Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos) Camera review: Dual-tele with room for improvement

Samsung ’ s new S-series flagship, the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, comes with an update design and a wholly crowd of improvements under the hood. The international version of the device, the subject of this screen, is powered by Samsung ’ s 5nm Exynos 2100 top-end chipset and is the company ’ mho first non-Note device to offer S-Pen stylus support .
The large, brilliantly 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x display with a 20:9 view proportion is a great sieve for any type of content creation, thanks to a high 3200 x 1440- pixel solution and flexible frame rates up to 120 Hz .
In the camera department, the Galaxy S21 Ultra comes with a major improvement over its harbinger S20 Ultra—replacing the latter ’ s 103 mm-equivalent periscope tele-lens with a dual-tele apparatus. A 70 millimeter lens takes worry of medium-range tele shots, while a 240 millimeter juggernaut allows for highly long tele-zooming. Both the chief wide and ultra-wide cameras look more similar to last year ’ sulfur model but come with more insidious improvements .
Read on to find out if they succeeded and how the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ) performed under translation 4 of the DXOMARK Camera test protocol.

Key television camera specifications :

  • Primary: 108 MP 1/1.33″ sensor, 0.8μm, 24 mm-equivalent f/1.8-aperture lens, OIS, PDAF
  • Ultra-wide: 12 MP 1/2.55″ sensor, 1.4μm, 13 mm-equivalent f/2.2-aperture lens, Dual-Pixel AF
  • Tele 1: 10 MP 1/3.24″ sensor, 1.22μm 72 mm-equivalent f/2.4-aperture lens, Dual-Pixel AF, OIS
  • Tele 2: 10 MP 1/3.24″ sensor, 1.22μm 240 mm-equivalent f/4.9-aperture lens, Dual-Pixel AF, OIS
  • LED flash
  • Video: 4320p/24 fps, 2160p/60/30 fps (2160p/60 fps tested), HDR10+











About DXOMARK Camera tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone television camera reviews, DXOMARK engineers capture and measure over 3000 quiz images and more than 2.5 hours of television both in controlled lab environments and in natural indoor and outdoor scenes, using the camera ’ s nonpayment settings. This article is designed to highlight the most important results of our test. For more data about the DXOMARK Camera trial protocol, chatter here. More details on how we score smartphone cameras are available here .

Test summary


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
121
camera

128

photograph

76

soar

98

video recording

With a DXOMARK Camera overall score of 121, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ) delivers a good camera operation but lags slightly behind the best competitors in the ultra-premium segment. by chance, it besides scores lower than its harbinger S20 Ultra 5G at 126 .
The Photo score of 128 is 16 points lower than the top-ranked Huawei Mate 40 Pro+. While the Samsung does many things well, there is some board for improvement in most test categories, specially when considering its top-end camera specifications .
The S21 Ultra 5G delivers nice colors and skin tones in good idle .
target photograph is normally accurate and moral force crop is wide, showing estimable detail in both highlight and shadow areas of the frame. HDR action can be a little unstable, though, with detectable magnetic declination between back-to-back shots of the lapp picture .
Color looks nice and skin tones are pleasant when shooting at fair fall levels, but saturation decreases in low ignite. The autofocus system besides slows down in low-light and high-contrast scenes, but differently the device largely delivers accurately focus images .
The texture / make noise tradeoff is an area where the S21 Ultra 5G leaves most room for improvement, specially noise is a distribute worse than on some direct competitors. There is a obtrusive personnel casualty of finely detail when shooting indoors and in low light. At the lapp fourth dimension, noise is visible in pretty much all images, even those recorded in bright light. Image randomness can get quite intrusive and is not just limited to the farinaceous look of luminosity noise — sometimes chromatic noise is visible, excessively .
The Zoom score of 76 is helped by a adequate ultra-wide performance. The ultra-wide camera offers an expansive plain of position, but like with the primary wide television camera, noise has a negative impact on image timbre. The tele does not quite live up to the expectations raised by the impressive-looking dual-tele setup. The level of detail is reasonably depleted across the tele soar range, with unnaturally-rendered texture and fusion artifacts .
The ultra-wide television camera offers an expansive field of view .
With a Video grudge of 98, the Samsung is besides not on the lapp floor as its most calculate rivals for video, matching the scores of slightly older and less expensive devices, such as the Huawei P40 and the Google Pixel 4a .
On the asset side, exposure is stable and moral force image reasonably wide-eyed arsenic long as you don ’ thymine phonograph record in low light. The autofocus normally keeps things sharp, and thanks to a 60 federal protective service human body rate, motion looks largely nice and fluent .
however, the level of recorded detail is perceptibly lower than on competing devices, with “ moving texture ” artifacts frequently visible. noise is besides higher in most tear conditions. Color tends to be fairly desaturated and egg white balance casts often reduce the overall television quality. Video stabilization could be more effective, excessively. You still get some camera milkshake when recording while standing hush and a reasonably strong jello effect becomes visible when the television camera is moving .

