iPhone 13 Pro Max VS Galaxy S21 Ultra - So UNFAIR!

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- iPhone 13 Pro Max
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- Galaxy S21 Ultra UB Pro
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The battle for the best smartphone of 2021 is on its way, but this particular rivalry is about as old as comparisons themselves. For a better part of a decade, the quest for the best smartphone has mostly lied on these two lineups. On one corner we have the iPhone 13 Pro Max, Apple's larger vision for what Pros want in a phone, and on the other we have the Galaxy S21 Ultra, one of Samsung's best smartphones if what you value is the iPhone's selling point.

Yes, notice that this is Apple's best, but not necessarily against Samsung's best. Cupertino is still relying on tradition while Samsung is on its second generation of Ultra, and third generation of foldable. I'm not saying that's an indication of what the winner will be, but I wouldn't blame you if you consider this face-off to already be kind of unfair. I'm Jaime Rivera with Pocketnow and let's dive in, sponsored by SUPCASE. Stick around to learn about the best way to protect either of these investments

#Pocketnow #iPhone13ProMax #GalaxyS21Ultra

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[colinwilby]

One reason I do not rate many tech magazines online or otherwise is that they fail to recognise the fact that large screens totally dominate the smartphone market, yet the software element that is needed to make these larger screen phones great is optimization for that larger screen. I have been saying this for many years, yet it is rarely mentioned. When Samsung introduced ONE UI it was a big step forward that no other phone OEM has come close to matching. You making the point here (I know it is not the first time) is a breath of fresh air. It is all well and good getting software updates for 5 years or more, but what's the use if they are only introducing features and functionality that was around 5 years go or does not cater for the modern form factor.

[slynbvk]

Just seeing people say "wow" every time I show the DeX feature is worth it lol

[Jerome-iwnl]

Remember when it was techno buffalo, pocket now and phone arena? Back in the galaxy s original days

[halgrynshaun]

Funny, I tried the S21 earlier this year and missed iOS and my ecosystem being broken up, got an iPhone 12 Pro Max and find myself missing the Samsung again. Will likely get the S22 Ultra.

[gao]

Why I personally prefer OneUI:
-- Dex
-- GoodLock
-- Bixby Routines
-- One Hand Operation+
-- Themes and customization
-- FAR batter multitasking and file management
-- clutter-free and aesthetically pleasing
-- Might not be better than iOS in but animations are still smooth
-- I prefer the Samsung ecosystem TabS7+, GW4, Buds and several smart home appliances

[tuurtaburco]

Note 20 ultra and 13 pro max owner over here. My sim is always in the note unless I'm traveling and need a bigger battery. The note is more productive and just makes use of that bigger canvas. Heck, it is a workhorse of a phone

[Marngel]

The S21 Ultra is the Swiss Army knife of smartphones, when you exclude the Z fold 3 of course. I’d definitely buy if I want my phone to do everything from a computing device.

[gao]

One UI is hands down the best interface I've ever used on a phone, so many useful features not found elsewhere, and it's so clutter-free and aesthetic pleasing 🥰 Whenever you wonder if you can customise an aspect of the aesthetics or change a system setting to your liking 99% of the time the answer is yes

[mirzarizwan]

100% agree. iOS users can only brag about imessage which is no problem outside US

[lewiswilliams]

You nailed it. I prefer more features over slightly better performance.

I don't mind using Apple and will admit there are several things Apple does better than the S21. But there are so many things the S21 and Android has in general that Apple simply does not have, Dex and multi screen being the biggest examples.

[kingpins]

I tried going to the iPhone 13 pro max from the s20 ultra and didn't last a week. It honestly felt like a step backward when it comes to the ease of use for me. The thing I missed the most was the universal back button. Also, why can't you fully customize your homescreen? All apps and widgets home upward for no reason. Went back to my S20 quickly. Waiting for S22 ultra.

[pierre]

Old sammies vibration when you left it somewhere and missed messages, that gentle vibration just to tell you, hey you missed something, just one example of how well things are thought out on this phone. Korean refinement in the right places.

[oneminutewonder]

Never understood why Apple still doesn't take full advantage of their largest models. They are so stuck in their ways that ever since the iPhone 6 plus they haven't changed their bigger screen software

[univeconq]

Totally agree. S21 Ultra is the better phone overall. Over the years, Samsung has been lacking in several areas such as software and ecosystem integration. But now, Samsung had improved the software part with One UI and regular timely update. Thumb up for this.
Samsung's ecosystem is still slightly behind Apple but I can see that they are catching up fast.

[ilhamrj]

I own both S21 Ultra and iPhone 13 pro (not a max one). The camera and built quality are indeed better in the iPhone. But the rest, i.e. screen color reproduction and quality, image resolution and refresh rate, animation, speaker quality, user interface, Android style notifications, I find that S21 Ultra is still superior.

The UI in Samsung is somehow more superior and has more "professional" look that I like.

Most Google apps such as Youtube, Gmail, Maps and even Non-Google Apps such as Spotify and Instagram, have better user interface experience. Why?? Because single Samsung screen contains more packed and denser text and information which requires much less scrolling than iOS version. Even when you do need scrolling, Samsung handles them much better than iPHone. The animation in My Samsung is also snappier than my iPhone.

And not to mention Face ID??? During pandemic??? Wow, what a useless biometric. Even Face ID does not really work as good as Underscreen Fingerprint sensor on Samsung. More often than not, it fails to recognised my face.

[senate]

Me and a friend compared night shots of 13 pro and s21 ultra, and holy moly the iPhone crushed it

[Theratron]

A note on software updates on Android.... there are actually several levels of updates. The Android version is one level, and not a very significant one at that. Then there's security updates, but while Samsung promises 4 years of those, a lot of security updates also come through directly via Google's Play services. And those are supported for a very, very long time. Going all the way back to supporting ancient Android versions. So even very old phones are still relatively safe against exploits. And then there are the app updates themselves. While Apple has this idiotic construction where you have to receive an entire OS update when the browser, mail client or calendar app needs to be updated, on Android all these apps are updated seperately from the OS. And again, they (the apps) receive software updates for years and years. So the situation on Android is not as bad as everyone always makes it seem.

[shamhosein]

Love that supcase is a sponsor. They have been my go to case for phones and tablets over the years. Ever since the s7 to the s21 ultra and iPhone 13 pro max. These cases don't stretch out over time like otterbox does and costs less than an otterbox while supcase also having better long term durability.

[techdaily]

When I saw the review on my timeline, I didn't want to watch buy I was feeling boring so I just want to give it a try …. after watching it now I know that there are still still people out there who are Reviewers nor Brand Recommenders.

[darpan]

Watching on my S21. Switched from iPhone 12. This video is so awesome. Samsung won but the reasons behind it were explained very well. Pocketnow is my go to for smartphones. Even bought my S21 after watching pocket now review for S21.
P.S. Samsung released official One UI 4 with Android 12 for S21. Samsung is catching up in updates department too.

Best part of all these videos is Jaime saying his name.