Drew Evans/CNET
Samsung's trio of phones that make up its flagship S21 lineup have arrived - and the higher-end S21 Plus and S21 Ultra come packed with all the trappings you'd expect from a premium Android phone. All three are available to preorder now, and will ship on Jan. 29.
If you're in the market for something fancier than the base model, it's probably a good time to take a closer look at how Samsung's pro phones, the S21 Plus and the S21 Ultra, compare with each other, and how they differ from their predecessors.
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The standout change to the S21 is the price tag. Following lackluster sales of the S20 family, the South Korean company slashed prices by $200 across the S21 line, with the S21 Plus and S21 Ultra starting at $1,000 (£949, AU$ 1,549) and $1,200 (£1,329, AU$1,849) respectively.
The S21 Pro and S21 Ultra also have the expected incremental upgrades working in their favor: Processors are speedier, the displays have been upgraded and the cameras have been improved to take crisper photos and videos. The S21 Ultra now also supports Samsung's stylus, the S Pen (sold separately), which blurs the line between the S series and the more professional Note series.
Samsung has also packed some refinements into the S21 Ultra's camera system, but it hasn't updated headline features such as 8K resolution and the phone's 108-megapixel shooter. If you're an avid photographer, you'll likely care that the S21 Ultra comes equipped with two telephoto lenses (as opposed to one in the S20 Ultra) that offer 3x and 10x optical zoom, instead of digital zoom. Plus the main image sensor is apparently larger, which will allow it to capture photographs with improved dynamic range.
It's also important to highlight the features Samsung removed to allow it to start at those lower prices. Because Samsung slashed prices of all three of S21 phones, it needed to save on costs by eliminating expandable storage entirely and ditching the in-box charger and earphones. The pricier S20 Pro and Ultra meanwhile, let you add up to 1TB storage and include those bundled accessories.
For more details on the differences between the S21 Ultra, S21 Pro, S20 Ultra and S20 Pro, take a look at our specs chart below.