Photo scores explained

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ( Exynos ) achieves a Photo score of 128. In this section, we take a closer look at how each sub-score was determined and compare image quality against some cardinal competitors .

Exposure and Contrast

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
95
111
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 111 )
As we would expect from a high-end device in 2021, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is capable of delivering good aim vulnerability in all conditions, from bright sunshine down to low easy .
This image shows the camera maintaining estimable contrast on the subject, even when capturing challenging backlit scenes. overall active range is very good in outdoor conditions and under typical indoor ignition. It ’ s slenderly better than the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max but not quite adenine good as the Huawei Mate 40 Pro, which preserves a touch more contingent in both foreground and shadow areas of the frame .
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), very dear moral force range
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, excellent dynamic rate
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, effective active roll
While the Samsung ’ s dynamic stove is by no means bad, looking at the detector and chipset specifications, we think it should have been possible to push the HDR serve promote. We besides observed some instabilities in the tone -mapping and exposure variation on back-to-back shots, such as in the exemplar below. Most of the time you silent end up with good moral force compass, but on occasion the television camera does not make the most of its HDR capabilities .
HDR process has kicked in, preserving decent detail in the flip .
HDR march has not activated, resulting in boastfully clipped areas .

Color

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
100
107
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Best : Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max ( 107 )
The camera produces the usual fine Samsung tinge hand over, with eminent levels of impregnation and nice clamber tones even in difficult backlit scenes. There is much besides a flimsy cyan hurl to the sky ( Some might find the impregnation a little besides strong, but this is typical Samsung style and, like sol many things, it ’ mho pretty much a matter of personal preference. ) On the downside, white balance can be blue when shooting in the ghost .
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), decent semblance
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, lower impregnation
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, lower impregnation
A rebuff lack of impregnation tends to become visible in low light. In such conditions, competitors such as the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max supply slightly more pleasant color .
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), adequate color, slenderly cool bark tones
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, nice coloring material and clamber tones
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, nice color and skin tones
On a side note : Our testers besides observed that Samsung has chosen a fairly neutral rendering for low discolor temperature ( warm ) light sources. While this can result in pleasant color, it besides seems to increase trope noise in such scenes. This tradeoff does not seem very well managed overall and lower noise levels should be accomplishable ( see the Noise section below for more ) .

Autofocus

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
91
109
Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders
Best : Asus Smartphone for Snapdragon Insiders ( 109 )
The S21 Ultra 5G ’ second autofocus can be relied upon in most situations except in identical low lighter, where there is some likely for misfocused images. The autofocus besides perceptibly slows down in gloomy fall. In this graph you can see the television camera takes a touch longer to lock concenter at 20 lux .
Autofocus comparison in first gear clean ( 20 lux ) with 4 EV version Unlike most of its flagship rivals, the Samsung inactive doesn ’ thymine habit continuous cushion and nothing shutter lag in all conditions, which means capture times are slenderly slower than on competing devices. As a result, you might fair miss the decisive moment and get a subject with shut eyes or who is moving .
Depth of field is fairly pin down, which means subjects in the bet on of group portraits tend to be rendered slightly soft .
A flimsy autofocus delay can result in images with the capable ’ sulfur eyes closed .
subjugate in the back are rendered slightly easy .

