might as well wait, see and checkout for S22 ultra/plus.
anyway between S21u SD vs S21u exynos, as myself have both phones in my household, personally I think not worth (especially the hassle) to go for SD version unless you fancy of limited color edition from SD US version (e.g: brown, blue)

Then snapdragon 8 gen 1 will be better option aka wait 2 more months hahahaha

haroldz123

We have 3 units of S21 Ultra in our household
2 units of local set (my wife's phone and my mom's phone).
1 unit of SD 888 from US (unlocked from Samsung US store; purchase through Shirogawa which myself using it. Bought it for the special color (Phantom Nay), not due to SD 888.

Initially, the SD version seems smoother compared to local Exynos version, but after numerous updates throughout the year, these phones hardly have any significant differences for day-to-day usage (from my personal opinion). Hence, I do think, if you're going for SD 888 for superior SoC, hence it's not worth the hassle (especially on warranty aspect). If you want it for the gaming capability aspect (rite now); might as-well get a gaming phone or further wait for next S22 series before making a purchase decision.
I don't play games hence can't comment about it.

As yesterday and this morning have some free time, so decided to do some comparison test which may (or may not) be useful for fellow forumers here. After all, despite almost 1 year old phone, people are still interested to know the differences.

Feel free to browse through and make your own conclusion out of it.

[attachmentid=11064957]

Summary:

Network Aspect:
1. Telco download speed indoor 2nd floor: EX1 + Maxis > EX2 + Celcom > SD + Celcom. For the same model (Exynos S21U); Maxis > Celcom.
2. Telco download speed indoor 1st floor: EX2 + Celcom > SD + Celcom > EX1 + Maxis. For the same telco (Celcom); EX performed better than SD (expected as local unit tend to have better compatibility with telco).
Remarks: For the indoor comparison for telco aspect for same phone model, I do think it's more due to location and interference. Anyway, my sister's phone (Note10p + Maxis) and my dad's phone (S20FE SD 865 + Maxis) also seems to have more drop calls in first floor.
3. Telco download speed outdoor: EX2 + Celcom > EX1 + Maxis > SD + Celcom.
4. Wifi download speed: EX2 > SD > EX1.

Performance Aspect:
1. PC Mark: SD > EX1 > EX2.
2. Geekbench 5: EX1 > SD > EX2.
3. 3D Mark: SD > EX1 > EX2. SD S21U seems do provide a better consistent gaming capability with decent FPS compared to Exynos unit; based on 3D mark performance. EX1 seems performed better than EX2; and in one of the run, EX1 trump SD version.
4. Phone felt warmer after these series of test on S21U SD compared to S21U Exynos.

Battery Life:
Battery life difference seems negligible.



Some pictures comparison. Sorry no low-light comparison.
Pictures were taken in Auto mode with Scene Optimizer switched ON.

Scene 1 - Indoor



Scene 2 - Outdoor 1



Scene 3 - Outdoor 2

anyone using gboard here? the back gesture memang canot work on top of the gboard one?

When gboard on then press back button the gboard will be gone which means it work.

Yes, any swipe on Gboard near q, a, shift, p, l and back/erase will type instead. I am using S21 (6.2"). Has been like that since Day 1 using Gboard on this phone.

But is there a reason why you must back swipe on Gboard area? On S21 (6.2"), Gboard's height is only 1/3 of the screen height (surely less than 1/2) and the thumb could comfortably swipe way above the Gboard area (in fact more naturally).

Unless you are using the bigger screen S21+/ Ultra?

Hi guys, my samsung S21 Ultra is using screen protector from ninjaz. I found out it affect the responsiveness of the finger print login. What tye of brand for the the screen protector shall I buy?

anyone using the USA set from shopee sellers ? any issues ? thinking to buy one rm3399 12gb + 128gb

s21u

Still not yet

hi guys, anyone buy before from this shopee shop AZTech ?

so far so good?

any thought on SD 888 on S21 ?

thanks all sifu