You only need to be the owner of a Samsung Smart TV to access the 20 channels offered by their equipment at no cost.
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This article was translated from our Spanish edition using AI technologies. Errors may exist due to this process.
The Korean multinational announced that owners of a Samsung Smart TV will be able to access the brand's streaming platform.In Mexico , the ' Samsung Plus TV' service will be free and will be available on smart screens from 2018 model onwards.
Mexican users will have at their disposal 20 channels without any subscription or extra payment. In these you can find content on gastronomy, travel, cinema, news, music, comedy, animals and more.
"With more people spending more time at home, television became the center of entertainment and an outlet that connects us to the world," said Aline Jabbour, director of Samsung TV Plus Latin America Business Development , in a statement .
"Samsung TV Plus could not reach our users at a better time: when the need for a free international television service, which can be enjoyed by the whole family, is at its highest point," the statement added.
Now is the time to enjoy free TV channels with Samsung TV Plus and discover the benefits of your Samsung Smart TV. pic.twitter.com/3zZuKMFGI8
To access the service, the user only has to turn on their Samsung Smart TV and enter the app . The most recent teams will have the application installed by default, so they can start enjoying the productions of this streaming immediately. On computers after 2018 that do not have the app pre-installed, it can be downloaded.
Thus, streaming from Samsung will be one more option to complement other platforms such as Netflix, HBO Go, Amazon Prime Video and Disney + . The big advantage, of course, is that it will not represent an additional expense and each month more channels will be added to maximize the user experience.
Less than three years after its launch, Samsung TV Plus is present in 13 countries: United States, Canada, Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Austria, Switzerland, South Korea, Australia, Brazil and now it reaches Mexico .
Kriegsherr, 1 hour agoDon't spread lies. I dunno which model you use but the Facebook app in my S20 FE can be u... moreDisabled is not the same as uninstalled. There are other apps too. For example, I do not use Netflix, but the app is still there and can’t be uninstalled, only disabled. Not to mention, some Samsung apps and Google apps that I don’t use.
Samsung and Xiaomi are the worst phones when it comes to bloatware. That’s why you need a good performance phone from them to handle all that. Mid-range and especially low-end phones from them are totally useless. And people saying otherwise, have never had a phone from them or are capable of too many compromises.
K692269
Vegetaholic, 15 hours ago"..giving all flagship features without breaking a bank" most over exaggerated claim... moreTech blogs like gsmarena continously justified the price hikes of mobile phones year after year. Do you think they blink an eye when we pay 1000 bucks for a garbage device?
K692269
Muttley, 8 hours agoNever buy a Samsung phone. The bloatware is just too much. This phone will come with faceboo... moreDon't spread lies. I dunno which model you use but the Facebook app in my S20 FE can be uninstalled. Actually I did it. Samsung maybe accused of other atrocious stuff, but stop false allegations.
S21257
localA50user, 7 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, 7 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, 8 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.
4710
What an epic fail joke, no 12gb ram version.
The S205G had 12gb ram.
w22
sammyfan, 15 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, 17 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, 22 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, 22 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, 31 Jan 2021Enjoying 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
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.
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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.
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.
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.
I’ve been writing for Android Authority since 2017. When I first started as a freelancer, my daily driver was the OnePlus 5. Later on, after I became a full staff member, I got a OnePlus 6T. Today, I’m using the OnePlus 7 Pro. Due to my devotion to OnePlus (and the 7 Pro, in particular), I’m known as the “OnePlus guy” on our team. However, the Samsung Galaxy S21 has put that nickname in jeopardy.
I won’t mince words, here. OnePlus had a very bad 2020. Things started out okay with the OnePlus 8 series, especially the OnePlus 8 Pro. Unfortunately, more problems than successes followed. The disappointing OnePlus Nord N10 and N100, Carl Pei’s departure, the Facebook controversy, and the steady Oppo-ification of the brand all made it very difficult to be proud about being the “OnePlus guy.”
Now, with my beloved OnePlus 7 Pro getting old and the company dragging its feet when it comes to an Android 11 rollout, I am tempted to switch teams. With the launch of the Galaxy S21 series, the temptation has grown substantially. In fact, I will admit that I pre-ordered both a vanilla Samsung Galaxy S21 and a Galaxy S21 Plus. My intention is to try them both out and see if ditching OnePlus really is what I want to do.
