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The best Samsung Galaxy S21 alternatives – Tom's Guide

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You might be looking at the Samsung Galaxy S21 and wondering if it’s the best phone you can get right now. While it’s definitely one of the best phones available, each of the three S21 models have their share of flaws. What’s more, while Samsung has knocked the price of each model down by a couple hundred dollars from previous Galaxy S phones, the S21 is still pretty expensive compared to some of the other best Android phones.

It’s those rivals we’re looking at here. If you’re weighing whether to buy a new Android phone, but aren’t convinced by Samsung’s latest offering, we have rounded up the best Galaxy S21 alternatives for you to check out.

Organized by key features, some of the phones do a better job than the S21 in certain areas, while others offer identical or comparable abilities while costing less. We highly rate all of them, so whether you pick up an S21 or a different device, you’re guaranteed to get a great phone.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative for fast charging

OnePlus 8T (Image credit: OnePlus)

Samsung doesn’t include a charger with any phone in the Galaxy S21 series, requiring you to either use a charger you’ve already got or pay up for a new accessory. It’s the same move Apple made with the iPhone 12, and while it may be good for the environment, it does add on to the cost of your phone.

Even if you pick up a charger for your Galaxy S21, all three models offer a maximum of 25W fast charging when plugged in and up to 15W for wireless charging. That’s acceptably quick, but certainly not class-leading.

The OnePlus 8T and Oppo Find X2 Pro offer 65W charging out of the box, which is certainly impressive. The OnePlus 8 Pro offers more modest 30W fast charging, but also up to 30W wireless charging if you want to ditch the cables. Even the budget-centric OnePlus Nord N10 5G offers 30W charging for less than $300, beating the Galaxy S21 on both charging speed and price.

Our pick: OnePlus 8T — it’s more fully featured than the Nord N10 and more widely available than the Oppo Find X2. OnePlus’ flagship lasts longer than every S21 model save for the Ultra, and it charges much faster.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative for compact phones

Pixel 5 (Image credit: Google)

The smallest available Galaxy S21 is the basic S21, which measures 6.2 inches. That’s fairly small compared to the 6.7-inch Plus and 6.8-inch Ultra models, but it’s no good if you like to have a phone that will easily slip into a jeans pocket.

It’s surprisingly hard to find smaller phones than that these days. If you want something much dinkier, there’s the 5.4-inch iPhone 12 Mini, or the 4.7-inch iPhone SE if you want something a lot cheaper. On the Android side, your best option is probably the Google Pixel 5 at 6 inches. There’s also the Pixel 4a at 5.8 inches if you don’t mind a phone with less stylish design and fewer flagship features.

Our pick: Pixel 5 — Assuming an iPhone 12 mini is a non-starter for Android fans, the Pixel 5 is a compact phone that delivers a great camera.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative for storage

Galaxy Note 20 Ultra (Image credit: Future)

Samsung killed off a big legacy feature this year for users who like using expandable, removable storage with their phones. All Galaxy S21 models ship without an SD card slot, limiting you to the onboard storage for whatever model you buy. That’s a potential problem if you’re a keen photographer or videographer who will easily fill up even 256 GB or 512GB of storage.

If you want removable storage, you can turn to the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, which still features a microSD card slot. Alternatively, less expensive phones like the Samsung Galaxy A71 5G let you expand storage by up to 1TB via a microSD card. Another option — spring for cloud storage, as Google One storage plans cost $9.99 a month for 2TB.

Our pick: Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — not only can you max out on-board storage at 512GB, but the microSD slot lets you add up to 1TB of storage.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative for stylus compatibility

Galaxy Note 20 (Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

Only the Galaxy S21 Ultra works with an S Pen, the first Galaxy phone outside of the Note to offer such support. But the stylus is sold separately, meaning you’re paying another $40 on top of the $1,199 cost of your phone. And that’s before you buy a case, which you’ll need to do as the S21 offers no slot to store the S Pen. 

In this case, it’s hard to top the original, as both the Galaxy Note 20 and Note 20 Ultra offer a built-in S Pen. If you don’t mind going the bargain route, Motorola’s $299 Moto G Stylus — an updated version to last year’s Moto G Stylus— includes a stylus, though it’s not nearly as fully featured as the S Pen. You will get long battery life from the Moto G Stylus, though.

