Samsung Galaxy S21 series vs Galaxy S20 series - the upgrades detailed

16 January 2021
We’re putting the phones next to each other to see what Samsung improved and what they did wrong.

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  • Wildcats
  • CGH
  • 17 Jan 2021

TheAlienNextDoor, 17 Jan 2021Why are you seeing only the good sides of it? It's no... moreExynos 990 was bullshit
But with Exynos 2100 is crazy he'll better and ready to compete boot for boot with Snapdragon

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    • INeedALotOfSpace
    • JYJ
    • 17 Jan 2021

    INeedALotOfSpace, 17 Jan 2021You forgot to mention in Ultra: Wifi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, not... more the only option is S21 Ultra 512 GB*

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      • INeedALotOfSpace
      • JYJ
      • 17 Jan 2021

      You forgot to mention in Ultra: Wifi 6E, Bluetooth 5.2, not only faster chipset and RAM, but also internal memory

      About all S21 series, I am not sure to get 256 GB as pros, because S20 could have much higher storage with SD card slot :-)

      4K@60 takes a lot of space and 8K even higher, when you present S21 as multimedia phone, storage should not be limitation.

      When i have almost 400 GB data on my card (and other on phone memory), the only option is S20 Ultra 512 GB, but after transfering all data to S21 Ultra, your phone is completly filled up and not usable....

      and cloud is not a solution, when you looking for some video, you need a really good and fast connection (and flat rate in case of mobile data) to load such amount of data...

      SD card would be much faster than cloud, and if you do not want to share certain data to cloud especially.

      So if they remove the sd card slot there should be the same amount of space in mobile, so they should give us at least 512 GB and 1 TB option too in S21, otherwise it is downgrade, and then the price would not be pros, because storage in phone is more expensive than SD card.

      So yeah, no go to S21 for me, I need a lot of space... i am not good with 256 GB/512 GB storage, so the only option here is to wait until memory in phone would be cheaper, to not to pay for 1TB smartphone without sd card slot for 2000 €, where you can have it with sd card slot much cheaper.

      So if you want the same space as in S20 you pay much more in S21. Sorry for my english :D

        Anonymous, 17 Jan 2021Why are you seeing only the bad side of things? The incre... moreWhy are you seeing only the good sides of it?
        It's not a person. It's a phone. Are you shilling?

        So because everyone does it it's somehow justified? What?

        Software is free. Besides, they could just use stock Android and people wouldn't mind.
        The best fingerprint sensor they had was on the S10e and S9, you know, physical. Under display sensor will always be inferior. They can keep them.

        What do you use your flagship phone for? You play games that 99% can be played on a midrange phone? You cook food on the overheating backside?
        Admit it, phones are nothing but glorified web browsers.

          Katnipthief, 17 Jan 2021"camera saw little to no improvement" did you ... moreBigger numbers don't equal better quality.

          There's tons of videos on YouTube that show the S10 and Note10 take better pictures than the S20 phones, including the S20 Ultra. I have no doubt it will remain the case with S21.

            Aldwin123, 17 Jan 20211. IR Blaster is old. There's WiFi, Data, Bluetooth, a... more1. IR blaster is old? Tell that to billions of TVs, ACs and other appliances.

            2. Even the cheapo Redmi Note 8 has a tiny top bezel, and yet they manage to cram in a LED notification. AOD is NOT the same as an LED notification light. It doesn't blink only when necessary, and eats a lot more battery.

            3. So your solution to taking away a not so useful feature is to buy an even more expensive and completely useless gadget I have to charge daily? Great.

            4. The downgrade is on the Ultra. It doesn't do much on Samsung phones...now go look at Xiaomi phones with over 100W charging, but cost much less.

            5. Again, the price was 50% less 4-5 years ago, without taking away features, charger or headphones.

              Shadocx, 17 Jan 2021This article is about S21 series vs S20 series, and even if... more-Where did I state I want an outdated old phone?

              -Cameras haven't gotten better since the S9. There's plent of videos on YouTube that show the S10 had better cameras than the S20 ultra, so yeah.

              -Far more powerful to do what? There's a video on YouTube that shows the lowend Redmi Note 8 Pro throttles less than the S20 while playing games, and keeps a better framerate.

              -Wide angle cameras are cheap cameras. There's a reason they're 1/10th of the quality of the main camera.

              I'd much rather have all the things they took away, in exchange for a cheapo wide angle camera and an overheating throttling CPU.

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                • f}c
                • 17 Jan 2021

                TheAlienFromNextDoor, 16 Jan 2021S9 was the last Samsung phone with almost no compromises. ... moreS22 under-display camera.

                  Tigolebitties, 17 Jan 2021Finding a flagship with Micro SD us already difficult but S... moreBecause they want us to depend on Google 1.

                    While it's TRUE that the S21 and S21+ haven't had major camera hardware updates, they have been priced better, and their performance should be much better. The curious question would be, therefore, be, would the photo quality on those two, be noticeably better, or very minor.

                      • j
                      • jNO
                      • NY%
                      • 17 Jan 2021

                      Just be patient and wait for the no compromise note series.

                        Anonymous, 17 Jan 2021S22 won't have a charging port, calling it now. They a... more Hope you are wrong, but admit, you could be right.

                          AnonD-973296, 17 Jan 2021why the hell are they saying the screen is a downgrade? boi... morei used the S8 for 2 years. i used the display at 1440p for some time after using i see no significant improvement which my eyes can see so I'm fine with fullHD display.

                            Finding a flagship with Micro SD us already difficult but Samsung made it much more difficult with the S21 series. Thanks, Samsung!

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                              • Anvardheen
                              • 7Pt
                              • 17 Jan 2021

                              Anonymous, 17 Jan 2021S22 won't have a charging port, calling it now. They a... moreonly they will give wireless charging support

                              Lol lol ha ha..

                                AnonD-973296, 17 Jan 2021so moral of the story, the ultra is the best deal?Yes. S21+ is more of a sidegrade and the regular S21 is a complete downgrade depending on your needs.

                                  Anonymous, 17 Jan 2021GN1 is dual pixel . To have another kind of AF, you need t... moreYou know that Dual Pixel is a variation of PDAF, right?

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                                    • Anonymous
                                    • 3g5
                                    • 17 Jan 2021

                                    Rather get the Mi 11 same specs as the plus pro thingy and 300 quid cheaper

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                                      • Anonymous
                                      • F0y
                                      • 17 Jan 2021

                                      Are a new design and 256gb option really an upgrade when you have the option for expandable storage on the s20s and easier to hold because of the narrow build.

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                                        • Anonymous
                                        • Fht
                                        • 17 Jan 2021

                                        As someone who just cracked the back on a glass phone I would prefer plastic.

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