Miss nothing, with Samsung Galaxy S21. A camera so good, everyone’s a pro. When capturing your best moments, you no longer have to choose between photo and video. Samsung Galaxy S21 captures both, simultaneously, so you’ll never miss a moment. Capture big screen quality videos in stunning 8K resolution1 and zoom in with less pixelation with 3x Hybrid Optic Zoom.
Miss nothing, with Samsung Galaxy S21. A camera so good, everyone’s a pro. When capturing your best moments, you no longer have to choose between photo and video. Samsung Galaxy S21 captures both, simultaneously, so you’ll never miss a moment. Capture big screen quality videos in stunning 8K resolution1 and zoom in with less pixelation with 3x Hybrid Optic Zoom.
There are no live offers for Samsung Galaxy S21 5G 128GB - Phantom Violet right now. The all-time low we recorded was $265.00 on 27 Apr 2026. Set a price alert to hear when it's back in stock.
Prices last updated 27 Apr 2026.
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G 128GB - Phantom Violet
Miss nothing, with Samsung Galaxy S21. A camera so good, everyone’s a pro. When capturing your best moments, you no longer have to choose between photo and video. Samsung Galaxy S21 captures both, simultaneously, so you’ll never miss a moment. Capture big screen quality videos in stunning 8K resolution1 and zoom in with less pixelation with 3x Hybrid Optic Zoom.
Miss nothing, with Samsung Galaxy S21. A camera so good, everyone’s a pro. When capturing your best moments, you no longer have to choose between photo and video. Samsung Galaxy S21 captures both, simultaneously, so you’ll never miss a moment. Capture big screen quality videos in stunning 8K resolution1 and zoom in with less pixelation with 3x Hybrid Optic Zoom.
Last updated at 04/27/2026 17:39:38
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished - Phantom Violet / 128GB
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Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished - Phantom Violet / 128GB
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Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished
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Samsung Galaxy S21 - 128 GB - Phantom Violet (Unlocked)
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originally posted on samsung.com
I've had this phone for about 5 month. It is my first Samsung phone since the Galaxy S6. I've been a big fan of the Google Nexus/Pixels for years now, but didn't really like the Pixel 5 after trying it out for a week and wanted a change. This S21 5G is fast, has a great battery life, gorgeous 120hz display and can handle anything I throw it. I also appreciate the thought and effort the developers at Samsung have put into the refined version of One U 3.1... keep it up!That said, there is one MAJOR ISSUE with this phone that I have not experienced with any of my previous phones including the Galaxy S6. The issue is with the screen... it develops unsightly micro scratches EXTREMELEY easily. I am super careful with the screens on my phones and never put phones in my ... MoreI've had this phone for about 5 month. It is my first Samsung phone since the Galaxy S6. I've been a big fan of the Google Nexus/Pixels for years now, but didn't really like the Pixel 5 after trying it out for a week and wanted a change. This S21 5G is fast, has a great battery life, gorgeous 120hz display and can handle anything I throw it. I also appreciate the thought and effort the developers at Samsung have put into the refined version of One U 3.1... keep it up!That said, there is one MAJOR ISSUE with this phone that I have not experienced with any of my previous phones including the Galaxy S6. The issue is with the screen... it develops unsightly micro scratches EXTREMELEY easily. I am super careful with the screens on my phones and never put phones in my pockets with keys or other objects. I have a good case on my phone (Spigen Rugged Armour) that has a decent lip, so when I place the phone down it sits on the lip and not the screen. I use a high quality lint free microfiber cloth to wipe down the phone down every night and ensure it is always clean. Despite all of these precautions I am seeing more and more micro scratches appear on the glass. I thought at first it may be a screen protector that Samsung installed at the factory, but after further review I found out that Samsung was being cheap this year and the S21 5G did not ship with a protector... terrible for a $1200CAD phone... don't even get me started on the lack of a charger in the box! In any case these micro scratches are on the glass, and very annoying to see when tilting the phone in certain light conditions.Samsung is claims that this Corning Gorilla Glass Victus is the "toughest Gorilla Glass yet, with significantly improved scratch and drop performance". After reading a few reviews I actually believe there is a flaw in Samsung's manufacturing process here (it wouldn't be the first time). Based on the reviews I feel some customers (including myself) received a flawed version of the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. Call it what you want; but based on the level of care that I've taken this is what I feel.
