Samsung Unpacked: S21 Ultra 5G

At the start of every year, Samsung always brings the goods and this year is no different. Samsung’s Unpacked event revealed a number of products but the pinnacle is the S21 Ultra 5G.

Off the bat, Samsung has followed Apple’s lead and will not include charging brick with their phones. So if you don’t already have one, you will need to fork out extra. And for the first time the S21 Ultra 5G is bringing S-pen functionality.

The phone is one of the largest, coming in at 6.8-inches with an AMOLED 2X display running at QuadHD+ with 120Hz refresh rate, now available at the same time. Brightness tops out at 1,500 nits which should never let you down, no matter how bright the sun is.

Such a big screen needs a big battery and Samsung delivered there too with a 5,000mAh capable of fast wireless charging as well as speedy wired charging. Onto the cameras and it has a quad rear camera (ultra-wide, wide and dual tele-lenses) that features a new 108MP pro sensor. This set up will allow for 4K 60fps video across any of the lenses including the selfie camera. Similar to last year’s S20 Ultra, the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G features 100x Space Zoom which is powered by Samsung’s first-ever Dual-tele lens system – one optical 3x and one optical 10x both equipped Dual Photodiode(2PD)– so you can capture crystal-clear shots no matter how far you are from the action.

As we said earlier on, Samsung is bringing the fan favorite S Pen experience to the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. From drawing to note-taking to editing photos and signing documents, now you can unlock the power of the S Pen on the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G. Use an existing S Pen from a Galaxy Note or Galaxy Tab or purchase an S Pen separately on its own or with a compatible case.

The S21 Ultra 5G will be readily available in the UK from January 29th in two distinct colours – Phantom Black or Phantom Silver or if you purchase online there will be three additional colours – Phantom Titanium, Phantom Blue and Phantom Brown.

Each of these phones will be available in three RAM and memory formats – 12GB/128GB for £1149, 16GB/256GB for £1199 and finally the ultimate 16GB/512GB for £1329.

pre-order

Advertisement

OnePlus launches new 8T – 120Hz and 5G connectivity

Another day, another new phone. We have had some heavy hitters so far; Samsung Galaxy Note Series, Google Pixel 5 and 4A 5G and the myriad of iPhone 12s but now it’s turn of OnePlus to reveal its mid-year update in the form of a T series. This year fall to the 8T but unfortunately we aren’t to see the 8T Pro.

The OnePlus 8T is a powerhouse of sorts when you look at the spec sheet – 120Hz refresh rate 6.55-inch AMOLED display, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 chipset with 5G connectivity, 8GB RAM with 128GB UFS3.1 storage or 12GB of RAM with 256GB of UFS3.1 storage, 4500mAh battery capable of getting a days worth of charge in 15 mins thanks to the new Warp Charge 65, Quad camera set up and Oxygen OS 11 which is a form of Android 11 but with Samsung UI design cues – all for the price of £549 or £649 respectively here in the UK.

The cameras have been updated slightly, now featuring a 123-degree ultra-wide angle 16MP camera, 48MP main camera, a Macro lens and a Monochrome lens. Up front, there is a 16MP camera that has been shifted from the centre on the 7T to the left corner.

With companies like Apple removing the charger from the packaging, it is interesting to see OnePlus go the opposite direction. Not only will they ship the fast charger in the box, but it is also compatible with other USB-C devices so it could technically charge up your laptop, headphone or handheld console. The focus is on the extremely fast and powerful wired charging which means yet again, OnePlus has not added wireless charging to its phone.

The space of what is called mid-tier phones is hotting up and if you are an Android fan and looking for a new phone, the OnePlus 8T is one that will be in the mix.

Buy now

Google Pixel 5 is here

Some of you may know this already, but, Google had its Launch Night In a few days ago and we have already discussed the Nest Audio Speaker but I wanted to turn your attention to the Pixel 5.

The Google Pixel series has had a tough time in its previous generations – it lacked key components that users were asking for. Take a decent sized battery, a screen to body to ratio that resembled other flagship phones etc, etc.

Well with the Google Pixel 5, the team realised that battling for the top spot with the likes of Samsung and Apple wasn’t always going to cut it and it would affect sales in the long run. The software and the camera is what sold Google phones and at that price point, the hardware didn’t warrant the price tag.

So now, that the price has dropped to £599 it makes a lot easier to justify. The same is said with the chipset – previous generations ran the best that Qualcomm could offer but it also put it in the crosshairs of those other top tier phones. The Pixel 5 has got a Snapdragon 765G chip which is 5G enabled and probably won’t be noticeable when using it everyday. It is fitted with 8GB of RAM and 128GB of storage.

The phone itself has 6-inch OLED display at 90Hz with a punch-hole cutout for the selfie camera replacing the massive forehead that was on the Pixel 4. Project Soli is no more but this gives the phone a cleaner look. It is aluminium bodied and capable of reverse wireless charging, fingerprint scanner is still round the back. The camera module has been changed slightly, with the standard 12.2 MP camera and now a 16MP ultrawide lens.

The battery has swelled to a reasonable 4080mAh which is a godsend from the 2800mAh battery seen on the Pixel 4. It now comes in two colours, Just Black and Sorta Sage and is available to pre-order for £599 or £24.96 per month on 0% APR for 24 months with deliveries starting October 5th.

PRE-order now