Samsung Galaxy A21s review—one of the best value smartphones from the A-Series
Samsung Philippines adds a new member to its A-series of smartphones, the Samsung Galaxy A21s. It’s one of the more affordable devices from Samsung that packs a quad-camera setup, a 6.5-inch Infinity-O display and a huge 5000mAh battery.
What’s in the Box
The Samsung Galaxy A21s comes in a familiar drawer-type white box that we have seen on previous Samsung A-series phones. There’s an image of the phone printed outside to give you an idea of what the phone is going to look like.
Opening the box, you will be greeted by the unit itself wrapped in plastic. There is also a sleeve that contains the quick start guide and warranty card. Underneath that is the 15-W Adaptive Fast Charger, USB-A to USB-C Cable, and sim ejector pin. Our review unit did not come with earphones but Samsung Philippines confirmed that retail units will include that.
Design and Display
When it comes to design, the Samsung Galaxy A21s almost looks identical to its older brothers like the Galaxy A51 and Galaxy A71. It has an L-shaped quad camera setup on the back housed in a rectangular module. Located on the upper-middle section of the phone is the rear-mounted fingerprint scanner for unlocking the device. I personally like physical fingerprint scanners because they are faster and more reliable in my opinion. You can place your index finger on the sensor when getting your phone from your pocket, so by the time you take it out, it’s already unlocked and you’re good to go.
The Samsung Galaxy A21s is using a polycarbonate material which imitates glass and it feels quite premium. It has a unique rainbow effect when light hits the surface. The back also curves on all sides which makes it very comfortable to hold.
On the right side of the phone is the power and volume buttons. On top is the noise-cancelling microphone, while on the left is the triple card slot for dual nano sim cards and a dedicated microSD card slot for expandable storage. I like that Samsung opted for a triple card slot and not hybrid for this one.
Looking at the bottom of the phone, you’ll see the endangered 3.5mm audio jack, USB-C port for charging and data transfer, microphone, and speaker grilles. The Samsung Galaxy A21s supports 15-Watt Adaptive Fast Charging but it can take up to two hours to fully charge its 5000mAh battery. The speakers can get loud for playing music and watching videos. However, the grilles can be accidentally covered when holding the phone in landscape.
For the display, the Samsung Galaxy A21s is using a 6.5-inch HD+ Infinity-O LCD Display. There’s a decent amount of brightness and saturation which makes it good for media consumption. Though it’s not the sharpest display out there, a lower resolution display paired with a huge 5000mAh battery gives the phone a very long battery life. I consider myself a heavy user and it’s nearly impossible to drain its battery in a single day of use.
Performance
Under the hood, the Samsung Galaxy A21s is powered by an 8nm Exynos 850 SoC and Mali-G52 GPU paired with 6GB RAM and 64GB of expandable storage. Apps run smoothly in moderate use especially when browsing on social media. Games perform well but some apps lack support for HFR (high frame rate) mode. I played Arena of Valor and Mobile Legends: Bang Bang but the option to enable HFR mode is missing. I hope Samsung gets support from these games to run higher frame rates in a future update.
On the software side, the Samsung Galaxy A21s runs Samsung One UI 2.1 based on Android 10. It comes with nifty features such as dark mode, gesture navigation, app drawer, customizable themes and icons, and game launcher. The UI is very clean with large and saturated icons. I chose to disable the app drawer and enable gesture navigation for a more organized look.
Cameras
The Samsung Galaxy A21s comes with a new quad-camera system. The top-most camera is the 2-megapixel depth sensor followed by the main 48-megapixel f/2.0 main camera. The third sensor is the 8-megapixel f/2.2 ultrawide camera and the last one is the 2-megapixel f/2.4 macro camera.
The camera UI features different shooting modes. These include standard Photo and Video mode, Live Focus, Food, Macro, Panorama, and Pro Mode. Lastly, you can also enable Floating Shutter Button mode which you can place anywhere on the screen, and Show Palm to the camera to take a selfie.
For video recording, you can record 1080p videos at 30fps.
Verdict
If you’re looking to get the best value for money from Samsung’s A-series of smartphones, then the Samsung Galaxy A21s is for you. It features a big screen for your multimedia consumption and a huge 5000mAh battery to get you through the day.
Samsung Galaxy A21s Full Specifications:
- 6.5-inch HD+ Infinity-O Display (720×1600)
- Exynos 850 SoC Octacore Processor
- Mali-G52 GPU
- 6GB RAM + 64GB Storage (Expandable up to 512GB)
- Rear Cameras: 48MP Main, 8MP Ultrawide, 2MP Depth, 2MP Macro
- Selfie Camera: 13MP
- Connectivity: Dual sim, 4G LTE, WiFi, Bluetooth, GPS
- 3.5mm Audio Jack
- 5000mAh Battery
- USB-C (Supports up to 15-Watt Adaptive Fast Charging)
- Colors: Black, White
The Samsung Galaxy A21s is available for only P11,990.
What are your thoughts about the Samsung Galaxy A21s? Let us know in the comments!
