Samsung announced Galaxy S21 5G, Galaxy S21 Plus 5G and Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smartphones

Samsung announced Galaxy S21 5G, Galaxy S21 Plus 5G and Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G smartphones

Samsung's new Galaxy S21 series smartphones come with more colors and S Pen, but dig out the charger and microSD card slot.

The Galaxy S21 series includes 6,2-inch S21, 6.7-inch S21+ and 6.8-inch S21 Ultra. All three features display 120 Hz adaptive AMOLED with a dynamic refresh rate that displays the content. Users can manually lock the refresh rate between specified ranges.

Samsung says that the Galaxy S21 Ultra's display can reach peak brightness of 1500 nits, while the other two can hit 1300 nits. In addition, the display uses an AI-based blue light control that reduces blue light output by 50 percent without producing a yellow tint. All displays use Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.

All three phones do not use the same material at the back. The Galaxy S21 uses a polycarbonate back shell similar to the Galaxy S20FE. The Galaxy S21 + and Galaxy S21 use Ultra Gorilla Glass Victus.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra's display has the same WQHD + resolution as last year, but the Galaxy S21 and S21 + now sport only FHD +. This is a big cause for concern for the S21 + as pixels will be more spread out on its larger screen.

It should not come as a surprise that Samsung's premium lineup gets the best system-on-chip (SoCs). They all use Qualcomm's flagship Snapdragon 888 SoC in North America.

The processor is paired with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage on the S21 and S21 +. The S21 Ultra offers up to 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.

The new phone has improved cameras in terms of both software and hardware. Samsung introduced a feature with single tech, the Galaxy S20 Series, which captures images using all sensors at once, now using five times more AI processing than the previous gen. The S21 series also brings a Vlogger View that simultaneously records video on both front and rear cameras, and an improved portrait mode with improved depth analysis for natural bokeh. Samsung also said in a press meeting that the Galaxy S21 uses a new 108MP sensor with ultra-advanced mosaic processing, 12-bit colors, and three times wider dynamic range.

The S21 and S21 + have a 10MP selfie camera on the front. The S21 Ultra uses a 40MP camera.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra's rear main camera also claims significantly higher resolutions than its two siblings. While the two lower levels use a 12MP camera, the Galaxy S21 Ultra uses a 108MP camera. Working with 108 million pixels, the camera can either capture highly detailed photos in bright conditions, or the group 9 pixels can act as one for shooting in the dark.

The 64MP telephoto camera of the Galaxy S21 and S21 + achieves up to 30x digital zoom. However, the Galaxy S21 Ultra features the previous generation 100x "space zoom". This time, Samsung has added a 3x zoom camera with another 10x zoom camera to enhance image fidelity at extreme focal lengths. AI image stabilization has been improved to reduce handshake on zoom across all S21 series cameras.

Unlike the S Pen in the new Note series, the Galaxy S21 Ultra's S Pen is strictly passive. Samsung has confirmed to IT World Canada that the S Pen remote cannot act as a remote camera trigger because it does not have battery or Bluetooth functionality.

Apart from display and camera, Samsung is also splitting the products with connectivity options. All three phones feature 5G, but stepping away from the S21 gets the user ultra-wideband (UWB) for device tracking, and Wi-Fi 6E for faster Wi-Fi wherever it is available.