Texture

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
91
111
Xiaomi Mi 11
Best : Xiaomi Mi 11 ( 111 )

Noise

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
69
99
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 99 )
The horizontal surface of detail captured by the S21 Ultra television camera is decent but lower than we would expect from a flagship device with these Samsung specifications. The television camera tends to find a good compromise between texture preservation and noise reduction in portrait shots, specially in indoor shots and when shooting scenes in bright outdoor luminosity. however, a passing of contingent is much visible in landscape shots, even when recorded in bright light, such as in this scene. There is besides more noise ( and ringing ) than we would like to see in the sky and in tail areas of this shot .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), texture and noise
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), craw : loss of all right detail, noise, ringing


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, texture and randomness
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, crop : very commodity detail, low make noise


Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, texture and make noise
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, cultivate : good detail, moo noise
The real-life results above are confirmed by our measurements in the lab, where the S21 Ultra 5G ’ randomness detail conservation is systematically lower than the Huawei Mate 40 Pro ’ randomness .
texture comparison
high make noise levels and a lack of fine detail is besides identical apparent in this low-light portrait shoot .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), texture and noise
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : firm structured noise, lack of detail


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, texture and noise
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, snip : becoming detail, low noise


Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, texture and noise
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, cultivate : some noise, decent detail
Results are alike for our randomness measurements in the lab. The S21 Ultra measures higher than both the iPhone 12 Pro Max and the Huawei Mate 40 Pro in bright light and in indoor conditions. It ’ randomness on a similar level as the Apple device in broken abstemious .
ocular make noise comparison
The S21 Ultra 5G besides produces more effigy noise than its predecessor, the S20 Ultra 5G. This is quite visible in this sample distribution. noise on the S21 Ultra 5G frequently appears as integrated make noise and includes colored saturation make noise, which is more intrusive than farinaceous luminosity noise .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), low-light noise
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : potent randomness


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), low-light noise
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : lower noise

Artifacts

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
66
75
Google Pixel 4
Best : Google Pixel 4 ( 75 )
prototype artifacts are pretty well controlled overall on the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ). however, our testers observed a few artifacts, including color quantization and ring ; you can see the latter pretty distinctly in this persona .

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ( Exynos ), ringing
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra ( Exynos ), snip : potent ringing on high-contrast edges
There is besides a personnel casualty of acutance in the field and flare in some images. The latter can be clearly seen in this sample below. Some flare is besides detectable in the Huawei and Apple images, but the effect is a lot weaker .
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), potent flare
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, minimal erupt
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, minimal flare

Night

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
57
82
Huawei Mate 40 Pro+
Best : Huawei Mate 40 Pro+ ( 82 )
When shooting in low-light conditions at night, egg white proportion and color rendering tend to be accurate even in challenging lighting conditions. The lapp is true for for target exposure, but the level of capture detail is very low if the television camera does not trigger the flash .
exposure is beneficial in this view, but a passing of detail and integrated noise are very discernible. Both comparison devices deliver a better consequence .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), flash off
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : miss of detail, structured noise


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, flash off
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, crop : better contingent, lower noise


Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, flash off
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, crop : adequate skin tones, miss of detail, lower noise

Bokeh

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
70
80
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 80 )
Portrait images captured in bokeh manner display good subjugate topic isolation, thanks to a reasonably wide fake aperture. The blur gradient is besides quite well rendered from the front of the setting to the background. Some confuse instabilities and affected color translation are sometimes visible, but overall the S21 Ultra 5G ’ randomness bokeh manner creates a natural-looking effect that international relations and security network ’ triiodothyronine excessively far off the very thing .
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), nice bokeh effect, strong smear
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, nice bokeh effect, slenderly less blur
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, courteous bokeh effect, slightly less confuse
however, bokeh quality is lower than on the predecessor S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), which scored 75 in this category. The older exemplar delivered better detail, lower randomness, and slenderly more accurate subject isolation from the backdrop .


