Samsung Galaxy S21

[TameRacingDriver]

paulrockliffe said:

Why did they jump from S10 to S20 if they're going to then go to the S21? Might as well have just kept it simple and gone S11 and S12 as they're straight back into the boring names again.

Personally, I think S21 is a bloody silly name, but I think I know why.

S10 = 10th generation
S20 = 2020 edition (rebrand)
S21 = 2021 edition

[gangzoom]

Crafty_ said:

Still on an S9+, (after having S3, 5 and 7) see zero reason to upgrade

I thought the same till I played around with my wifes Note 20 Ultra camera.

This the same shot using the main camera on my S9 and my wife Note, the low light performance is much better.









Despite having a larger aperture on the S9 at f/1.5 versus f/1.8 on the Note, the larger sensor size produces far more natural blurring, and more detail - Though the S9 is still has a very good camera.

I haven’t got ultra wide or zoom lens on the my S9, and the zoom range on the Note 20 is just nuts, going UW to x5 optical (with usable results).





The x5 zoom lens on the Note 20 is actually really sharp, not DSLR quality but much better than lots of bridge/compact cameras.



The S21 Ultra in theory will take things a step further with x10 optical, and a faster x3 optical. Thats just the camera, the screen on the Note 20 really is amazing, its like looking at printed media but backlit, when ever I use the Note 20 and go back to my S9 it just feels inadequate.



You can probably guess my preorder is in . From memory I only paid £240 for my S9 upfront on a £15/month contract over 2 years ago, so the fact Samsung is giving me £220 trade in is fab, add in the ear buds/tracker its not a bad ‘deal’. 256gig of SSD storage, 12 gig of RAM, Octa-core processor, the spec sheet isn't far off my laptop!

I’ve also ordered the flio case+S pen, which apparently is cheaper than getting the S pen by it self?? Anyways really looking forwards to the S21 arriving, might end up putting all my mirrorless camera gear up for sale soon .

Edited by gangzoom on Thursday 14th January 19:47

[gangzoom]

Teebs said:

I pre-registered on the Samsung Website prior to the launch - Quidco are also offering 4% cashback too (if you use that site).

Thanks for the info, I never check my Gmail account and there is was £50 off. So cancelled my original order and reordered, barely over £900 now with trade in for the 256gig version, much more palatable than £1200 price .

[Teebs]

gangzoom said:

Thanks for the info, I never check my Gmail account and there is was £50 off. So cancelled my original order and reordered, barely over £900 now with trade in for the 256gig version, much more palatable than £1200 price .

Lovely job!

[DaveH23]

TameRacingDriver said:

Personally, I think S21 is a bloody silly name, but I think I know why.

S10 = 10th generation
S20 = 2020 edition (rebrand)
S21 = 2021 edition

Glad you posted that, I was going to ask where the S11 - S19 went?

I went from the S8+ to P30 Pro, P40 is out of the question due to lack of Google so have been looking to go back to Samsung.

[thetapeworm]

DaveH23 said:

Glad you posted that, I was going to ask where the S11 - S19 went?

I went from the S8+ to P30 Pro, P40 is out of the question due to lack of Google so have been looking to go back to Samsung.

I'm in a similar position and followed the same path, albeit to the P30 Pro in "Amber Sunrise" with 512GB of storage, I can upgrade in March and would be more than happy to stick with Huawei but I'm heavily integrated with the Google side of things and don't want to fart around making things work.

Normally I'd be ready to go with a P50 Pro or the Pro Plus but the S21 Ultra seems to out-spec both by some margin.

[TheJimi]

I'll almost certainly be buying the S21 (currently with an S8)

However, it hinges on how good the fingerprint scanner is. I briefly had an S10, and the under-screen scanner was ste.

[Luke.]

Quite fancy the Ultra. Anyone want to buy my blue S20FE 5G in perfect condition? They're not taking it in on their trade in programme which is a little annoying. Just putting it out there.

[Blib]

TameRacingDriver said:

Personally, I think S21 is a bloody silly name, but I think I know why.

S10 = 10th generation
S20 = 2020 edition (rebrand)
S21 = 2021 edition

Thanks for that. In my ignorance I had assumed that they were somehow slightly different beasts, running in parallel and that there would be an S11 along presently.

You've made an old man happy.

[paulrockliffe]

Blib said:

TameRacingDriver said:

Personally, I think S21 is a bloody silly name, but I think I know why.

S10 = 10th generation
S20 = 2020 edition (rebrand)
S21 = 2021 edition

Thanks for that. In my ignorance I had assumed that they were somehow slightly different beasts, running in parallel and that there would be an S11 along presently.

You've made an old man happy.