originally posted on boostmobile.com
I just got the S21 FE about two months ago, so I will update this as I continue to evaluate. I did get it on sale. So far it is quite snappy and the Snapdragon 888 performs well. I feel this is a very stable phone so far. The Battery with adjustments made on my part gives me about 30%-40% of Battery usage Daily.As of 9/15/2022 (nine weeks later), I am pleased with the phone. It is very stable and the UI is so amazing. The audio quality via the AKG Earphones is awesome especially Dolby ATMOS enabled. The 6 GB of RAM with the Virtual RAM increased to 6 GB makes the phone super snappy! I do suggest a case and screen protector for long life. I will be able to get four Software/Firmware Updates to include up to Android 16.The Display and touch sensitivity, even with ... MoreI just got the S21 FE about two months ago, so I will update this as I continue to evaluate. I did get it on sale. So far it is quite snappy and the Snapdragon 888 performs well. I feel this is a very stable phone so far. The Battery with adjustments made on my part gives me about 30%-40% of Battery usage Daily.As of 9/15/2022 (nine weeks later), I am pleased with the phone. It is very stable and the UI is so amazing. The audio quality via the AKG Earphones is awesome especially Dolby ATMOS enabled. The 6 GB of RAM with the Virtual RAM increased to 6 GB makes the phone super snappy! I do suggest a case and screen protector for long life. I will be able to get four Software/Firmware Updates to include up to Android 16.The Display and touch sensitivity, even with a glass screen protector is excellent. I have the Vivid mode enabled and adjusted the white balance down a bit, it looks fantastic. I am very pleased with the phone.
originally posted on samsung.com
The S21 5G has been great for the 5 months that I've used it. General stability and performance of the phone are its highlights - thanks to a year of regular software updates and a chipset that keeps up with the times (SD 888). The display on this phone looks stunning, and it boasts a fluid 120 Hz refresh rate that makes everything smooth and snappy. It gets bright enough such that it can be used outdoors for texting, paying and media control. The color profile of the display also switches under direct sunlight to enhance readability - it becomes more saturated. Haptics are tight and responsive, nothing to complain about there either.Battery life (!!) is one of the most important aspects of a mobile device. I am happy to say that the S21 5G has enough juice to ... MoreThe S21 5G has been great for the 5 months that I've used it. General stability and performance of the phone are its highlights - thanks to a year of regular software updates and a chipset that keeps up with the times (SD 888). The display on this phone looks stunning, and it boasts a fluid 120 Hz refresh rate that makes everything smooth and snappy. It gets bright enough such that it can be used outdoors for texting, paying and media control. The color profile of the display also switches under direct sunlight to enhance readability - it becomes more saturated. Haptics are tight and responsive, nothing to complain about there either.Battery life (!!) is one of the most important aspects of a mobile device. I am happy to say that the S21 5G has enough juice to last a day of medium to slightly heavy usage. Standby battery drain is also pretty consistent, never noticed an issue there. With the correct equipment, the phone will 'Super fast charge' at up to 25W, which will charge the battery from 0-100 in about an hour (or 0-50 in about 25 mins). It's nothing to write home about, but gets the job done. There is also support for wireless charging and reverse wireless charging, although both of these are slower and less efficient charging technologies that I would not recommend using (especially the latter, as it drains and heats up the phone battery).Cameras on the phone are generally impressive for photography. Under ideal conditions, the 12 MP main sensor is capable of some pretty sharp images thanks to post processing that sharpens images. The telephoto camera does a decent job upto around 8X, after which the image is pretty blurry. It can go up to 30X, but that is more of a gimmick than a feature. The only time I found 30X to be useful is while taking moon shots, the phone does those pretty well. Keep in mind it is not a real optical zoom but a crop in on a 64 MP sensor, so the algorithm is pretty impressive. Ultrawide shots are also detailed (12 MP) and look stunning with minimal distortion around borders. The selfie camera is alright, and only works great under good lighting. I don't shoot many videos, but the phone is capable of producing smooth 60 FPS videos with seamless transitions between the three cameras and good auto focus. HDR10+ videos look great, however there is oversaturation in those clips and they cannot be shared across platforms easily (not recommended).Finally, I'd like to talk about software. As mentioned earlier, the phone is generally very performant and stable. Besides, OneUI offers countless features that are pretty intelligent. For example, the gallery app is magical as photos can be remastered to correct some blur, noise, overexposure, etc. Furthermore, S21 features object eraser that can remove objects, shadows and reflections from an image! Personally, I think the reflection eraser is the most helpful, to remove glare and reflections from an image captured through a window (I often take images through car windows). OneUI 5 is generally heavily customizable, if that's something you treasure! However, I haven't really bought into the Material You design yet, I feel changing icon colors makes them harder to find and differentiate. Fortunately or