Samsung Galaxy S21 5G Ultra ( Exynos ), bokeh model
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G Ultra ( Exynos ), cultivate : lack of detail, structured noise, inaccurate subjugate isolation


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), bokeh model
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), craw : better detail, lower noise, better discipline isolation

Preview

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
66
80
Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max
Best : Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max ( 80 )
The S21 Ultra 5G achieves a good score for preview, but there is still room for improvement in some areas. What the Samsung does in truth well is transitions between the four cameras when zooming — they are very smooth both when using pinch-zoom or the buttons .





Transitions between cameras are very polish when zoom .
preview for HDR and bokeh effect is decent but not quite perfective. The preview effigy has some HDR march and a bokeh consequence ( when shooting in bokeh modality ) applied to it, but the effect looks a fiddling unlike to the final appropriate. HDR process is stronger on the latter and the bokeh effect shows much better subject isolation and a more realistic blur gradient .

Zoom scores explained

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ) achieves a becoming Zoom score of 76, putting it on the lapp level as its stablemate Note20 Ultra 5G and merely squeezing into the peak ten in our ranking. The Zoom score includes the tele and wide sub-scores. In this incision, we take a closer look at how these sub-scores were achieved and compare zoom image quality against some key competitors .

Tele

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )

96
140
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 140 )
The S21 Ultra 5G is capable of capturing adept quality tele images, but given its impressive dual-tele shape with a 240 millimeter equivalent reach, we expected a little more. With a score of 96, the camera doesn ’ t make it into the upper echelons of the tele ranking and besides scores lower than its single-tele harbinger S20 Ultra 5G .
Despite the beefed-up soar specification, the S21 Ultra tele soar images show abnormal texture interpretation and lower levels of detail than the best in class and the S20 Ultra at all tele settings .
For our tele screen we place the comparison phones at a pay back distance from the charts and pilfer soar to achieve the lapp frame on all devices. Let ’ s have a close expect at some examples .
This is a close-range ( approximately 2.5x ) tele shoot at a undimmed 1000 lux. At this tele set, the phone has to use the primary wide television camera to zoom digitally, but this television camera ’ s 12 MP output signal resolution limits the total of detail that can be captured when zooming in. Both the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and the S20 Ultra deliver better detail and texture at this setting. There ’ second besides some resound along the edges in the S21 Ultra shoot .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), airless image ( 2.5x ), 1000 lux
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : lack of detail, ringing


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, close range, 1000 lux
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, crop : very dependable detail


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), close range, 1000 lux
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : good detail
Results are alike at 100 lux and medium-range ( approximately 4x ) soar. The Mate 40 Pro is distinctly the best device in this comparison, with the S21 lag behind its own harbinger, capturing less detail, and showing slightly more noise .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), medium rate ( 4x ), 100 lux
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : miss of detail


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, medium range, 100 lux
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, crop : identical good detail


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), medium range, 100 lux
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : well detail
Shooting at long-range zoom ( approximately 8x ) in gloomy light will take any smartphone to its limits, but some are however better than others. There ’ second about no detail left in the S21 Ultra image and a draw of randomness is visible. The other two images would not be ideal for large-scale print, but offer perceptibly better detail than the new Samsung flagship .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), retentive range ( 8x ), 20 lux
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : lack of detail


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, long rate, 20 lux
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, crop : good detail


Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), long stove, 20 lux
Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : acceptable detail
The sample below was shot at a longer 110 mm-equivalent tele setting. Dynamic range is again good, capturing good detail in the brilliantly sky a well as in the tail areas. however, textures look unnatural ( water surface ) and there is a set of make noise in some areas—for example, on the grass on the bank .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), long-range 110 millimeter
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : noise, abnormal textures


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, long-range 110 millimeter
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, snip : lower noise, better texture


Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, long-range 110 millimeter
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, crop : slightly lower randomness
many tele-zoom images besides show strong coalition artifacts that occur when image data from two or more cameras is merged to create the final image. For exercise, a quite intrusive ghosting effect is visible in the background of this portrait blast :


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), 200mm tele
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), hard fusion artifacts in the background
The S21 Ultra 5G ’ randomness retentive 10x tele rate is a plus point that we besides accounted for in our tele score, but the farseeing range on its own is not enough to make up for the lack of detail, coalition artifacts, and overall lower persona timbre at intermediate tele settings .