Samsung Galaxy S21: Why I would switch
Credit: David Imel / Android Authority
Samsung really upped its game this year with the Galaxy S21 series. The designs look great, the lowered pricing is an important and smart move, and the Ultra model finally lives up to its name. The COVID-19 pandemic might prevent sales from going through the roof, but I think the company has set itself up for real success this year.
I wrote the Android Authority review for the vanilla Galaxy S21. In brief, I loved my time with the phone. The camera is terrific (especially for the $800 asking price), its palm-friendly size is a breath of fresh air in the “bigger is always better” world of Android, and the Snapdragon 888 processor is a total monster. Even the controversial changes this year didn’t matter much to me. Yeah, the lack of a microSD card slot is annoying, but the move to a plastic back is actually good, in my eyes. I’ll let you read the review for all my thoughts on those things.
In the past, the biggest reason I avoided buying Samsung phones was the software. Simply put, One UI is not my favorite Android skin. I’ll take the minimalist simplicity of Oxygen OS or Pixel UI any day over the bloated and sometimes incoherent mess of One UI. When you factored in Samsung’s dismal reputation for delivering Android updates, it was enough to make me swear off the brand.
Things have changed, however. One UI is now better than ever. Yes, it’s still bloated with apps I don’t want and features I’ll never use, but Samsung has done a great job making all that less in-your-face. Moreover, the company has pulled a one-eighty when it comes to after-market support. Security patches are flying in at a furious pace. Android 11 landed on all its major flagships in record time.
In brief, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series has great hardware and great software. This isn’t something I’ve ever been able to say with conviction about Samsung phones.
OnePlus 7 Pro: What makes me want to stay
As great as the Galaxy S21 phones are, the OnePlus 7 Pro is still my favorite Android phone of all time. In so many ways it seems like OnePlus made the phone specifically for me. It ticks off so many of my essential smartphone feature boxes.
I’ve already written a whole article about why I love the OnePlus 7 Pro, so I won’t rehash it all here. I do want to focus on the two things the phone offers that the Galaxy S21 series doesn’t: an uninterrupted display and the alert slider.
I am of the opinion that the pop-up selfie camera is currently the best way to get rid of notches and display cutouts in smartphones. The pop-up camera on the OnePlus 7 Pro is one of its best features, even now after the display cutout has become the industry standard. Yes, eventually we’ll have under-display selfie cameras that will solve both problems. At the moment, however, the technology just isn’t far enough along for wide consumer adoption.
Moving from that gorgeous 1440p display with no cutout to a 1080p display with a big selfie camera hole at the top would be difficult. Nevertheless, after a week of using the Samsung Galaxy S21, the cutout became less of an annoyance. But any time I started playing a game or watching a YouTube video it would be there, reminding me that this display just isn’t as good as that of the 7 Pro.
The alert slider would also be hard to abandon. For the life of me, I have no idea why all Android OEMs haven’t stolen this feature. It’s so nice to simply flip up the slider when I don’t want to be interrupted. Thankfully, the premium version of the third-party Side Actions app gives me a workaround on Galaxy devices. Still, that alert slider would be greatly missed.
What else is in the pipeline?
Credit: David Imel / Android Authority
We’re not even out of the first month of 2021 yet. Although I am greatly impressed by the Samsung Galaxy S21 series, would waiting a bit longer to make a commitment be a good idea?
Obviously, the OnePlus 9 series is right around the corner. However, there doesn’t appear to be much even the OnePlus 9 Pro will offer over the vanilla Galaxy S21. The Galaxy S21 will likely have a better rear camera system, while the rest of the specs should be much the same across the two phones. With the 9 Pro having a display cutout too, the only real advantage would be that I’d get to keep the alert slider and stick with Oxygen OS.
The Asus ROG Phone 4 (or 5) is also coming up soon. The Asus ROG Phone 3 was my favorite smartphone of 2020, so its follow-up is certainly on my radar. The big problem I have with the ROG Phone series, however, is how massive the phones are. I love using them for specific tasks — which includes gaming, obviously — but I don’t like lugging them around with me wherever I go. Nevertheless, it is likely this phone will have an uninterrupted display, which does make it enticing.
