Samsung’s made selecting a premium cellphone tougher than ever with the Galaxy S21 Ultra and the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, two equally priced telephones with related specs launched inside six months of one another. Both have S Pen assist, nice zoom cameras and 120Hz refresh fee screens, and on paper it is arduous to inform which one is the higher purchase. To discover out, I used them aspect by aspect for 2 weeks evaluating them in 5 totally different classes: shows, design, cameras, battery and efficiency.
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The S21 is the flagship Android cellphone to beat. It has an excellent, 6.8-inch show, Snapdragon’s newest 888 chip and a strong digital camera with a 3x and 10x optical zoom. It now has S Pen assist just like the Galaxy Note, however the stylus would not include the cellphone itself, and there is nowhere to place it in the event you get one (except you purchase a particular case).
Read our Galaxy S21 Ultra evaluate.
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This is the cellphone to purchase for these in search of probably the most fluid S Pen expertise because it has low latency and Bluetooth assist, so you should utilize gestures or management your cellphone with the stylus. And its specs are virtually as spectacular because the S21’s with a quick processor, nice cameras and 8K video recording.
Read our Galaxy Note 20 Ultra evaluate.
The S21 Ultra feels simpler to make use of one-handedBoth telephones have a curved AMOLED display screen, with the 6.9-inch Note 20 Ultra simply edging out the 6.8-inch S21 Ultra by way of measurement. The S21 Ultra is the heavier of the 2 telephones, however I discovered it simpler to make use of one-handed because the digital camera is balanced higher in comparison with the domino-style digital camera module on the Note 20 Ultra.
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Both telephones are coated within the strongest model of Corning’s glass, Gorilla Glass Victus, however since neither survived our drop take a look at, I’d extremely suggest getting a case for them. Better show choices on the S21 Ultra For issues like gaming, scrolling net pages or watching movies, each shows will look unbelievable. They have a variable, or adaptive refresh fee of as much as 120Hz, which suggests it is altering the refresh fee relying on what you are doing, like a better fee for gaming, or a decrease fee when the cellphone is standing by. But the S21 Ultra helps the very best WQHD Plus (1440p) decision in 120Hz whereas the Note 20 Ultra solely helps full HD (1080p) with the adaptive refresh fee. To get the very best decision on the Note 20 Ultra, you may have to drop to 60Hz or the usual refresh fee.
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Both telephones even have a fingerprint reader hidden beneath the show, and whereas I did not discover that a lot distinction between the 2, anecdotally the S21 Ultra’s sensor felt sooner to authenticate and unlock the cellphone.The S21 Ultra takes the digital camera crown The S21 Ultra takes the already super-close zoom on the Note to the following degree with two telephoto cameras: One that may optically zoom to 3x and the opposite 10x, providing extra flexibility for photographers who need to get nearer to the topic with out bodily shifting nearer. The Note 20 Ultra, in contrast, has just one telephoto digital camera with a 5x optical zoom.I additionally seen that Samsung has improved the picture processing of zoom images taken utilizing hybrid (optical and digital) zoom, which is something past the attain of the telephoto digital camera. Looking on the identical 50x photograph taken on each telephones, the S21 Ultra’s picture is clearer and retains extra element in comparison with the Note 20 Ultra. You can stand up to 100x on the S21 Ultra, however I by no means discovered myself utilizing this excessive zoom as a result of the picture seems fairly mushy.A comparability of 50x hybrid zoom on the S21 Ultra (left) and Note 20 Ultra (proper).
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General images of landscapes and surroundings look nice on each telephones and I could not actually inform them aside. The fundamental wide-angle digital camera makes use of a 108-megapixel sensor on each telephones which is beneficial for cropping after the actual fact, or making actually massive prints, however I discovered the common 12-megapixel images have been nice as properly. Both telephones use a way known as “pixel binning” on these common photographs that helps to retain numerous element and good dynamic vary.The S21 Ultra is on the left and the Note 10 Ultra is on the precise. Spot the distinction?
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In low gentle, I desire the S21 Ultra, though evening mode photographs look extra processed with better distinction and fewer noise than images taken on the Note 20 Ultra in the identical gentle. Video high quality is nice on each, particularly when filming at 4K. To my eye, the dynamic vary is a contact broader on the newer cellphone, however I’d be very proud of both. The S21 Ultra has a bonus in that it may well movie on the telephoto digital camera at 4K/60, whereas the Note 20 Ultra can solely use digital zoom at this decision and body fee. Both telephones movie in 8K at 24fps. You can see many extra photograph and video samples within the video on this web page.
