phase detection rather than dual-pixel autofocus, and on the S20 Ultra, that
meant slow and often inaccurate autofocus. We don’t have that problem any
longer. At 1x, images have better contrast than the photos taken by the S20
Ultra and are much sharper at the edges of the frame.
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painfully narrow focus plane that meant most objects in the shot would be out
of focus. The S21 did much better at keeping different elements of a setup in
focus, though its photos weren’t quite as sharp as those from the iPhone 12.
Photos taken in the S21’s Night mode are leaps and bounds ahead of the
dimmer, muddier shots from the S20 series, but the iPhone 12 is still the king of
the night shots. Its Night mode turns night to day with a sharpness the S21 can’t
quite match.
The camera is noticeably faster and easier to use than those of the S20 series
cameras. It takes the same night shots but with about a second less waiting.
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it’s much easier to lock onto the part of the image you need.
The S21 has a 40-megapixel front-facing camera that normally shoots 10MP
images. The big difference between this and the S20 generation is Night mode;
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Yes. But the fact that they come out at
all is a positive.
With good light, that front-facing
camera is actually great, with more
detail than the S20 Ultra, and better
contrast than the iPhone 12.
The S21 Ultra’s zoom cameras are a
big part of what makes it worth its
price. The phone has 3x and 10x zoom
cameras for, Samsung claims, up to
100x zoom. Things look good at up to
10x. It’s safe to say that if you want to
live at 10x, this is the phone for you.