Tik Tech: We tested the Samsung S21 smartphone -
20 Minutes
Samsung's new 5G premium smartphones, Galaxy S21, S21, and S21 Ultra were released on January 2.
Sold from 859 euros, the S21 5G is cheaper than the S20 4G when it hits the market in March 2020.
If the S21 offers some technical improvements, it also makes some concessions to reduce its price.
Samsung surprised its world by announcing on January 14 its new 5G smartphones, the Galaxy S21, S21 + and S21 Ultra, now on sale.
Supposed to perform better than their predecessors, the Galaxy S20s, they are also less expensive.
The manufacturer thus reduces the price of the S21 by 50 euros compared to the S20 4G, and by 150 euros compared to the S20 5G.
In the current context, has Samsung decided to follow a virtuous price reduction strategy, or do these reductions hide another truth?
We wanted to be sure by testing the Galaxy S21, offered at 859 euros (128 GB / 8 GB) and 909 euros (256 GB / 8 GB).
A design that shows its uniqueness
He is handsome.
With its new design, the S21 combines elegance and sobriety.
Forgotten the rear photo unit of the S20 glass ceramic plate, the S21 houses its three photo modules in a pink aluminum pad on the left side of the device.
And it is successful.
The Galaxy S21 is equipped on the same rear photo module as the S20.
- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
In purple, gray or white, the S21 displays its singularity.
But regret: the back of the smartphone is plastic, while that of its predecessors, the S21 + and S21 Ultra, is made of Gorilla Glass 7 reinforced glass. To be positive, note that the S21 does not catch fingerprints.
A real good point compared to the S20 which attracted them like flies.
And it is quite light (169 g, against 163 g for the S20).
In hand, the device is very pleasant to handle.
In a pocket, it hardly takes up more space than its rival, Apple's iPhone 12 (71.2 x 151 x 7.9 mm, compared to 71.5 x 146.7 x 7.4 mm for the iPhone 12).
The microSD port goes by the wayside
If the S20 was already skipping the mini-jack, the S21 also releases the microSD card port which allowed to increase the memory of the smartphone.
Samsung is reassuring, arguing that its "many" studies attest to the fact that few people use this possibility.
There remains a capacity limited to 128 GB or 256 GB.
The Galaxy S20 retains a compact size.
- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
The screen of the Galaxy S21 has a diagonal of 6.2 '' / 15.74 cm and is Full HD + (2400 x 1080 pixels).
Too bad: with the same diagonal, the S20 was Quad HD + (3200 x 1440 pixels), thus offering a more detailed image.
This is a real concession to quality.
Good news, however: where the screen of the S20 offered a refresh rate of up to 120 Hz, that of the S21 offers 120 Hz "adaptive".
120 Hz adaptive
For the average user, accustomed to classic smartphones with a 60 Hz screen, this specificity may not be noticeable.
The gamer will gain in display quality, of course, but not only.
120 Hz doubles the number of images displayed per second, compared to conventional 60 Hz smartphones and consumes a lot of energy.
The fact that the S21's screen is now adaptive assumes that this refresh will only be optimized for content that needs it, and not continuously.
The S21's 4,000 mAh battery will only get better.
The screen of the Galaxy S21 is now Full HD + and not Quad HD + as for the S20.
- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
We note in passing that Samsung did not see fit to increase its capacity.
It is identical to that of his S20.
The new on-board processor (the Exynos 2100, with 5G modem) would be more efficient and would allow more autonomy, according to the manufacturer (up to 16%).
When questioned, Samsung did not want to tell us the average autonomy of its S21.
Our test, for a week, did not reveal any glaring difference: the S21, like the S20, needing to be recharged every night, after a good day of (TV) work, i.e. after a decade or so. hours of use.
Note here that Samsung listened to the recommendations of Apple which, during the presentation of its iPhone 12 without charger, invited its competitors to do the same in the name of "respect for the environment".
The S21 is therefore also supplied without a charger.
A compatible 25W charger will cost you 29 euros.
Like its predecessor, the S20 has good stereo speakers.
The photo as on the S20
It is obviously on the photo part that we expected Samsung at the turn of the S21.
However, with a rear module identical to that of the S20 *, the S21 does not innovate.
Or at the margin for its software part.
Our numerous shots reveal an excellent photo smartphone, but without any real leap in quality compared to its predecessor.
Portrait mode delivers very good looking images.
- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
However, we appreciate the very good general dynamics of the images, their precision, the excellent hold of the portraits or the beautiful range of action, allowing the S21 to be agile on all terrains and to switch from ultra wide-angle digital zoom up to x30.
From ultra wide-angle to 10x zoom ... - CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
... the photos are still excellent.
- CHRISTOPHE SEFRIN / 20 MINUTES
Be careful though!
The ultra-wide-angle views (i.e. x0.5) show fairly marked deformations on the edges that no software corrects.
As for the zoom, if the x3 and x10 often offer excellent results, a higher deployment generates excessive smoothing.
The extreme precision of the selfies will be blunt for the imperfections of the skin.
A "Director" mode for vlogging
Interesting novelty: the "Director" Mode.
Accessible on video, it allows a user view to be inserted into the filmed image either on half of the screen, or in a thumbnail that can be placed wherever desired in the image.
For the occasion, all the photo modules of the S21 are simultaneously called: at the front and at the rear.
And while you shoot, you can play on the different focal lengths of a simple flick on the screen, allowing you to modify your framing.
This mode may seem particularly interesting for vlogging.
The worthy descendant of the S20
So what about this "cheaper" 21?
By being cartoonish, we could say that Samsung offers with one hand what it takes with the other: the device can be proud of some technical progress, but at the margin.
The novelty (such as the adaptive refresh rate) seems to come at a price of sacrifice (lower definition than on the S20, disappearance of the MicroSD port).
And by the way, the power supply was packed.
Still, the Galaxy S21 is undoubtedly an excellent smartphone.
With him, Samsung first intends to seduce the owners of Galaxy S8 and S9 at the end of the race that will have to be replaced.
More demanding users, who demand increased photo performance and larger screens and two defined will direct their choice on the S21 + and S21 Ultra.
* Rear sensors: 12 megapixel ultra-wide-angle (f / 2.0) + 12 megapixels wide-angle (f / 1.8) + 64 megapixels with 3x optical zoom and 8K video (f / 2.0).
* Front sensor: 10 megapixels (f / 2.2).
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