localA50user, 3 hours agowait since when do samsung phones come with facebook pre installed? is that a region dependent... moreSamsung phones come with Facebook pre installed for quite a while (I used S10e bef and currently a70)
M643
localA50user, 3 hours agowait since when do samsung phones come with facebook pre installed? is that a region dependent... moreNo not region dependant.
Samsung did a deal with the suckerburg.
It is impossible to remove without a root.
1232107
Muttley, 4 hours agoNever buy a Samsung phone. The bloatware is just too much. This phone will come with faceboo... morewait since when do samsung phones come with facebook pre installed? is that a region dependent thing?
M643
Never buy a Samsung phone.
The bloatware is just too much.
This phone will come with facebook pre-installed and you will not be able to remove it.
So expensive to still have your data stolen by the Sucker Burg.
I have been in touch with Samsung on how to delete facebook and basically they say you can not.
They say it is not active if disabled....Yeah ! I believe that so not much.
I used to be a fan of Samsung , but now I move to , probably Apple.
Samsung are slowly making my phone unusable due to bloatware that can not be uninstalled.
So they can sell another phone......but not to me anymore.
I can not wait for an anti trust case against the zucker and Samsung.
428
What an epic fail joke, no 12gb ram version.
The S205G had 12gb ram.
w22
sammyfan, 11 hours agotrue...i rather buy note 20 ultrathe ultra has curved display (no thank you) so plus is best alternative because plain 21 is too small
V2645443
"..giving all flagship features without breaking a bank" most over exaggerated claim so far. 1000 pound for flagship which has basic internals with s21, thats just unacceptable expensive peace of garbage, it is definitely breaking a bank, please GSM Arena be reasonble with your claims :)
s
sammyfan
tue
Min, 13 hours agoAll i can say is..i dont like so much these s21 line up....especially the s21 ultra...bcoss th... moretrue...i rather buy note 20 ultra
P875
This one should reach 3700 on Geekbench as the final software has been released.
M
Min
YUU
All i can say is..i dont like so much these s21 line up....especially the s21 ultra...bcoss the phone dont have any micro sd card slot...so if you want to make an upgrade...it is just useless...the phone itself with 8k videos and only 256 gb is not enough actually...n needs the sd card to keep more high quality videos and picture
P13220
From my point of view this phone and standard s21 are not worth the money but Samsung knows that 90% of the users don't care about the the specs they just want the newer version and for them i ask Samsung to charge much more!
s15926
The review is kind of pointless.
It's a perfect copy of the S20+
Samsung just wanted you to buy the S21 Ultra and they only made changes on it.
As a punishment people won't buy anything. Not everyone has that much money to buy the S21 Ultra and not everyone is stupid enough to pay extra cash for the vanilla S21 which is basically the same as the S20.
N
Nikas
pdw
I purchased once s20 ultra, and after some time changed it to S20 +. Ultra is way too big and heavy (and I am not the smallest guy). S20 plus delivered exactly the same in much more comfortable way.
?
Anonymous
0wq
Dan, 18 hours agoSame I love the s21+ , upgraded from the s9 , amazing phone ! Amazing battery ! Cheaper then ultra obviously its cheaper than an ultra because its not ultra.hellooo!
w161
YUKI93, 18 hours agoHmmm... not sure if there is a point on buying this variant when it's pretty much identic... moreGSMArena posted in this article that S21+ does 19h of video playback on a single charge. S21 does "only" 15h, so it's obvious that the battery on S21+ is considerably better than on S21.
Add to that metal finish & UWB.
If the phone had a periscope 5x optical zoom borrowed from Note 20 Ultra, or at least a genuine 3x telephoto camera AND if the price difference between S21+ and S21U was larger (it's only around 200 € in my country), I would've bought it instead of Ultra.
34861135
Hmmm... not sure if there is a point on buying this variant when it's pretty much identical to the vanilla S21 except for the larger screen and the bigger battery. I don't think the battery endurance rating will be any better than the vanilla S21.
D
Dan
0@9
Misfit2Fields, 23 hours agoEnjoying mine, nice design, battery infection holds up against my old s20+ and it was QHD with... moreSame I love the s21+ , upgraded from the s9 , amazing phone ! Amazing battery ! Cheaper then ultra
M18639
Enjoying mine, nice design, battery infection holds up against my old s20+ and it was QHD with 60hz. And I'm running the s21+ on 120hz.
