Stuff - UK (2021-03)

FIRST TEST SAMSUNG GALAXY S21 ULTRA 5G

The choc

of the new

f the Samsung

Galaxy S21 Ultra

5G were a burger,

it would come with

all the trimmings: cheese, bacon,

the finest organic greens, flecks

of gold leaf for effect, and the

sweetest gherkins anywhere

on the globe.

But while some can’t stand

pickles, there’s nothing to dislike

about the extras loaded onto

this particular whopper.

You get two zoom cameras,

one of them with a frankly

unbelievable-sounding 10x

optical zoom, and an Exynos

2100 chipset that’s a claimed

20 % faster than its predecessor.

The OLED screen has a variable

refresh rate of up to 120Hz; and

starting at £1149, it’s still wildly

expensive but costs less than

last year’s S20 Ultra.

In some ways, Samsung’s

S21 line-up doesn’t actually look

as good as last year’s. You’ll pay

almost £800 for a plastic S21,

and the S21+ even has to go

without curved glass.

So are smartphones, like life

in general, getting worse by the

year? The Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G

doesn’t think so. It has one of

the best curved screens in the

world, and cameras that’ll let you

see what your neighbours are up

to during lockdown.

There’s only one real omission:

a charger. But with Apple now

no different, perhaps the Ultra

has earned its chance to give

the iPhone 12 Pro Max a run for

its slightly excessive money.

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Available in five colours including this sweet-looking but Profanisaurus-sounding

‘phantom brown’, Samsung’s new flagship phone is one bold design statement

from £1149 / stuff.tv/S21Ultra