unfortunately, OneUI has not gone through any major design overhauls, and OneUI 5 still looks very similar to older OneUI versions. It is a solid Android skin, and is genuinely helpful at times when navigating this big phone one-handed (menus are closer to the bottom of the screen, and buttons are generally larger and easier to click). With all that said, however, I am starting to feel quite bored after using OneUI for the last 3 years, maybe because Samsung doesn't change as much and add as many new and practical features as compared to the competition (like Google Pixel). The only new feature I've been genuinely impressed by has been the object eraser and remastering in the gallery app (since I bought the S21 5 months ago). And, unfortunately Samsung uses generic Qualcomm chipsets, which are very performant, but cannot be designed around new software features unlike in the case of Google and Apple. This will be more important in upcoming years, but as of now Samsung's S series is still a safe bet in terms of general stability, performance and connectivity. That reminds me, connectivity has been very good on this smartphone, with support for Wifi 6, 5G UW/mmWave and 5G sub-6 ("nationwide"). I believe the version of Bluetooth supported is 5.1, but regardless it has been pretty rock solid.Finally, as I conclude, I would like to comment on the overall design of the phone. I like the size, although I am a sucker for more compact phones and believe the S21 could have shaved yet another inch off as seen in the S22. I love the glastic back, and I believe it helps with that 5G mmWave action. The back design with the layout of the triple camera screams my name, and the camera frame is flush with the side aluminum frame of the phone. The curved design of the glass and glastic sandwich makes the phone feel comfortable with no sharp edges, however that also makes for a rather slippery phone (recommend using a phone case!). I prefer the boxier S22 which is also more compact and provides a more confident grip. Overall, the S21 has been a solid daily driver, although I yearn for some more fun and useful software additions as seen in the likes of the Google Pixel.
| Network | 5G Sub-6 LTE Cat. 20 |
| Sim Card Type | Single SIM plus eSIM |
| Operating System | Android 11 |
| Display | 6.2 Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED 2X |
| Video Recording | 8K @ 24fps(3) |
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished - Phantom Violet / 128GB
Free delivery
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished - Phantom Violet / 128GB
14-day returns
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished
Free delivery
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished
Free delivery
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G/ 128GB/256GB- Phantom (Violet,White,Gray,Pink) - Good - Refurbished
Free delivery
I've had this phone for about 5 month. It is my first Samsung phone since the Galaxy S6. I've been a big fan of the Google Nexus/Pixels for years now, but didn't really like the Pixel 5 after trying it out for a week and wanted a change. This S21 5G is fast, has a great battery life, gorgeous 120hz display and can handle anything I throw it. I also appreciate the thought and effort the developers at Samsung have put into the refined version of One U 3.1... keep it up!That said, there is one MAJOR ISSUE with this phone that I have not experienced with any of my previous phones including the Galaxy S6. The issue is with the screen... it develops unsightly micro scratches EXTREMELEY easily. I am super careful with the screens on my phones and never put phones in my ... MoreI've had this phone for about 5 month. It is my first Samsung phone since the Galaxy S6. I've been a big fan of the Google Nexus/Pixels for years now, but didn't really like the Pixel 5 after trying it out for a week and wanted a change. This S21 5G is fast, has a great battery life, gorgeous 120hz display and can handle anything I throw it. I also appreciate the thought and effort the developers at Samsung have put into the refined version of One U 3.1... keep it up!That said, there is one MAJOR ISSUE with this phone that I have not experienced with any of my previous phones including the Galaxy S6. The issue is with the screen... it develops unsightly micro scratches EXTREMELEY easily. I am super careful with the screens on my phones and never put phones in my pockets with keys or other objects. I have a good case on my phone (Spigen Rugged Armour) that has a decent lip, so when I place the phone down it sits on the lip and not the screen. I use a high quality lint free microfiber cloth to wipe down the phone down every night and ensure it is always clean. Despite all of these precautions I am seeing more and more micro scratches appear on the glass. I thought at first it may be a screen protector that Samsung installed at the factory, but after further review I found out that Samsung was being cheap this year and the S21 5G did not ship with a protector... terrible for a $1200CAD phone... don't even get me started on the lack of a charger in the box! In any case these micro scratches are on the glass, and very annoying to see when tilting the phone in certain light conditions.Samsung is claims that this Corning Gorilla Glass Victus is the "toughest Gorilla Glass yet, with significantly improved scratch and drop performance". After reading a few reviews I actually believe there is a flaw in Samsung's manufacturing process here (it wouldn't be the first time). Based on the reviews I feel some customers (including myself) received a flawed version of the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus. Call it what you want; but based on the level of care that I've taken this is what I feel.