Selfish camera is miles better. And I'm enjoying the change with the Google feed.
t1
So far liking mine.
Battery life is amazing. Seeing over 60% at the end of the day. Looks like I could go 2 days most of the time if necessary. Tethering off shore is a big deal for us, so battery power is more important than a big, high tech screen.
I didn't need the fancy camera of the ultra, but thought the battery of the regular S21 wasn't going to be much of an improvement over the S20.
Getting my wife the Ultra because she is more into photography than I am and doesn't put it in her pocket where the extra bulk was more than I wanted.
R
RGz
RK3
Lmao, the S21+ has a slimmer chin than the S21 Ultra?
The so-called bezel-less design has become standard for today's smartphones, regardless of whether or not they belong to the high-tier. The Galaxy A52 and A72 5G are just two of those mid-range handsets that share a premium design that was once reserved for flagships.
Samsung's upcoming Galaxy A52 and A72 smartphones are aimed at those looking to buy a cheaper 5G smartphone. Although they haven't been introduced yet, we finally have the first clear images showing the phones, courtesy to Evan Blass.
Samsung Galaxy A72 5G
Now, as far as their specs go, we do know a little bit about what these devices are supposed to offer. For starters, the Galaxy A52 5G is expected to pack a quad-camera module (64MP + 8MP + 12MP + 5MP). Rumor has it that the phone will be equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset, coupled with 6GB or 8GB RAM.
On the other hand, the slightly better Galaxy A72 5G is likely to be powered by a Qualcomm Snapdragon 765 processor. Furthermore, the smartphone will feature a 6.70-inch display, a quad-camera setup, and 128GB expandable storage.
Both 5G-enabled smartphones will ship with Android 11 and One UI 3.0 onboard. We have yet to learn when exactly Samsung will start selling these, but their predecessors (Galaxy A51 and A71) hit shelves back in April.
Griffey is back, and we’re not just talking about his shoes. Ken Griffey Jr. was recently named as senior advisor to MLB commissioner Rob Manfred, with his primary responsibilities focusing on “baseball operations and youth baseball development, particularly regarding improving diversity at amateur levels of the game”. Getting “The Kid” back into the fold will only energize the culture of the game of baseball, as can the return of his most popular sneaker with Nike – and arguably among the most memorable of the mid-1990s.
News of the Air Griffey Max 1 returning has excited his fans as the Freshwater Griffeys are set for an official release on February 15th, 2021. Joining the fray is the widely popular “Varsity Royal”, a colorway that was among the most coveted upon the silhouette’s initial return way back in 2009. It also returned to stores in 2016, although this re-issue is part of a full fledged plan to re-introduce the silhouette in a variety of OG and new colorways.
You can expect a release this Spring/Summer 2021 season for $170.
Where to Buy
Make sure to follow @kicksfinder for live tweets during the release date.
Nike Air Griffey Max 1 Release Date: 2021
Color: Varsity Royal/White-Volt-Black
For the early months of 2021, Nike Sportswear will be releasing a new Black and Orange color options of the Air Max 95.
- Advertisement -
This offering of the Nike Air Max 95 features an all-Black upper constructed in a mix of leather and mesh. Silver 3M reflective detailing appears on the tongue, lace loops, and heel highlighted with Orange accents on the Swooshes, tongues, heels, insoles, and Air Max units. A solid Black rubber sole completes the design.
Take a closer look below, and expect this Air Max 95 to release in the coming weeks at select retailers and Nike.com. The retail price tag is set at $170 USD.
Nike Air Max 95
Style Code: DJ6884-001
Release Date: 2021
Price: $170
It's fair to say that Samsung isn't sitting on its laurels when it comes to innovative form factors. The company already has two flavors of foldable phone — the Galaxy Z Fold 2, which opens up into a large tablet, and the Galaxy Z Flip, which folds in half to be more compact. Now the company has confirmed that it will be experimenting with more unorthodox ways of cramming more display into a small space.
Korean site The Elec reports that Samsung Display has gone on the record about its plans in the "rollable and slidable" arena. The company's senior vice president Choi Kwon-young reportedly said on the company's fourth quarter conference call that Samsung Display will push on with "small- to mid-displays this year."
