Maybe it’s because a certain fruit-named competitor has a new smartphone. Or perhaps it’s because one of our favorite Android phone brands is set to release a promising successor soon. Whatever the reason, Samsung has dropped the price of its flagship Galaxy S21 Ultra down to $900 on Amazon—for the very first time.
This Android smartphone launched for $1,200 earlier this year, but it has been alternating between that and $1,000 for several months. This week, the price has dipped further by $100. It’s still expensive for a smartphone—we have tons of other, more affordable picks in our Best Android Phones guide—but this is arguably the most extra Android phone out there right now. It has everything, including the best camera system around.
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The Galaxy S21 Ultra Has the Best Cameras
Samsung’s Galaxy S21 Ultra (8/10, WIRED Recommends) has been our favorite high-end camera phone for the better part of a year, largely because its camera system is unrivaled in the US. There are two telephoto zoom cameras on this phone, one 3X and one 10X optical zoom. That means you can zoom to objects really far away and still get spectacular results, something that’s still not possible on most smartphones. Those two cameras are joined by an ultrawide and a 108-megapixel main sensor, both of which capture very pleasing images. This remains the ultimate camera phone, though we’ll have to wait to see if Google’s upcoming Pixel 6 and Pixel 6 Pro can retake the crown.
That’s just the camera. This is also one of the largest smartphones around, with a vast 6.8-inch OLED screen, which also has a 120-Hz refresh rate, and the whole thing is powered by the flagship Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip. It’ll last a full day on a single charge; just remember to buy a separate charging adapter, because Samsung doesn’t include one in the box.
There are a few downsides. There’s no MicroSD card slot, so if you plan to take a lot of 8K video (stick to HD or 4K), the 128 gigabytes of storage will fill up. It’s also a large phone and still quite expensive, even at a discount.
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