Samsung Galaxy S21 review

Our Verdict

Samsung's Galaxy S21 is a more refined, smarter and crucially cheaper new flagship phone.

For

Splendid dynamic 120Hz display
Powerful performance
Refined blueprint
Powerful camera zoom

Against

No charger or microSD card slot
Plastic back
Some photographic camera inconsistencies

Tom's Guide Verdict

Samsung's Galaxy S21 is a more refined, smarter and crucially cheaper new flagship phone.

Pros

+
Excellent dynamic 120Hz brandish
+
Powerful operation
+
Refined design
+
Powerful camera zoom

Cons

-
No charger or microSD card slot
-
Plastic back
-
Some photographic camera inconsistencies

Samsung Galaxy S21: Specs

OS:Android 11 with 1 UI 3
Screen size: half dozen.2 inches (2400 x 1080)
Refresh rate:48-120Hz
Processor: Snapdragon 888
RAM: 8GB
Storage:128GB, 256GB
microSD: none
Rear cameras: 12MP wide (f/i.8), 12MP ultra-broad (f/two.ii), 64MP telephoto (f/2.0) with 3x hybrid zoom/30x digital
Video:Up to 8K at 24 fps
Front cameras:10MP
Battery: 4,000 mAh
Battery life: 9 hours and 53 minutes (60hz), vi hours and 31 minutes (adaptive)
Charging: 25W (charger not included)
Colors: Phantom Violet, Phantom Pink, Phantom White, Phantom Gray
Size:5.97 x 2.8 x 0.31 inches
Weight:5.95 ounces

For years, the Milky way South series have been do-everything, have-everything flagship phones. Simply with the Milky way S21, Samsung has decided to take away most as much every bit information technology's upgraded. What could exist a recipe for failure has really yielded an fantabulous Android smartphone that's $200 cheaper than the Galaxy S20.

With its 6.2-inch display, trio of rear cameras, and the same iv,000 mAh battery, the Galaxy S21 isn't much of an upgrade over its predecessor. Certain, it comes with a new camera module and colour schemes, as well as Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888. But the Galaxy S21 turns out to be very much an iterative upgrade; the large changes come in the Samsung Milky way S21 Ultra this time around.

Check out our Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review
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Yet there's a lot more to this take-away tale. Continue reading our Samsung Galaxy S21 review to find out why removing stuff has worked out rather well for Samsung'southward new flagship phone.

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: Release appointment and toll

You tin can buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 right at present, either by itself or via a carrier contract.

In the U.Southward., for a starting cost of $799 you tin can go the Galaxy S21 with 128GB of storage, simply fork out an extra $50 and yous can get the 256GB model for $849. That'south $200 cheaper than the Galaxy S20 price a year agone — quite the saving.

In the U.Yard. the Samsung Milky way S21 starts at £769 for the 128GB model, with double the storage setting you dorsum £819. The 5G Galaxy S20 came in at £899, so the S21 is £130 cheaper.

Just acquit in mind, there's only a USB-C cable in the box, so you lot'll demand to pay out for a charger if you don't have 1 already. And the S21 only comes with 8GB of RAM, with no option to get the 12GB of the Galaxy S20, unless y'all opt for the considerably more expensive Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Do comport in mind that the Samsung Milky way S22 is on the horizon, tipped for a February reveal. Then if you're not in a hurry to get a new Samsung telephone, it may be worth waiting for the Galaxy S22 given we're have high hopes for its rumored upgrades.

Every bit if you do want the Samsung Galaxy S21 right now, shop effectually and y'all should find it well below the original launch price In fact, you're probable to find information technology's cheaper than the supposedly affordable Samsung Galaxy S21 Iron.

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: Blueprint

From the front, the Galaxy S21 looks alot like the Galaxy S20, with its 6.two-inch brandish complete with a smashing punch-hole selfie photographic camera in the top middle of the screen. Await closer and you'll come across the S21 has dropped its predecessor'south curved brandish and opted for flat edges.

This might sound like a downgrade, given the new phone doesn't wait quiet as sleek, simply I'm fine with it. I recollect curved screens on Android phones with displays under 6.5 inches tend to exist a trivial slippery to hold, especially as you can more often than not employ them one-handed; large handsets tend to feel a bit more comfy with curved edges when you're performing finger gymnastics to reach apps on the display'south far side.