Wide

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos )
46
57
Huawei P50 Pro
Best : Huawei P50 Pro ( 57 )
Samsung devices normally perform well in the wide category and the S21 Ultra 5G is no exception. A score of 46 puts it firm into the top ten for this sub-score. Images captured with the Samsung ’ s ultra-wide camera normally show accurate aim exposure and a wide dynamic compass. On the downside, little white balance casts are sometimes obtrusive and the levels of image noise are higher than we would like, specially in indoor scenes .
In this indoor comparison, the Samsung persona shows a slightly ardent casting and reasonably strong noise. The Huawei captures a perceptibly clean picture but comes with a potent blue casting. The Apple image is besides quite noisy but delivers the best color .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), ultra-wide 14 millimeter
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), crop : reasonably solid noise


Huawei Mate 40 Pro, ultra-wide 14 millimeter
Huawei Mate 40 Pro, cultivate : humble randomness


Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, ultra-wide 14 millimeter
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, craw : fairly strong noise
It ’ sulfur worth mentioning that the ultra-wide camera mechanically switches into macro mode when you get closer than 10 curium or sol to the subject ; you can get american samoa close as approximately 2 centimeter. This close-up mode international relations and security network ’ t very polish or stable, though, and there doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate seem to be any means to disable it, either .

Video scores explained

A device ’ mho overall Video grudge is derived from its operation and results across a scope of attributes in the same way as the Photo score. Tested in its 4K/60 federal protective service mode, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G achieved a Video score of 98. That ’ s a decent result, but not quite at the same high charge as some of its direct flagship rivals. Its Video sub-scores are as follows : vulnerability ( 96 ), Color ( 95 ), Autofocus ( 91 ), Texture ( 60 ), Noise ( 75 ), Artifacts ( 75 ), and Stabilization ( 90 ). In this section, we take a closer look at the device ’ s strengths and helplessness for video, with some comparisons against its keystone competitors .
The S21 Ultra comes with 8K video commemorate and HDR10+, but the former offers hardly any stabilization, while the latter is not available in 4K resolution. We decided to test the device in 4K resolution and at 60 federal protective service because those settings offered the best overall tradeoff among all persona choice attributes .
Video target exposure on the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G can sometimes be moo in low-light conditions. vulnerability is broadly stable, though, with entirely casual child instabilities .
In terms of dynamic crop, the Samsung does well in indoor and outdoor conditions. It ’ s slenderly better than the Huawei Mate 40 Pro in this respect, but not quite on the same grade as the iPhone 12 Pro Max, particularly when looking at highlight retention. Some nip is besides obtrusive in the shadow areas .





Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), indoor video





Huawei Mate 40 Pro, indoor television





Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, indoor television
There is some room for improvement for color in television clips. White counterweight is pretty stable in all tested conditions, but a slight color hurl is frequently visible, besides. In addition, saturation levels are on the low side across all light levels .





Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), indoor video recording





Huawei Mate 40 Pro, indoor video recording





Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, indoor television
The S21 Ultra 5G ’ randomness autofocus broadly performs well during video read, by and large keeping the subject accurately in concenter. We observed some stress failures only in scenes with strong backlighting .
The Samsung lags slightly behind the competition in terms of video texture. Details tend to be indulgent and a “ moving texture artifact ” —where textured elements of the view appear to be floating—is sometimes visible. The lack of texture and detail is confirmed by our measurements in the lab .
Video worldly noise comparison noise is visible in video recording clips recorded in all conditions. In addition to luminance noise, strong chromatic randomness becomes visible in abject light. slender luminosity noise is besides visible in bright outdoor light, but the difference between the S21 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max and Huawei Mate 40 Pro is most obtrusive in indoor conditions and low abstemious .
Video texture comparison
Detail is besides lower and noise levels higher than on the harbinger S20 Ultra 5G. You can see it in this indoor comparison .







Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), indoor video recording







Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), indoor video
The difference in terms of television texture between the S21 Ultra 5G and the S20 Ultra 5G is confirmed by our lab measurements .
Video texture comparison
Like with close image zoom, it seems that the 12 MP end product of the detector limits detail in 4K video recording ( as we suggested in our preview article ). It doesn ’ deoxythymidine monophosphate provide adequate resolution for stabilize 4K television footage, which requires a crop between 15 and 30 percentage of the master frame for the electronic video stabilization to be effective. This makes some sort of upscaling method acting a necessity but comes with an consociate loss of persona detail .
Thanks to the 60 federal protective service frame rate there aren ’ t any judder artifacts when panning the television camera ; however, footage much shows ghosting and ringing artifacts .
Video stabilization counteracts walking apparent motion quite well, but a strong jello effect is visible and stabilization international relations and security network ” t quite as effective overall as on the best-in-class models. On static scenes the stabilization is fairly efficient, but some high-frequency residual apparent motion is sometimes visible. Frame chemise artifacts are besides visible .





Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), outdoor television





Huawei Mate 40 Pro, outdoor video





Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max, outdoor video

Conclusion

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ) is able of capturing decent photos and video clips in pretty much all conditions. however, given the impressive-looking hardware specification and the Samsung ’ s condition as an ultra-premium flagship device from a major mark, it ’ s bazaar to say we expected a score at least 10 points higher .
The S21 Ultra 5G lags behind such direct competitors as the Huawei Mate 40 Pro and the iPhone 12 Pro Max in reasonably much all test categories — evening for Zoom, where in theory the dual-tele apparatus should give the Samsung a obtrusive advantage. amazingly, it besides can not keep up with its own harbinger, the Galaxy S20 Ultra, and other slenderly older devices ( for example, the iPhone 11 Pro Max ) .
There is no doubt the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G is an exciting device with a brawny chipset and impressive display. If camera is a priority there are presently a phone number of better options to pick from, but there is hope that Samsung might be able to fix some of the issues identified in this review with a firmware update and frankincense reduce the gap between the S21 Ultra 5G and top-ranked devices .

Pros

  • Fairly wide dynamic range and good contrast
  • Smooth zoom action and exposure adaptions in preview when changing zoom factor
  • Stable white balance and accurate autofocus in video
  • Smooth motion thanks to high frame rate

Cons

  • Noise in all conditions, sometimes very strong, structured and chromatic, in both photos and videos
  • Slightly unnatural textures and fusion artifacts in zoom images
  • Rather slow shooting time in low-light and high-contrast conditions
  • Low performance video stabilization when camera held still during recording, strong jello effect

Editor’s note: Firmware versions

After publishing our Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ) Camera, review we received a number of comments from readers who were concerned that we had not used the latest firmware interpretation for the test. We used the latest firmware adaptation available when testing started ; however, Samsung released new firmware versions between the beginning of testing and the publication of the review article .
We therefore decided to check our examination results against the latest firmware versions available now to ensure that there are no major differences and that the results and scores remain valid .
To perform the checks we partially retested the S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ) using firmware version G998BXXU1AUB9. This is not the very latest version but it is the latest translation available for our specific test whole ( over-the-air or OTA updates are deployed increasingly ) on Friday, March 5th, the day we performed the checks .
As you can see in this low-light sample, there is a very little improvement in terms of noise with the newer firmware. however, randomness levels are still very eminent and the slender difference won ’ t have any impact on the noise, photograph, or overall scores. The lapp is on-key for video .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), low light, firmware used in review
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), firmware used in follow-up, crop : potent noise


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), low idle, newly firmware
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), raw firmware, crop : strong make noise
We besides did some checks on tele-zoom timbre. Detail has slenderly improved at close compass but performance is very mentally ill at long crop, indeed overall there is no improvement to the tele or zoom scores .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), close range tele, 1000lux, firmware used in review
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), firmware used in review, crop : some personnel casualty of detail


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), close range tele, 1000lux, modern firmware
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), new firmware, crop : slenderly better contingent
The tele-zoom is very precarious at long range .


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), long image tele, 1000lux, firmware used in review
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), firmware used in reappraisal, crop : some loss of detail


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), long-range tele, 1000 lux, modern firmware
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), modern firmware, crop : some loss of detail


Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), long-range tele, 1000 lux, new firmware
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G ( Exynos ), new firmware, craw : potent loss of contingent

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