Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review: A big-screen phone that gets the big things right
Our Verdict
The Galaxy S21 Plus sits in a weird spot between the Milky way S21 and Galaxy S21 Ultra, just it features almost everything proficient about the regular S21 in a bigger package.
For
- Gorgeous 120Hz AMOLED display
- Fantabulous functioning
- Crazy zoom feature
- Beautiful design
Confronting
- Bulky and unwieldy
- No microSD slot or included charger
- Inconsistent photographic camera
Tom's Guide Verdict
The Galaxy S21 Plus sits in a weird spot between the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Ultra, but it features almost everything practiced about the regular S21 in a bigger parcel.
Pros
- +
Gorgeous 120Hz AMOLED brandish
- +
Excellent operation
- +
Crazy zoom feature
- +
Beautiful design
Cons
- -
Bulky and unwieldy
- -
No microSD slot or included charger
- -
Inconsistent camera
Samsung Milky way S21 Plus: Specs
OS: Android eleven / One UI three.one
Screen size: 6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED (2400 x 1080)
Refresh charge per unit: 48Hz - 120Hz
Processor: Snapdragon 888
RAM: 8GB
Storage: 128GB, 256GB
Rear cameras: 12MP wide (f/1.viii), 12MP ultra-wide (f/2.2), 64MP telephoto (f/2.0) with 3x hybrid zoom/30x digital
Front camera: 10MP (f/2.2)
Video: Up to 8K at 24 fps
Battery: 4,800 mAh
Bombardment life (Hrs:Mins): 09:41 (adaptive) / 09:53 (60Hz)
Charging: 25 W (charger not included)
Colors: Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, Phantom Violet, Phantom Crimson, Phantom Gilt
Size: half dozen.36 ten ii.98 x 0.31 inches
Weight: 7.05 ounces
The Samsung Milky way S21 Plus once once again proves why Samsung is the dominant Android phone manufacturer. The company pioneered things we take for granted nowadays similar huge displays. Samsung has previously taken a "throw everything at the wall to run across what sticks" kind of approach. And although it might've seemed silly at points in the past, this MO has given us mainstay features.
With the Galaxy S21 Plus, nonetheless, Samsung takes a stride back, restraining itself to instead offer a compelling, big screen device. All of the over-the-height focus was on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, while the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus are more iterative upgrades on their S20 predecessors.
- How to remap the Bixby push button on Galaxy S21
- How to take portrait photos on Milky way S21
- Galaxy Z Flip 3 vs. Galaxy S21 Plus: Which Samsung phone should you become?
Though we are conditioned to non only want the newest thing, we're also taught that the latest version ought to offer significant upgrades. Some might see a few of the design choices with the Galaxy S21 Plus to be downgrades or Samsung standing in identify, but I contend that'south not the case. Despite feeling like the awkward middle child of the S21 family, the S21 Plus offers a lot to love.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review cheat sheet
- The Milky way S21 Plus uses a large, beautiful six.vii-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with an adaptive 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support. Colors pop, text is very crisp, and the screen gets very bright.
- The S21 Plus' 3x hybrid optic zoom telephoto lens lets yous get very close to your photo field of study. As part of the new Space Zoom feature, Samsung uses AI to lock the camera on your subject, minimizing hand shake.
- The in-display fingerprint sensor on the S21 Plus is larger than the one on previous Galaxy devices; it's also fairly accurate.
- At $999, the Galaxy S21 Plus is a pricey telephone that is the aforementioned in near every regard to its smaller, $799 sibling, the Milky way S21. The chief differences between the 2 are the size of the screen and the battery.
- Bombardment life is okay in daily apply and the Galaxy S21 Plus supports 25W fast charging. However, there is no charger included in the box.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review: Release date and toll
In the US, the Milky way S21 Plus starts at $999 for the 128GB model. That's a $200 drib from the Galaxy S20 Plus' starting price. An extra $l doubles the storage on the Galaxy S21 Plus to 256GB. In the UK, the S21 Plus starts at £949, with the 256GB variant costing £999. For reference, the Galaxy S20 Plus launched at £999 in 2020. You can buy the Milky way S21 Plus directly from Samsung or through your carrier. Before you practice, bank check out the best Milky way S21 deals to see if there'due south ways to salve on the Galaxy S21 Plus.
The Galaxy S21 Plus' price is identical to the iPhone 12 Pro. You tin besides draw comparisons betwixt the Milky way S21 Plus and Google's $699 Pixel 5, which despite having lower-tier specs withal kicks above its weight in raw camera performance.
