Bucket Tech: Samsung Galaxy S21 Series - First Impressions

Samsung dropped their latest flagship series smart devices last week when they launched or "unpacked" the new Galaxy S21 Series which consists of the S21 5G, S21+ 5G and the S21 Ultra 5G. All three devices will be available for purchase in SA and have a host of upgrades and features which are whetting the appetites of many. So what do we know about the new trio? Well all come with 5G capabilities so you will have access to the fastest network around, all come in a metallic uni-body with elevated camera on the phones top left corner. The design is simplistic but very chic, also with the array of colours that the devices are available enhances the elegance of the device itself. The displays vary in size with the S21 having a 6.2" infinity-o display with dynamic AMOLED 2x, the S21+ has a 6.7" while the range topping S21 Ultra has a 6.8" display, all have eye comfort shield as well as a super smooth 120hz refresh rate.

Camera wise, Samsung have a refreshed layout for the camera, both the S21 and S21+ come with a 10MP front facing camera while they have a triple lens system rear camera which consists of a 12MP wide-angle, a 12MP ultra-wide angle and a 64MP telephoto lens which has 30x Space Zoom, letting you zoom right into pictures.  All this adds up to a great photographic experience capturing even more detail and clarity that makes photos look like a work of art. Samsung say that their Portrait mode features settings that enable you to be "Instagram Ready" which means not much editing or filters required to post your picture as it has built-in options to choose from. Low light photos are now even easier to take with the S21 & S21+ it being able to capture stunning pics with minimal lighting. The big flex has to be the video recording capabilities, as all devices record in 8K at 24fps, with you able to extract 33MP quality images from the recordings. The camera also comes with Super Steady setting which records at 60fps to ensure a smooth recording all the time. With multiple recordings the AI system on the device can take all your content and make a personal video for you via the editor. The S21 Ultra camera system is a Quad format which has a 108MP wide lens, 10MP periscope telephoto lens, 10MP telephoto lens and a 12MP ultra wide lens with the front facing "selfie camera" having a 40MP lens. 

All devices have Super Fast Charging, Fast Wireless Charging 2.0 and Wireless PowerShare enabling you to charge other devices with your phone. The intelligent battery on the S21 range is a 48000mAh battery and features new power-efficient display and processor which can push the life to well beyond the 24-hour mark, even when using full 5G. The devices come fitted with the worlds fastest processing chip, the 5nm process is fast enough to keep up with the action, so you can do more even faster. It features 8GB of RAM and has a built-in memory of up to 256GB. All devices are IP68 rates so they're dust, water and shock proof. A big talking point from the Apple iPhone 12 launch was merely ignored for this one, the Galaxy S21 series also do no come with a charge or headphones, merely just a USB cable, seems to be the trend now it seems. Samsung also released their new Buds Pro on the night, another great quality wireless headphones from the brand. 

Pricing for the devices are as follows:

• Galaxy S21 5G - R17,999
• Galaxy S21+ 5G - R21,499
• Galaxy S21 Ultra - R27,999

Bucket Tech: DJ Mavic Air 2

Yesterday DJI, the leaders in compact drones dropped their latest model in the Mavic series, the Mavic Air 2. Dimensions wise, its pretty much the same as the Mavic Air 1 but has a whole lot more features which should please most people out there. While DJI have a wide variety of drones, the compact fold-able Mavic series is perfect for those who consider droning just a little bit more than a hobby, as the camera and flying features gives the user much better better footage. Key features on the Mavic Air 2 is it's new 48MP camera which gives much more detail in still photos, at a wider angle. It's also capable of doing a hyperlapse in 8K! With the new 1/2 inch CMOS sensor and smart photo feature, it gives still pictures a better dynamic range, better colour optimization and noise reduction on close ups. For those interested in the video aspects, the camera can shoot in 4K 60p, and can do slow motion videos right down to 240fps. With the bigger sensor, this also means you can shoot video in HDR as well. Battery improvements have been made to the Mavic Air 2 as well with a maximum flight time of 34 minutes, this seriously handy given that the new maximum distance flight is upped to 10km and still broadcasts pictures to you in HD all thanks to OcuSync 2.0. Tracking has been upgraded to, from either a manual or automatic stand point, select the object to focus on and the camera will keep track on that no matter what direction you're flying in.and will keep the picture as stable as possible. With Active track 3.0, the Mavic Air 2 will follow you and avoid any obstacle that comes into it's flight path. It really is a little gem of a drone, pricing is yet to be released locally but it's exciting to see what DJI is cramming into this tiny devices.