Samsung Galaxy M21 Review:
Design
- Plastic back & frames with a traditional fingerprint sensor
- Looks similar to some other phones in the ‘M’ series
Putting those improvements aside, the M21 shares a lot of similarities with the Galaxy M30s in terms of specs and even design. And you’ll learn more about it as you read
Putting those improvements aside, the M21 shares a lot of similarities with the Galaxy M30s in terms of specs and even design. And you’ll learn more about it as you read through this Samsung Galaxy M21 review. The 20MP selfie camera, which was 16MP on the M30s, is the only difference I can see. What’s even stranger is that the M30s is still on the market, and for roughly the same price as the M21.
Okay, the M-series’ design has never been one of its strong suits, and the M21 is no exception.
Lightweight Build Despite A Big Battery
But the most important takeaway here is that this phone has a massive 6,000mAh battery while remaining relatively thin and light. In fact, when compared to other mid-range phones with 4,000 or 4,300mAh batteries, the M21 appears to be lighter.
Nonetheless, the fact that it’s still a generic design with a plastic back and plastic frames cannot be overlooked. The traditional fingerprint sensor can be found on the back of the phone, but it’s becoming increasingly rare even in midrange phones these days because, guess what, more brands in 2020 will either use a side-mounted one or go in-display.
Face unlock is also available, and it works well, but I prefer to use my fingerprint as my primary biometric for unlocking.
More on the aesthetics, the slightly larger chin and top-mounted dewdrop notch have both irritated me because they make the phone appear outdated. So, if appearances are important to you, you should look elsewhere.
Display
- 6.4-inch FHD+ Super AMOLED panel with 60Hz refresh rate
- A tiny teardrop notch at the top for the front camera
- Protected by Corning Gorilla Glass 3
However, I cannot say the same about the phone’s front. The display is a Super AMOLED panel with a very nice appearance. And knowing that it’s an FHD display despite the low price makes me very happy.
The display is protected by the older Gorilla Glass 3, but that doesn’t bother me because it’s better than the Honor 9X, which I dropped from about a one-meter distance and cracked the screen!
I’m also pleased to report that the display on the M21 is excellent. In fact, in terms of colors, saturation, and contrast, I found it to be on par with the Galaxy A51. Because it has Widevine L1 certification, you can watch Amazon and Netflix content in FHD resolution on this one.
When it comes to brightness, it’s adequate indoors, but in outdoor scenarios, you may want to turn it up to full brightness just to see the content.
However, unlike the Realme 6, which is its closest competitor, this display lacks a higher 90Hz refresh rate. But, again, the Realme 6’s display is an IPS panel, whereas this one is AMOLED, so there’s that!
Overall, I must applaud the fact that the M21 comes with a high-quality AMOLED panel rather than the PLS one found on the M20! At the very least, you can take advantage of the Always-on-Display feature and a fully functional dark mode here!
Performance
- Octa-core Exynos 9611 SoC (10nm)
- Either 4 or 6GB of LPDDR4x RAM
Let’s move on to performance, which is powered by the Exynos 9611 this time. We know how this chipset performs because it’s not the first time we’ve seen it on a Samsung phone.
And, if you haven’t read our reviews of other phones powered by this chip, it performs admirably, at least for the price!
But, once again, it comes down to price, as the Realme 6 comes with a much better MediaTek Helio G90T for the same price. So, while the Exynos 9611 does a good job, the Helio G90T is a much better option, whether you’re looking at benchmarks or playing games on your phone.
But, as I discovered during my review, the Samsung Galaxy M21 isn’t completely miserable. Your daily tasks, such as browsing the web, using Instagram, messaging, and doing a little multitasking, should run smoothly with the improved optimization of the Android 10 based One UI 2.0. However, you may experience a slight lag while multitasking with heavy apps and occasionally while navigating.
(One UI ) It’s better than ever to have just one user interface!
That said, One UI is fantastic, and I adore it. Everything works well for me, from the notifications panel to the multitasking window to the app organization in folders. In contrast to many Chinese brand smartphones, there is very little bloatware and most of it can be uninstalled.
Another thing I like about Samsung is how they optimize the dark mode better than the competition, making the AMOLED display more appealing to the eye.