The flat edges on the Samsung Galaxy S21 lead to the metal edges flowing to the new "Contour Cut" camera blueprint, where the rear camera module seems to alloy into the S21'southward left-hand border, as well as the back.

Speaking of which, the metallic gives style to what'south arguably the Samsung Galaxy S21's biggest change: a plastic back. Samsung calls it polycarbonate but information technology'southward basically fancy plastic, whereas the S20 makes use of glass.

Opting for a plastic back is likely the biggest reason Samsung can offering the Galaxy S21 at its cheaper toll. And while the lack of a glass dorsum might seem odd for a flagship phone, I was pleasantly surprised to notice that it didn't feel inexpensive. Non only do I think it feels a little nicer than the polycarbonate on the S20 Atomic number 26's rear, it also has a more tactile cease than the glass-backed Galaxy South series, making it feel less probable to escape your grip or suck up fingerprints. Personally, I'k happy to pocket the savings if this helps continue costs down.

And the Phantom Violet S21 I had to review looks fantastic, even if the name sounds a little daft. The violet console has a pleasantly soft hue, while the faint copper color of the camera crash-land and edges requite the S21 a pseudo retro sci-fi look; retrieve Star Trek meets Art Deco.

Three other color options — Phantom Gray, Phantom Pink, Phantom White — are available but I've still to see them in the metallic and plastic.

Measuring 6 x two.8 x 0.31 inches and weighing half dozen.07 ounces, the Galaxy S21 is a bit smaller still a little heavier than the Galaxy S20 (five.9 x 3 x 0.31, 5.7 ounces). But I recollect information technology is the ideal size and weight for one-hand use; small enough for my thumb to accomplish two-thirds of the display, but large enough to sit and lookout hours of videos on.

The Galaxy S21's in-brandish ultrasonic fingerprint reader is besides more responsive thanks to using Qualcomm'southward new scanner, which is 1.7x larger and l% faster than the previous generation. I found the S21 rarely rejected a hasty tap from my pollex, which does wonders for my quick-temper.

What'south not platonic is the Galaxy S21 dropped the microSD carte slot its predecessors accept sported for a while. I'm not sure why Samsung did this, every bit there'due south no obvious limitations of space inside the Galaxy S21, nor would I expect its removal to modify manufacturing costs past much. Maybe it's one manner for Samsung to encourage people to buy the 265GB version, though with so many free deject storage services, I'chiliad ultimately not as well fussed about the lack of expandable storage.

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: Display

Samsung has both downgraded and upgraded the Galaxy S21's 6.2-inch AMOLED display from what the S20 previously featured. You lot no longer have to choose between a full HD+ resolution running at 120Hz or a QHD running at 60Hz, like you lot did with the Galaxy S20, simply that'due south because the S21 tops out at 1080p resolution.

While that'due south more than restrictive, I experience information technology removes complexity. You lot can go and set the display to stick to 60Hz, if you want to eek out equally much battery life as possible, or y'all but love a bit of judder when scrolling through web pages. But then yous'd be given up a dynamic refresh rate, which allows the S21 to drop its refresh rate from 120Hz to 48Hz depending on the task at hand. It's not an upgrade you'll necessarily notice when you're not scrolling, but it'south a smart one that quietly makes the S21 more enjoyable to utilize.

Testing its "natural" screen setting, the Milky way S21 brandish delivers 109.ii% sRGB and 77.4% DCI-P3 color gamut coverage, and a Delta-E of 0.29. Those are adept scores, though the iPhone 12 and the Samsung Milky way Notation twenty Ultra beat the S21 in terms of coverage and colour accuracy.

Notwithstanding, in practical utilise the Galaxy S21'south display is fantastic. Stick it in "Vivid" mode and you'll see heaps of contrast and color, even if the latter errs on the side of oversaturation. The display is great for watching videos and movies, ogling Instagram pics, and playing games on. Samsung has long had excellent displays on its Milky way South phones, and the S21 is no exception.

Samsung Milky way S21 review: Cameras

Hardware-wise, the Galaxy S21 cameras are exactly the same as the Galaxy S20. The triple camera array comprises a main 12MP wide-angle lens, a 12MP ultra-wide lens and a 64MP telephoto lens with 3x hybrid optic zoom and 30x infinite zoom.

But Samsung is pulling a Google and leaning hard on software and computational photography upgrades to improve the trio of rear cameras. And for the about part, the Galaxy S21 achieves this.

