Review / Is the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra better than Apple’s iPhone 12 Pro Max? Why the Korean-made phone, released at the same time as the Galaxy Earbuds Pro, almost tempted us to the Android side

Here’s the disclaimer: I’m an iPhone and iOS person and have been for many years. Having said that, I usually keep a second phone which is more often than not an Android, because the flagship Androids tend to have slightly better cameras in my experience. But so far, the overall Android experience has never been strong enough for me to turn my back on Apple altogether. Having spent two weeks with Samsung’s newest flagship, the Galaxy S21 Ultra, my opinion on the camera still stands. Samsung has really thrown down the gauntlet with the S21 Ultra camera specs. It has the highest smartphone camera resolution at 108 megapixels. There are also two telephoto lenses, one with a 3x zoom and the other with 10x at 10 megapixels. The selfie camera offers 40 megapixels by default. Does the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold2 5G live up to the hype? This is a huge step up from Samsung’s S20, which was more than problematic and had annoying focus issues. These have been improved by the laser autofocus sensor, which is the fifth hole at the back of the phone. Cameras on Samsungs, and Huaweis for that matter, tune photos automatically so photos often look brighter and more vibrant, especially for outdoor shots. Springsteen fan and super dad: who is Clubhouse’s co-founder Rohan Seth? In the early days, these photos would be too greenish or too fake, but the cameras have been modified to produce more acceptable colour hues. Photos taken with the iPhone, even with the flagship 10 Pro Max, show weakness in the white balance, so they always appeared muted and greyed in comparison. The S21 Ultra also offers better depth and detail with the bokeh. The areas where the iPhone 12 Pro Max wins over the S21 Ultra are the faster shutter speed and the excellent night mode. The Ultra also allows videos at 8K, although you would need an 8K television set for optimal playback. Gone are the days when we were surprised with mobile phone designs. Since the advent of the smartphone, they mainly only feature small modifications with each new model. The S21 Ultra looks sleeker and is smaller than its predecessor, with a premium metallic case and a 6.8cm Dynamic AMOLED screen with a maximum of 3,200 x 1,400 pixel resolution. A whopping 120Hz refresh rate makes the whole scrolling experience seamless; it only works in full adaptive mode though. At 227 grams, it is only one gram lighter than the iPhone 12 Pro Max, but because of the slimmer and narrower chassis, the Ultra gives the impression that it’s lighter. Samsung has also added a matt finish to the back of the phone that gives it a more premium feel; disappointingly, the grip still feels slippery, especially when I was trying out Asphalt 9: Legends. Otherwise, the gaming experience is slightly better on the Ultra than the iPhone because of the latter’s huge notch on the screen. How 2021’s hottest smartphones stack up side by side The Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor is super fast and the 16MB RAM pushes it even further. The 5,000 mAh battery (compared to the iPhone 12 Pro Max’s 3,678) makes a huge difference. On most days the Ultra still had juice after more than 24 hours, while on the best of days my iPhone battery lasts slightly over 12 hours before my anxiety levels start to spike. While it’s debatable whether Samsung or Apple leads in terms of technological developments, it’s obvious that Samsung has taken a leaf out of Apple’s playbook where some of the packaging is concerned. When Apple did away with the headphone jack with the iPhone 7 in 2016, the Korean phone maker eventually followed. Last year, Apple decided to package the iPhone 12 without the charging cable. Unsurprisingly, Samsung has also not included a charging brick with the S21 phones. What’s also disappointing is the exclusion of expandable memory, even though the maximum 512 GB internal memory should be enough for normal use. However, the phone is definitely built for more sophisticated use, especially now that they’ve made the pen stylus compatible, and so extra memory might eventually be useful for heavy duty users. So what about the OS? I’ve never been big fan of the Android OS because I find it a lot more fiddly than the iOS, but one of the things I have appreciated the Android OS for is the high degree of personalisation it allows for, unlike Apple’s rabid compulsion to control user experience. With the new iOS 14, however, Apple has caught up slightly with widgets and home screen themes as well. Will scan-to-fit tech revolutionise fashion? One of the game-changers for me with the new Samsung is the new-ish DeX Mode which allows users to cast their device to a big screen, allowing you to work in a PC-like environment with a larger keyboard and mouse. You can also use different apps on your device simultaneously. It doesn’t work directly in Windows, but there are casting apps that you can download to make it work on your PC. With everyone switching between different devices for information and work, this is a great option. Samsung also released the new Galaxy Buds Pro at the same time as the phone, which promises to enhance the Ultra experience. The earbuds come with three colour options and similar functions to the Airpods Pro, including spatial sound. The earbuds are very compact and fit comfortably, but on quick comparison, the Airpods performed better on noise cancelling and spatial sound. Will the S21 Ultra tempt me from my iPhone 12 Pro Max? There’s a lot I appreciate about the Ultra, but I still find it easier to deal with the more user-friendly iOS for day-to-day usage. However, no Android phone has made me consider making the switch more strongly than the S21 Ultra. The S21 Ultra is certainly the best Android phone you can find on the market right now – if you can afford the US$1,199 price tag. Want more stories like this? Sign up here. Follow STYLE on Facebook, Instagram, YouTube and Twitter.

.css-1mniedq{color:inherit;font-weight:inherit;font-size:inherit;font-family:inherit;line-height:inherit;} Samsung’s newest flagship hugely improves on the Samsung S20 models with an even better camera Some downsides include no expandable memory, no included charger brick and a slippery grip

Samsung’s newest flagship hugely improves on the Samsung S20 models with an even better camera

Some downsides include no expandable memory, no included charger brick and a slippery grip