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00:00Which phone should you buy? The Galaxy S21 Ultra or the Note 20 Ultra?
00:04And is there really that much of a difference between them?
00:07Hey guys, I'm Tomatek Jack and it's easy to think that well, this is the shiny new one
00:12Just get this, but is it that simple? Well for the most part, yeah, actually it is pretty simple
00:18I would definitely go for the S21 Ultra. Although I do have a couple of issues with it
00:22But if we start off looking at the price and on Samsung's website
00:26The new S21 Ultra is actually cheaper than the Note 20 Ultra
00:30Although to be fair on Amazon you can find some deals knocking a hundred or so off and you might be able to find a
00:35Cheaper used model so the Note may end up being a tad cheaper, but there's not gonna be that much in it
00:40But I think realistically even if the Note is a little bit cheaper
00:43There's a lot of upgrades on the S21 Ultra that makes it worth it
00:47For example, we're getting this new look and while I think they're both seriously classy looking phones
00:52I do prefer this new matte glass look and it doesn't pick up smudges or fingerprints anywhere near as easily
00:58Although I did discover the pop sockets actually don't work well with this matte coating
01:02So I'll probably need a case
01:04Although more importantly I do much prefer the more comfortable rounded corners on the S21 compared to the more squared off edges that you get
01:11on the Note
01:13But it's what's on the inside that makes a much bigger difference and with the S21 Ultra
01:17We're getting either the Snapdragon 888 or the Exynos 2100 chips
01:21we're also getting better cameras including a new 10 times periscope zoom a
01:26Macro mode new sensor on the main camera and also a much higher megapixel selfie camera. The battery is also a fair bit bigger
01:33We're getting a 5000 mAh cell on here up from 4500 on the Note
01:37So about 20% bigger
01:39Another upgrade is that we can now have the higher quad HD resolution and 120 Hertz refresh rate at the same time
01:46Whereas on the Note you can only have one or the other
01:48We're also getting the latest Wi-Fi 6e a brand new fingerprint reader
01:52And finally one of the big USPs for the Note the S Pen now also works with the S21 Ultra
01:58You do have to carry it separately or use a case to store it plus right now the Bluetooth features don't work
02:04Although a new Pro S Pen will be coming soon, but it will cost you $40 extra
02:09So I think the S21 Ultra is better in almost every way
02:13Almost now either you won't care about this at all, or it may actually be a deal-breaker for you
02:18But one of the drawbacks of the new S21 range is it no longer supports microSD card
02:23So unlike on the Note 20 Ultra where you could go for one of the 128, 256 or 512 gig
02:28Storage options and then pop in a I don't know 512 gig or even a terabyte microSD card
02:34So potentially with this you could have up to 1.5 terabytes of storage
02:38So absolutely tons of room for all your 4k movies or your music backups
02:43Whatever it is you have on your phone and that was a real selling point for a lot of people
02:48Whereas unfortunately on the S21 you are limited to the internal storage maxing out at 512 gigs
02:53Which is still plenty and far more than most of us would ever use but we are basically losing some functionality there
02:58Oh, and also there's no charger or headphones in the box
03:01But overall I still don't think that outweighs the improvements that we're getting on the S21
03:06However, it's not just about which phone should you buy
03:09I'm also kind of curious to see how much of an improvement the S21 is when it comes to the processor the camera the battery
03:15Life, is there really that much of a difference between them?