Our pick: Galaxy Note 20 — This is the cheaper of Samsung’s two Note 20 models, and it’s also $200 less than the Galaxy S21 Ultra. And you don’t have to pay extra for the S Pen.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative for battery life

Moto G Power (2021) (Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

The battery life for the Galaxy S21 Ultra impresses, as Samsung’s phone lasted 11 hours and 25 minutes on our Tom’s Guide battery test. That places it on our best phone battery life list (though the S21 Ultra achieves that result with the adaptive display feature turned off). The other S21 models turned in times that were closer to the result for the average smartphone. 

The longest lasting smartphone we’ve tested this year is the Moto G Power (2021), and while that phone boats some good features for a $249 device, it’s a big step down from the experience of using a Galaxy flagship. The Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the device to get if you want a long battery life, but don’t want to skimp on features.

Our pick: Galaxy Note 20 Ultra — it’s another long-lasting Samsung flagship.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative for photography

Pixel 5 (Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

It’s hard to outdo the camera hardware of the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Not only do you get a 108MP main camera, a 40MP selfie camera and a 12MP ultrawide, you also benefit from two 10MP telephoto cameras, one with 3x zoom and the other with 10X zoom. The S21 and S21 Plus still have outstanding photography powers too, with their combination of 12MP main, 12MP ultrawide, 64MP telephoto and 10MP selfie cameras.

In terms of the best camera phones, there’s only one that beats the Galaxy S21 Ultra – the iPhone 12 Pro Max. That’s almost as expensive as the S21 Ultra, but it’s the price you have to pay for ultimate photo performance.

For cheaper options that still give the S21 series a run for its money, the Google Pixel 5 will offer equally good main and ultrawide photography, though it lacks a dedicated telephoto sensor. Still, the Pixel’s Super Res Zoom feature more than makes up for that lack of hardware by tapping into Google’s computational photography powers. For a cheaper version, the Pixel 4a 5G boasts the exact same camera hardware as Google’s flagship device.

Our pick: Pixel 5 — assuming you don’t want to convert to an iPhone, Google’s flagship is the best camera phone you can get outside of the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative for pure Android

Motorola Edge Plus (Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

At its core, Android 11 is the same on every device. But phone makers can tweak the interface, and Samsung’s One UI 3.0 on the Galaxy S21 models can come across as overbearing to some people.

We’re big fans of OnePlus’ OxygenOS because of its sharp design and limited number of unwanted apps. You’ll find it preinstalled on the OnePlus 8T, but it’s also available on older OnePlus phones like the OnePlus 8 and 8 Pro. Motorola also does a good job of not cluttering up Android, and the few things it introduces, such as gesture-based Moto Actions, are actually useful. The $999 Motorola Edge Plus comes the closest to matching the Galaxy S21 feature set.

Still, the purest version of Android can be found on the Google Pixel line of phones. The Pixel 5 is the pinnacle of Google’s crop of phones for the moment, and while its hardware is lacking in a few areas compared to the Galaxy S21’s, the user experience is top notch.

Our pick: OnePlus 8T — OnePlus’ phones offer the best assortment of features without imposing too much on the Android experience.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative on performance

iPhone 12 Pro Max (Image credit: Future)

It’s hard to beat any of the Galaxy S21 models and their Snapdragon 888 system-on-chip — at least among Android phones. The Galaxy S21 benchmarks are the best we’ve seen from any Android phone, which isn’t surprising since Samsung’s devices are the first to arrive in the US with the new Qualcomm chipset.

But as good as the S21 models are in terms of performance, they’re still out-muscled by the iPhone 12 family and Apple’s A14 Bionic processor. The iPhone 12 produces better benchmarks in our testing, including real-world tests like transcoding videos.

If you’re committed to Android, a powerhouse like the iPhone 12 Pro Max may be a non-starter. In that case, you may want to hold off a few months to see what other Android phones arrive with a Snapdragon 888 inside and how they compare to the Galaxy S21.

Our pick: iPhone 12 Pro Max — iOS or Android debate aside, this is the best performing phone out there, and it’s cheaper than the Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Best Galaxy S21 alternative on price

(Image credit: Tom’s Guide)

While the Galaxy S21 models may be cheaper than their predecessors, the S21 Plus and S21 Ultra still cost $999 and $1,199, respectively. That’s a lot to pay for a phone for some people, though at least the Galaxy S21 offers a decent alternative at $799.

For lower-priced flagships, it’s hard to beat either OnePlus or Google. The OnePlus 8T starts at $749 and features a display with a 120Hz refresh rate as well as solid performance and fast charging. The Pixel 5 is even cheaper at $699, though Google dialed back on the processing power to reach that price.

