Samsung’s Galaxy M sequence was launched as an online-exclusive lineup to compete with Chinese producers corresponding to Xiaomi and Realme. The units launched as part of this sequence have gained a number of reputation because of their aggressive pricing in comparison with Samsung’s different choices. Thanks to their reputation, these smartphones at the moment are additionally accessible offline. Samsung just lately added one other mannequin to this sequence, referred to as the Galaxy M21. This new smartphone shares a number of {hardware} with a few of its predecessors however can it stand out? We put the Galaxy M21 to the check to seek out out.
Samsung Galaxy M21 design
Samsung has been making telephones within the Galaxy M sequence out of plastic to maintain prices down. The Galaxy M21 feels prefer it was designed with a decent finances in thoughts. The again panel is made out of plastic and has a shiny end. It picks up fingerprints very simply. Samsung doesn’t present a case within the field, so you will must wipe the gadget typically until you purchase one your self.
The Galaxy M21 is the successor of the Galaxy M20 (Review) however appears to be like way more just like the Galaxy M30s (Review) which was launched in mid-2019. However, it doesn’t are available the identical flashy colors and is out there solely in Blue and Black.
The Galaxy M21 has a giant show that measures 6.Four inches, and has skinny bezels on the prime and the edges. The chin is significantly thicker. At the highest, it has a waterdrop notch that homes the selfie digicam and a tiny earpiece proper above it. You can attain the highest of the show when you have massive palms, else you will must shuffle a little bit to achieve the highest. However, this cellphone is not as massive because the Redmi Note 9 Pro Max, which we just lately reviewed.
The dewdrop notch homes the 20-megapixel selfie shooter
We additionally had a problem reaching the amount buttons as they’re positioned a bit too excessive for our liking. The energy button and the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner are effectively positioned although, and are straightforward to achieve when utilizing the gadget single-handed. The Galaxy M21 measures 8.9mm in thickness which is especially all the way down to the massive battery that it packs in. Surprisingly, the gadget doesn’t really feel too cumbersome within the hand as the edges are curved. It additionally suggestions the dimensions at 188g, which is way lighter than the Redmi Note 9 Pro (Review) which felt cumbersome.
Samsung provides a USB Type-C port on the backside and a 15W charger within the field. The Galaxy M21 additionally has a 3.5mm headphone jack on the backside together with the loudspeaker and the first microphone.
Samsung Galaxy M21 specs and software program
Taking a take a look at the spec sheets of each the Galaxy M21 and the Galaxy M30s, we struggled to seek out the variations between these two units. The newer Galaxy M21 will get a 20-megapixel selfie shooter which is a better decision in comparison with the 16-megapixel sensor on the Galaxy M30s. The Galaxy M21 additionally will get One UI 2.Zero operating on prime of Android 10, whereas the Galaxy M30s was operating One UI 1.5 on prime of Android 9 Pie on the time of our overview. Currently the Galaxy M21 is cheaper by Rs. 2,300 in comparison with the Galaxy M30s
The Galaxy M21 has a 6.4-inch AMOLED show with full-HD+ decision. An AMOLED panel on this worth vary is not quite common however Samsung has been steadily altering that with the Galaxy M sequence. This panel is vivid and has excellent viewing angles. It additionally will get vibrant sufficient outside to be seen underneath daylight.
Samsung has chosen the Exynos 9611 SoC but once more. It now powers the Galaxy M21, similar to the Galaxy M31 and the Galaxy M30s. This is an octa-core processor with 4 efficiency ARM Cortex-A73 cores clocked at 2.3GHz and 4 effectivity Cortex-A53 cores clocked at 1.7GHz. It additionally options built-in Mali-G72 graphics. The Galaxy M21 is obtainable in two variants, one with 4GB of RAM and 64GB of storage, and the opposite with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. We had the bottom variant for this overview, which is priced at Rs. 12,699 on Amazon however will likely be accessible for Rs. 13,199 offline and on Samsung’s web site. Similarly, the top-end mannequin is priced at Rs. 14,999 on Amazon and Rs. 15,499 elsewhere.
