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Marques Brownlee - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Review: Problems Solved!

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Author: Marques Brownlee
Categories: Science Creativity & Design
Tags: science, creativity
Views: 2 · Last viewed: 2026-10-16 08:09 UTC

Short Summary

Main recommendation: The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is an excellent phone, and Marques Brownlee says it is a near-"MKBHD Edition" of the S20 Ultra, with its strongest gains coming from design, display, software, and camera usability rather than headline specs. He notes that most big numbers carry over from the S20 Ultra, so the improvements are mainly subtle refinements that make the phone feel significantly better in daily use.

Key Points

  • The matte black Phantom Black finish is praised as clean and intentional, and it resists fingerprints well, though the phone still rocks on a table because it is uneven.
  • The display is flatter than last year's model, with no edge spill, and the phone is slightly smaller, dropping from 6.9 inches to 6.8 inches in display size.
  • The under-display fingerprint sensor is 1.77 times larger than last year's, making it less finicky and reducing failed unlock attempts.
  • Battery life is described as a "worry-free" experience on the Snapdragon version; on one day he got about four hours of screen-on time ending around 50 percent, and another day around five hours, never fully draining in a single day.
  • Camera usability improved through a natural selfie option (not the default), subject locking at 100x zoom, laser autofocus that he estimates works in about 75 percent of cases, and macro photography from the ultra-wide lens.

Details Worth Noting

  • Concrete instructions: The speaker gives no step-by-step setup procedure. Actionable points include: choose the natural selfie option when the camera app first opens instead of the default bright mode for more natural skin tones; use the improved dark mode on OLED displays to potentially gain a little battery life; and he notes the usual pattern is that Exynos versions have weaker battery/performance, but says initial testing of the Exynos 2100 looks pretty promising, and he leaves final conclusions to those who can test both phones directly.
  • Samsung's 3x and 10x telephoto cameras were both included so that everything from 1x to 3x uses the primary camera, 3x to 10x switches between the primary and second camera depending on lighting, and 10x and beyond uses the periscope camera.
  • The phone can shoot 4K at 60 fps from all cameras including the selfie camera, 12-bit RAW photos in Pro mode, and 8K video at only 24 fps.
  • Director's View allows simultaneous recording from multiple cameras, enabled by the Snapdragon Triple Eight chip.
  • Limitations include camera misses, edge fringing on close-up subjects, and continued unevenness that causes the phone to rock on a table.

Bottom Line

The S21 Ultra is mainly a refinement of the S20 Ultra, but its practical improvements in fingerprint reading, display flatness, battery consistency, and camera ease of use make it a stronger all-round phone for everyday users.