On January 14, 2021, Samsung announced the Galaxy S21 series. Normally, the Galaxy S series is announced in February, but that’s not the case with the latest S21 series as it was announced a lot earlier date than normal. This may well be somewhat due to the fact that Samsung wants to grab market share from Huawei.
Nevertheless, Samsung’s flagships, in particular the S series, have excellent cameras. You can’t go wrong with the new Galaxy S21 series if you want to own one of the best camera phones.
Just as anticipated, the latest Galaxy S21 phones are improved in several ways than the S20 series. However, certain aspects of the phones are somewhat inferior to the Galaxy S20 series because of the reduced pricing of the S21.
The displays may look the same as the ones from last year’s Galaxy S20 series, but they’re technically different. Unlike last year’s S20 Plus, the S21 Plus has a flat display just like the standard S21. So only the S21 Ultra has a curved display. Also in terms of resolution, the S20 series is at 1440p whereas this year’s S21 display resolution is at 1080p. Although the Galaxy S21 Ultra retains last year’s 1440p curved display.
Also, there are no MicroSD card slots on any of the Galaxy S21 devices. This is the very first time since the Galaxy S6 series.
All three phones have both Sub6 and mmWave access in the United States. The vanilla Galaxy S20 did not have mmWave access last year.
A Galaxy S device can support Samsung’s S Pen for the very first time. The S Pen, which is generally reserved for the Note series can now work on the S21 Ultra.
That’s just a means of introduction to the S21 series. Now let’s look at the details, price, and release date of the Samsung Galaxy S21.
Samsung Galaxy S21 price in Nigeria & availability
Samsung Galaxy S21 will be available in two variants: 8GB RAM with 128GB storage and 8GB RAM with 256GB storage. The Samsung Galaxy S21 price starts from $799. In terms of color choices, the device will come in Gray, White, Violet, and Pink.
Samsung Nigeria did not mention anything about the exact launch date in Nigeria. So, we may not see the device on January 21st, however, we expect it to be launched in early February. We estimate the Samsung Galaxy S21 price in Nigeria to be in the range of N350,000 – N380,000.
Design & Display
Like I said earliar the Samsung Galaxy S21 gets a flat screen with Full HD+ resolution instead of Quad HD. Also, in S21, you don’t have to select between the 120Hz refresh rate and Quad HD resolution, as the latter is not present. To be honest most wont notice these compromises unless if they check on the spec sheet and the 1080p is sufficient resolution on a phone of such screen size.
In all the S21 series, the under the display fingerprint sensor area is now bigger, ensuring your thumb has a greater chance of logging into your phone.
Just as expected, the S21 features a nearly bezel-less screen and a Punch-hole cutout housing the selfie camera. The device comes with a 6.2-inch FHD+ dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a screen resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, 421ppi pixel density, 1300 nits peak brightness, and a refresh rate of 120Hz. The Samsung Galaxy S21 display is rated for HDR10+ capabilities, which enables you to watch HDR videos on YouTube. In addition, the display is protected with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus.
Just like what we all saw on the leaked images, all the three Galaxy S21 offer a larger camera bump, which is very eye-catching. The camera bump is directly attached to the frame of the handset, around the side, which is a pleasant design. In comparison with the triple camera on the Galaxy S21 or Galaxy S21+, the camera bump on the Galaxy S21 Ultra is the largest to accommodate the quad camera on the device.
A wide variety of new colors are available. There are four color choices for the Galaxy S21: white, pink, grey, and violet.
You may be interested in: Samsung Galaxy s20 price in Nigeria, full specs, and review
Camera
As Samsung’s major camera update emerged between the S10 and S20 series, the Galaxy S21 camera hardware hasn’t got any update. With the main 12 MP(f/1.8) wide-angle lens with Dual Pixel PDAF and OIS, a 12 MP(f/2.2) ultra-wide lens with 120˚ FOV and super steady video, and a 64 MP(f/2.0) telephoto lens with PDAF, OIS, 3x hybrid optic zoom and 30x space zoom. The camera hardware for the Samsung Galaxy S21 is pretty much the same as before.
With the inclusion of new camera features such as the Director’s View, Vlogger View, and the ability to take 8K stills from 8K video. Overall most of the improvements are on the software. Furthermore, you will shoot 4K at 60fps on all the cameras.
Also check: Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 review, full specs, and price
Performance
The Samsung Galaxy S21 is powered by the Exynos 2100 in some regions and the latest Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 in the USA, Korea, and China. There will be storage options of 128GB and 256GB, though both will come with 8GB of RAM.