I just got the S21 FE about two months ago, so I will update this as I continue to evaluate. I did get it on sale. So far it is quite snappy and the Snapdragon 888 performs well. I feel this is a very stable phone so far. The Battery with adjustments made on my part gives me about 30%-40% of Battery usage Daily.As of 9/15/2022 (nine weeks later), I am pleased with the phone. It is very stable and the UI is so amazing. The audio quality via the AKG Earphones is awesome especially Dolby ATMOS enabled. The 6 GB of RAM with the Virtual RAM increased to 6 GB makes the phone super snappy! I do suggest a case and screen protector for long life. I will be able to get four Software/Firmware Updates to include up to Android 16.The Display and touch sensitivity, even with ... MoreI just got the S21 FE about two months ago, so I will update this as I continue to evaluate. I did get it on sale. So far it is quite snappy and the Snapdragon 888 performs well. I feel this is a very stable phone so far. The Battery with adjustments made on my part gives me about 30%-40% of Battery usage Daily.As of 9/15/2022 (nine weeks later), I am pleased with the phone. It is very stable and the UI is so amazing. The audio quality via the AKG Earphones is awesome especially Dolby ATMOS enabled. The 6 GB of RAM with the Virtual RAM increased to 6 GB makes the phone super snappy! I do suggest a case and screen protector for long life. I will be able to get four Software/Firmware Updates to include up to Android 16.The Display and touch sensitivity, even with a glass screen protector is excellent. I have the Vivid mode enabled and adjusted the white balance down a bit, it looks fantastic. I am very pleased with the phone.
The S21 5G has been great for the 5 months that I've used it. General stability and performance of the phone are its highlights - thanks to a year of regular software updates and a chipset that keeps up with the times (SD 888). The display on this phone looks stunning, and it boasts a fluid 120 Hz refresh rate that makes everything smooth and snappy. It gets bright enough such that it can be used outdoors for texting, paying and media control. The color profile of the display also switches under direct sunlight to enhance readability - it becomes more saturated. Haptics are tight and responsive, nothing to complain about there either.Battery life (!!) is one of the most important aspects of a mobile device. I am happy to say that the S21 5G has enough juice to ... MoreThe S21 5G has been great for the 5 months that I've used it. General stability and performance of the phone are its highlights - thanks to a year of regular software updates and a chipset that keeps up with the times (SD 888). The display on this phone looks stunning, and it boasts a fluid 120 Hz refresh rate that makes everything smooth and snappy. It gets bright enough such that it can be used outdoors for texting, paying and media control. The color profile of the display also switches under direct sunlight to enhance readability - it becomes more saturated. Haptics are tight and responsive, nothing to complain about there either.Battery life (!!) is one of the most important aspects of a mobile device. I am happy to say that the S21 5G has enough juice to last a day of medium to slightly heavy usage. Standby battery drain is also pretty consistent, never noticed an issue there. With the correct equipment, the phone will 'Super fast charge' at up to 25W, which will charge the battery from 0-100 in about an hour (or 0-50 in about 25 mins). It's nothing to write home about, but gets the job done. There is also support for wireless charging and reverse wireless charging, although both of these are slower and less efficient charging technologies that I would not recommend using (especially the latter, as it drains and heats up the phone battery).Cameras on the phone are generally impressive for photography. Under ideal conditions, the 12 MP main sensor is capable of some pretty sharp images thanks to post processing that sharpens images. The telephoto camera does a decent job upto around 8X, after which the image is pretty blurry. It can go up to 30X, but that is more of a gimmick than a feature. The only time I found 30X to be useful is while taking moon shots, the phone does those pretty well. Keep in mind it is not a real optical zoom but a crop in on a 64 MP sensor, so the algorithm is pretty impressive. Ultrawide shots are also detailed (12 MP) and look stunning with minimal distortion around borders. The selfie camera is alright, and only works great under good lighting. I don't shoot many videos, but the phone is capable of producing smooth 60 FPS videos with seamless transitions between the three cameras and good auto focus. HDR10+ videos look great, however there is oversaturation in those clips and they cannot be shared across platforms easily (not recommended).Finally, I'd like to talk about software. As mentioned earlier, the phone