[Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra] burnxtc:
Opinions are like a-holes, so I thought I'd stay in character & post mine.

This is my first Samsung. Until now, 9 of 10 phones I've owned have been Moto - I used to work for the company and got stuck on them (even when they went to Google then Lenovo). All phones have been rooted since 2010 when I got my first Droid Razr. It's been about 6 years since I've been cutting edge - my last phone was so incredibly reliable I got stuck on it. I've never owned an iPhone & never will. This past December my house decided to overhaul our devices, so I got the s21 Ultra for ~850 USD after discounts. I've been on Verizon since 1999.

My primary uses for owning a mobile device are directly related to the Windows & Linux experiences I have in my life. I want something with maximum horsepower, something I can lock down the best I can, tweak, web/text/data etc., a cutting edge camera, quick & easy 24/7 webdav, and seamless connection/configurability to my NAS. I don't play games (yet) and don't use any social media apps. My machines have to do exactly what I say, quickly, and look good doing it.

There are plenty of people here who could flesh out the technical better than I, but the reason I wanted to share my thoughts here is because I absolutely love this phone & cannot stop talking about it. I love the feel of it, the weight, the screen, the speed & the camera. When I take the few extra seconds to frame & configure a shot, the photos/videos dust the iPhones everyone else uses in my house. One of the things I don't hear many talk about with this phone is how it feels in your hand & on your face when you're actually on a call. Never have I held such a quality device - it's less like a slab and more like a monolith. Anyone who has spent that extra money on say, a car, can attest to this. I really believe I got what I paid for and that's such a terrific feeling I seldom feel anymore.

So when I got the phone I flashed it out of the box to A12 XAA 4BUKF before I even simmed it. Because root was not available, I used ADB AppControl (phenomenal software) to tweak & script the changes I made. I am one of the lucky ones who was able to run 12 with minimal issues. After reading some of the thoughts on 12, I flashed back to A11 XAA 4AUJ7 to test it. Here are my general thoughts on Android 11 vs 12.

Quick notes: I do not use Bixby, I kept only the Samsung apps I ended up liking such as Gallery, Camera, Calculator, Keyboard & Voicemail. I ditched all the rest. I use Signal for texting, Edge for browsing and a few older misc. apps/widgets for everyday stuff.

Function	Edge	Comments
Data Speeds	Tie	80-150mbps 5G in the NW suburbs of Chicago
Call Quality	Tie
Bloat	Tie	Both are loaded with garbage. If for whatever reason I was restricted in my abilities to adb into this phone, I would not own it.
Camera	12	• The stock camera app produces superior pictures on 12 imho, but both require manual iris intervention before every shot.

• If memory serves me right, the stabilizer "click" when you tilt the phone is not present like it is on 11. Can someone on 12 confirm this?
Processing Speeds	11	11 is smoother and slightly faster.
OneUI	12	• Real close but 12 edges out 11 because of the 85% charge option & ability to add an image to the peek/always on screen.

• Again I am one of the lucky ones as both were equally stable

*** As a new Samsung user, I'm floored by the customizability of OneUI and I love it. I could write pages about the changes I made in here. Bravo Samsung.
Battery	11	Distant first place. The battery on 11 feels nearly twice as good. I get just at/under two days on a 100% charge with moderate use.
Overall Personal Preference	12	But I am staying on 11 for now because of the battery, unfortunately. There is just no comparison.

*** Flashing this phone has been a seamlesss experience and not once has it *****ed at me about a single thing.

After weeks of research, attached are the apps I've frozen which produce no drain. I went much further than this, but reverted back to this in the end due to some perceived drain. Here are some pictures & a video I've taken with the stock app just for giggles - view settings can be changed to thumbnails using the icon on the top right of the page. These are untouched outside of the phone.

Outstanding phone, best I've ever owned, and I'm going to keep it for years. I would love to hear some counterpoints on what I've listed here.