"The Galaxy S21 makes a wise bet on value with a lower starting price, but feels stuck in 2020. A good phone, but not a particularly exciting one."
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Smooth and colorful hardware
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Excellent advertisement
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Improved fingerprint sensor
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Lower price translates into great value
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Plastic back on base S21
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No 2021 flagship camera experience
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Galaxy S21 + disappointing value at $ 1,000
When Samsung introduced the Galaxy S21, it took an incredibly rare step in the high-end smartphone space: it cut its prices. The Galaxy S21 series is cheaper across the board for $ 200 than the introductory prices of the Galaxy S20 phones. Given that sales of the Galaxy S20 were significantly lower than the S9 and S10, and that 2021 may not be as economically stable as originally hoped, this seems like the right move.
Samsung isn't taking this move for charity, however – it is cutting the price down hopefully to increase sales and making big bucks on every phone sold regardless of that. The reality of these prices is that the Galaxy S21 and S21 + are not full upgrades from the S20-series phones they've replaced – and that smartphone enthusiasts are scratching their heads.
At first glance, there is no reason for anyone with a Galaxy S20 to consider buying an S21. Samsung knew this for sure, considering the vast majority of people update their phone every two years at the earliest. For this reason. I'm not going to come to terms with how the Galaxy S21 is better than its predecessor – what matters is the assessment of whether the Galaxy S21 can stand on its own as a good phone for the money in 2021.
I have to note that this review focuses on the base Galaxy S21 that I've been using for a week. Much of my experience can also be applied to the Galaxy S21 +, which I've spent less time with but which has the exact same platform and which is simply bigger. Since the Galaxy S21 Ultra has so much going for it that is quite different from the S21 and S21 +, we have a full separate review of this phone.
Hardware, design and display
The design of a modern smartphone is so strongly influenced by the limitations that an incredible number of complex components – processors, a large battery, antennas, speakers and several cameras – fit into one another. This leaves us with phones that look roughly 90% identical on the market. The final 10% includes material choices, camera pod design, color choices, and tiny differences in the details of the surface. The Galaxy S21 looks absolutely different from the Galaxy S20, but honestly if you covered the new rear view camera pod it would look … like an S20 again.
Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends
However, there are still nuances to appreciate here. The shiny metal frame looks and feels great. I like the way the camera pod is integrated into this frame – it's sleek and distinctive. My review unit is particularly impressive in the gold and purple colors, but it's not what I would choose. Thankfully the entire color palette is superb. Interestingly, it's the base S21 that has the widest range of color options, although the S21 + has a nice set of three to choose from.
I wouldn't call the S21 a "compact" phone, but it's refreshingly small compared to the S21 + and S21 Ultra. It's almost identical to the S20 and just a bit bigger than the iPhone 12 and Google Pixel 5. My larger-than-average hands wrap around the S21 with ease, and it's not a burden in my pocket. The story is different with the S21 +: it's a typical modern large phone that's 10mm taller, 4mm wider, and 18% heavier than the S21.
I appreciate the switch from Samsung to a matte back that is finally bringing the shiny (aka greasy and stained) back to rest of the old days. It is controversial that the Galaxy S21 uses a plastic back – yes, on an $ 800 phone. This is the same material we saw on the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy S20 FE, and it's an effective cost-cutting measure. From a distance, it looks identical to matte glass, but with a single touch of a button you know it's plastic.
From a practical point of view, I get it. It's cheaper, more damage-resistant than glass, and makes the phone lighter and easier to use. It's an $ 800 phone from a futile point of view, and it's absurd not to get quality materials. Using a case is likely to have the biggest impact on whether this bothers you – I just don't like how this phone feels without a case.
From a distance, it looks identical to matte glass, but with a single touch of a button you know it's plastic.
If the bigger Galaxy S21 + is faster, then this plastic conversation can be ignored – Samsung put Gorilla Glass Victus glass on the back of the larger model. It feels a lot better, which is around the price – and it should be, as the S21 + is $ 1000.
Although the Galaxy S21 has a smaller display than the Galaxy S21 Ultra (and the Note 20 Ultra) on paper, anyone would be incredibly excited to see it every day. Yes, it's "only" 1080p, but it doesn't matter. What is more important is that it is incredibly bright, clear, colorful, and has great angles. Samsung has also added a variable refresh rate that dynamically switches from 48 Hz to 120 Hz to keep everything as smooth as possible – while conserving battery life. Samsung is once again the king of mobile displays.