is generally very performant and stable. Besides, OneUI offers countless features that are pretty intelligent. For example, the gallery app is magical as photos can be remastered to correct some blur, noise, overexposure, etc. Furthermore, S21 features object eraser that can remove objects, shadows and reflections from an image! Personally, I think the reflection eraser is the most helpful, to remove glare and reflections from an image captured through a window (I often take images through car windows). OneUI 5 is generally heavily customizable, if that's something you treasure! However, I haven't really bought into the Material You design yet, I feel changing icon colors makes them harder to find and differentiate. Fortunately or unfortunately, OneUI has not gone through any major design overhauls, and OneUI 5 still looks very similar to older OneUI versions. It is a solid Android skin, and is genuinely helpful at times when navigating this big phone one-handed (menus are closer to the bottom of the screen, and buttons are generally larger and easier to click). With all that said, however, I am starting to feel quite bored after using OneUI for the last 3 years, maybe because Samsung doesn't change as much and add as many new and practical features as compared to the competition (like Google Pixel). The only new feature I've been genuinely impressed by has been the object eraser and remastering in the gallery app (since I bought the S21 5 months ago). And, unfortunately Samsung uses generic Qualcomm chipsets, which are very performant, but cannot be designed around new software features unlike in the case of Google and Apple. This will be more important in upcoming years, but as of now Samsung's S series is still a safe bet in terms of general stability, performance and connectivity. That reminds me, connectivity has been very good on this smartphone, with support for Wifi 6, 5G UW/mmWave and 5G sub-6 ("nationwide"). I believe the version of Bluetooth supported is 5.1, but regardless it has been pretty rock solid.Finally, as I conclude, I would like to comment on the overall design of the phone. I like the size, although I am a sucker for more compact phones and believe the S21 could have shaved yet another inch off as seen in the S22. I love the glastic back, and I believe it helps with that 5G mmWave action. The back design with the layout of the triple camera screams my name, and the camera frame is flush with the side aluminum frame of the phone. The curved design of the glass and glastic sandwich makes the phone feel comfortable with no sharp edges, however that also makes for a rather slippery phone (recommend using a phone case!). I prefer the boxier S22 which is also more compact and provides a more confident grip. Overall, the S21 has been a solid daily driver, although I yearn for some more fun and useful software additions as seen in the likes of the Google Pixel.
It has no expandable memory, 3 camera lenses just confuse the software so getting it to focus on what you want plus everything else in frame is almost impossible. The amount of bloatware is hair pulling stressful especially when you can't uninstall any of it nor disable them. The rest of the world gets a dual sim card slot..not America though. 99% of the apps don't work in landscape mode, including samsung's own galaxy store. Auto correct is horrible, it always corrects correctly spelled words and it's suggested words are never even close. The battery life is terrible, it's own bloatware is usually responsible for it. One of the worst things, especially living in Florida, is the screen gets up to 112°F (44°C). When I'm watching YouTube or something, even with a desk ... MoreIt has no expandable memory, 3 camera lenses just confuse the software so getting it to focus on what you want plus everything else in frame is almost impossible. The amount of bloatware is hair pulling stressful especially when you can't uninstall any of it nor disable them. The rest of the world gets a dual sim card slot..not America though. 99% of the apps don't work in landscape mode, including samsung's own galaxy store. Auto correct is horrible, it always corrects correctly spelled words and it's suggested words are never even close. The battery life is terrible, it's own bloatware is usually responsible for it. One of the worst things, especially living in Florida, is the screen gets up to 112°F (44°C). When I'm watching YouTube or something, even with a desk fan blowing air on it and not charging, it gets almost hot enough not to touch so I pulled out my digital IR thermometer and got the 112 degrees. And using the camera for a few minutes gets the screen even hotter, I don't even have a case on my phone and you can't put your fingers anywhere close to the lenses for more than a second or two before it becomes too hot to touch. I'm sure I'm missing many more issues but those are my biggest. I was a huge samsung fan until I bought this phone.
I upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy S21 from the Galaxy S7. I really like the look and feel of the phone. It seems to operate a bit faster than the S7. I've only been in a location for 5G service once, but if anything, pages were slower to connect and open on 5G. I didn't like that there was no charger included with the phone. Since it was a type C USB and the S7 was a type A USB, I had to buy a new charger and charging cable and only after buying it did I realize that the phone supports wireless charging as well. This phone comes with quite a bit of bloat ware. There are lots of things I will never use but am unable to remove and make use of the space. Calls are clear and I haven't had anyone complain that they can't hear or understand me. There is one feature that ... MoreI upgraded to the Samsung Galaxy S21 from the Galaxy S7. I really like the look and feel of the phone. It seems to operate a bit faster than the S7. I've only been in a location for 5G service once, but if anything, pages were slower to connect and open on 5G. I didn't like that there was no charger included with the phone. Since it was a type C USB and the S7 was a type A USB, I had to buy a new charger and charging cable and only after buying it did I realize that the phone supports wireless charging as well. This phone comes with quite a bit of bloat ware. There are lots of things I will never use but am unable to remove and make use of the space. Calls are clear and I haven't had anyone complain that they can't hear or understand me. There is one feature that really bothers me- the power button is situated below the volume down button and both buttons must be pressed at the same time to take a screen shot. The space between buttons makes it so that you have to use both hands to take the screenshot. You are supposed to be able to swipe with your palm, but I have never gotten it to actually work. Also, the fingerprint sensor rarely works so I use facial recognition, which also fails to work sometimes so I have to use a pattern to unlock the phone. None of these were deal breakers for me. Overall, I like the phone.
I've had the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G for nearly two years now. I've found this device consistently meets my expectations for what I consider to be a top tier smartphone.Starting with the display, the 120hz feature elevates the general experience to that of a truly premium device. On competing products, the 120 hz function is often gatekept to the Pro models. It's inclusion on the base model S21 is a testament to Samsung's commitment to offering a premium experience across it's S line of mobile devices.The processor is the capable Snapdragon 888 built on a 5nm process. The performance of this phone is superb though the phone can heat up when performing demanding tasks or in hot environments. When streaming videos, playing games or taking photos and video the phone ... MoreI've had the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G for nearly two years now. I've found this device consistently meets my expectations for what I consider to be a top tier smartphone.Starting with the display, the 120hz feature elevates the general experience to that of a truly premium device. On competing products, the 120 hz function is often gatekept to the Pro models. It's inclusion on the base model S21 is a testament to Samsung's commitment to offering a premium experience across it's S line of mobile devices.The processor is the capable Snapdragon 888 built on a 5nm process. The performance of this phone is superb though the phone can heat up when performing demanding tasks or in hot environments. When streaming videos, playing games or taking photos and video the phone is able to maintain a high standard of performance. Though the experience isn't without an occasional hiccup, the experience left me satisfied and the speed of the device is still remarkable.The Camera array on this device is a triple camera set up with a 12 MP main camera, a 12 MP ultra wide and a 64 MP sensor used for telephoto capabilities and 8k recording at 24 fps.Though the 8K recording seems to still be rather limited, the phone shines in taking stills in challenging lighting situations and the video quality is of great quality in good lighting.In lower light, both the Main and Ultra wide cameras arecapable of outputting great photos especially when utilizing the night mode function. Lowlight videos tend to suffer from noise and lessened stability though the output is still among the upper tier of smartphone video. Overall the camera array still holds ups even 2 years later, and the results speak for themselves.After 2 years, the battery life has depleted a bit and there are occasional hiccups that occur when performing challenging tasks. Despite this, the S21 5G has handled every obstacle and challenge I've put it through. I've dropped the phone countless times, handled it roughly and even so the phone holds up. I hope to hold on to this device for a bit longer before I upgrade to hopefully an even better Galaxy S device.