There are two important things to note here. Firstly, the report doesn't define what it means by rollable or slidable. It presumably refers to the way the screen expands — either unrolled, like a scroll, or sliding out — but you would imagine the results would look pretty similar to your average consumer.
Secondly, and perhaps more importantly, you'll note that the report refers specifically to Samsung Display — and that part of the business has fingers in a lot of pies. It's possible that the company's experimentation with rollable/slidable displays could be limited to television sets, rather than being small enough to pop in your pocket.
It's also possible that the firm is talking about making displays for other companies to use, but on the phone front that would seem unlikely, given Samsung's enthusiasm for being first out of the traps with foldable handsets.
With all those caveats covered, there is good reason to think that Samsung is working on a rollable phone. Not only has LG's (possibly abandoned) Rollable handset piqued media interest, but a recently uncovered patent shows that Samsung has been considering the practicalities of rollable displays for at least a year.
In the unlikely event that neither LG nor Samsung deliver a rollable phone, all hope isn't lost. TCL also has a rollable design in the works, which the company demoed at CES. No release date was given, but with LG's option reported to cost $2,359 (again, assuming it arrives), then TCL's reputation for lower-cost devices might prove attractive to those on a budget.
Samsung, the world’s biggest phone maker, is also one of the largest consumer electronics and appliance makers in the world, selling everything from televisions to refrigerators.
So we were wondering: How much would it cost the ultimate Samsung fan if they could spend all they wanted on each of Samsung’s highest-end devices?
In December — as a sort of thought experiment — CNN Business calculated what it would cost to buy all the most expensive Apple gadgets (if anyone ever actually did such a thing). The answer: Nearly $80,000.
Samsung’s biggest fan would pay more.
Phone
At $1,999.99, Samsung’s latest foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 2 with 5G, is the most expensive phone in the company’s current lineup. (Note: Samsung is currently offering sitewide discounts, so this article includes prices as they are listed on its site as of Thursday. Trade-ins can lower prices even more.)
Released in September, the device features a 6.2-inch front screen and a 7.6-inch inner screen when the device is unfolded, a helpful feature if you frequently find yourself working, gaming or watching video content on the go. The folding display is coupled with software features that Samsung says will help users to multitask, including the ability to have multiple apps open simultaneously.
The phone comes in metallic silver, gold, red and blue.
There are more perks, too, for those willing to shell out for the Galaxy Z Fold 2: Samsung is offering six free months of Spotify Premium and four free months of YouTube Premium. Customers who buy the phone can also enroll in Samsung’s “Galaxy Z Premier” VIP benefits program, which includes access to Michelin star restaurants and golf and country clubs around the country, among other offerings.
You’ll want a case to protect that pricey device. You can get a luxe-looking, brown leather cover for $79.99. And a wireless charger portable battery pack for $59.99 will help ensure your device doesn’t die on you while on the go. Samsung Care+ for the phone costs $11.99 per month.
Total: $2,151.96
Audio
Samsung’s highest-end, over-the-ear headphones are the AKG N700NC M2 Wireless Headphones, which sell for $299.99. These foldable headphones have up to 23 hours of battery. They’re Android- and iOS-compatible, with the ability to switch between two different Bluetooth devices.
For on-the-go, Samsung offers the Galaxy Buds Live for $129.99. They have an ergonomic design, about 6 hours of battery life and can connect to your phone’s smart assistant with just your voice. Two other neat features: just five minutes of charging will get you an extra hour of listening, and “active noise cancellation,” which “reduces background noises” without blocking “what’s important, like voices and announcements,” the company says on its website.
They come in bright colors including blue, red and pink.
Total: $429.98
Watch
Samsung calls the Galaxy Watch3 Titanium its “most advanced” smartwatch. It boasts “military-grade durability and water resistance,” a battery that can go for more than a day on a single charge and a 45 millimeter display. Health features include heart-rate monitoring, automatic workout tracking, a sleep monitor and breathing guides to help with stress. Integrated Samsung Pay will help if you forget your wallet at home.
The smartwatch is Bluetooth-connected, and Android and iOS compatible. Currently, it’s going for $499.99, rather than the original price of $599.99.
A leather watch band will cost you $79.99.
For their watch, phone and ear buds, users can also get a UV sanitizer, which doubles as a wireless charger, for $39.99.
Total: $619.97
Computer
The Galaxy Book Flex QLED is Samsung’s priciest personal computer. It comes in two screen sizes — 13.3-inch and 15.6-inch -— the latter of which totals $1,399.99 without a trade-in.