When compared to last year’s Snapdragon 865, the Snapdragon 888 SoC is claimed to provide 25 percent greater processing power and 25 percent faster graphics rendering.
The Snapdragon 888 SoC comes with a third-generation Snapdragon X60 5G modem to provide improved 5G coverage across global networks. The Snapdragon 888 SoC is also fitted with a Qualcomm Spectra 580 which offers more capabilities of capturing images and videos. For more technical details visit HERE
As for the Exynos 2100, it features one Arm Cortex-X1 core clocked at 2.9GHz, three 2.8GHz Cortex-A78 CPU cores, and four 2.2GHz Cortex-A55 cores. Samsung claims that this CPU brings a 30 percent improvement in multi-core performance over the Exynos 990. The company also points to the 5nm process as important, saying that it makes 20% lower power consumption or 10% better overall output.
The Exynos 2100 adopts the latest Mali-G78 MP14 GPU when it comes to graphical performance. As a result, Samsung reports up to 40 percent improved graphic performance. Furthermore, an integrated 5G modem with sub-6GHz and mmWave capabilities is featured on the Exynos 2100. For more technical details visit HERE
The tables could finally be turning as Samsung’s latest Exynos shows great improvements on paper. Check more details HERE
Battery
The Galaxy S21 features the same battery capacity of 4,000 mAh as its predecessor, however, the S21 has a more powerful processor, which will bring more battery optimization. The device supports 25W fast charging tech, 15W fast Qi wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse charging. Meanwhile, Samsung ditched the charger in the box just like Apple did.
Full Specs
| Announced Date | 14th January 2021 |
| Release Date | 21st January 2020 |
| Build | Aluminum Frame Plastic back Glass Front |
| Weight | 169 g |
| Water-Resistant | Yes (IP68 dust/water resistant) |
| Dimensions | 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm |
| Display Size & Type | 6.2 inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X FHD+ 120Hz Refresh rate HDR10+ 1300nits peak brightness 20:9 ratio |
| Screen Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| Screen-to-body ratio | ~87.2% |
| Screen Protection | Corning Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Pixel Density | ~421 PPI |
| Software | Android 11; OneUI 3.1 |
| CPU | Octa-core |
| GPU | Mali-G78 MP14 – International Adreno 660 – USA/Korea/China |
| Chipset | Exynos 2100 (5 nm) -International Snapdragon 888 (5 nm) – USA/Korea/China |
| Storage | 128/256 GB UFS 3.1 |
| RAM | 8/12 GB |
| Main Camera (Triple) | 12 MP (f/1.8) Wide lens 64 MP (f/2.0) Telephoto lens 12 MP (f/2.2) Ultrawide lens Supports [email protected], [email protected]/60fps, [email protected]/60/240fps, [email protected], HDR10+, stereo sound rec., gyro-EIS |
| Selfie Camera (single) | 10 MP (f/2.2) Wide lens Supports [email protected]/60fps, [email protected] |
| 3.5mm Headphone Jack | No |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Connectivity | GSM, GPS, WiFi Direct BT 5.0 Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6 Hotspot NFC |
| Sensors | In-display Fingerprint Accelerometer Proximity sensor Gyro Electronic compass Barometer |
| Battery | -Non-Removable Li-Po 4000 mAh -USB: Type C, USB OTG -Fast battery charging: Yes (25W) -Wireless Charging: Yes (15W) -Reverse charging: Yes (4.5W) |
| Colors | Phantom Gray, White, Phantom Violet Phantom Pink |
| Price | Starts from N380,000 |
*Pls Note that the price of this device may change with time.
Verdict
The Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus cameras should, basically, be a good match for the average user. The camera here will likely enable an average user to snap amazing pictures and videos. However, more functionality and slightly better performance will be offered by the Galaxy S21 Pro and Ultra, but that will actually be unnecessary for most average users.
With the Galaxy S21, Samsung is taking a bit of a gamble. It’s priced at $799, much like the iPhone 12, but the company had to make few compromises. The package doesn’t have a charger, no microSD card slot, and you’re getting a low-resolution display and less RAM. But for your money, you also get a lot of specs, including a telephoto zoom which is only reserved for Apple’s $999 iPhone 12 Pro and a faster Snapdragon 888 chip.
The latest Galaxy S20 is simply Samsung’s way of competing with Apple’s new entry-level iPhone 12 mini. With the S21, you will get a full-size flagship phone with a bigger 6.2-inch display, 3x camera zoom capability, and an almost 50% larger battery.
