Samsung has released its new Galaxy S21 Ultra smartphone, describing it as “the ultimate smartphone experience, designed to be epic in every way”. The S21 Ultra is the largest member of the Galaxy S21 series, which also includes the regular S21 and the S21+. It’s also the first Galaxy ‘S series’ device that’s compatible with the company’s touchscreen S Pen stylus.

On the front of the device is a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display protected with toughened Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. The screen offers a refresh rate of up to 120Hz for smooth movement, a peak brightness level of 1,500nits (25% brighter than the Galaxy S20) and Quad HD+ quality.

A quad rear camera of ultra-wide, wide and ‘dual tele’ lenses features a 108 megapixel sensor and the ability to shoot video in 4K at 60fps. The ‘dual tele’ lenses offer a 3x optiocal and 10x optical zoom, combining into the 100x ‘Space Zoom’ feature. In addition, there’s improved Night Mode photography.

Connectivity options include support for Wi-Fi 6E and 5G. It runs Android 11 on a 64-bit Qualcomm Octa-Core processor and is available in versions with up to 16GB RAM and 512GB of internal storage.

TM Roh, the President and Head of the Samsung Electronics Mobile Communications Business, said “Galaxy S21 Ultra is another example of how Samsung is driving meaningful innovation forward to give people personalized experiences that enrich their lives and empower them to express who they are. Given how indispensable technology has been to our lives during these times, we wanted to take another leap forward and push the boundaries of what a smartphone can do.”

Reviews have generally been favourable: Matthew Miller of ZDNet said “I don't know how I am going to resist ordering my own in the next week”, Matt Swider of TechRadar said “It wowed us with a huge screen, five cameras and the best zoom on any readily available Android phone”, Jay McGregor wrote on Forbes “After I type the final full stop in this review, I plan to use Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra as my main phone” and Chris Hall of Pocket-lint said “It might take a little tinkering to get One UI software running at its best, but with a magnificent display, comprehensive cameras, and loads of power, there's very little that the S21 Ultra doesn't deliver”.