The Galaxy Book Flex features a convertible design that lets it flip from laptop to tablet, a touchscreen QLED display, a 10th generation Intel Core processor and 512 GB of storage. It also has 19 hours of battery life, a Bluetooth enabled stylus and a trackpad that can become a wireless charger for other devices using PowerShare.
You can get a 3-year SamsungCare+ protection and support package for $349.99 and a Galaxy Book S pouch for $79.99 to protect your device. For extra storage, you can get a 2 TB portable storage drive for $229.99.
And for your home office setup, you can also get a Samsung 32-inch Smart Monitor with auto-installed Microsoft 365 and a suite of entertainment apps for $369.99.
Total: $2,429.95
Tablet
In case a laptop that doubles as a tablet just isn’t enough for you, Samsung’s Tab S7+ tablet is the highest-end option. It offers a 12.4-inch screen with an edge-to-edge display and a 120Hz refresh rate, as well as 512 GB of memory.
The wifi-connected version currently goes for $899.99, and the cell network-connected version costs $1,049.99. It boasts up to 14 hours of video playback on a single charge, and comes with a stylus and four months of ad-free YouTube Premium included.
Three years of Samsung Care+ for the device rings in at $159.99.
Total: $1,209.98, for the cell network-connected version
Television
Samsung is running a promotion on its $99,999.99 98-inch, 8K smart TV (yes, that’s an 8-foot wide television), so it’s currently only $59,999.99. It uses AI to scale graphics up to 8K resolution — 16 times the resolution of full HD.
Add four years extended warranty and wall mount service, for a total of $62,669.98.
Total: $62,669.98
Kitchen appliances
Samsung has long been a household name when it comes to appliances, and in recent years it’s decked out some products, such as the standard fridge, with features like voice control and AI.
While Samsung sells “kitchen packages” that include a fridge, gas range, dishwasher and microwave that help you save a few hundred dollars, let’s just posit that you purchase your items separately, over time, as you gradually replace older appliances. The company also charges extra fees to install the appliances and haul away your old ones, as well as for Samsung Care+ coverage.
Family Hub Refrigerator
This 22-cubic-foot smart fridge retails for $4,799, but is on sale for $4,099. It costs slightly more than its bigger cousin, as this shallower version is best suited in kitchens with a narrow fridge space. It costs an extra $129.99 to extend the warranty by three years.
The fridge works with a water filter that’s compatible only with Samsung’s, and a three pack will set you back $129.99. The Family Hub is a stainless steel fridge that lets you create shopping lists using voice command, and you can see inside it without opening the doors via 3 built-in cameras.
Dishwasher
Samsung’s matching stainless steel dishwasher retails for $1,049 and is on sale for $749.
Oven
Excluding Samsung’s bundle deals for an oven and a microwave, the most expensive oven on Samsung’s website goes for $4,199, but it’s on sale for $3,779. You can convert the oven into two sections to cook two dishes at different temperatures simultaneously.
Microwave
Samsung sells a matching smart microwave for $499.
Cooktop
The 36-inch induction cooktop costs $2,499 and it has a virtual flame that makes it look like a gas stove. It’s also Bluetooth-enabled with digital controls.
Range
Say you also want a classic gas range and not just the induction cooktop. Samsung sells a $3,339 gas range that comes with air fry capabilities.
Total for Kitchen: $15,223.98
Laundry (and miscellaneous)
After sprucing up your kitchen, how about some shiny new appliances for the laundry room?
Washer-Dryer Set
Samsung’s Smart Flex washer and dyer set in black stainless steel typically retails for $3,998 but is currently on sale for $3,597.98. The machines boast the ability to do two separate loads of laundry at the same time. And — if you have kids — the finish is fingerprint resistant.
Air Dresser
This dresser steams and refreshes your clothes, for a price tag of $1,149. It uses filtered water and can be controlled through the Samsung SmartThings app.
Vacuum
Samsung sells a variety of vacuums. The priciest set costs $748 and includes a stick vacuum with an accessory that automatically empties the dustbin. Samsung also announced a new robot vacuum, the JetBot 90, earlier in January, but did not specify its price.
Air Purifier
A voice enabled and Wi-Fi connected air purifier goes for $549.
