Samsung Galaxy M21 review

The Galaxy M21 is a great proposition for Samsung loyalists and anyone looking for long battery life

• By Kshitij Pujari -
• May 26, 2020

Review Summary

Pros

• Vivid and colour accurate display
• Long-lasting battery
• Decent day-time photography

Cons

• Higher refresh rate would have been nice
• Dated waterdrop notch design
• Slow charging speed

Samsung has been toying around with the formula for a successful affordable smartphone lineup in India, the culmination of which is the M series. In general, Samsung focuses on three very important aspects that any affordable phone should have - a big battery, a respectable display, and a set of decent cameras. All of this would've been great just a couple of years back but today, even the affordable space is becoming feature rich. We are seeing high refresh rate displays, 64MP quad cameras, liquid cooling systems, high-performance chipsets, and more in a price tag of below Rs 15,000.

Amidst all this, Samsung is sticking to the basics with its latest entry into the M-series lineup, the Galaxy M21. There is a massive 6,000mAh battery, best-in-class AMOLED display and a 48MP triple-camera setup. The question I'm going to answer is whether this is enough to shell out a starting price of Rs 13,199. Let's dive into the review.

Verdict

It's hard not to be too overly critical for smartphones costing less than Rs 15,000, but the intense competition of features at affordable pricing makes me question the Galaxy M21. It seems now that check-marking just the basics is not going to cut it in the budget segment for Samsung when the likes of Realme and Xiaomi have absolutely packed their competitive devices up to the brim with features. That said, the massive battery is clearly the highlights, and that's where the Galaxy M21 delivers.

Design and display

As you would expect from an affordable phone, the Galaxy M21 has skimmed on physical aesthetics to make a durable device. The body and frame of the M21 are made from polycarbonate which does give out the glossy look of glass but is not as brittle. The curved back panel makes for an easy fit in the hand, although that is true for quite a few budget phones. The black colour variant I have received for my review doesn't show any fingerprints unless you shine a light on it. It does scratch very easily, with my review unit showing signs of use after just a couple of hours of playing with it.

The front of the phone has the Infinity U-style display with a waterdrop notch housing the selfie shooter. On the bottom, you will find the standard Type-C port, 3.5mm headphone jack, and a speaker grille. There are no extra buttons apart from the volume rocker and power buttons. A capacitive fingerprint sensor flanks the back of the phone along with a triple camera module that sits flush with the body negating any wobble when placed on a flat surface. The Galaxy M21 is also surprisingly lightweight even though it packs in a whopping 6,000mAh battery.

Samsung manufactures most of the displays seen on smartphones of several OEMs and it comes in as little surprise that it reserves the best for its own devices. Whether it is an entry-level device or an ultra-premium flagship, Samsung is known to deliver a class-leading viewing experience. The M21's 6.40-inch AMOLED display with FHD+ resolution conforms to the pattern. As expected, the colour accuracy of the M21's screen is quite remarkable as are the contrast levels. The Galaxy M21 also happens to have Widevine L1 certification to watch streaming services' content in HD.

Being an OLED panel viewing angles were great and the blacks on the screen were more pronounced. The brightness of the screen was also great, making it easy to use under the bright Delhi summers. You can, of course, customise the colour temperatures and vividness in the display settings menu. There is also the option to enable a system-wide dark mode along with Blue light filter mode which does exactly what it says. I might be stretching out on a limb here but a higher refresh rate would've made this a truly breathtaking display.

Cameras

The camera system on the M21 is almost the same as that of the Galaxy M31 (review) but with the absence of the macro lens. There's a 48MP primary snapper on the M21 in a triple-camera layout with the other two being an 8MP ultra-wide lens and a 5MP depth sensor.

When plenty of light is thrown at the main lens it will click respectable shots with good dynamic range and exposure handling. There is, of course, Samsung's signature pumping up of colours in photos to make them look more contrasty, although at its price that is not a drawback. Detailing is respectable although the sensor has a hard time focusing on close-up objects. Since the Galaxy M21 uses pixel binning, standard photos are of 12MP resolution. A separate 3:4 48MP mode is present to take in more detailed photos but in general, there were not a lot of extra details present in the mode. As a matter of fact, the 48MP mode churned out slightly dull-looking photos in comparison.

The presence of the depth sensor makes for good background separation while taking bokeh shots although that is all it is good for. The ultra-wide sensor does have a massive 123-degree field of view but it suffers from a lot of distortions on the edges. I was, however, impressed at how the lens managed to retail a lot of details and the correct colour temperature, something I see rarely at this