Samsung Galaxy S21+5G review – Leaner and Bolder

Last year, Samsung began their triple flagship approach and we reviewed their most premium of premium devices, Galaxy S20 Ultra. We loved it overall but at €1,299 it was a big investment for a larger screen and some camera extras. With a nigh-on 7″ screen, it was a pocket-filling phablet that demanded two hands. This year, we are reviewing the far more sensible Samsung Galaxy S21+5G from a line-up that has changed direction in a few ways from its predecessors.

A Few Bob Can Mean a Great Deal

Samsung has lowered the launch prices of their S21series with S21+5G coming in at €50-100 less than S20 Plus. While it’s nice to save a few bob, the change in pricing trajectory means more than the reduction on its own.

Perhaps its a response to advances in mid-range chipsets and the closing of the gap (in terms of performance) between the cutting-edge and the mass market that has caused this course correction. Maybe it was contraction of economies caused by a global pandemic. Either way, it’s promising.

Style Update

The other bold move is an overhaul of Samsung’s aesthetic. While there wasn’t much room for change on the front, the rear is quite different. The camera island is now an apparently single piece of machined aluminium that curves around the top corner in two directions. As a macro detail and design centrepiece, it’s distinctive and visually luxurious. Similarly, the frosted glass rear offers a different aesthetic to last year’s model. Our Phantom Silver review model is a beautiful device to look at.

The aluminium chassis is visible on the outer edges of the frame as has become a Samsung staple. However, the chromed look is emphasised less here than on S20 series. The Samsung logo is present on the rear but again is stands out less than that that of its predecessors thanks to the frosted rear and choice of logo colouring.

Samsung deserve praise for working their brand indicators into something so fresh.

Peak of Displays

Samsung have long dominated conversations about smartphone displays. Their market-leading AMO and S-AMOLED screens have delivered new heights year-on-year – brighter, more colourful, higher refresh rates – and this year is no different. Samsung introduced Dynamic AMOLED on their Note 20 series and it makes itself at home here on S21+.

D-AMOLED 2x offers 120Hz with the current best colour reproduction according to DCI-P3 and sRGB colour gamuts. All of that with an absurd peak brightness of 1,300 nits. The heady tech translates into a deep, smooth and sharp image that is difficult to adequately describe. Should have sent a poet, really.

The 6.7″ display has a gentle camber at its edge and is only punctutated by that singular punch-hole notch in the centre near the top of the screen in portrait. The bezel shape has changed from S20 series – this year’s lineup has an even bezel around the display whereas last year’s has slightly thicker bezelling on the forehead and chin.

It’s worth pointing out that the 2K resolution of the S20+5G has been reduced to FHD on S21+5G.

The Local Chipset

Samsung’s very best chips are usually reserved for the North American market while the rest of the world gets an ever-so-slightly inferior but comparable chipset. Galaxy S21+5G and its stablemates feature Exynos chipsets in this neck of the woods but the gap between the two is smaller than ever.

The Exynos 2100 we get performs better at sheer CPU workloads thanks to higher clock speeds in its 1-3-4 asymmetric chip. The rest is about even with Qualcomm Snapdragon 888’s GPU outperforming that of Exynos’ by a whisker in most categories.

That’s all a bit academic though. Our Exynos 2100-powered Galaxy S21+5G is step up from the powerful S20 series. It’s also more efficient in terms of power usage. Improvements aren’t transformative nor are they really noticeable considering how capable the Exynos 990 already was.

Galaxy S21+5G runs with 8GB of RAM, four less than last year’s model. This is something to bear in mind in you are a tab hog or actually do need a lot of memory to play with.

If It Ain’t Broke

Some of you will naturally be disappointed by the lack of major camera upgrades. Galaxy S21+5G runs mostly the same hardware as its predecessor and even loses the dedicated DoF sensor.

However, it matches the incredible performance of S20 in most respects and adds one fun AI-led feature that stands out. From-the-pocket shots are of an extremely high standard – scene-selection and other AI selected settings are regularly perfect.

A perfect demonstration of this ability is that new feature. Dubbed ‘Single Take’, users can pan across a particular scene and S21+5G will snap shots with some different settings and produce a short video clip or two. This selection can be altered by the user and/or saved as moment in time. Using Single Take is very easy and the results are often impressive and almost always at least usable.

Another new feature is the Director Mode. This allows users to observe the scene with different zoom levels and lenses so they can make choices between them. Users can also record front and rear cameras with the intention of capturing reactions as well as chosen scenes. It’s a nice addition but Single Take is probably the headline-grabber.

Specifications

Middle Child

With each of the S21 series receiving different price cuts, the value proposition of each model has shifted. Galaxy S21 5G can now be had for around €899, S21+5G for around €1,049 and S21 Ultra 5G for around €1,299. The difference between each model hasn’t necessarily changed to match this.

Galaxy S21+5G doesn’t offer much over S21 for the €150 price difference. The chipset, style and camera are essentially the same with changes only to screen and battery sizes. If you need a larger display than S21 offers then why not go for the Ultra which offers extra tech as well as swelling the screen.

That being said, Galaxy S21+5G stands as good value on its own. A powerful and beautiful smartphone that keeps the best of the S20 series arresting the upward trend of flagship phone prices.