With reviews dropping for the Galaxy S21 series today, we thought it would be better to take you through some of the first the impressions we got from the Samsung Galaxy S21 when we first started using it instead. We will, naturally, have a full review with an in-depth breakdown for you to get into the nitty gritty details of the phone.
The first thought that came into my mind when I held the Galaxy S21 is, “It’s back”. The latest iteration of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S series finally brings back the qualities that made the Samsung Galaxy S series stand out. Aside from the colour, the phone’s design gives you the impression that Samsung spent its time thinking up the S21.
It a subtle but loud design choice – a metallic accent on a glasstic body. After years of dealing with glass front and backs, the new approach is the breath of fresh air and new life that the series needed. While it may seem like a downgrade going from glass to glasstic, the Galaxy S21 still feels premium and is so much easier to hold in hand. The subtle curves of the back make the phone more palmable and easy to manoeuvre in one hand. It’s also just hefty enough.
The FHD+ AMOLED 2X display brings a pretty brilliant display. We say brilliant not to praise the display but to highlight that this display is plenty bright. Even under direct 11am sunlight, the screen was still legible. We haven’t really noticed the difference with adaptive refresh rate just yet – but rest assured, it’ll be one of the main points in our in-depth review.
Aside from the visuals, it really feels like Samsung took the time to think out this flagship and deliver an experience that is well rounded. The speakers are loud! Even watching Instagram videos on the Galaxy S21 can be risky business (especially if you’re on a video call!). Even at 30% volume, the phone was audible about 3 to 5 meters away. It’s a pretty good indication of the media experience you’ll be getting from the device.
That said, the first 24 hours is usually about the batter and the setup for us. The battery on the Galaxy S21 is actually pretty small – considering the size of the other devices in the series. However, while size does matter, the Galaxy S21 is still able to impress with its battery life. After charging it up to 100%, the battery lasted a good 40 hours before it needed to be charged. The 40 hours included the setup process and the downloading of apps needed on the device. After which, it was swiftly put to a barrage of gaming, YouTube, Instagram and TIDAL. This bodes really well for battery life on the S21 moving forward.
The setup process is pretty straight forward. Samsung asks you to sign in to your Google account and you Samsung account. You can restore your device from either service. Of course, if you’re jumping or upgrading from another Samsung device, you get everything – including your home screen layout transferred over. Something that not many other manufacturers are doing. That said, we didn’t setup the S21 with a back up instead we opted to set it up from scratch. It took us roughly 30 minutes to get all our apps downloaded and all the relevant emails synced. The time from the start of the setup excluding setting up email accounts on a new app and downloading apps was about 10 minutes. Not too bad considering not many of us would like to baby the phone while it updates.
You’ll have to wait when it comes to the camera. We’re definitely excited to see what Samsung has in store there. However, barring that, the Galaxy S21 is definitely hitting the right notes when it comes to a flagship. It seems to be somewhat of a return to form for the Galaxy S series.