On the opposite end of the spectrum, we also expect a Google Pixel 5a to land at some point in the first half of the year. If it’s anything like the Pixel 4a, it’s bound to be a stellar device with a great camera, terrific software, and a low price. Yet, My big gripe with Pixel phones is the fingerprint reader being on the back. My phone lives on my desk for 10 hours every day so I need my sensor on the front.
It appears no matter what I do, I’m going to need to give something up to get something new.
Decision time: What’s it gonna be?
Honestly, I hoped that writing this all out would make this decision easier for me. I’m not sure it worked, though.
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On one hand, I have the Samsung Galaxy S21. It will have a better camera than the OnePlus 7 Pro, a faster processor, 5G support, and a smaller form-factor. However, it will have a display cutout and lack an alert slider.
On the other hand, I have the OnePlus 7 Pro. It has a higher-resolution uninterrupted display. Its Snapdragon 855 processor is still fully capable, its camera is good enough to get the job done, and its software is much more in line with my taste.
Inevitably, I’m going to need to upgrade. I can’t use the 7 Pro forever. The question, I guess, then becomes whether or not now is the right time. The notable aspect of this whole conundrum is that I am thinking about switching to Samsung in the first place. I don’t know if that says more about Samsung upping its game or OnePlus’ recent fumbles. 2021 is already a year full of surprises.
Maybe you can help? Answer the poll above, and then let me know in the comments what you think I should do!
Samsung's Galaxy Buds Pro have tons of features you'll want to learn.
Samsung
Samsung announced the Galaxy S21, and along with the trio of new phones, the company also unveiled the Galaxy Buds Pro. The completely wireless earbuds compete directly with Apple's AirPods Pro, offering advanced features like active noise cancellation, long battery life and improved sound quality.
They even have a feature that the AirPods Pro currently lacks. The Buds Pro can detect when you start talking and will lower the volume of what you're listening to and turn off ANC so you can have a conversation without removing the earbuds. Once you're done talking, the Buds Pro will go back to letting you rock out.
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I'll show you how to customize that feature, as well as walk you through various features and capabilities below.
Pairing your Buds Pro is incredibly easy
After unboxing the Buds Pro, the only thing you need to do to pair them with an Android device is open the case and unlock your phone. A second or two later, you should see a prompt on your phone asking if you want to pair the earbuds. Go through the process, which takes, maybe, 30 seconds and then start using your new earbuds.
If you're pairing them to a Samsung device, you should already have the Galaxy Wearable app already installed on your phone. If you're pairing them to another Android phone, you'll need to download and install Samsung's companion app before you can adjust settings and install software updates.
After your earbuds are paired, launch the Galaxy Wearable app and follow the setup process. After you're done, you'll be able to adjust settings and view tutorials.
The sides of the Buds Pro are giant touchpads that you can use to control and alter playback.
David Carnoy/CNET
Control music playback and answer calls
Each Galaxy Buds Pro earbud has a large touch area on the side, making it easy to quickly tap on the earbud and control playback or answer phone calls on the go. How many times you tap will determine what happens. Here's the official list of
Single tap: Play or pause whatever you're listening to.
Double tap: Play the next track or answer a phone call.
Triple tap: Play the previous track.
Touch and hold: Customizable (more on that below) or decline an incoming call.
Customize how your earbuds work for you.
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Customize touch-and-hold for each earbud
As I just mentioned, you can customize what happens when you long-press on each earbud. Open the Wearble app and select Touch and hold from the list of options. Once there, select what you want to happen when you long-press on either earbud. Your options are:
The Switch noise controls option will toggle between active noise cancelation and ambient sound. The latter of which will let in environmental sounds without drowning out the audio of whatever you're listening to.
Adjust Active Noise Cancellation
There are two different levels of active noise cancellation you can pick from: High or Low.
Open the Wearble app and scroll down to the Active noise canceling level and then select your preference.
Turn on Voice Detection if you want to use one of the latest features in the Buds Pro.
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Auto-pause ANC when you start talking.
There's another button in the ANC settings section that brings a unique feature to the Galaxy Buds Pro called Voice Detect. As its name implies, when the Buds Pro detects your voice as you start talking, it will pause ANC so you can hear the person you're talking to. That way, you don't have to take your earbuds out.
Tap on Voice Detect to turn it on and select how long you want the earbuds to wait after hearing your voice to revert back to previous volume levels and turn ANC back on. You can pick from 5, 10 and 15 seconds.