SmartThings Wi-Fi Pack
To help connect all those devices, Samsung charges $279.99 for three devices that offer mesh Wi-Fi throughout a large home. This router can be the connective hub for all of your smart gadgets and appliances.
Total for Laundry (and miscellaneous): $6,323.97
How much am I spending?
If you really decked out your home and life with Samsung-only products, you would rack up quite a bill. And you’d be locked into using Samsung’s AI assistant Bixby, which came to market later than its competitors from Apple, Amazon and Google.
You would have a matching stainless steel set of shiny new appliances, though, and a bunch of high-end devices.
After adding up the costs of all the home appliances and various Samsung tech gadgets, the shopping list comes to a grand total of $90,879.77, minus installation and other fees for the appliances (the massive TV accounts for most of the cost). For a home to fit all these items, it’ll probably have to be a big one.
Samsung is planning a future where no two users will have the same smartphone experience. This would be an exciting prospect for customers, but a nightmare for reviewers and testers.
In a recent interview with Engadget, Samsung’s head of camera R&D Joshua Sungdae Cho envisages a world where Galaxy smartphone cameras will automatically tailor photographic results to individual users by learning their likes and dislikes.
When a user takes a photo, factors such as sharpening, color, tone, facial smoothing and HDR processing are all taken into consideration when producing the final image. These processing decisions are usually pre-determined in the factory, resulting in similar results for everybody using the same phone.
In the interview, Cho reveals that Samsung currently uses focus groups to determine the most popular editing styles, resulting in “perfectly trendy” photos.
This could all be about to change, however, with future cameras delivering personalized adjustments tweaked according to what the smartphone believes each individual user will prefer.
MORE FOR YOU
However, trends change over time and preferences will vary wildly from one person to the next as well as by various cultural norms. While one user may want photos with maximum ‘pop’, another might like as little processing as possible.
Cho’s rather ambitious plan is to “satisfy everybody 100 percent through personalization.” He goes on to say, “When there are ten people taking a picture of the same object, I want the camera to provide ten different pictures for each individual based on their preference of the brightness, the color tone, the detail enhancing, etcetera.”
This could be great news for the majority of people who want to get the ‘best’ photos with a minimum of editing but brings up a number of important issues.
Personalization on this level could prove very troublesome for anyone attempting to review or test the new cameras. If the camera delivers substantially different results to each user there it would become very difficult for a reviewer to evaluate camera performance in any meaningful way.
Furthermore, objective benchmark testers like Dxomark could find themselves in a seemingly impossible situation. Even if a neutral or default setting were to be made available to level the playing field, this simply wouldn’t reflect the way the majority of customers would use their devices.
The camera would presumably adapt its automatic adjustments over time as it learns more about the user’s preferences. This means that photos taken when you first buy a phone might look quite different to those you get after a year of use. So what happens when it’s time to buy a new phone? Do you have to start again from scratch?
The answer for serious photographers is to offer as much manual control as possible. For everyone else, there are interesting times ahead.
If you’ve been keeping watch these past few months, you’d have noticed that Samsung has been slaying it with its software updates. Besides working relentlessly to roll out the latest Android 11-based One UI 3.0 update to a wide range of flagships and flagship-killers, Samsung has also rewarded several mid-range devices with a similar treatment. Along with this commendable promptness, the brand also deserves our appreciation for updating mid-rangers that other brands often forget. So, in this edition of our weekly Discussion series, we ask you if you think Samsung is leading the way among Android manufacturers when it comes to software updates?
While Samsung appears to be at the top of its game, the condition was certainly much different a few years ago. Ironic to the brand’s global reputation, Samsung also earned the blame for delaying software updates, limiting key updates — such as Android version incremental updates — to its flagship devices, and offering a cluttered user experience with its TouchWiz user interface that was later refreshed as Samsung Experience. Samsung addressed complaints about the poor UX by majorly overhauling it with the first One UI update back in 2018. Not just that, the frequency and the availability of the latest updates have also improved majorly in the last few years.
Despite this promptness, however, Samsung still lags in one area and that is support for Seamless Updates on Android. The feature was introduced with Android Nougat, and it allows new updates to install in the background while the phone is still being used. While updates may normally take only a few minutes to install, we cannot deny that saving that time is also a bonus, especially in an age where we are constantly dependent on our phones. Until Google does not make Seamless Updates mandatory for manufacturers, we can expect Samsung to its own sweet time.