Let's showtime with the standard photo fashion. Take a look at the photo beneath; with multiple colors and shades to deal with, plus the light coming in from the left, information technology presents a smartphone photographic camera workout.

The Milky way S21'southward photo is affluent with color and detail, though like Galaxy phones in the past, the colors are perhaps a little more saturated than those of the Google Pixel 5 I used for comparison. The Pixel 5 delivers a warmer tone and more true-to-life colors, with better dynamic range.

Yet zooming in, the S21 picks out some effectively details, probable due to its telephoto camera, with the grill on the model Aston Martin DB5 and the numbers on the Vocalism headphone amp clearer than in the Pixel five's photograph.

It's worth noting I switched off the Scene Optimizer characteristic, which uses AI to identify what'southward in-frame and adjust the camera accordingly to get the best shot. In exercise, I feel this can result in some over-processing.

Outdoors in natural light and the S21's main camera does a fine task. While it was hardly an ideal photography situation, in the shot below, the Milky way S21 picks out more than item than the Pixel five in the belfry buildings on the correct and London's Canary Wharf in the background. Withal, the Pixel 5 offers more dynamic range and colors that are truer to life.

Speaking of which, things get a little complicated in lower-light situations or environments lit past artificial light. I plant the Pixel 5 was better at edge detection and resolving particular in low calorie-free areas, whereas the S21 occasionally throws upward smudged and over-smoothed results.

You really take to become looking for this though, and I believe it's down to the Galaxy S21 ramping up the ISO and introducing more than noise into darker sections of a shot as a consequence. I suspect this could be some teething issues with the AI processing being applied to low-light areas, something which Samsung could fix with a software update.

Poor lite doesn't assistance the portrait mode either. Thank you to social distancing rules in the U.Thousand. I had to snap a pic of my friend Claire on her doorstep as the lord's day went downwardly; this meant at that place was the challenge of dealing with depression light on one side and a porch light on the other.

The Pixel 5 copes admirably, delivering more than natural pare tones and picking out details in the highlights and the shadows. Only S21 struggles a bit, washing out and over-smoothing Claire'south face. And it fails to selection out much particular in her pilus specially on the left-hand side.

Non-portrait S21 photos fare better, then I suspect the portrait mode'south algorithm is struggling to pick out what's in the foreground and what should exist blurred out; something the Pixel five is particularly good at.

In better light conditions, the portrait fashion is much better for both the rear and 10MP front-facing camera; have a look at the photo below of Tom's Guide's Marking Spoonauer as an instance.

And shooting objects rather than faces sees the Galaxy S21 deliver a nice portrait photograph.

The Galaxy S21 doesn't deliver the sharpest of portrait mode cutouts like the Pixel 5, equally Samsung opts for a more than gradual blur effect. I prefer the clarity of Google's handset merely the S21 still gets some nice results.

Switch over to the S21 night mode, and the low-calorie-free problems are swept away. In the shot below, the S21 delivers a bright prototype that's more detailed (notably in street lights) than the Pixel 5. With more cameras to employ for capturing light and item, the S21 shows up the limitations of the Pixel 5's dual rear cameras.

I adopt the colors the Pixel 5 offers, though. And the S21 seems to apply a good amount of sharpening to its nighttime shots. Nighttime mode tin can besides be used across all three of the Galaxy S21's cameras.

Ultra-wide angle shots are expensive on the Galaxy S21, but once you zoom in things come up autonomously. While it captures a wider view than the Pixel 5, punching into a shot reveals hazy details, whereas Google's phone is much clearer. Yous'll have to weigh upwards whether a lack of fine item is worth a more expensive photo.

Information technology's with the telephoto camera'south 20x and 30x "Space Zoom" where the S21's existent camera upgrades come into play. Notably, the new Zoom Lock feature, which uses AI to place the subject and steady the shot.

This works rather well and you can get shots that are surprisingly clear for such extreme zooms, fifty-fifty if you have rather shaky hands. Then the processing afterward cleans upwards the photo and results in a zoomed shot that's non a muddied mess.

Samsung Galaxy S21 — (Epitome credit: Tom's Guide)

Using Space Zoom I could get a reasonably articulate moving-picture show of a modest mint tin on my window still from the other side of the room. I'm non sure how applied it is for every-mean solar day smartphone photography, but information technology's an impressive showcase for AI tech.