Having been both a former Samsung phone owner (S10) and a Google Pixel owner (Pixel 4), about a month ago I decided to switch back to Samsung with the S21. To get it out of the way, let me first say that the phone is reliable and proficient at most things. Response times are fast, charge lasts me an entire day with heavy use, and Samsung takes the normal Android user experience and improves upon it with small UI tweaks here and there to make things work and work well.BUT, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Due to my career field, one of the crucial features I was looking for when upgrading my phone was a solid camera and camcorder, which is where I'm focusing my review.While not perfect either, the best feature on the Pixel 4 was by far it's camera. I was ... MoreHaving been both a former Samsung phone owner (S10) and a Google Pixel owner (Pixel 4), about a month ago I decided to switch back to Samsung with the S21. To get it out of the way, let me first say that the phone is reliable and proficient at most things. Response times are fast, charge lasts me an entire day with heavy use, and Samsung takes the normal Android user experience and improves upon it with small UI tweaks here and there to make things work and work well.BUT, not everything is sunshine and rainbows. Due to my career field, one of the crucial features I was looking for when upgrading my phone was a solid camera and camcorder, which is where I'm focusing my review.While not perfect either, the best feature on the Pixel 4 was by far it's camera. I was never worried about being able to capture that "perfect moment". The Pixel had excellent response time, was user friendly, and provided decent photo editing/retouching tools. Unfortunately, I have quickly noticed that my Samsung S21 falls short almost across the board. Even after endless setting adjustments, photos almost always have a noticable delay between pressing the shutter and the photo actually being taken, frequently resulting in missing the most ideal shot in the moment. Editing tools aren't as robust, to the point I now find myself using the Adobe Photoshop app on my Samsung to perform edits I would have simply done with the Pixel 4 camera tools.I will admit, the "Pro Photo" and "Pro Video" modes on the Samsung provide a plethora of control options, mirroring that which you would find on professional cameras/camcorders and if I'm putting in the effort, I can manually dial in to create fantastic shots. But when I'm off the clock, wanting to just "be in the moment" during a family event, trying to grab some quick Auto photos and videos, the S21 disappoints. Compared to other phone options, I would still recommend the S21 with 3.5 stars (I guess I'll have to round up to 4). It still trumps the Pixel and iPhone in so many other areas in terms of general use (HDMI over USB-C, I have missed you dearly— glad to have you back!). But from a media creation standpoint, this isn't my favorite purchase and I'll look forward to my next phone purchase in 2-4 years.
Samsung makes quality products that are durable. With frequent updates my phone always has the latest Android version so I can enjoy the latest features. I love the cameras on my S21 Ultra 5G. Thy take stunning photos even in dark environments. Being one of the most popular phones, it's easy to find any type of accessories and cases that you need. The display is great it has a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling. The battery is big enough for all day use, even a year later. I never find myself having to change my phone throughout the day. I only charge it when I go to sleep. I watch some videos online, use social media and listen to music and I still have about 30% at the end of the night. It's a great feeling, I feel safe having that peace of mind that my phone ... MoreSamsung makes quality products that are durable. With frequent updates my phone always has the latest Android version so I can enjoy the latest features. I love the cameras on my S21 Ultra 5G. Thy take stunning photos even in dark environments. Being one of the most popular phones, it's easy to find any type of accessories and cases that you need. The display is great it has a 120Hz refresh rate for smooth scrolling. The battery is big enough for all day use, even a year later. I never find myself having to change my phone throughout the day. I only charge it when I go to sleep. I watch some videos online, use social media and listen to music and I still have about 30% at the end of the night. It's a great feeling, I feel safe having that peace of mind that my phone is not dead because I use my phone for everything: as a keyless entry, to pay using Samsung Pay, to order an ride, to make calls, for directions. It's a great phone and a great investment because it will last several years and you won't need to buy another phone during that time.
