%OXHWRRWKOHWVWKHSKRQHVWUHDPWRWZRGHYLFHV
simultaneously; how this works in practice will
depend on the Bluetooth devices in question. With
the Galaxy Buds Pro earphones, it means the
phone streams to each earbud independently
rather than going to one main earbud, which
relays to the other. That makes for more stable
connections.
Meanwhile, we lose one key wireless technology: MST. Samsung’s phones used
to work with older credit-card swipe machines that didn’t have the Apple/
Samsung Pay specs. That was something Samsung had over Apple. The S21s
don’t have that.
So, you get the point: The S21 phones are equipped for future networks, but it’s
hard to argue that they’re better on present ones. Rather, Samsung is assuming
you’ll have this phone for three years or so, and the company is setting you up
for success in 2022.
With all this talk of data, we didn’t forget about using your phone to, you know,
make phone calls. Call quality hasn’t been a concern on high-end Samsung
phones for a few years now. The company has speaker and Bluetooth call
quality nailed. If you want to use a wired headset, it has to be USB-C;
WKHUH¶VQRKHDGSKRQHMDFN,ZDVYHU\KDSS\WRVHHWKDW:L)LFDOOLQJZDV¿QDOO\
available on my unlocked model on all three major US wireless carriers.
Samsung repeatedly promised AT&T Wi-Fi calling on the unlocked S20 but
never delivered.
The unlocked US model we tested has a single SIM slot. The phone technically
supports eSIM, but it’s been disabled on this model, and Samsung says it’s still
deciding when and how to enable that in the US, so treat this as a single-
physical-SIM phone.
THE CAMERA ON THE PHONE GOES ZOOM ZOOM ZOOM
The Galaxy S21 Ultra’s cameras are what the S20 Ultra’s were supposed to be. It
has a 108MP main sensor that generally takes 12MP photos, along with a 12MP,
120-degree ultrawide camera, two 10MP telephotos (3x and 10x), and a
dedicated focus sensor. That focus sensor is key. The 108MP main sensor uses