Which flagship should you buy?

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra represents the absolute best that Samsung has to offer in terms of smartphone screens and cameras. But the not even half a year old Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is still powerful enough, and since it will almost certainly be discounted, it might be the better value for consumers who don’t need the latest, but still want something a bit more powerful. What are the main differences, what’s new in the Galaxy S21 series, and which Samsung flagship should you buy if you’re in the market right now? Read more to find out.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs Note 20 Ultra: Specs Comparison

Where does the Galaxy S21 Ultra improve on the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra?

The big question for consumers choosing between the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Note 20 Ultra is probably “what are the improvements made by the Galaxy S21 Ultra over the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra?” There are two major improvements: the processor and the camera zoom system.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is powered by Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888, a 5nm SoC that represents the best that Qualcomm currently has to offer. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s Snapdragon 865+ is no slouch, though. But be it benchmarks or real-world performance, the Snapdragon 888 is the superior chip – although you won’t really see the difference until you actually press the phone, such as recording a video with both the front and rear cameras. the rear camera, or 4K / 60fps with any lens, which the Galaxy S21 Ultra can do but the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra cannot.

The camera system is where most of the tangible improvements can be found. The Galaxy S21 Ultra camera introduces a new Periscope zoom lens that can achieve 10x optical zoom compared to Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s 5x optical zoom. The truth is that the difference in zoom quality is subtle when kept within a reasonable range (10x) – although if your pixel beeps you can see the difference in quality – but with longer zooms, the difference becomes much clearer.

For example, in the above 10x zoom image of the football, both images looked the same when viewed on a phone. It wasn’t until I actually crop and pixel beep on a larger screen that I saw the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 10x shot capturing more texture and detail.

Longer hem makes it easier to see. The set below includes 20x and 30x zoom of both phones. Note that the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s shot is much sharper.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra also has an additional 3x optical telephoto zoom lens with a focal length of approximately 70mm, which is ideal for portraits. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, because it lacks that shorter zoom, uses digital zoom up to 4.9x. However, the difference between the 3x shots is very difficult to find out. You can see the keyboard in the Galaxy S21 Ultra shot below has more detail and more texture on the collar around the neck.

The main 108MP camera and 12MP ultra-wide hardware remain largely the same as before – although the Galaxy S21 Ultra uses a newer sensor in the main camera – but the Galaxy S21 Ultra should produce superior photos thanks to the combination of the superior Snapdragon 888 ISP and Samsungs own fine-tuning.

Moving forward, the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s selfie camera is also pixel denser at 40MP – which Samsung then puts pixel into a 10MP selfie, while the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has a basic 10MP selfie camera. Apart from the different color science, I couldn’t see any substantial difference in the image quality of selfies.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra’s screen is also technically superior, with the ability to run at 120Hz while maintaining 1440p resolution; the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra has to downgrade to 1080p – although I honestly believe the human eye can’t really tell the difference between 1440p and 1080p on a relatively small mobile screen. Both screens look equally beautiful to me.

Where users are likely to feel the difference is in endurance – the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s 5,000mAh battery is significantly larger than the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s 4,500mAh battery, so the S21 Ultra will definitely last longer before it needs to be charged.

There are more subtle improvements across the board, such as the Galaxy S21 Ultra with a larger in-display fingerprint scanner and WiFi 6 support, but these are relatively minor improvements that most people won’t even notice. For most consumers, it will be the SoC and camera zoom power that sets the two phones apart.

Which areas are similar between the Galaxy S21 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra?

The Galaxy S21 Ultra has more in common with the Galaxy Note series than all previous S phones as it supports the S-Pen stylus, which has long been a staple of the Note series. More than ever, this means that the lines between the two phones have become blurred.

While it’s worth noting that the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s S-Pen support doesn’t include Bluetooth remotes, using it as a pen to take notes or sketches will feel identical as the latency and software features remain largely the same. And while the S21 Ultra has a redesigned camera module, the overall construction between the two phones is similar: they both have a matte glass finish and slightly curved screens. The software experience should also be similar, as should all of Samsung’s other bonus features, such as DeX.

Which one should you buy?

If money isn’t an issue, it’s a good idea to go with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra as it has a much better zoom, brighter screen and newer processor – unless you really want an S-Pen that comes with free and is stored in the phone.

But since the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is now an ‘old’ phone, there will be regular discounts that will push hundreds of dollars off the original $ 1,399 price tag. So if you want to save some money and still get a very premium Samsung experience, the Note 20 Ultra holds up well in many areas so as not to feel outdated. It’s still a beast of a phone, even in 2021.