On the video front end, the Milky way S21 covers a lot of bases. Like the Galaxy S20 it offers up to 8K capture at 24 fps, which its overkill for nigh, but it lets you snap loftier-quality photos while recording very loftier resolution videos. Other high-end features include 1080p video recording at 120 fps, which makes them super-smooth. Speaking of shine, the Super Steady way, which uses AI to compensate for shaky recording, will works on 1080p sixty fps video capture.

Some other highlight is the new Director's View when yous're shooting video. Yous can shoot using the front and rear cameras at the same time, as well as view live thumbnails from the multiple cameras. This makes information technology easier to switch to the best shot for your video. It works rather well and is less of a gimmick than I first thought.

The portrait video, which is basically a renaming of live focus video, is also rather slick, delivering footage where the subjects are in focus while the groundwork is blurred. If you move around a lot y'all can see the S21 working its algorithms, which results in sometimes over smoothing details on faces.

Other camera upgrades include an improved Single Have feature that takes a agglomeration of stills and photos with a single tap. Single Have at present delivers Highlight Video and Dynamic Slow-Mo clips.

All the above taken into account, the Galaxy S21 delivers an upgrade over the Galaxy S20. I don't think it has what it takes to knock the iPhone 12 Pro Max off our all-time telephone cameras list and the iPhone 12 could still have it beat out, Just the S21 trades blows with the Pixel 5, and beats Google'southward phone in a lot of areas. Potential for further refinement on the AI and computational photography side by Samsung leaves plenty of telescopic for the S21s camera to get better over time.

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: Functioning

In the U.S, the Galaxy S21 comes with the latest Snapdragon 888 bit, which promises 20% better CPU performance, 35% more GPU speed, besides equally boosted AI functioning. Fifty-fifty though there's no 12GB of RAM option, the S21 does plenty with its 8GB, and I didn't encounter any slowdown in my testing.

Speaking of which, putting the Snapdragon 888-equipped S21 through a series of benchmarks, saw the chip evangelize a multi-core score of 3,302 in Geekbench 5. That'southward slower than the iPhone 12, which raked in a score of three,859. But the S21, unsurprisingly, outpaces a lot of other Android phones with the older Snapdragon 865.

Equally for the graphics performance, the S21 topped out at 33 frames per second in 3DMark's Wild Life graphics criterion. It's browbeaten by the iPhone 12'due south 39 fps, just is alee of other flagship Android phones. In practical use, though, the S21 chews through games.

Both Telephone call of Duty: Mobile and Asphalt 9 Legends ran smoothly at max settings, with the 120Hz refresh charge per unit further adding to the smoothness. It's worth noting that while we tested the Snapdragon 888 Galaxy S21, I was using a handset with the Exynos 2100.

Built on a 5-nanometre process node similar the Snapdragon 888, the Exynos 2100 is meant to evangelize xx% comeback in energy efficiency and a x% improvement in performance over the last-gen 7nm Exynos 990. Throwing the S2100 at Geekbench 5, it got a score of 3,391 so is on par with the Snapdragon scrap, which is gratifying as Exynos chips take previously lagged behind.

With those games open up and a load of other apps running at the same fourth dimension, I didn't notice any slowdown or lack of responsiveness from the S21, though its back got a little warm.

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: Battery life and charging

Similar its predecessor, the Galaxy S21 comes with a 4,000 mAh battery. That'due south fine for a telephone of its size, though it's a compassion Samsung didn't upwardly the capacity a footling. However the adaptive refresh rate and improved chip efficiency should deliver amend bombardment life.

Fix at the 60hz refresh rate, the Galaxy S21 managed 9 hours and 53 minutes in Tom's Guide bombardment examination, which involves continuous web surfing at 150 nits of screen brightness over 5G.

That's not long enough to make our all-time phone battery life list, merely it beats the 8 hours and 25 minutes of the iPhone 12. And information technology just well-nigh outlasts the Galaxy S20 with its ix hours and 31 minutes, so the new silicon seems to exist playing its function.

Left in its default "Adaptive" mode, which dynamically adjusts the display'south refresh rate, the Galaxy S21 lasted 6 hours and 31 minutes. That's non astonishing, merely information technology'south far from bad when you lot get a vibrant display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

Furthermore, the AI smarts in the S21 should acquire about my telephone use over time and ameliorate optimize battery consumption, just that's not going to exist something that happens over night.

