Samsung Galaxy A21s Review: Overpriced, Leaves Much To Be Desired

Flaunting a plastic back panel with subtle gradient finish, the Samsung A21s is an average-looking smartphone. The back is plain without engravings and patterns you would see on devices like the Galaxy A51.

Flaunting a plastic back panel with subtle gradient finish, the Samsung A21s is an average-looking smartphone.

Riding on the success spree of the Galaxy M and A series of smartphones, Samsung has offered to the Indian users another midrange device-- the Galaxy A21s. From robust build quality, a 6.5-inch display to a 48MP quad-camera setup, it claims to offer everything that you would want in your next mid-ranger. However, how true this claim is, we find out in this review of Samsung Galaxy A21s. Design: Flaunting a plastic back panel with subtle gradient finish, the Samsung A21s is an average-looking smartphone. The back is plain without engravings and patterns you would see on devices like the Galaxy A51. At 8.9mm, it sits perfectly in your palm and is made for easy one-handed usage. Volume rockers are placed on the right side, below them sits the power button. On the left, you get a SIM slot with dual SIM+MicroSD card support. Down at the bottom, there's a USB Type-C port, 3.5mm audio jack and the speaker grill. The Galaxy A21s comes in three colour variants Black, Blue and White. You miss out on the latest in-display fingerprint reader tech in the A21s as the handset gets a rear-facing physical fingerprint scanner. Display: The Galaxy A21s features a 6.5-inch display with an HD+ screen resolution. Samsung has been crafting some of the best displays in the recent past but the screen of the A21s is going to disappoint you. Unlike other Samsung phones which offer AMOLED Displays, A21s has an LCD-like panel that lacks punch. While you get pixel-packed FullHD screens in its competitors like the Redmi Note 9 and the Realme 6, the A21s doesn't deliver much in the display segment. Colour accuracy isn't great either and it only gets the job done. So, don't expect a great viewing experience on this device with this panel. Viewing angles, however, are good and as wide as you want them to be in a midrange phone. You get thin bezels across three sides, save the chin which has thicker bezels. Also, there's a punch-hole camera at the top left side of the screen and Samsung, therefore, calls it an "Infinity O display"; as if it would make any difference. Camera: Samsung's mid-rangers are known for decent enough, if not great, shooting capabilities and same is the case with the A21s. The device comes with a quad-camera setup, consisting of a main 48MP (f/2.0) lens, an 8MP (f/2.2) wide-angle sensor, 2MP (f/2.4) macro camera and a 2MP (f/2.4) depth sensor. The main lens works well but offers oversaturated images most of the times that may put you off. So, if you like natural colours being captured by your smartphone camera, you won't like it, otherwise, it's a decent setup offering rich and vibrant images. By default, it clicks pictures in 12MP mode; to get more detailed images you need to switch to the 48MP settings. The ultra-wide lens works well in daylight, keeping exposure on point. Colours and saturation, as I clicked pictures in artificial lights, are here and there; noise creeps in when you take images in low-light conditions. Also, the quality of the macro camera leaves much to be desired. It struggles in capturing good macro shots and you will end up getting out-of-focus pictures. Moreover, you can’t even record 4K videos or 1080p at 60fps on the A21s. Also, no slow-motion video recording feature is there. For selfies, the A21s has a 13MP sensor, which takes good pictures with sufficient details. You can take bokeh photos with the Live Focus mode but Samsung’s Live Focus struggles a lot when compared to portrait mode on other midrange devices. Processor: The A21s is powered by a 2GHz octa-core Samsung Exynos 850 chipset, clubbed with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of internal storage, which can be expanded up to 512GB with the help of a MicroSD card. The handset comes in another variant with 6GB of RAM. Samsung has sent a 32GB/3GB unit for review and it struggled in almost everything. It was so frustrating that I couldn't use the device for more than three days. I witnessed lag in opening apps and switching between apps and the handset also got frozen twice during the 3-day usage. Battery: The A21s packs in a massive 5,000mAh battery with 15W fast charging support and would easily last for a day and a half on a single charge during moderate usage. I couldn’t try gaming or regular apps on the handset due to its lagging behaviour; used it only for calling, social media and camera, and it worked for two days for me. Verdict: At 16,499 for 4GB/64GB and 18,499 for 6GB/64GB variants, it’s an overpriced device from Samsung. Also, considering the overall specs and performance, it fails to compete with the likes of Redmi Note 9 and Realme 6. I am not counting here the lag and stutter I faced during the usage as there might be some issue with this particular unit I received from Samsung. However, the Galaxy A21s still leaves a lot to be desired.