Whether Seamless Updates improve the user experience or not is another topic for yet another Discussion. For now, we would like you to share your opinions on what you think about Samsung’s enthusiasm for updates. Comments your views below!
Ever since Nike (quietly) revealed that it would let people customize its Dunk sneaker, which is arguably its hottest silhouette right now, I knew immediately I needed a pair to call my own. Little did I know, though, that trying to buy the damn shoes would become such a nightmare. Because, despite Nike knowing that its "By You" Dunk Lows were going to be heavily sought-after, the company wasn't prepared for launch day, on January 7: Its site went from giving customers errors codes while they tried to tinker with their designs, to fully crashing and not letting them complete their purchases.
But somehow, amid the virtual shopping chaos, I managed to snag a pair for $110. That was thanks in large part to the fact I saved my Dunk design on Nike's site days before the drop, and the fact I never gave up on refreshing the checkout page despite running into an avalanche of error messages. After all that, it felt so good to get the win, especially since Nike has decided to make Dunk sneakers (be it the SB or classics) extremely limited and difficult to get nowadays. It's such a shame that what used to be a shoe that would sit on shelves at Kohl's or Journey's back in the day is now a hype phenomenon but, ultimately, Nike doesn't care about any of our feelings.
Nike is going to sell its highly coveted goods regardless, even if drops like this are a total and utter mess, and even if its SNKRS app continues to be an embarrassment and the brunt of the joke for the entire sneaker community.
Edgar Alvarez / Input
Still, now I'm over the moon that my Dunk By You creation is here, at my doorstep. As someone who grew up as a skate / emo kid, Dunks were always one of my go-tos in the early 2000s, namely because they were cheaper than Air Jordans and because I always loved how they looked after being beat up. Their aesthetic hasn't changed since, and while I mostly wear high-top sneakers in this day and age, I just couldn't pass up the opportunity to put my own spin on the iconic Dunk silhouette.
As you can see, I went for a green, white, and red theme, which was my way of paying homage to the Mexican flag — the place where I'm from. To spice it up a bit —how would I do my Mexicans proud if I didn't add spice to something? — I went for a black Nike "Swoosh" logo, simply as a nod to my preference for blacked-out outfits. I also mixed up leather materials (green and red) with suede (white and black), just to give it a touch of subtle elegance.
Edgar Alvarez / Input
And last, but most definitely not least, I appreciate that Nike let me pick a gum bottom outsole. It reminds me of all the old school Dunks I used to have, and that design detail alone makes make me love these so much more. I don't have a name for them, by the way, but I think something along the line of the "Taco" Dunks would work, but that's only because I'm into tacos as much as sneakers, nothing really to do with the shoes aside from tacos being a Mexican treasure.
My only regret is that I couldn't get a second pair, so that I would have an extra one in storage for when I eventually wear these the hell out. I know, I know, I should be happy that I got a pair since thousands of other people didn't — and believe me, I am. Here's hoping Nike does another round of By You Dunk Lows so that others have a chance. It's only right, but then again, I wouldn't hold my breath.
There’s a lot of attention focused on the Valentine’s Day Air Force 1 Low releases in early February, but you had better make room for this latest set from the Nike Sportswear team. This most recent concept adds just a subtlest of upgrades by way of a rose flower on the midsole AIR accent, but don’t mistake the floral touch for a Valentine’s Day treat. Rather, this is an extension of the brand’s “Have A Nike Day” collection that launched nearly two years ago.
Two colorway options are presented: a classic all-white with a red/pine green detail, and a second in a feminine “Pink Foam” without the natural green accent. Both are connected by the “Have A Nike Day” logo on the insole as well as the custom tongue label that mimics the design of plastic take-out shopping bags.
Currently, both Air Force 1s are set for a release on February 25th, 2021. See the official images ahead and stay tuned for updates.
I was relieved when our Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro review landed in my inbox and described, mostly, a fine pair of wireless earbuds. Still, one thing still troubled me: besides costing $200 itself, the set of buds also needs an expensive Samsung Galaxy smartphone to fully function.
As with so many things in tech, Apple did this first. The AirPods Pro, the Galaxy Buds Pro’s main rival, has an impressive digital surround sound mode called Spatial Audio. While the AirPods Pro can pair with just about any Bluetooth-enabled source device, actually using Spatial Audio demands an iPhone 7 or newer, running iOS 14.