Charging is where things become a little messy. Fast charging is on offer over the USB-C PD standard, juicing upwardly the bombardment to 55% in 30 minutes in our testing. The problem is, you lot need to brand sure you have a charging brick to hand, as Samsung only puts the USB-C cable in the box. If you don't have a charger then Samsung volition sell you a 25W charger.

Samsung made a large song and dance about this decision being environmentally friendly; of course, information technology saves Samsung money too. Ultimately, I feel this is the correct motility, whatever the motivation. Helping cutting downward on electronic waste material is worth the extra expense and minor inconvenience information technology might crusade some S21 buyers who aren't affluent with telephone chargers.

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: One UI three and software

While I've used Samsung phones for years, I'yard not the biggest fan of the user interface it drops on Android. Just with the introduction of One UI in 2018, I've been slowly warming to Galaxy series accept on Google's mobile operating system. 1 UI three featured on the Galaxy S21 (and now older Samsung models that have upgraded to Android 11) builds upon this goodwill.

The interface is more elegant, complete with a redesigned Quick Panel and a notifications screen that feels less cluttered. I particularly capeesh the redesigned lock screen widgets likewise equally the power to identify widgets on the screen and arrange their transparency.

1 UI 3 nevertheless comes with a lot of options to tweak your Galaxy experience, which some will love. But information technology can get a bit overwhelming at times when you just desire to detect one particular setting.

And my word, do I dislike the principal apps drawer of the One UI. Despite its 3rd iteration, the apps are arranged n a seemingly random fashion which if you're moving from one app-heavy phone to some other tin can make finding the apps yous want to set upwardly your homescreen a pocket-sized nightmare. Compared to the elegance of the app drawer in stock Android, Samsung's is a mess.

I understand Samsung would like me to use its services, simply so many other Android phones default to Google features, such as auto-fill up for passwords. But 1 UI 3 tries to force me to use Samsung Pass and my Samsung business relationship, which ironically I oft forget the password for. It's fine in one case yous get setup, but it tin can exist frustrating to employ until you adapt to it. There's nevertheless definitely room for Samsung to amend here.

Nevertheless, I UI 3 is better that previous version. And information technology'southward useful to call up that it comes with a lot of powerful tools such a Samsung DeX, which allows for the Galaxy S21, and other compatible Galaxy devices, to be connected to an external monitor to turn the phone into a pseudo Chrome OS experience.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Android 12 update

Samsung released One UI 4 for the Galaxy S21 in mid-November 2021. This update brings Android 12, which offers several cardinal improvements to the UI and privacy elements. Yous can at present choose your organisation accent color with the Colour Palette, or access the privacy dashboard to encounter which apps are using your mic, camera, and location.

While Samsung has modified something from what you'll discover on a Pixel phone, you tin read our Android 12 review to learn more near what you lot can wait with the update.

Samsung Galaxy S21 review: Verdict

With Samsung removing as much from this phone every bit information technology adds, I was prepared to be let down by the Galaxy S21. But I needn't take worried.

Sure, a plastic dorsum isn't ideal on a flagship telephone merely I soon got used to the polycarbonate, and the overall design of the Galaxy S21 is lovely, as well as more practical than the S20. The lack of whatever hardware upgrades for the cameras was a little disappointing, simply then they all the same produce flagship-grade results and have a huge amount of features and tools to actually dig into.

I would take liked to have seen Samsung push the hardware envelope for the Galaxy S21, but that's the domain of the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Past making what I feel was the correct option when it came to removing features, the Galaxy S21 still offers the latest flagship chips, a fantastic display and powerful cameras in a refined smartphone at a competitive cost; one that should worry the iPhone 12.

The simply fly in the ointment, is the Galaxy S20. If you already take an S20 so I don't call up y'all'll do good from an upgrade. I feel Samsung knows this and the S21 is more than for people with older Galaxy phones or looking to move to their side by side phone. If you're in such a position, so I really suggest you lot consider the Galaxy S21 every bit you won't be disappointed.

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Roland Moore-Colyer is U.1000. Editor at Tom's Guide with a focus on news, features and stance articles. He frequently writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he's also got an involvement in cars. When non at his desk Roland can exist found wandering around London, often with a expect of marvel on his face up.