A day with the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G has finally arrived in PH stores nationwide. In this article, we share our favorite new features.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G in Phantom Black

Life with Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G in Dark Mode

Tech has become a huge part of our lives and after being a Galaxy user since 2011, my daily routine has evolved to what it is today with the convenience that technology brings. As a result, I able to allocate more of my time to critical work-related projects as well as important personal projects.

For years now, I have been using my Galaxy smartphone as my daily alarm clock and as soon as I wake up at 6AM in the morning and have gotten out of bed, I plug my Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G into the charger.

With the 25W Adaptive Fast Charging, the 5,000mAh battery inside would be charged in around an hour.

Bright and crisp screen! Perfect for Netflix?

After I've taken my breakfast and my daily morning routines, I pick up the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G with a full battery and check my schedule and tasks for the day. Each time I pick up the phone in the morning, the new 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display keeps on impressing me each and every time. It now has an Adaptive refresh rate of up to 120Hz even at the dense 3200 x 1440 resolution.

It is good for content consumption from Social Media, YouTube, and Netflix. The screen even supports HDR.

Over 6 hours of on-screen time with 3200 x 1440 resolution at 120Hz

What impresses me the most is that it maintains high levels of brightness even though the display refreshes variably from 10 to 120Hz. This variable refresh rate also allows the phone to extend the battery life even if the resolution is at the maximum of 3200 x 1440. We were able to get more than 6 hours of on-screen time consistently for days because of the improvements to the display when compared to the Note20 Ultra and S20 Ultra. This is a huge relief as it gives the user the option of not bringing a power bank or cable with them.

First place in Free For All

Another benefit of the 120Hz display is it helps significantly with fast-paced games like Call of Duty: Mobile. I've managed to consistently be in the top 3 of COD: Mobile rounds in Team Deathmatch and Free-for-all.

Because of the current restrictions where we have to use masks every time we are out, we are so thankful that the S21 Ultra 5G has the Ultrasonic fingerprint sensor instead of using the Face Unlock each and every time we are at home, at work, or when we are outside.

Polished hardware

When you get the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G in hand, aside from the eye-catching display, you immediately notice the rear camera module. Samsung has designed the metal frame to extend towards the camera module. The fit and finish are so polished that the whole body looks like jewelry.

Samsung's camera app

On the display is the 40MP f/2.2 selfie camera with Dual Pixel Autofocus while at the rear camera module has the 108MP f/1.8 main camera with OIS and Laser Autofocus, 12MP f/2.2 120-degree ultra-wide-angle camera, 10MP f/2.4 3x telephoto with OIS, 10MP f/4.9 10x telephoto camera with OIS and LED flash.

Daylight shot

Indoor food shot

Night Shot

Selfie shot

Samsung's cameras have been refined to the point where we can take great pictures in daylight and even in low light. Because of this, it gives the user confidence that the S21 Ultra 5G will take great pics of whichever subject the user chooses to take pictures of. This includes sceneries, food, and work-related documents.

Samsung has also added the new Eye Comfort Shield feature in the One UI 3.1 that allows users to schedule when the display will limit the amount of blue light and use warmer colors to help the user fall asleep easier. There is also a new Bedtime mode in the Digital Wellbeing section of the settings that turns the colors of the screen into greyscale and it automatically mutes calls, alerts, and other noise the phone makes to aid in better sleep quality.

Quick thoughts

After just a few days, we've grown to enjoy the power, battery life, and camera performance of the new flagship from Samsung. We were getting a powerful device while giving a long-lasting battery life.

The camera performance of each camera is stunning and we can't wait to take more pictures with it.

Stay tuned for our full review coming soon.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G starts at PHP 69,990 for the 12GB/256GB variant. The 16GB/512GB edition retails for PHP 79,990.

To know more about the S21 series, read here.

What do you guys think?