That stings enough as it is, but the Galaxy Buds Pro take manufacturer exclusivity to a new level. Not only does 360 Audio, Samsung’s Spatial Audio equivalent, need OneUI 3.1 but so do the headphones’ neat ability to auto-switch between multiple sources. And it’s the same for the ability to sync audio captured through the earbuds’ microphones to a simultaneously recorded video, something that might have been game-changing for amateur videographers.
If you buy the AirPods Pro or Galaxy Buds Pro but don’t own the right phone, you’re getting less than the complete pair of headphones.
Normally this would be considered an outstanding clutch of features. Android would finally be getting a proper Spatial Audio rival, and automatic source-switching would solve one of the lingering annoyances with trying to use multiple devices across a single pair of headphones. Instead, these bonuses are sources of frustration for the roughly four-fifths of smartphone owners without a Samsung device.
Let’s be fair here: both Apple and Samsung will have written original software to get their respective features working, and both are under no obligation to share their work with competitors. But when you can buy earbuds from Bose or Sennheiser and have them work in full with pretty much anything, tying a seemingly standalone product like headphones to certain high-end smartphones is taking us down an unwelcoming new path.
The ecosystem trap
(Image credit: Samsung)
For one, it’s unfair. If you buy the AirPods Pro or Galaxy Buds Pro but don’t own the right phone, you’re getting less than the complete pair of headphones. But you’re still paying the same as someone with access to everything, and the only way to remedy that is to pump more money into the respective ecosystem.
No small amount, either. Right now the absolute cheapest OneUI 3.1 device is a base Galaxy Tab S7, at $699. If you want something that fits in your pocket, that’s $799 for the Galaxy S21.
In fact, it wasn’t until this past week that you could get 360 Audio and auto-switching enabled at all. The Galaxy Tab S7 was still running a previous version of OneUI, and the Galaxy S21 range only started shipping on January 29. So it’s not just those who own non-Samsung Android phones: anyone who bought the Galaxy Buds Pro between now and its January 15 release date has been walking around with only a partially functional pair of earbuds.
Keeping it quiet
(Image credit: Samsung)
Manufacturer-exclusive features also have a whiff of cynical marketing about them. Apple and Samsung definitely want their headphones to drive phone sales, but also seem aware that gatekeeping key features can put off consumers as much as attract them. So they rarely make it clear that some tricks may be locked behind a same-brand phone; Samsung only clarified the hardware requirements for 360 Audio in the footnote of a press release.
This smacks of a willingness to let consumers buy the products first and discover the (intentional, imposed) limitations later. Ta-da: now they’re in a sunk cost dilemma where the only way to get the most out of their new purchase is to drop even more cash on a smartphone.
That’s not to say there’s a diabolical, moustache-twirling scheme to fool folk into wasting their money. Leaving technical details to footnotes and support sites is not the same as actively misleading people. But there is a clear reticence to be fully upfront with the costs of letting certain products reach their potential.
I don't think there's a diabolical, moustache-twirling scheme to fool folk into wasting their money. But there is a clear reticence to be fully upfront with Galaxy Buds Pro shoppers.
Missing pieces
(Image credit: Samsung)
I also worry, as a music fan and techy person, whether these companies are truly building headphones to succeed on their own. It increasingly looks like they’re instead designed as an elaborate, commoditised marketing scheme for the real favourite child: smartphones.
An optimistic way of looking at this would be that the headphones still need to be good products to attract buyers and ensure the system works. Indeed, the Galaxy Buds Pro and AirPods Pro both have plenty of other merits to make them worth the purchase.
But even if future models like the AirPods Pro 2 get better and better, that will still leave us with an exaggerated version of the situation we’re in now. We’d still be offered high-quality products that you couldn’t fully enjoy without splurging a few hundred more on something completely different.
There’s nothing wrong with wanting to craft headphones with new and unique features, and headphones is an area with plenty of room for innovation. But if manufacturers are going to charge the big bucks, the transaction should really end when that money changes hands. As exciting as these new features are, putting up more barriers in an attempt to hawk phones only means that fewer and fewer people will get to ever enjoy such inventions.
The Galaxy S21 series has a lot of features, some of which are hidden.