Since Samsung copied Apple and didn't include a charging brick, you lot'll need to figure out a charging solution. If y'all have a 25W brick from the S20, or something similar, you're good. Just if you're using an older USB-C charger, you'll want to consider a wireless charger or the $20 25W wall charger from Samsung. You volition get a USB-C cablevision with the phone, though.
Samsung Milky way S21 Plus review: Design
On its face up, the Galaxy S21 Plus looks quite similar to the Milky way S20 Plus. It has very highly-seasoned slim bezels with a single hole dial cutout for the front end camera in the center of the acme edge of the display. Depending on which color you picked — the Galaxy S21 comes in Phantom Black, Phantom Silvery or Phantom Violet — y'all can as well see the edge of the frame around the bezels, making for an attractive device. The screen is at present flat instead of curved, which may not look as pretty, but leads to fewer inadvertent touches.
It'due south on the back that Samsung made some changes from concluding twelvemonth's S20 Plus. The triple camera module no longer sticks out on its own, instead melding seamlessly into the frame in what Samsung calls the contour cut design. Though the S21 Plus even so has a noticeable camera hump, it looks less awkward than its predecessor'due south.
Polish to the bear upon, the back doesn't show fingerprints or smudges very easily. Despite its size, I noticed that the Galaxy S21 Plus didn't skid around in my paw. It's a very grippy device that I haven't worried about dropping or sliding out of my pocket.
The Galaxy S21 Plus is not a pocket-sized telephone at six.36 10 2.98 x 0.31 inches, weighing in at 7.05 ounces. It'southward practically the same size equally the Milky way S20 Plus (6.37 10 2.90 ten 0.31 in, half dozen.56 oz). 1-handing the Milky way S21 Plus can be difficult, especially if you accept smaller hands. If big phones are your affair, though, this ane volition make y'all happy.
Samsung touts the new and improved fingerprint sensor nether the display, which is 1.7x larger and l% faster than its predecessor. While previous models have had varying degrees of accuracy, the sensor in the S21 Plus is quite reliable. It's quick and very accurate.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review: Brandish
For the Galaxy S21 and S21 Plus, Samsung "downgraded" the display to a 1080p resolution. However, you tin can have the 120Hz adaptive mode enabled at all times at this resolution. Contrast this to the Galaxy S20 Plus last year, where you had to choose between QHD 60Hz and 1080p 120Hz. Now, you lot just choose which refresh charge per unit you want.
If you lot want things to be as buttery smooth every bit possible, and then leave your S21 Plus display on the adaptive fashion. This will let the brandish's refresh rate shift between 48Hz and 120Hz, which means that phone can adapt to your use and save battery life where possible. If you want to go the virtually out of your battery, however, then lock the display to 60Hz and let information technology exist. Yous'll be missing out on noticeable differences, only at least Samsung offers the choice.
Moving onto the quality of the display itself, Samsung opted for a top-tier screen later on all. In both the Natural and Vibrant settings, colors popular and blacks are very deep. It gets plenty bright plenty for straight sunlight, while media, games or videos, look great on this screen.
In our lab testing, the Galaxy S21 Plus managed 103.viii% of the sRGB space and 73.5% of DCI-P3 in Natural style. In Vivid, the phone hitting 212.3% of sRGB and 150.four% of DCI-P3. The iPhone 12 Pro, meanwhile, reproduced 115.half dozen% of the sRGB color gamut and 81.9% of DCI-P3. And finally, for its Delta-E color accuracy rating, the S21 Plus got a 0.18. That handily beats both the Milky way Note 20 Ultra (0.24) and iPhone 12 Pro (0.28), as numbers closer to cipher are more accurate.
Whatever style looks best to y'all, Vivid or Natural, y'all'll take one of the best smartphone displays around. I really enjoyed watching and playing things on this phone. I checked out Blade Runner 2049 from my Plex server, which has scenes later in the moving picture with harsh orange tones. The Milky way S21 Plus handled these wonderfully.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review: Cameras
The Galaxy S21 Plus uses the same photographic camera setup as the Galaxy S20 Plus. It features 12MP wide-angle, 12MP ultrawide, and 64MP telephoto lenses. The latter photographic camera sports a 3x hybrid optic zoom and 30x space zoom. Samsung'south trump card this yr, notwithstanding, comes down to software, as it finally learned from Google and that company'due south Pixel 5.
