[Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra] dutch_in_seattle:
My preordered, brand spankin' new Galaxy S21 Ultra came in on Wednesday, and here are my initial impressions (coming from a Galaxy S20+):

- The overall design is really as beautiful as what you see in early reviews on YouTube. The camera bump just melts into the overall design. Nicely done, Samsung! Having said that, as soon as you slap a case on it, you don't really see it.

- It's a bit annoying that the camera bump means the phone won't lay completely flat on a table and will rock a bit. That's something I really haven't noticed with my old Galaxy S20+.

- This thing is heavy! It's only 1.5 oz heavier than my old Galaxy S20+, but you can definitely feel it.

- The screen is absolutely gorgeous. It's cool that you can do 120 Hz at the full WQHD+ resolution.

- The U.S. version definitely does not come with a preinstalled screen protector, just a film that you pull off. I chose to add the ESR Liquid Skin Screen Protector (item B08QJ4XCH1 on Amazon). Yes, the screen has Gorilla Victus glass, which can definitely take a beating, but I like having a basic layer of protection against scuffs, micro-scratches, and the like. I can't stand a phone screen that's anything less than pristine.

- Adaptive motion smoothness works really well. Everything is buttery smooth. I don't really play games on this thing, but I'm sure this makes a big difference in day-to-day use as well. Now you don't have to choose between high refresh rates and screen resolution.

- The official Samsung silicone case is actually quite nice, with just the right 'grippiness'. I got it free as part of the $200 Samsung credit for preorders. What I especially like is that this case also covers the actual camera bump (minus the camera lenses, of course)---something that many other cases, including my usual go-to, the Speck Presidio Grip, don't do; they just have one big hole there. I had already ordered the Speck Presidio Grip, as I do for all my phones, but I may actually use this Samsung case instead.

- The fingerprint reader is much more responsive than on my Galaxy S20+. I basically never used it on my Galaxy S20+, since it was just too finicky, but it's much faster and reliable on the S21 Ultra. Having a more reliable fingerprint reader is nice, given that we're wearing masks a lot nowadays, so face recognition isn't as useful. Nothing beats Smart Lock, though, where proximity to my Watch3 basically keeps my phone unlocked.

- To me, the absence of a microSD card slot is not a huge deal. I opted for the 256 GB S21 Ultra (was only $50 more), so that gives me plenty of storage space (for me, at least). My Galaxy S20+ has 128 GB plus a 256 GB microSD card, but I only used about half of the phone storage and a fraction of the SD card storage, so 256 GB is plenty for me.

- I have yet to play with the camera thoroughly, but I really like what I'm seeing so far, especially when zooming. Having 3x and 10x optical zoom rocks!

- Battery life seems excellent. That has never been much of an issue for me, since I'm typically close enough to an outlet to top off my phone if necessary (in the car, for example). My phone battery rarely goes below 60%. S21 Ultra battery life seems at least as good as for my Galaxy S20+.

- I also got one of those SmartTags for free as part of the preorder. I'm struggling to find a use case for it. I've attached it to my car keys, but that's mostly because I can't think of anything else. To me, it seems like a solution in search of a problem (but I may well completely miss the point).

All in all, I'm very happy with my Galaxy S21 Ultra, and I'm planning to keep this phone for a while (after cycling through several phones in 2020).

--Ron