The new fingerprint sensor in the display is also remarkable. This is the Qualcomm second generation ultrasound machine. It's significantly bigger and faster than before – though that doesn't say much since the Galaxy S and Note phones have had a bad sensor for the past two years. Even so, we're cutting-edge in terms of the responsiveness of the sensors and unlike previous phones, I didn't get mad at tricky false negatives. How refreshing!
Performance, software and battery life
As is usually the case, a month ago Samsung rolled out the software update for Android 11 + One UI 3 on the Galaxy S and Note phones last year. Nothing has changed here, although I have to say this software is great – as long as you like Samsung's approach to Android. I still prefer the Google version on the Pixels, but I feel at home on a UI too.
This is a neutral, good looking interface with lots of nifty animations and subtle color uses. A UI still requires a significant amount of tweaking and tweaking to get set up the way you want – in terms of the multitude of settings, the default settings that need to be changed, and the duplicate apps that need to be managed. The fact that you can tweak so much is great, but it can be overwhelming at first.
Andrew Martonik / Digital Trends
The Galaxy S21 uses the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset (or Samsung's internationally comparable Exynos 2100 chipset) and surprisingly offers exceptional performance. While I "only" had 8GB of RAM, I never had a single hiccup while multitasking or gaming, which shouldn't come as a surprise given the processing and graphics power of the 888.
The Galaxy S21 only has average battery life, but the S21 + should be significantly better.
With an unchanged 4000 mAh battery, it's not surprising that the S21 is just average in the battery life division. I did it every day without a charge but didn't leave a ton behind when I went to bed – between 15% and 25%. My usual day with 3 to 4 hours of on-screen viewing and no heavy use like 8K video recording or gaming got me familiar with the battery – but anything heavier, like a day of travel, probably takes an afternoon. above. This new variable refresh rate display and more efficient chipset save some battery, but don't make a big difference.
The Galaxy S21 + should shine here with its 4800 mAh battery. Given that everything else about the phone's functions is identical to the S21 and only a slightly larger display is available for power supply (with exactly the same resolution and refresh rate), I would expect a direct 20% increase in lifespan here. Based on my experience with the S21 Ultra, which has a 5000 mAh battery and a more power-hungry screen, but has a comparatively long battery life, I expect the S21 + to perform well.
Samsung is clearly happy with the charging speed as things haven't improved from the last generation. Although some models briefly flirt with 45W fast charging, the S21 series opted for 25W cable charging. This is paired with 15W wireless charging (assuming you can find a compatible charger) as well as reverse wireless charging for earbuds and smartwatches. So yeah, it's the same as before – that's enough for what we actually need, but it doesn't get things moving either.
Cameras
What Samsung did, or didn't do in this case, with the Galaxy S21 cameras is drawing the ire of smartphone enthusiasts. The camera system is, in simple terms, the same as the Galaxy S20 phones. Samsung claimed the S20's sensors and lenses had been changed so subtly, but there's no doubt that this setup is almost identical to the previous one. This means that a 12-megapixel main, a 12-megapixel ultrawide and a 64-megapixel zoom camera are grouped on the back.
Samsung claims that improvements in the ISP (image signal processor) of the new chipset combined with new processing software make better use of the raw data collected by these sensors. In practice I experienced an intense déjà vu – the Galaxy S21 takes photos more or less exactly like the S20, for better and for worse.
In general, the Galaxy S21 takes impressive photos. You get great colors and clarity from shot to shot, and Samsung's processing changes seem to have subtly reduced the overly warm and blown out HDR footage of the S20 series. These are still very punchy and bright shots as you would expect from a Samsung camera, but people generally seem to appreciate that. In good lighting, the S21 produced the shot I was expecting most of the time – and that goes for all three cameras as long as you don't try to zoom in past 3x. All of Samsung's claims about zoom quality in the S21 series lie in the S21 Ultra.
The S21 only shows its age in difficult lighting conditions. When the lights go out, the zoom camera becomes unusable – the phone quickly switches to a digital zoom on the main camera instead. The ultrawide sticks a little longer, but the quality also degrades in low light. With night mode turned on, you get solid, but not spectacular, main camera footage. S21 shots in low light are characterized by mottled, overprocessed grain and soft lines, with the sky being regularly over-brightened in landscape shots. Often times, the subject of your shot will look good, but the darker parts of the picture will be completely washed out. This is a complete step up from what the Google Pixel 5, iPhone 12, and Galaxy S21 Ultra can do in low light.
Where the S21 shows its age most is in the 10MP front camera. This is just … not a great camera right now. It's fine in daylight. Especially if you turn off the face smoothing beauty mode. And Samsung actually offers you the option of choosing between "normal" and "bright" selfies! The detail is seriously lacking, however – and in low light the camera is only useful for creating watercolor images of a scene.