The shiny again of the Samsung Galaxy M21 is a fingerprint magnet
The Galaxy M21 is a dual-SIM gadget and has two Nano-SIM slots. It additionally has a devoted microSD card slot for storage growth. There is help for twin 4G VoLTE, Bluetooth 5, dual-band Wi-Fi, and 4 satellite tv for pc navigation techniques. It packs in a 6,000mAh battery.
The Galaxy M21 runs One UI 2.Zero on prime of Android 10 which is the most recent model of Android. It was nonetheless operating the February safety patch, which is now dated, on the time of this overview. The UI is much like that of the Galaxy M31 which we reviewed earlier this yr. With the Galaxy M21, you will have to watch out whereas establishing the gadget, or Samsung will ship you advertising notifications. The setup course of additionally suggests putting in a number of different apps, which we skipped.
The 48-megapixel major digicam is the spotlight of this digicam setup
We discovered some bloatware preinstalled on the gadget, together with Amazon Shopping, Netflix, Prime Video, Helo, and Dailyhunt. We have seen previously that Helo and Dailyhunt are able to producing spammy notifications, so we’d suggest that you simply uninstall them in the event you do not use them. We additionally discovered the inventory My Galaxy app pushing notifications all through the day.
This cellphone will get an Always-on show mode, and Dolby Atmos is out there for earphones and Bluetooth headsets. You even have the choice to change to gesture-based navigation as a substitute of the normal three-button structure. Other Android 10 goodies embody a Dark Mode, which takes full benefit of the Super AMOLED panel on the Galaxy M21. Samsung has additionally added a Game Booster characteristic that may block notifications and offers fast shortcuts for apps of your selection.
Samsung Galaxy M21 efficiency
The Exynos 9611 is a succesful processor and might deal with primary apps with none indicators of slowing down. However, we did discover that heavy apps took a while to load. Multitasking was clean and we may swap between a number of apps without having to attend for them to load over again.
The fingerprint scanner in the back of the gadget is fast to unlock the gadget, and so is face recognition. The AMOLED show is the perfect a part of the Galaxy M21 and we loved watching movies on this smartphone. We discovered the speaker to be tinny, which dampened the general expertise barely.
We ran benchmarks on the Galaxy M21 to see the way it stacks up in opposition to a few of its competitors. The smartphone managed to attain 1,77,661 in AnTuTu which is decrease than the 191,981 clocked by the Galaxy M31. This could possibly be all the way down to the distinction in RAM between the 2 units we examined. However, each these scores are far behind these of different telephones on this worth phase, such because the Realme 6 (Review) and the Redmi Note 9 Pro which scored 290,210 and 279,978 respectively once we reviewed them.
The Galaxy M21 has a USB Type C port to cost the massive 6,000mAh battery
The Galaxy M21 scored 347 and 1,320 in Geekbench’s single-core and multi-core exams respectively. We additionally noticed 43 fps and 9.Three fps in GFXBench’s T-Rex and Car Chase respectively. In 3DMark Slingshot, the Galaxy M21 scored 2,097 factors which is decrease than what a few of its rivals achieved.
We performed PUBG Mobile on the Galaxy M21 to see how the cellphone handles it. The recreation defaulted to the High settings with graphics set to HD and the body charge set to High. We did discover some occasional stutter in gameplay which prompted us to drop the graphics high quality. After enjoying the sport for 15 minutes we seen that the gadget was barely heat to the contact, and registered a Three p.c battery drop.
Battery life for the Galaxy M21 was glorious. Thanks to the massive 6,000mAh battery the cellphone lasted us for shut to 2 full days of normal use. In our HD video loop check, the gadget managed to final for 21 hours and 48 minutes, however Samsung telephones do mechanically cut back brightness as soon as the battery falls beneath a sure stage. Also, the massive battery takes over two hours to replenish. Using the equipped 15W charger, the gadget received to 21 p.c in 30 minutes and received to 42 p.c in an hour.