I got this phone as a gift last Christmas and I couldn't have asked for a better gift. I've always been a devoted Apple user and never thought to ever get a Samsung phone. However, after seeing an ad for the Samsung Galaxy S21, I could not get my eyes off of the design and the amazing colors! After I got my Phantom Violet S21+, I thought I'd take a long time to get used to it, but that is not the case at all! From the getgo, I was so excited and got used to the system fast. I grew to love the customizability and features this phone provided. Not only that, but I love the camera quality—it can zoom in so clear and so far. Further, I can't get enough of the design and how fast this phone is, as well as the battery-life (seriously the battery-life is so good.) I've ... MoreI got this phone as a gift last Christmas and I couldn't have asked for a better gift. I've always been a devoted Apple user and never thought to ever get a Samsung phone. However, after seeing an ad for the Samsung Galaxy S21, I could not get my eyes off of the design and the amazing colors! After I got my Phantom Violet S21+, I thought I'd take a long time to get used to it, but that is not the case at all! From the getgo, I was so excited and got used to the system fast. I grew to love the customizability and features this phone provided. Not only that, but I love the camera quality—it can zoom in so clear and so far. Further, I can't get enough of the design and how fast this phone is, as well as the battery-life (seriously the battery-life is so good.) I've even convinced many of my friends—who are die-hard Apple users—to liking this phone, and most of them plan to get one this Christmas for themselves! It's just so in tune with how you want it to look and operate, something I couldn't do on any of my old phones. Overall, I love this phone and don't plan on upgrading anytime soon, it's just great. If I do end up upgrading, I'll definitely have Samsung as my top choice, because after switching over?... I seriously can't look back.
The Samsung S21 is the best! My old phone was starting to get way too slow and was outdated with it's small amount of features so i started looking for an upgrade, doing research and looking at what brand would be best, some other brands had some ok features but when i looked at Samsung it was almost to good to be true! the customizability, features, battery life, processing power, screen, cameras, and design were all amazing. so i finally settled on getting the s21 because of its amazing features and perfect price point Even though most of Samsung's lineup is amazing. I'm a gigantic tech nerd and I love having the freedom and customizability of Android with all the benefits of having something kinda like an iPhone with One UI and Samsung support, such as quick ... MoreThe Samsung S21 is the best! My old phone was starting to get way too slow and was outdated with it's small amount of features so i started looking for an upgrade, doing research and looking at what brand would be best, some other brands had some ok features but when i looked at Samsung it was almost to good to be true! the customizability, features, battery life, processing power, screen, cameras, and design were all amazing. so i finally settled on getting the s21 because of its amazing features and perfect price point Even though most of Samsung's lineup is amazing. I'm a gigantic tech nerd and I love having the freedom and customizability of Android with all the benefits of having something kinda like an iPhone with One UI and Samsung support, such as quick share and Samsung Dex. I love the amount of processing power the phone has, it may not be as powerful as the plus or the ultra but it's still amazing compared to my old phone, The amount of storage from my old phone is a major upgrade too, My old phone had only 64 GB of memory which was very restricting but now with my new phone I feel free to download pretty much anything I want or need, as it is right now I have about 8 or 9 different emulators installed and I'm absolutely loving it! It feels like I have the full capabilities of a PC right in my pocket with all of the file managing and software tools, and the 8GB of RAM is also so freeing I feel like I can open up as many things as I want and it won't slow down one bit. I love listening to music and the 32-bit 384 kHz audio tuned by AKG makes it so much better especially knowing I have almost the best audio I could be getting out of my phone. being able to connect multiple Bluetooth devices at once is so cool especially with the media output feature! I love the slightly raised camera module with lines that blend directly into the frame of the phone it's so sleek and modern looking and I honestly really like the The look of the polymer back on the phone, It makes repairing (if ever needed) much easier from what I've heard. the cameras are also amazing with the amount of options, and I really appreciate the addition of the 0.5 wide angle, I use all the time and I really love it, although learning the pro camera mode settings has been a bit tricky compared to my old phone but I love being able to save raw images and the amount that I can edit photos and videos. The 4000mAh battery is great especially with the power efficiency of the AMOLED display, I can go the whole day without having to charge my phone. The wireless power sharing is also pretty amazing and I imagine makes everybody i show it to really consider buying the new Galaxy compared to the new iPhone because of how useful it is. but I'd say the feature I appreciate the most is the screen with its AMOLED 120hz display and a pretty good ppi too, it's the most beautiful display I've seen on a phone, The only thing I worry about is the screen durability since I don't have a screen protector on because of the in-display ultrasonic fingerprint scanner that works lightning fast, but so far I only have some minor micro scratches with daily use. i can't explain how much I love my new phone, it's so beautiful, It truly makes me so happy using it everyday, thank you Samsung!
| Network | 5G Sub-6 LTE Cat. 20 |
| Sim Card Type | Single SIM plus eSIM |
| Operating System | Android 11 |
| Display | 6.2 Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED 2X |
| Video Recording | 8K @ 24fps(3) |