03:18Well, I can tell you the Exynos 2100 model of the S21 Ultra
03:22I have here is a big upgrade from the Note 20's Exynos 990 and if I bring in the Snapdragon 888 results as well
03:29You can see it's basically within the margin of error. It's neck-and-neck in terms of CPU performance
03:34Although the Exynos generally does perform better in the OpenCL graphics test now make sure you have subscribed because in the next few days
03:41I will be getting the Snapdragon version of the S21 Ultra. So I'll do a full side-by-side comparison
03:46I'm always excited to see how they compare because they should in theory be pretty similar
03:50I mean, it's the same phone, but historically we know that is not the case
03:54So make sure you have subscribed and stay tuned for that big versus video coming in the next few days
03:58Now as for battery life, as I say, we're getting a 20% bigger cell on the S21
04:03But the results are not quite what you'd expect
04:06I tested both versions of the Note 20 Ultra and the Exynos S21
04:11With all three set to full HD and 120 Hertz and while the battery life is noticeably better coming from the Exynos version of the Note
04:18It's near enough the same as the Snapdragon Note
04:22But essentially we're not seeing or at least I'm not seeing that sort of 20% boost that you might expect
04:27Given that bigger battery capacity and then if you do decide to have the quality res and 120 Hertz at the same time
04:33That's also going to drain it a little bit faster as well
04:35But moving on and let's talk about this camera because this is where things get really interesting
04:40If I put the specs side-by-side, you can see the main addition of the S21 is this 10x periscope lens
04:47So now we're getting a 3x and a 10x optical zoom and crucially I think by far the biggest upgrade
04:53They've changed the name of live focus to portrait. There it is portrait mode. It's the little things, you know
05:02Anyway, here's a few shots
05:03I took on both side-by-side and if we start to zoom in all the way up to a hundred times space zoom
05:09Although the Note limits you to 50, but I've cropped it into match
05:12You can see there is a subtle but noticeable improvement on the S21
05:16Here's another example at a hundred times and while neither exactly usable
05:20There is a marked improvement now on the opposite end of the spectrum
05:24The S21 also now has this macro mode built in with the focus automatically adjusting when close up on your subject
05:30But crucially in terms of photo quality, I think in good light. It can be hard to tell them apart
05:36Samsung say they've increased the contrast and also improved the dynamic range on the S21 Ultra if we get a little bit closer on Sarah
05:43And while subtle you can see the S21 has more contrast, but also her face is a little bit more evenly exposed
05:51However, it's when we switch to portrait mode that things get a little strange
05:55I have the latest software as of the 23rd of January and I'll put the exact software number in the description
06:00But yes 21 looks far too soft. It's also too contrasty and to my eyes at least nowhere near as nice as the Note
06:08It's not a one-off either
06:09It just doesn't look right to me unless this is the look Samsung's going for with the 50% more contrast
06:15But I think it's an issue with portrait mode for now as regular photos seem to be much more natural
06:21Hopefully this is something a software update will fix but slightly dodgy portrait mode aside
06:25You can see the S21 handles highlights much better
06:28The improved dynamic range means we can see a lot more detail in the cloud. Whereas on the Note
06:33It's completely blown out back at home now and at first glance
06:37They do look very similar
06:38But again, if you look at the window blinds in the background
06:40You can see the S21 is doing a much better job dealing with the exposure
06:44And it's a similar story with this one. If you look at the light strip behind my desk
06:49Another upgrade I've noticed with the S21's camera is with the white balance particularly in low-light
06:54It's much more natural and is able to handle the different color tones on the scene without turning the whole thing yellow
07:01As for video quality is very similar between the two and they both still max out to 8k 24 or 4k 60
07:09However, the S21 can now shoot 4k 60 with all four lenses
07:13Whereas the Note 20 can only shoot that with the main lens
07:16The only thing that concerns me a little bit is right at the end here when I'm crossing the road
07:21The S21 Ultra gets weirdly dark and fuzzy for a lack of a better word. So like the portrait mode
07:27I'm hoping this will improve with an update on release
07:29Now
07:32Switching things around to the selfie camera and the S21 has a 40 megapixel sensor or from the notes 10 megapixel
07:39Although it's using pixel binning
07:40So we end up with 10 megapixel shots on both all filters and beauty modes were turned off on both for this
07:45But the note does look soft in comparison. Although I do kind of prefer the color tones on the note
07:51But what about front-facing video?
07:54This is being shot at 4k 30 with the selfie cameras and if I have a little spin around change the lighting up
08:00Hopefully you can get an idea of how they compare
08:03Did it there? I'm also switching the microphone so you can hear the difference in the audio
08:09But you guys are gonna have to be the judge and tell me which one you think looks and sounds better in the comments below
08:17Hmm. So overall, I think the camera on the s21 is quite a step up even over the note in terms of the zoom
08:24The macro the dynamic range also the white balance particularly in low light
08:28But there are a couple of weird anomalies around those portrait mode shots and also that video
08:32But as I say, hopefully I'll share this with Samsung, but that can be fixed in an update
08:37So then after all that, which one would you go for? I think for me, it's a fairly easy decision
08:43I would go with the S21 Ultra
08:45Unless you really really really want that micro SD card support and also having a built-in S Pen is a big deal
08:51I think for the vast majority of people the s21 ultra makes more sense
08:55And actually it's a pretty big upgrade considering they're only five months apart
08:59But I am curious if we'll see some camera updates for this and also as I say how the Exynos version will compare to the snap
09:05Dragon, so make sure you have hit a subscribe button and stay tuned for that
09:08Let me know which one you would go for and why in the comments and I'll see you next time right here on the tech
09:13Chat. Thanks for watching
09:21You