Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G 256GB Phantom Silver

Samsungs neues Flaggschiff heißt Galaxy S21 Ultra und protzt mit technischen Superlativen. Das Smartphone setzt aber nach wie vor auf zuletzt stark kritisierte Exynos-Chips und kommt ohne Netzteil. Reicht das, um sich an die Spitze zu setzen?

Ultrastark! Das Galaxy S21 Ultra ist das Aushängeschild der neuen Highend-Serie von Samsung. Es besitzt das größte, hochauflösendste sowie hellste Display, den stärksten Akku und die vielseitigste Kamera der Modellreihe. Es setzt hierzulande jedoch wieder auf einen hauseigenen Exynos-SoC, welchen die Koreaner jedoch verbessert haben wollen. Ob die Mischung aufgeht, verrät unser Test.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G has some of the best cameras we've ever seen on a smartphone, and gives an impressive set of telephoto options.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is a no-holds-barred uber-flagship with sizeable proportions and a high price, but for your money, you get the most uncompromisingly capable smartphone on the market right now

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is indisputably the best Android phone you can buy right now. But it's still too big and too expensive for all but a small audience of enthusiasts.

It's big, powerful and very capable. If you're after the very best Samsung Galaxy S21 model and money is no object, the Ultra is the one for you. It's a big upgrade over the S20 Ultra, fixing the focus issues and improving battery life. It is very pricey though, especially when the regular S21 has become more affordable.

Samsung's Galaxy S21 line is an overall refinement of last year's models, but feature bloat still weighs these phones down.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra fixes most of the issues that plagued last year's S20 Ultra, all while coming in at a lower price point. The lack of microSD card expansion and a charging brick may frustrate longtime fans, but Samsung has delivered a great all-rounder phone with a clean design, wonderful display, blazing-fast performance, and one of the most versatile camera systems you can get in a smartphone today.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the phone that the Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra should of been. Last year's phone was a massively powerful handset that, in some areas, was coarse around the edges – and as such fell from grace in terms of receiving a perfect score. The S21 Ultra, though, while not perfect, builds on and refines what was there last year, as well as offering functionality that up until now has been the preserve of the Galaxy Note series alone. It's still a very expensive flagship, and certainly not for everyone, but now it's one with less flaws and more overall usage potential.

In many ways, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is a by-the-book upgrade — it’s faster, its cameras are more polished, and its software is a little cleaner. Calling it a thrill would be a stretch. With that in mind, the Ultra absolutely shines this year, not because of game-changing updates, but because it addresses basically all the problems we saw in last year’s model. This level of competence on display here counts for a lot more than ambitious, half-baked features. Best of all, it’s less expensive than the model it replaces. With all that in mind, the Galaxy S21 is definitely worth the splurge for power users and camera fanatics, though I’d recommend waiting a while before buying one. Samsung is notorious for its aggressive deals and promotions even shortly after a device’s launch. So in this case — as in many others — your patience may be rewarded.