If you have a lot of Samsung devices, it's worth turning this feature on.
Screenshots by Jason Cipriani/CNET
Seamlessly switch between Samsung devices
There's an optional feature you can turn on called Seamless earbud connection. When it's enabled, you're supposed to be able to "seamlessly" switch between devices that you're using the Buds Pro with. For example, if you're listening to a song on your Galaxy S21, and want to switch to a YouTube video on your Samsung tablet, your earbuds should automatically switch between the two without you having to go through the pairing process again. This feature requires both devices be signed in using the same Samsung account.
Samsung claims this will also work with non-Samsung devices after you've done the initial pairing on both devices, but I haven't been able to test it yet.
Either way, you can turn on the feature (or turn it off if you don't want to use it) by opening the Galaxy Wearable app on your phone and tap Advanced and slide the switch next to Seamless earbud connection to the On position.
Pair your earbuds with another device
After pairing the Buds Pro with your phone, if you want to pair them to another device -- be it a computer, tablet or another phone -- the process is a little different.
Take the Galaxy Buds Pro out of the case and put them in your ears. Long-press on each earbud for around three seconds, or until you hear a beep. After that, open the Bluetooth pairing menu on the device you want to pair with and finish the process.
Now playing:Watch this: Galaxy Buds Pro review: Worth the upgrade?
8:50
Check battery life
Quickly check the battery status of the earbuds or the charging case, open the Wearable app and view to stats at the top of the screen. If you're using the Buds Pro, they'll be the only item shown. You can view the status of the case and earbuds while they're in the charging case and it's opened next to the phone.
Install a software update
If there's a software update available for your Buds Pro, the Wearable app will let you know and walk you through the process.
To make the update process as smooth as possible, make sure to place the earbuds in the charging case and follow the prompts in the Wearable app. I updated my Buds Pro after initial setup and it took under five minutes in total.
The lower prices for Samsung's new Galaxy S21 phones may be the biggest feature to help the device maker defend its lead in the smartphone wars.
Each arrives at a starting price $200 below its predecessor in the S20 line. But the look, feel and improved features of the S21 models may drive Android users to upgrade and perhaps even get some folks to consider switching from Team iPhone.
Let's start with price: The S21 starts at $799.99; the S21+ starts at $999.99; and the S21 Ultra, which for the first time gets S Pen support, starts at $1,199.99. All S21 models offer 5G wireless.
Of course, if you have a trade-in, you don't necessarily need to pay that full price. With Samsung's limited offer you can get the the Galaxy S21 for as low as $4.17 a month, the S21+ for $8.34 a month and the S21 Ultra for $13.89 a month (with an eligible trade-in value up to $700 on Samsung.com).
T-Mobile has a promotion earning you a free Galaxy S21 with a trade-in and up to $800 for trade-ins on the other new S21 models. AT&T is offering up to $800 off with a device trade-in and Verizon is offering up to $750.
If you are due for a trade-in, you will likely be coveting one of these new Galaxy devices.
The 6.2-inch AMOLED 2X Full HD+ 120 Hz display on the new Phantom Violet-colored S21 that Samsung lent to me sports dynamic refresh rates, which makes flipping through Twitter, for instance, and between apps super smooth. The S21+ has a similar but larger display at 6.7 inches.
But the Phantom Black S21 Ultra – a smartphone that Darth Vader might wield – boasts a 6.8-inch AMOLED QHD+ 120 Hz display that boosts resolution up to 4K quality.
The displays are beautiful and certainly compare favorably to the iPhone competition. Compared to the iPhone 12 Pro, the S21 looks just as crisp watching an NFL Network broadcast and the same football action – and a Washington Capitals game – appear almost 3D on the S21 Ultra.
What Samsung Galaxy S21 phones don't have
Often we focus on what the shiny, sleek new phones feature, but also important to users is what they're missing. In this case, Samsung is following Apple's playbook in ditching the earbuds and plug-in charging brick from the box, including only a USB cable to charge the phone. The 3.5 mm headphone jack was axed in the S20 and – sorry to the headphone hold-outs – it makes no miraculous return in the S21. All that comes in the box is the phone, a USB C-to-USB C data cable and the ejection pin.
