PCMag editors select and review products independently. If you buy through affiliate links, we may earn commissions, which help support our testing.

Hands-On Video Showdown: Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra vs. iPhone 12 (and More)

How does the Galaxy S21 look and feel compared to the S20 and the latest iPhones? We manhandled them.

 & Sascha Segan Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

Our team tests, rates, and reviews more than 1,500 products each year to help you make better buying decisions and get more from technology.

Our Expert
LOOK INSIDE PC LABS HOW WE TEST
65 EXPERTS
43 YEARS
41,500+ REVIEWS

Samsung's Galaxy S21 lineup will be among the best-selling phones of 2021. I can say that without having reviewed them yet because Samsung and Apple dominate the US market, to the point where people entering carrier stores rarely look beyond those two brands.

The Samsung S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra side by side
Samsung's S21 lineup includes the S21 Ultra, S21+, and S21.

The S21 comes in three models: the $799 Galaxy S21, the $999 S21+, and the $1,199 S21 Ultra. I have the S21 and the S21 Ultra in for review. The Ultra is the one with all the cameras—dual-zoom shooters to make the S20's failed promise of 100x "space zoom" more of a reality.

My home office is currently full of smartphones, so I did a quick hands-on comparison video with the Galaxy S21 Ultra and S21+ next to the iPhone 12 series, S20 phones, and others:

In general, the biggest physical change from the S20 series is how the camera bump works. While it still protrudes, especially on the S21 Ultra, it's less bothersome because it's now integrated into the corner of the phone. The S21's camera bump almost looks like an on-purpose fashion feature. That sets the S21 most clearly apart from the Note 20 Ultra's huge, sharp-edged rear camera bump, though I otherwise really liked that phone.

The iPhones, meanwhile, are harder-edged. The iPhone 12 brought a rigid metal frame to the lineup, giving the iPhones a much squarer feel in the hand. The iPhones, of course, also have large screen notches at the top for their Face ID cameras, something the Samsung phones lack.

We'll be looking at the complete Galaxy S21 lineup over the next week; stay tuned for our full reviews.

About Our Expert

Sascha Segan

Sascha Segan

Former Lead Analyst, Mobile

My Experience

I'm that 5G guy. I've actually been here for every "G." I reviewed well over a thousand products during 18 years working full-time at PCMag.com, including every generation of the iPhone and the Samsung Galaxy S. I also wrote a weekly newsletter, Fully Mobilized, where I obsessed about phones and networks.

My Areas of Expertise

  • US and Canadian mobile networks
  • Mobile phones released in the US
  • iPads, Android tablets, and ebook readers
  • Mobile hotspots
  • Big data features such as Fastest Mobile Networks and Best Work-From-Home Cities

The Technology I Use

Being cross-platform is critical for someone in my position. In the US, the mobile world is split pretty cleanly between iOS and Android. So I think it's really important to have Apple, Android and Windows devices all in my daily orbit.

I use a Lenovo ThinkPad Carbon X1 for work and a 2021 Apple MacBook Pro for personal use. My current phone is a Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, although I'm probably going to move to an Android foldable. Most of my writing is either in Microsoft OneNote or a free notepad app called Notepad++. Number crunching, which I do often for those big data stories, is via Microsoft Excel, DataGrip for MySQL, and Tableau.

In terms of apps and cloud services, I use both Google Drive and Microsoft OneDrive heavily, although I also have iCloud because of the three Macs and three iPads in our house. I subscribe to way too many streaming services. 

My primary tablet is a 12.9-inch, 2020-model Apple iPad Pro. When I want to read a book, I've got a 2018-model flat-front Amazon Kindle Paperwhite. My home smart speakers run Google Home, and I watch a TCL Roku TV. And Verizon Fios keeps me connected at home.

My first computer was an Atari 800 and my first cell phone was a Qualcomm Thin Phone. I still have very fond feelings about both of them.

Read full bio