I tested the default photograph mode of the Galaxy S21 Plus against the iPhone 12. (I don't take a 12 Pro for photo comparisons, but with the exception of a telephoto lens, the iPhone 12 gives the S21 Plus a pretty fair fight.) Correct off the bat, you tin can encounter the Galaxy S21 Plus saturates the photo more than the iPhone 12's paradigm — as well much so in my opinion. Apple tree'due south device also captures the shadows better, whereas the S21 Plus bumps upward the exposure and flattens a lot of the blacks.
For another outdoor shot, t the Galaxy S21 Plus managed to capture the auto's details fairly well considering that I took this shot in straight sunlight. You can meet the ruby-red stripes forth the Mini'due south brim and the brake rotors behind the spokes of the rims. The refracting sunlight isn't and then harsh, either. Meanwhile, the iPhone's shot has that atrocious lens flare ruining the whole image. You can however make out some details, but overall I recall the iPhone endeavor is a worse photo.
Moving indoors to my part, the Milky way S21 Plus over again brightened everything up in this picture of the office decor, with the color on my metallic poster looking a bit washed out. The iPhone 12 produced something much truer to life with more realistic colors. While withal well-lit, the iPhone's shot captures the warm tones of the wood paneling, the soft grey of the physical Celtic cross, and merely a bit of the tiny dots of color in the cantankerous-stitch blueprint.
In one case again, when testing portrait mode, both phones took two different approaches. The Galaxy S21 Plus photo is more true-to-life with a soft blur radius. I'm in articulate focus with accurate colors. The iPhone 12 cooled everything downward significantly, peradventure due to the combination of shadows with the snow in my backyard. The blur radius is similar to the S21 Plus', but everything from my face to the smoker backside me is style as well absurd. Even the sky is also blue. This was consistent beyond portrait shots.
At nighttime, the Galaxy S21 Plus tends toward darker photos compared to the iPhone 12. The Galaxy S21 Plus yet retains a lot of detail, even if information technology is a bit darker. The iPhone 12 is noticeably brighter with deeper shadows and more detail in the bricks. Both are quite good, just I like the iPhone 12'south night mode performance better.
For the front-facing camera, I stepped into the shadows backside this row of townhouses. Correct away, you lot tin can encounter how cool and smoothed the Galaxy S21 Plus' shot is. The blue of my optics appears despite a bit of a squint, the grey of my shirt is truer to life, and the fences behind me are the right colors. On the other hand, the iPhone'southward selfie is a chip weirder. Notice how everything got warmed upwards, similar the tint and black level correction got overtuned. My face up appears much redder than usual, my bristles looks darker than it is, and the wood fences seem a scrap off.
Finally, Samsung stresses the zoom capabilities with its new phones. The S21 Plus offers a 3x hybrid optical zoom telephoto lens, which is already neat for far away shots. But with that comes Infinite Zoom, which can net you lot up to 30x zoom photos, letting you lot capture things that are ridiculously far away. For quick reference, hither's the S21 Plus' max zoom versus the iPhone 12's. Y'all tin hands spot the differences, and it's no contest betwixt the two. The S21 Plus could option up the pink stool at the very end of the road, whereas you lot tin barely run into it in the iPhone 12'south motion picture.
Every bit far as video, the Galaxy S21 Plus can go all the way upwardly to 8K at 24 frames per second (fps). If you want something a bit more reasonable, the phone also supports 4K at 60 fps and 1080p at 120 fps. All told, you can have super smooth, loftier resolution videos that await awesome later when y'all become to scout them. If you opt for 1080p at 60 fps, yous tin utilise the Super Steady way, which utilizes AI to help eliminate manus shake in your recording, making for an even smoother video.
If you're really into vlogging, you can switch on Manager Mode, which activates both the rear and front cameras for recording at the same time. Director Style likewise generates live thumbnails from all of the S21 Plus' lenses.
Some of the other features Samsung packed into the Milky way S21 Plus' camera include the portrait video and an updated version of Unmarried Take. The one-time is simply what it sounds like, where the subject area of the video is kept in focus while the background remains blurred. The blurring can get a little overzealous when you motion the camera around, just it'southward all around pretty solid.
Single Take lets y'all choose from a selection of the best shots in a given scene. The S21 Plus volition actually capture multiple photos at a time, so that you can pick the all-time one for your needs. This might be helpful if your pet or child happens to motion while you attempt to photograph them.