See, this is why they should have just carried on with the simple naming strategy that people understood. The one tied to the order the devices were developed. It's inevitable that in a few years time they'll have to decide whether to delay a release, realise the S26 in 2025 or change the names again. They'll change the names.

Oh well. They look good and as someone with a cracked Note 9 screen, they should push the price of Note 20s down sufficiently to solve that dilemma.

[thetapeworm]

I just noticed that my corporate "rewards" website that gives a bit of a saving at certain retailers has updated to show 10% off the S21 Ultra at the Samsung store plus the free buds and smart tag.

It might be worth checking if you have something similar as a work benefit.

I won't be buying mine directly / outright because I'm not PH enough for such things but just thought I'd mention it as £119.00 - £132.90 (256 vs 512) off is always nice to have,

[Murph7355]

Happy Note 10+ user here....

Really hope they don't ditch the Note - if for no other reason than the pen stores more nicely (and is handy to have).

Also disappointed they've dropped the memory card slot. I guess 256Gb of memory more or less makes it redundant, but it's not like it took up that much space the way the Note 10+ deploys it (next to the sim) - unless they move to eSims for all phones?

[Teebs]

thetapeworm said:

I just noticed that my corporate "rewards" website that gives a bit of a saving at certain retailers has updated to show 10% off the S21 Ultra at the Samsung store plus the free buds and smart tag.

It might be worth checking if you have something similar as a work benefit.

I won't be buying mine directly / outright because I'm not PH enough for such things but just thought I'd mention it as £119.00 - £132.90 (256 vs 512) off is always nice to have,

That's a good saving. I checked the saving last night on my Blue Light card and it was also 10% but they reduced the trade in value of my S10+ (by around 15%) so there was no additional saving. Clever.

[BlueJazz]

Teebs said:

thetapeworm said:

I just noticed that my corporate "rewards" website that gives a bit of a saving at certain retailers has updated to show 10% off the S21 Ultra at the Samsung store plus the free buds and smart tag.

It might be worth checking if you have something similar as a work benefit.

I won't be buying mine directly / outright because I'm not PH enough for such things but just thought I'd mention it as £119.00 - £132.90 (256 vs 512) off is always nice to have,

That's a good saving. I checked the saving last night on my Blue Light card and it was also 10% but they reduced the trade in value of my S10+ (by around 15%) so there was no additional saving. Clever.

If you're a student, it's 15% off.

[gaseous clay]

I have ordered the S21 Ultra 256gb in brown. I got £380 back for my S10 plus and appreciate having the new earbuds for free as my current ones are very tired. I wasn't interested in the S20 due to the Exynos issues but the new one is using the same cores as the Snapdragon 888 instead of Samsung's slower, thirstier efforts.

Edit, just noticed that they've knocked £30 off the trade in values since yesterday. Must be selling OK!

Edited by gaseous clay on Friday 15th January 21:29

[TheJimi]

gaseous clay said:

I have ordered the S21 Ultra 256gb in brown. I got £380 back for my S10 plus and appreciate having the new earbuds for free as my current ones are very tired. I wasn't interested in the S20 due to the Exynos issues but the new one is using the same cores as the Snapdragon 888 instead of Samsung's slower, thirstier efforts.

Edit, just noticed that they've knocked £30 off the trade in values since yesterday. Must be selling OK!

Edited by gaseous clay on Friday 15th January 21:29

Wait, I thought only the US was getting the Snapdragon chipset? and everywhere else was getting the new 5nm Exynos?

[gaseous clay]

TheJimi said:

gaseous clay said:

I have ordered the S21 Ultra 256gb in brown. I got £380 back for my S10 plus and appreciate having the new earbuds for free as my current ones are very tired. I wasn't interested in the S20 due to the Exynos issues but the new one is using the same cores as the Snapdragon 888 instead of Samsung's slower, thirstier efforts.

Edit, just noticed that they've knocked £30 off the trade in values since yesterday. Must be selling OK!

Edited by gaseous clay on Friday 15th January 21:29

Wait, I thought only the US was getting the Snapdragon chipset? and everywhere else was getting the new 5nm Exynos?

That's right but Samsung have stcanned their custom cores that were used in the previous Exynos chips. Basically the new Exynos uses the same core designs as the Snapdragon so there shouldn't be much difference between them this time round.

[gangzoom]

If this video is real, the zoom on the Ultra is just nuts!!

https://youtu.be/cdRSs5A51eQ

[Tim330]

gangzoom said:

If this video is real, the zoom on the Ultra is just nuts!!

https://youtu.be/cdRSs5A51eQ

Impressive but I think you'd need to use a tripod for any photos, videos zoomed in that much.

[djfaulkner]

Been looking at the S21 myself as I'm due an upgrade this month, currently using a P20 Pro.

3 mobile are currently offering 0 upfront and 6 months half price rental (£38 then £76) for the ultra.