED display, peak nits measuring at 1500, a QHD 1400 x 3200 resolution, and a 20:9 aspect ratio. Like the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, the display can now deliver a 120 Hz refresh rate.
The Camera
When it comes to the Galaxy S21 camera, I wouldn't call it an upgrade; instead, it's a slight improvment from the Galaxy S20. The glaring issue was the camera's inability to properly autofocus, resulting in blurry images. Samsung may have corrected the problem by adding Laser Auto-Focus, the same feature present on the Note 20 Ultra. In the rear, there are 4-cameras in total, starting with a broad (primary) camera, which is 108 MP, an f/1.8 aperture, 10 MP telephoto camera, which has an f/4.9 aperture, 10 x optical zoom, a 10MP telephoto camera with an f/ 2.4 aperture. And finally, we have a 12MP ultra-wide, f/2.2 aperture.
You have a 40MP wide-angle front-facing camera with an f/2.2 aperture.
Regarding the video, the rear camera is now capable of shooting video in 8K at 24fps and 4k at 30/60 fps, 4K 30/60 fps for the front-facing camera.
The Battery
The Galaxy S21 Ultra has a 5000 mAh battery, which in theory should give a full day of battery life and beyond. It has industry-standard Qi wireless charging, a 25W fast charging via USB. And of course, like it's predecessor's, there is the gimmicky reverse charging. Though the S 21 Ultra should supply an ample amount of battery power, keep in mind 120hz display and 5G connection can contribute to rapid drainage of battery power.