Samsung brought to carry its all-time with the Galaxy S21 Plus' cameras. It goes caput-to-caput with other heavyweights like Google and Apple and holds its ain quite well. While I don't have a Pixel 5 to test it confronting, you can cheque out the camera department of our Galaxy S21 review to run across how these cameras compare against Google's latest. In the end, the S21 Plus' cameras actually impressed me. Although the phone'southward cameras like to oversaturate and overexpose sometimes, the photos that it produces come out dainty virtually of the time.
Samsung Milky way S21 Plus review: Functioning
U.South. versions of the Milky way S21 Plus uses Qualcomm'southward new Snapdragon 888 organization-on-fleck (SoC. (In the rest of the world, your S21 Plus is powered by the Exynos 2100.) Compared to the Snapdragon 865, the 888 promises xx% amend CPU performance, 35% improvements in GPU speed, and upgrades to the AI capabilities. Samsung paired this processor with 8GB of RAM in the Galaxy S21 Plus, making for a very powerful phone.
Unlike the Galaxy S20 Plus, there'due south no 12GB RAM option with the S21 Plus, but most people don't need that much memory in the first place. Power users can always turn to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which volition ameliorate suit their needs with its 12GB and 16GB options. So the S21 Plus losing 4GB of RAM in today's age isn't as bad it might seem. Android has gotten better with retentiveness direction and Samsung has a few tweaks in Ane UI to help with that, too.
In testing, the Snapdragon 888 still falls backside Apple'southward A14 Bionic SoC. For Geekbench five, which measures unmarried- and multicore performance, the Milky way S21 Plus hitting ane,116 in single-core and three,300 in multicore. Compare the latter to the results of the iPhone 12 (3,859) and the iPhone 12 Pro (3,880).
For the GPU, we used the 3DMark Wild Life Unlimited test, which pushes the GPU difficult to return challenging scenes in real time. The Galaxy S21 Plus managed a last score of 5,571 with an average fps of 33.37. Compare this to the iPhone 12 Pro's 6,567 and 39 fps.
Finally, nosotros ran the Galaxy S21 Plus through a video transcoding test, where the phone must transcode a 4K video to 1080p in the Adobe Premiere Rush app. The S21 Plus managed a fourth dimension of ane minute, the best we've seen from an Android telephone. Only every bit good as that task was, the iPhone 12 Pro did the same job in a mere 27 seconds.
One time again, the iPhone beats the leading Android devices in raw performance, only synthetic benchmarks don't tell the whole story. In daily use, I didn't find the Milky way S21 Plus to exist defective in whatsoever regard. I played Phone call of Duty: Mobile, Pascal's Wager, and Grid Autosport on max settings, all of which push the telephone hard. The phone handled all of them brilliantly. I too tried some Xbox Game Laissez passer and Steam Link streaming to it with no problems. The Galaxy S21 Plus also works well with the Razer Kishi gamepad, which levels up mobile gameplay considerably in the games that support it.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review: Battery life and charging
As with display size, the Milky way S21 Plus sits correct in the middle of the S21 and S21 Ultra when it comes to battery life. The S21 Plus and its 4,800 mAh bombardment turned in a then-so performance in our battery tests and fifty-fifty threw in a piddling surprise for us.
Tom's Guide'southward proprietary battery exam involves a phone being left to endlessly load webpages over and over using a cellular connectedness. We tested the S21 Plus on both adaptive and 60Hz modes on T-Mobile 5G.
In adaptive mode, the Milky way S21 Plus reached nine hours and 41 minutes, which is just shy of the 10-hour marking we see on boilerplate. For reference, the Milky way S21 Ultra hit x:07 in adaptive mode, while the Milky way S21 managed six:31. So nine:41, while not great, is respectable. Meanwhile, in 60Hz mode, the S21 Plus reached nine:53. Compare that to the S21 Ultra's splendid 11:25 and the S21'southward 09:53.
That result surprised u.s.a.. As you can see, there's quite a disparity between the 60Hz and adaptive modes in terms of battery life for the S21 and S21 Ultra. However, the S21 Plus has nary a noticeable difference between the ii, significant that you don't save a lot of battery life past using the 60Hz mode on this phone.
As y'all've heard by now, none of the Galaxy S21 phones come up with a charger. They do include a USB-C cable so that you tin use a charging brick yous already ain. Or, you tin buy one separately at your discretion. The telephone supports upwards to 25 W of fast charging, and you lot also have the wireless charging route if you and so cull.
Samsung Milky way S21 Plus review: Software and Ane UI 3.one
Until very recently, Samsung had a lousy reputation for software. Simply when Samsung introduced Ane UI a couple of years ago, things changed. It proved that the phone maker was taking software seriously and offering a more mature skin, something more alike to Google's stock Android.