One of the selling points for Samsung Galaxy phones has been their expandability. This iteration cuts that out, losing the microSD card slot and with it the ability to add on-board storage. While all base S21 models come with 128GB of storage, that seems an unfortunate feature to lose as the phone gains an additional camera and more functionality that will prompt users to shoot more images and 8K videos, the biggest storage hogs.
Also gone is some of the RAM its predecessor had standard, leaving the S21 with only 8 gigabytes, or 4GB less than the S20. And the backing has gone from Gorilla Glass, which encased the entire S20, to reinforced plastic on the S21. As a result, the S21 doesn't feel quite as sturdy as the S21 Ultra.
But it's the Samsung Galaxy cameras, stupid.
Shutterbugs who rely on their smartphone for photos and videos will love the phones, especially the top-of-the-line S21 Ultra, Samsung's first with five cameras.
That’s right, there’s one for the front and four on the back, including a dual telephoto lens that captures up to 100X Space Zoom. I especially liked the ability to actually take a picture of the moon at night using its Zoom Lock for a more stable image. Wish I had this for last year's Super Moon. But there are more coming in 2021, with the first in March, according to Space.com.
The S21 and S21+ top out at 30X Space Zoom.
All the phones have an improved Portrait Mode that lets you add blur, studio lighting and other effects. It was as easy to use as iPhone's Portrait mode, with a few more ways to tweak the image.
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Samsung's new Galaxy S21 smartphones are out now. Here's what the portrait mode looks like on the flagship S21 Ultra device. USA TODAY
Also really cool is the Director’s View, which shows you multiple angles while shooting video and lets you choose the one you prefer. You can also opt for what Samsung calls a Vlogger view, which records a selfie point of view at the same time as what is happening in front of you. It's a feature that could come in handy for unboxing videos and other uses by online influencers.
And if you love taking photos of your kids or pets – and they don't like to pose for you – there’s an 8K video mode that lets you shoot a video clip and then when you are done grab the best individual image for a full high-res photo.
Another returning feature from the Galaxy S20 line, which came out in February 2020, is the Single Take feature that captures 10 seconds of imagery, you are asked to move your camera a bit to get slightly different angles. Then you can choose the best pictures or short video clips afterwards.
Another reason to love the S21 Ultra: it supports the S Pen, which I did not test and are sold separately. There's one made for the S21 Ultra ($39.99) and you can also use third-party S Pens and those made for Note devices.
Galaxy phones: What reviewers love
At CNET, senior associate editor Patrick Holland called the S21 Ultra "pretty badass" due to its lower price, "elegant design" and S Pen support. "The phone will also attract camera nerds, thanks to the improvements Samsung made to the cameras," he wrote.
The S21 is "the no-brainer" for those needing an upgrade, Holland wrote. That's despite all we mentioned was not included – such as the wall charger, headphones or and microSD slot.
The Tom's Guide tech site has the iPhone 12 Pro Max slightly ahead of the Galaxy S21 Ultra as the best phone on the market. But with its display the S21 Ultra "has a few advantages over the iPhone 12 Pro Max" with its adaptive display as "a faster refresh rate enables smoother scrolling and better performance in games that support it," writes the site's global editor-in-chief Mark Spoonauer,
The S21 Ultra's screen "is also a bit sharper" with more slightly higher resolution. The S21 Ultra also comes out ahead with "faster 5G and longer battery life," he wrote. "And while the S21 Ultra costs more up front, it's a bit cheaper if you prefer more storage."
Dieter Bohn, executive editor at The Verge, deemed the S21 Ultra's display "the best screen on a smartphone." As for the improved photography claims, he wrote, "Focusing is fast and accurate, the focal plane seems bigger, there’s no discernible shutter lag, and most of all: the pictures look better."
The smartphone wars tighten
As for the smartphone competition, Samsung took the lead in the U.S. market from Apple in the third quarter of 2020, increasing its share to 34%, compared to Apple's 30%, according to Strategy Analytics.
Even though Apple had a record-setting October-December 2020 quarter – with iPhone revenue hitting an all-time quarterly high of $65.6 billion – it will still fall short of Android phones' dominance in the U.S., eMarketer estimates. During 2021, Android will command 54% of smartphone users, while Apple gets 46%.
Samsung expects its new wave of smartphones will further its dominance of the Android competition, too.
