Are you happy with your Samsung S21 Ultra?

[Lunalil]

If you have the S21 Ultra are you happy or unhappy with your decision? Pros and cons? 

My pros

-love the freedom it gives compared to iOS 

- it feels very premium

-more apps and customisation

Cons 

-Camera is ok but not what I expected after all the rave reviews on YouTube. Pretty out of focus, nothing amazing even from the 108mp. Night sky photos are poor compared to my iPhone 11 as is product photography. 
- it’s a bit ugly lol

- not keen on the curved screen but knew what I was getting into.

-very bad headaches and eye strain due to the pwm and oled screen. I wish they’d address this. iPhone 11 lcd is so much better on the eyes but that’s technology.

I am returning it after trying it for 2 days. It makes me sad as I was due an upgrade and thought this would be amazing for my photography as another option to my SLR. 

[Joeeye]

Yes I'm very happy with the phone.

Best screen for any phone I've owned and seen.
Best battery life I've seen on a high end smartphone from Samsung.
Most powerful, smooth and responsive device I've owned from Samsung to date (not that S20 Ultra was bad).
Extremely fast storage speed and amazing WiFi transfer speeds between both my S20 to S21 Ultras (maxed out my router theoretical max more or less)
Great speakers and ever so slightly better than last years
Excellent Bluetooth range like last year.
No compromise on resolution and refresh rate with a battery to boot.
Camera is excellent however there are a couple things that need work, low light video recording UHD 60fps and a little more consistency with the zoom lens.

Other than that I can't really fault the phone (although keeping the SD Card slot would've been nice).

[smiley]

I am returning it after trying it for 2 days. It makes me sad as I was due an upgrade and thought this would be amazing for my photography as another option to my SLR. 

---

Sorry to hear that you are returning it after just 2 days.  In my humble opinion, that just isn't long enough to evaluate a piece of hardware, and especially as it hasn't even completed it's optimisation phase. 

There is no doubt the camera still needs some optimisations.  However there are some very good features as well, which do impress already. 

I just don't get the fact that after just 1 month from public release, that there is a compulsion to send a device back after just a few days of evaluation as it fails to hit perfection from the very start.   This is not just targeted at your return, but many others as well.   

A little patience goes a long way in this world, especially during the current crisis and pandemic.  

In my own opinion, this device is promising to be very good... in just another month or two... and as soon as these teething issues are resolved.  I am appreciative of the fact that samsung engineers are working their socks off to fix these minor issues. 

I have had this handset since day 1... and just in the last 4 weeks with the updates and improvements, it has got better and better as a device...both in battery... heating... and features.    I expect that to continue with the next update which should be ready very soon for the March release. 

Sorry you felt the need to return so soon.  I hope you find your next device.  

Smiley

[Risky24]

I agree with a lot of what you said but have to disagree on some points.


"I just don't get the fact that after just 1 month from public release, that there is a compulsion to send a device back after just a few days of evaluation as it fails to hit perfection from the very start."

"A little patience goes a long way in this world, especially during the current crisis and pandemic."

That's exactly the point that in this current pandemic and spending so much on a phone you can't expect people to go on faith. If you are not happy you should return it then revisit down the line if there are reports that the issues are fixed. Would you like to go past your return window and not be able to return the phone, the problems are not fixed and you are stuck with it? The issues most people are complaining about are not petty things with some being major deal breakers.

[Lunalil]

Thank you. I only have a 14 days period to return otherwise I’d try it out for longer. If only. 

I always used to use Samsung but since the S10 I get very bad eye strain and headaches using their phones. Such a shame. 

[Lunalil]

It has many pros. I’m just unhappy with the camera. Most things are too soft and not as in focus as they should be: I saw others had the same issue: I’d keep it for longer to try it out but I’ve been having awful headaches since using it and eye pain like I had with the s10 so back to my rubbish iPhone 11 until one day my eyes can handle an oled screen lol.  Also I’ve only 14 days to return it so I wish I had more time and less pain.  

Glad you enjoy it 😊

[Lunalil]

Thank you. 

Yes,!that’s what I was saying I’ve only got 14 days to try it out so I’d rather return it than risk not being able to cancel my contract.

I don’t swap phones easily but I had to abandon my S 10+ after six months of perseverance when I was getting severe headaches and eyestrain. I had to go to an iPhone 11 because I was advised it was the best for my eyes with it being an LCD and my headaches and eyestrain went very quickly. I really wanted to go back to Samsung so I tried the ultra but sadly the same thing has happened and I’ve had really crippling eye pain and headaches in the first couple of days of trying it out so I’m going to have to return it. The camera was an issue as well but for me mainly it was the pain it was causing me.

[Risky24]

Yes I think your reasoning for wanting to return it is valid especially considering the eye strain. I have the S21 Ultra and was seriously considering returning it after returning my 1st one already but I decided to keep it and hope they fix the issues. My battery life isn't the best, there is a slight colour shift when not looking at the screen head on and the camera could use some tlc. Also the phone gets quite hot especially on video calls and using the camera where the battery seem to take a nose dive. My gf owns an iPhone 12 pro max and her battery outpaces mine by a huge margin so I'm quite disappointed there
I'm only sticking with Samsung because they do what I like best in the Android space; I've grown to love them and I really dislike iPhone.

Btw mostly all current flagship phone use OLED screens so you may find it difficult to find one that is suitable for you unless you consider stepping down to a mid range phone or some previous flagships including the some older iPhones.
Good luck!

[PandaKittenz]

Honestly, my first S21 Ultra was sent about a month ago and it overheated and had some buggy issues.  I was sent a second one, and it still had issues.  I'm really disappointed and am jumping ship to Apple after being a longtime Samsung user.  

[tinglish]

my pros and cons:

pros.

1.design
2.battery
3.perfomance
4.screen(best I've seen on any phone)
5.camera
6.features

cons.

1.expensive
2.no charger in the box
3.features

I've put features in both pros and cons,I do love the features on the phone but maybe there is just to many😅.
things like no SD card support and headphone jack don't concern me personally and didn't influence my decision.
overall this is an amazing phone😍