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Galaxy S21 Ultra vs. Note 20 Ultra
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S Pen is healthier on the Note 20 UltraMany followers of the Galaxy Note sequence might have been involved once they noticed the S21 Ultra would assist the S Pen, as a result of it may probably sign the top of the Note household of telephones. The S21 Ultra could be the first non-Note cellphone with stylus assist, however the S Pen would not do fairly as a lot as it may well on the Note 20 Ultra, not less than not simply but.Both telephones allow you to draw on the display screen, take notes, annotate screenshots, convert handwriting to textual content or straighten your handwriting within the Samsung Notes app. The S Pen on the Note 20 Ultra additionally has Bluetooth assist, which helps you to use air gestures to open the digital camera or take images remotely, to call just some examples. The cellphone may also ping you in the event you go away the S Pen behind someplace. And the Note may also retailer the S Pen contained in the cellphone, in contrast to the S21 Ultra — you should buy a separate case with a storage slot for the stylus, however in the event you’re something like me, you’d nonetheless lose the S Pen whatever the case.
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I could not discover a lot of a distinction by way of the efficiency of the S Pen when utilizing it on the 2 telephones aspect by aspect, however artists could possibly inform the distinction, because of the 9ms latency on the Note 20 Ultra. Samsung will launch an S Pen Pro later in 2021 that gives Bluetooth assist to deliver it extra according to the performance on the Note. Note 20 Ultra: Smaller battery, barely longer life The S21 Ultra has a 5,000-mAh battery in comparison with 4,500 mAh on the Note 20 Ultra, however a bigger capability battery would not mechanically imply you may get extra juice out of the cellphone. Usage patterns, 5G connectivity, processing energy and show brightness all play an element in total battery life; I did not see an enormous distinction in battery life between the 2 telephones. Both telephones made it comfortably via a full day of use with juice to spare. At the top of the day of heavy utilization operating each telephones at 120Hz, the WQHD Plus display screen (on the S21), filming 4K video and gaming, I used to be left with wherever between 10 and 15% battery on the Note, and round 10% on the S21 Ultra. Anecdotally, I felt that the Note 20 Ultra had higher standby time total once I wasn’t utilizing the cellphone. You can take a look at our full evaluations of the S21 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra for outcomes from our official battery take a look at.
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The base storage degree on each telephones begins at 128GB with the choice to go as much as 512GB on each, or an intermediate 256GB tier on the S21 Ultra, however solely the Note 20 has the choice to increase with a microSD slot. The S21 Ultra additionally misses out on the charger within the field, in addition to MST assist in Samsung Pay. Depending on the place you reside, you may both get a Snapdragon or Samsung’s personal Exynos processor. I’ve solely examined the Snapdragon 888 on the S21 Ultra and 865 Plus on the Note 20 Ultra, so cannot touch upon Exynos efficiency, however each telephones by no means left me wanting when it got here to trimming 8K movies, gaming or operating a myriad of apps at a time.The Galaxy S21 wins, however not by a lotIn the top, I discovered that these telephones share so lots of the identical options that it would not make sense to improve from the Note 20 Ultra to the S21 Ultra if you have already got the (barely) older cellphone. But enhancements within the digital camera, S Pen assist and a extra balanced one-handed really feel was sufficient to sway me to decide on the S21 Ultra if I used to be in search of the very best total Galaxy expertise.Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs. Note 20 Ultra specs
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra
Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra
Display measurement, decision
6.8-inch AMOLED 2X, 3,200×1,440 pixels
6.9-inch; 3,088×1,440 pixels
Pixel density
515 ppi
496 ppi
Dimensions (inches)
2.97×6.5×0.35 in.
6.49×3.04×0.31 in.
Dimensions (millimeters)
75.6×165.1×8.9mm
164.8×77.2×8.1mm
Weight (ounces, grams)
8.07 oz.; 229g
7.33 oz., 208g
Mobile software program
Android 11
Android 11
Camera
108-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 10-megapixel (10x telephoto)
12-megapixel (ultrawide), 108-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (telephoto)
Front-facing digital camera
40-megapixel
10-megapixel
Video seize
8K
8K
Processor
Snapdragon 888
Snapdragon 865 Plus
Storage
128GB, 256GB, 512GB
128GB, 512GB
RAM
12GB, 16GB
12GB
Expandable storage
No
Up to 1TB
Battery
5,000 mAh
4,500 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
In-screen
In-screen
Headphone jack
No
No
Special options
IP68 ranking, 5G-enabled, 100x Space Zoom, 10W wi-fi charging, 10x optical zoom
120Hz display screen refresh fee, 5x optical zoom, 120Hz show; UWB sharing, S Pen stylus; 5G connectivity; Wireless PowerShare; waterproof (IP68)
Price off-contract (USD)
$1,200 (128GB), $1,250 (256GB), $1,380 (512GB)
$1,300 (128GB), $1,450 (512GB)
Price (GBP)
£1,149 (128GB), £1,199 (256GB), £1,329 (512GB)
£1,179
Price (AUD)
AU$1,849 (128GB), AU$1,949 (256GB), AU$2,149 (512GB)
AU$1,849 (4G) and $AU$1,999 (5G)