Three seconds. Three full seconds of my full attention. That’s how long it takes to unlock my iPhone when I’m wearing a mask. Facial identification fails, and there I am, typing in a password like a Neanderthal.
Half a second. According to my reliable stopwatch, this is how I can unlock the new Samsung Galaxy S21, using its enhanced on-screen fingerprint sensor.
Do you know what I could do with all that time saved? Probably … nothing.
You would be forgiven if you completely missed the launch of Samsung’s Galaxy S21 a few weeks ago. There are no fantastic features and you may have been distracted otherwise. Still, the trio of new phones – the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra – are the best Samsung has launched in years and the best Android phones for the money now. The S21 starts at $ 799, $ 200 below last year’s model.
It’s what I like to call Samsung’s year of refinement. (For other examples, see the Galaxy S8 and Galaxy S10.) The company has polished and enhanced some of its best features previously presented, including the fingerprint sensor, the 120 Hz screen that refreshes quickly and the 10X zoom lens on the S21 Ultra.