For the gamers out there, you can set high-end games like PUBG to HD graphics and Ultra frame rates, but the gameplay will suffer from frequent lags and stutters at that setting. The best gameplay, in my opinion, will be a combination of smooth graphics and Ultra frame rates, which will give you around 40-45 frames per second while gaming.
In comparison, the Realme 6 can play PUBG with HDR graphics and Ultra frame rates with relative ease. The Realme 6 is clearly a better gaming phone as a result of this.
So, if you don’t play games at all or are just a casual gamer, the M21 should be sufficient.
Memory
There are two memory configurations available: 4GB RAM with 64GB storage and 6GB RAM with 128GB storage. In both variants, Samsung has made sure to include DDR4X RAM and UFS 2.1 storage.
I’m glad there are no compromises here, unlike the J-series, which used to scrimp on such things.
Battery
- A big 6,000mAh battery
- 15W fast wired charging via Type-C connection
Now that we’re talking about things that can’t be compromised, let’s not forget about Samsung’s #MegaMonster battery. The company has generously provided a 6,000mAh battery, which provided me with approximately 8 hours of screen on time, including 2 hours of gaming, 3 hours of video playback, and 2 hours of social media usage.
To put it another way, I could use the phone all day and still have around 30% battery life left at the end of the day.
The phone has a USB Type C port for charging, and it charges at a slower rate of 15W. Because the battery is so large, it takes about two and a half hours to charge from zero to 100 percent.
Camera
- Triple rear-cameras
- (48MP primary, 8MP ultrawide, 5MP depth sensor)
- 20MP front-facing camera
Finally, let’s talk about cameras. A 48MP main sensor, an 8MP ultra-wide-angle lens, and a 5MP sensor for depth effects make up the phone’s triple camera setup.
One thing I noticed is that the camera on the M21 is slightly inferior to the M31’s larger variant. The Galaxy M31, which is slightly more expensive, has superior camera capabilities in every way. So that’s the main distinction between these two phones.
M21’s images, on the other hand, are generally good, with fast focus, vibrant colors, sufficient details, and a consistent dynamic range.
Audio
- Bottom-firing loudspeaker
- 3.5mm headphone jack
- Dolby Atmos support
Now, let’s talk about the speakers and headphone performance, which both contribute to a better smartphone experience.
The single downward-firing speaker isn’t particularly loud, but it’s clear and free of distortion!
Similarly, the headphone’s 3.5mm TRRS output performs admirably. And this is usually the case with most Samsung phones, thanks to the company’s excellent DAC and amplifiers.
I listened to the M21 with my Sony Studio wired headphones, and the sound quality is excellent. Actually, I tried it on the Realme 6 during my review and it didn’t perform as well as the Samsung Galaxy M21. Now, this may appear to be a minor detail, but I frequently overlook such features on budget and mid-range phones. However, it may be extremely important to some.
Specifications for the Samsung Galaxy M21s:
- Body: 6.26 x 2.96 x 0.35 inches; 188 gm
- Display: 6.4-inches Super AMOLED panel; 403PPI; Gorilla Glass 3
- Resolution: FHD+ (2340 x 1080 pixels); 19.5:9 aspect ratio
- Chipset: Exynos 9611; 10nm Mobile Platform
- CPU: Octa-core (4×2.3 GHz Cortex-A73 & 4×1.7 GHz Cortex-A53)
- GPU: Mali-G72 MP3
- RAM: 4/6GB
- Storage: 64/128GB UFS 2.1 (expandable using SD card)
- Software & UI: Samsung’s One UI 2.0 on top of Android 10
- Rear Camera: Triple-camera;
– 48MP, f/2.0 primary shooter
– 8MP, f/2.2 ultra-wide lens with 123º FOV
– 5MP, f/2.2 depth sensor
– Single LED flash - Front Camera: 20MP, f/2.0 lens
- Security: Physical capacitative fingerprint scanner
- Audio: 3.5mm headphone jack, Dolby Atmos
- Connectivity: Dual-SIM (Nano), WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS/AGPS/GLONASS/BDS, USB Type-C
- Battery: 6000mAh with 15W fast charging
- Colors: Midnight Blue, Raven Black
- Price in Nepal: Rs. 22,999 (4/64GB) | Rs. 27,499 (6/128GB)
| Smartphone Model | Price in Nepal |
| Samsung Galaxy M21 |