Our pick: OnePlus 8T — Outside of Samsung’s own phones, the flagship devices out of OnePlus come the closest to matching the Galaxy S lineup on a feature-by-feature basis.

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Ottawa orders TikTok’s Canadian arm to be dissolved

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The federal government is ordering the dissolution of TikTok’s Canadian business after a national security review of the Chinese company behind the social media platform, but stopped short of ordering people to stay off the app.

Industry Minister François-Philippe Champagne announced the government’s “wind up” demand Wednesday, saying it is meant to address “risks” related to ByteDance Ltd.’s establishment of TikTok Technology Canada Inc.

“The decision was based on the information and evidence collected over the course of the review and on the advice of Canada’s security and intelligence community and other government partners,” he said in a statement.

The announcement added that the government is not blocking Canadians’ access to the TikTok application or their ability to create content.

However, it urged people to “adopt good cybersecurity practices and assess the possible risks of using social media platforms and applications, including how their information is likely to be protected, managed, used and shared by foreign actors, as well as to be aware of which country’s laws apply.”

Champagne’s office did not immediately respond to a request for comment seeking details about what evidence led to the government’s dissolution demand, how long ByteDance has to comply and why the app is not being banned.

A TikTok spokesperson said in a statement that the shutdown of its Canadian offices will mean the loss of hundreds of well-paying local jobs.

“We will challenge this order in court,” the spokesperson said.

“The TikTok platform will remain available for creators to find an audience, explore new interests and for businesses to thrive.”

The federal Liberals ordered a national security review of TikTok in September 2023, but it was not public knowledge until The Canadian Press reported in March that it was investigating the company.

At the time, it said the review was based on the expansion of a business, which it said constituted the establishment of a new Canadian entity. It declined to provide any further details about what expansion it was reviewing.

A government database showed a notification of new business from TikTok in June 2023. It said Network Sense Ventures Ltd. in Toronto and Vancouver would engage in “marketing, advertising, and content/creator development activities in relation to the use of the TikTok app in Canada.”

Even before the review, ByteDance and TikTok were lightning rod for privacy and safety concerns because Chinese national security laws compel organizations in the country to assist with intelligence gathering.

Such concerns led the U.S. House of Representatives to pass a bill in March designed to ban TikTok unless its China-based owner sells its stake in the business.

Champagne’s office has maintained Canada’s review was not related to the U.S. bill, which has yet to pass.

Canada’s review was carried out through the Investment Canada Act, which allows the government to investigate any foreign investment with potential to might harm national security.

While cabinet can make investors sell parts of the business or shares, Champagne has said the act doesn’t allow him to disclose details of the review.

Wednesday’s dissolution order was made in accordance with the act.

The federal government banned TikTok from its mobile devices in February 2023 following the launch of an investigation into the company by federal and provincial privacy commissioners.

— With files from Anja Karadeglija in Ottawa

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 6, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Google’s partnership with AI startup Anthropic faces a UK competition investigation

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LONDON (AP) — Britain’s competition watchdog said Thursday it’s opening a formal investigation into Google’s partnership with artificial intelligence startup Anthropic.

The Competition and Markets Authority said it has “sufficient information” to launch an initial probe after it sought input earlier this year on whether the deal would stifle competition.

The CMA has until Dec. 19 to decide whether to approve the deal or escalate its investigation.

“Google is committed to building the most open and innovative AI ecosystem in the world,” the company said. “Anthropic is free to use multiple cloud providers and does, and we don’t demand exclusive tech rights.”

San Francisco-based Anthropic was founded in 2021 by siblings Dario and Daniela Amodei, who previously worked at ChatGPT maker OpenAI. The company has focused on increasing the safety and reliability of AI models. Google reportedly agreed last year to make a multibillion-dollar investment in Anthropic, which has a popular chatbot named Claude.

Anthropic said it’s cooperating with the regulator and will provide “the complete picture about Google’s investment and our commercial collaboration.”

“We are an independent company and none of our strategic partnerships or investor relationships diminish the independence of our corporate governance or our freedom to partner with others,” it said in a statement.

The U.K. regulator has been scrutinizing a raft of AI deals as investment money floods into the industry to capitalize on the artificial intelligence boom. Last month it cleared Anthropic’s $4 billion deal with Amazon and it has also signed off on Microsoft’s deals with two other AI startups, Inflection and Mistral.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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