Samsung Galaxy M21 cameras
Samsung has gone with a triple digicam setup on the Galaxy M21, and it’s equivalent to what you get with the Galaxy M30s. The major digicam has a 48-megapixel sensor with an f/2.Zero aperture. There’s additionally an 8-megapixel ultra-wide-angle digicam with an f/2.2 aperture, and a 5-megapixel depth sensor. The digicam UI is straightforward to make use of. It has a scene optimiser that may detect what the digicam is pointed in the direction of and set the cellphone up accordingly. Other than the common photograph and video modes, it has a Live Focus, Pro, Night, Food, Super Slow-Mo and some extra.
The Samsung Galaxy M21 is fast to lock focus and meter gentle, however the scene optimiser is not as responsive. In photograph mode, the Galaxy M21 saves 12-megapixel pictures by default. In daylight, we discovered the digicam efficiency to be good, and the Galaxy M21 managed to seize good particulars, and textual content at a distance was legible. However, we’d have preferred a bit extra sharpness within the output.
Samsung Galaxy M21 daylight digicam pattern (faucet to see full-size picture)
Samsung Galaxy M21 wide-angle digicam pattern (faucet to see full-size picture)
The wide-angle digicam has a decrease decision which is clear in images. It doesn’t handle particulars in addition to the first shooter. It does provide a wider discipline of view however there may be seen distortion.
Samsung Galaxy M21 closeup pattern (faucet to see full-size picture)
For close-ups, the cellphone managed to create a pure depth impact between the topic and the background in our exams. The topic was in focus and sharp. With the scene optimiser enabled, the cellphone bumps up the distinction.
Samsung Galaxy M21 portrait pattern (faucet to see full-size picture)
When taking pictures portraits utilizing the Live Focus mode, the Galaxy M21 lets you choose the extent of blur within the output. It detects edges effectively and the software program additionally lets you change the extent of blur and the impact after taking a shot.
Samsung Galaxy M21 low-light pattern (faucet to see full-size picture)
Samsung Galaxy M21 Night mode pattern (faucet to see full-size picture)
Low-light digicam efficiency is not so good as what we have seen from a few of the different telephones on this worth vary that we’ve examined. The Galaxy M21 managed to maintain noise underneath management however there was a watercolour-like impact within the output. Quality drops additional in the event you use the wide-angle digicam in low gentle. The Night mode on the Galaxy M21 manages to provide barely higher output, however the cellphone crops the body barely to minimise shakes.
Samsung Galaxy M21 selfie pattern (faucet to see full-size picture)
Selfies taken in daylight had good element, however beautification is enabled by default. The digicam UI provides you a cropped view by default however you get a toggle for a wider body. The selfie digicam delivers 12-megapixel images by default, however you’ll be able to take a photograph on the full 20-megapixel decision in the event you change the side ratio. In low gentle, selfies had no noise however grain was seen on zooming in.
Video recording maxes out at 4K for the first digicam however there’s has a 10-minute restrict for clips, which feels restrictive. The selfie digicam is capped at 1080p. Video recorded in daylight had a shimmer impact which may make your footage unusable. There is an ultra-stable mode which delivers higher stabilisation. There is not any stabilisation at 4K. The shimmer impact was even worse in low gentle, and the ultra-stable mode did trigger a drop in video high quality.
Verdict
The Samsung Galaxy M21 feels quite a bit just like the Galaxy M30s (Review). It shares a number of key specs with the older gadget. The differentiators are Android 10 and a better decision selfie shooter, however for the reason that Galaxy M30s just lately received an update to One UI 2.0, the selfie digicam is just about the one differentiator. Surprisingly, Samsung has priced the Galaxy M21 decrease than the Galaxy M30s which continues to be on sale. The cheaper price and the higher likelihood of getting up to date to Android 11 sooner or later tip the scales within the Galaxy M21’s favour.
However, the Galaxy M21 itself is simply a mean gadget at this worth level. Competitors such because the Realme 6 (Review) and the Redmi Note 9 Pro (Review) provide way more spectacular efficiency and higher cameras at roughly the identical worth.
Is Redmi Note 9 Pro Max the perfect reasonably priced digicam cellphone in India? We mentioned this on Orbital, our weekly know-how podcast, which you’ll subscribe to by way of Apple Podcasts or RSS, download the episode, or simply hit the play button beneath.
This post was last modified on June 23, 2020 12:31 pm