As much as I get into photography, I don't put more than a toe into videography. Even so, I was happy with the video capabilities of the S21, which were mostly shot at 4K 60 and 4K 30, with the video being fluid, stable, and colorful. I also didn't see focus chase or frames dropped which is always a relief. The S21 can shoot 8K at 24 frames per second (fps), but the viewfinder is severely cropped, which is a bit irritating, and 24 fps just doesn't offer the silky smooth look most people want right now.
Most of the camera experience is solid, but at night you will be reminded that this is not a 2021 level camera.
The biggest criticisms of the S20's camera were poor indoor performance and sometimes uncomfortable processing of people's faces. The S21 still struggles with the former – indoor shots quickly become soft and overworked when the lighting isn't optimal, which isn't surprising given the size of the sensors. Samsung specifically pointed out the face processing in its announcement, but I didn't see any dramatic improvement either – even with beauty modes turned off, the excessive smoothing lacks detail in the faces compared to the Pixel 5 and iPhone 12. Once again, the problem is compounded by bad ones Exacerbated lighting conditions in which the overall camera tends to over-smooth textures.
It feels like I'm tough given the price, but it's reasonable to hold one Galaxy S. to a higher standard.
It feels like I'm overly tough with this camera given the S21's lower starting price, but it's reasonable to keep a phone named "Galaxy S" of a high standard. These cameras are good, but not significantly better than those on last year's S20 phones, and that's tough to work with. If not on the $ 800 Galaxy S21, then absolutely on the $ 1000 Galaxy S21 +.
The top-end S21 Ultra model has significant camera changes, but we'll cover those in the full review of this phone. Stay tuned.
Our opinion
The Galaxy S21 is a good phone, it's just not particularly desirable or exciting. You can argue about the decision to use a plastic back or remove the SD card slot, but even with those two choices, there is nothing wrong with the Galaxy S21. The biggest problem with the S21 is that it doesn't move the needle. It doesn't push things. And that's a first for the Galaxy S line.
The redemption is associated with the price. The Galaxy S21, with its name and predisposed idea of what it should offer, is a really good value at $ 799. Aside from plastic, this is a strong bang for the buck. Samsung doesn't skimp on specs, the display is excellent, and the useful functions related to the experience are all here. The performance, software, and even battery life are all good. At this price point, you can even be forgiving of some of the shortcomings that haven't been addressed with the cameras from last year.
The equation changes a bit with the Galaxy S21 +. Obviously, the bigger screen, longer battery life, and glass back are pluses that justify the price hike to $ 999. At this price point, you just can't forgive the camera quality, and it's reasonable to expect more for your money.
How you view the Galaxy S21 and S21 + depends a lot on your current phone and how price conscious you are. Anyone upgrading from a phone two year old or older will see a lot of value here and will be especially happy with the display and speed of the experience. But smartphone fans, special nerds and avid photographers will be absolutely better off with another phone – maybe Samsung's own Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Are there any better alternatives?
If you look at the base Galaxy S21, Samsung's own Galaxy S20 FE is worth considering. For $ 600, it offers the same core experience. The processor isn't as fast and the camera isn't quite as good, but the everyday experience is basically the same – including the plastic back.
The biggest competitor for the larger S21 + is its direct predecessor, the Galaxy S20 +. Samsung sourced the S20 + from Amazon, Best Buy, and its own store, but assuming you can find new / old inventory, there are likely to be deep discounts. Ultimately, it's very similar to the S21 +, although the newer phone has fresh hardware and a nice, variable refresh rate display. Given that, you might not care if the nearly identical S20 + is available at a discount.
The elephant in the room is natural the iPhone 12This corresponds to the price of the S21 and is directly comparable in size, camera and functions. Very few people compare Androids and iPhones in any given upgrade cycle. So this isn't as big a factor as the nerds would lead you to believe. Choose an operating system (and ecosystem) first, then choose the phone – one of them is a good choice.
How long it will take?
You shouldn't have a problem with the Galaxy S21 for three years. This metal frame is sturdy, the plastic back is unlikely to crack like a glass jar, and water resistance means it is unlikely to get fried in an accident. Samsung is also committing to three years of software updates for its high-end phones.
Should you buy it?
Yes, for most people. If you've come from an older phone and are looking for a flagship phone without spending a lot of money, the S21 is a great choice. If you've got a newer phone or are looking for the best that Samsung has to offer, you'll need to upgrade to the S21 Ultra.
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