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Samsung's Galaxy 21 is out now. All three models look truly impressive, between full 5G support across the lineup, a new camera array and improved camera features. The S21 Ultra even has a new feature for the S-series, with S-Pen stylus support.
All three phones run Android 11 with Samsung's One UI 3.1 proprietary skin. That means you get the best of Android 11, but you also have access to improvements and tweaks Samsung has made to the operating system. For example, the S21 has two different types of floating notifications and you can now add effects to your video calls.
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Below I'll show you some of the best hidden features I've discovered on the Galaxy S21 Ultra so far.
Yea, that power button doesn't do what you think it does.
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How to turn the S21 off
If you long-press the power button expecting to turn the phone off, you're in for a surprise. A Bixby surprise, to be exact. That's right, holding in the power button will launch Bixby, instead of giving you the option to turn the phone off. But don't fret, you have a few different options to power your S21 down or restart it:
Swipe down from the top of the screen to view the quick settings panel, then tap on the power button in the top-right corner.
Long press the side button and volume down button at the same time until the power menu shows up.
Change the side button to function as the power button by going to Settings > Advanced features > Side key and select Power off menu. From now on, long-pressing the power button will bring up the power menu.
The S21 Ultra will work with an S Pen. Cool, right?
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S-Pen support on the S21 Ultra
This isn't a hidden feature, so much as it just isn't all that obvious unless you've been explicitly told about it. You see, the S21 Ultra lacks anywhere to store the S Pen, like the Note series does. So if you bought the phone because you wanted the best Samsung has to offer, you wouldn't know any better.
The S21 Ultra will work with any Galaxy Note series or Galaxy Tab S series S-Pen stylus. Or you can opt for the S21 Ultra case that includes an S Pen.
If you have an S Pen, all you need to do to start using it with the Ultra is to touch the tip of it to the screen and it should just work. If you hover the pen just above the screen's surface, you'll see a little icon on the display showing that it recognizes the stylus. Once you touch it to the screen, the Air Command icon will show up on the screen, letting you take quick notes, screenshots and so on.
Video calls can take on a different look with new video call effects.
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Add effects to your video calls
Ever see someone use those fancy backgrounds on Zoom? The ones that make it look like you're somewhere else? Well, you can do that on the Galaxy S21 in your video calls. To select your effect, go to Settings > Advanced features > Video call effects. Turn it on, then select whether you want your background just blurred, a color or a specific image from your photos.
Bubbles or not? That is the question.
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Turn on Floating notifications for easy access to alerts
Android 11 brought the launch of Google's new Bubbles notification feature, which looks and works a lot like Facebook Messenger's Chatheads feature. That is, instead of having to swipe down the notification panel to view alerts, a floating circle gives you quick access to your conversations at all times. Bubbles does the same thing, but for more apps, like Google's Messages.
Bubbles joins Samsung's version of the same feature, called Smart pop-up view. But before you can use either one, you'll need to enable it.
Go to Settings > Notifications > Advanced settings > Floating notifications. Pick the option you want to use, both of which have a quick animation on the screen to show how they work. Experiment with both Bubbles and the Smart pop-up feature to figure out which one you prefer, even if it's neither of them.
Lock Screen widgets are where it's at.
Jason Cipriani/CNET
Lock screen widgets
Samsung's Always On Display feature has long been a favorite of mine. It makes it easy to quickly see information or control audio playback, but with the Galaxy S21, you can do even more with it. If you go to Settings > Lock screen > Widgets you can turn on each widget you'd like to use, along with Show on Always On Display. Then, whenever your phone is locked and the AOD is active, double-tap the clock to view all of your widgets.
Now playing:Watch this: We review the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G and its bonkers cameras
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Search for anything on your phone
Having trouble finding an app, contact or file? Swipe down from the top of the screen to review the quick settings shortcut panel, then swipe down again to view the full quick settings panel. Tap the search icon at the top of the screen and type your query.
As we continue to dig through the Galaxy S21 and its features, we'll keep adding more hidden features that we find. If you have a favorite, leave a comment. If you're still on the fence about the S21, be sure to read our review. And then, if you're convinced, you can order one right now.
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Now, as far as their specs go, we do know a little bit about what these devices are supposed to offer. For starters, the Galaxy A52 5G is expected to pack a quad-camera module (64MP + 8MP + 12MP + 5MP). Rumor has it that the phone will be equipped with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 750G chipset, coupled with 6GB or 8GB RAM.
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