One UI looks dainty, feels slick in its animations and transitions, and does a fairly good job at staying out of the manner while offering useful features. Samsung made something that offers elegance that doesn't feel swollen. Certain, the S21 Plus has unnecessary apps pre-installed, but a surprising amount can be uninstalled and yous can disable the rest. Overall, a lot of people volition like the I UI experience.
With the Galaxy S21 serial, Samsung introduced Ane UI iii.1, which came with several changes. A few of these include the Google Find feed integrated into the stock launcher, Google Home device controls, Google Duo broiled into the stock phone app, video telephone call furnishings, and several enhancements to the camera app.
Not all is well with One UI, however. Samsung wants you to use its features out of the box, including Edge Panels and the Bixby shortcut. Considering how useless Bixby is, fifty-fifty when compared to Siri, I highly recommend irresolute what a long press of the power button does so that it no longer wakes Bixby. We have some quick Galaxy S21 tips to go you started.
I replaced the S21 Plus stock launcher with a third-party ane — showtime Nova, then Niagara. The paginated app drawer in the One UI launcher is frustrating and I thought it a relic of the long-forgotten by. Out of the box, Samsung organizes the apps in some nebulous, contextual manner, but when you accept a lot of them, things can go irritating. Luckily, you can organize the drawer alphabetically.
Samsung could address a lot of my One UI complaints by offering more choices during initial setup. It could let you choose your navigation model (nav bar or gestures) and whether y'all want certain features enabled or not, for example. A lot of people just won't spend a lot of time digging through the settings menus to find what they want.
The Milky way S21 Plus comes with Android 11, which is peachy. Samsung has promised that information technology'll provide three years of Os updates for its phones, meaning that the S21 Plus will probably meet Android fourteen in 2023. This is a huge improvement versus the Samsung of the past and I'm happy to see this. How rapidly the company will release updates is another consequence entirely.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus review: What about the Galaxy Z Flip 3?
The Milky way Z Flip 3 is right around the corner, and it'south rumored to kickoff at $999 like the Galaxy S21 Plus. But beyond just folding up in one-half, does the Z Flip 3 stand to offer as much as the S21 Plus does? We can only go off of rumors right now, but the short answer is: We think the S21 Plus will exist the improve phone.
For starters, the Z Flip 3 looks like it'll only have 2 cameras, and we'd guess that the second one is an ultrawide. That ways no telephoto on the Flip iii. Furthermore, we've heard that the bombardment on the foldable won't be equally big every bit the S21 Plus', meaning that it won't last virtually every bit long as the more traditional S21 Plus.
We'll accept to see how the ii phones compare once we have them both in hand.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus Android 12 update
Samsung released One UI four for the Galaxy S21 Plus in mid-November 2021. This update brings Android 12, which offers several key improvements to the UI and privacy elements. You can now choose your arrangement accent color with the Color Palette, or access the privacy dashboard to see which apps are using your mic, photographic camera, and location.
While Samsung has modified something from what you'll find on a Pixel phone, you can read our Android 12 review to acquire more almost what you can expect with the update.
Samsung Milky way S21 Plus review: Verdict
All told, Samsung nailed it with the Galaxy S21 Plus. It has most of the strengths of the smaller S21 in a bigger bundle. If you don't want to shell out $ane,199 for the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the Plus model is the next best choice if yous adopt a big phone.
Samsung might have pared back the features on the S21 and S21 Plus, only I remember it works in this telephone's favor. Having the display tuned downward to 1080p works just fine, especially in the adaptive refresh rate manner.
If you're using a Milky way S20 Plus, however, this isn't a worthy upgrade. The software features Samsung introduced with the S21 volition trickle downwards to your device, if they haven't already. Y'all notwithstanding accept splendid performance, an awesome display, and plenty of camera power to go on you happy.
Moreover, if you lot're using a Galaxy S20 FE, so I strongly recommend against upgrading to the Milky way S21 or S21 Plus. Samsung put out a corking phone with the S20 Atomic number 26 and it's honestly the best Android competitor to the S21 and S21 Plus at this point. Other than the Snapdragon 865, the S20 Iron is remarkably similar to its S21 cousins (the Ultra notwithstanding).
The Milky way S21 Plus is not a bad buy at $999. It's got a lot going for it. If you're coming from an older device, like the Galaxy S10 series, this is a solid upgrade.
Source: https://www.tomsguide.com/reviews/galaxy-s21-plus
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