Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus Full Review! By Nick Ackerman

Okay, so we're now in super steady, I'm going to go ahead and ride my bike really quickly and just kind of show you how this thing does perform in super steady mode here for the galaxy s21 plus, you can see very steady overall, even if you're, just holding this thing and uh in action, basically kind of like an action camera here for the galaxy s21 plus. So what is up guys nick here, helping you to master your technology, s21 plus 5g, full review now this is the one that sits in the middle between the big guy over here and the s21 ultra. I do get a case on that one as well, and the smaller s21 it's actually closer to this smaller s21 as it's the plus version of that phone. Now, let's give it a quick wipe down. You know the quick, the daily micro, fiber action, making. Sure it's clean and people are wondering.

Does this guy even use a case all these phones? He has no case on them. Yes, I use the Samsung official leather. You can see it's already a little worn down just a little because I'm a little rough with my cases, but yes, we'll get into the key specs really quickly here, okay, so this one does have a 6.7 inch, dynamic, AMOLED, 2x display capable of up to 120 hertz. If you go to the motion smoothness put in the adaptive mode, unlike the bigger brother s21 ultra, this one does not have 1440p and that's a set. That's actually a step back from the s20 plus last year, and this is supposed to be the upgraded phone, but it actually has a lower resolution display and that's definitely a knock already, but on the back you can see we do have a nice triple camera setup, 64, megapixel telephoto on there is the highest sensor on there.

You do have a wide 12 megapixels as well and an ultra-wide as well. So you got three different ways to shoot on this phone: three different lenses on the front, 10 megapixel camera as well. The neat thing about this phone and why you might want to consider this, though, is a 4 800 William hour battery stuffed inside now. Unlike the s21, this thing is a little less at like 4 000, so this should last a little longer throughout the day, and I can confirm it has been doing better than the s21 now eight gigs of ram in here you can get a icons 2100 or a snapdragon 888, depending on where you at, but that that's really going to depend on where you're buying this phone at, but I have to say overall, it's packing a pretty good amount, healthy amount of flagship specification on here all right. So let's talk about the body with the galaxy s21 plus you can see on the back here nice material.

This is a glass back here on this phantom black does say: Samsung down here, nice camera off to the left. It doesn't stick out or protrude. Hardly at all. So it's a very sleek looking phone, if you go off to the edges, you'll see that definitely that shiny aluminum rim around these phones so definitely not getting stainless steel. With this edition a little more curvy than you'll find on something like a competing iPhone, which will give you more of a squared off edge.

Now you can see on the bottom there USB, and we do have the sim card tray. We don't have SD card support, super sore point. That's super annoying Samsung! Please bring it back power users paying 999 1200 for a Samsung phone. I think we'll take advantage of the SD card, but do you agree- or you disagree- if you're not going to bring the SD card back at least up the internal storage for the consumer, so they can have more storage without having to use a SD card. So I that's that's just a little of annoying thing there, but with the display here, you'll see that we do have a nice flat display.

Now I actually really like this decision, because you know putting screen protectors on a curved display is pretty hard to do its pretty annoying. So this makes that super easy and if you look up there, Samsung's punch hole on this display is not super large, but it's not like it was on the prior edition, but right here, pretty decent overall display on the front in terms of very thin bezels, no chin action, nothing! Nothing like that very uniform, very flat. So I have to say I don't think, there's anything overly impressive about this build. I just think it's a solid, strong feeling, just sleek good, looking professional Samsung phone there's, there's nothing like this going to be super wow factor about it, but it's not going to disappoint you either you're going to be like this is a very nice phone, and then you're just going to use it and move on with your life. Now in terms of weight.

This thing weighs 200 grams, but I have to say I've been really happy with this gorilla glass Vitus right here, like I haven't, been putting a screen protector on any of my s21s, and I haven't been receiving a lot of scratches quickly. I got one or two very light ones on the s21, but you can see right here. Just very light stuff like that on that corner right there, nothing too serious so like if you don't want to use a screen protector, you probably won't get major nicks on this display super easy, but I still advise that you put one on if you're going to be holding on to this phone for say three or four years, because it will get beat up over time, but I have to say I've been pretty happy with the gorilla glass Vitus. Okay. So let's further discuss this display now I have to say one of the things I really enjoy about.

It is just how smooth it feels day-to-day these 120 hertz, it's just it's hard to describe on camera. You have to use one. If you haven't used a 120 hertz phone go to the store check them out day to day. It just feels like butter all the time. Now.

The real question here with this one is: did I make the right decision? Maybe you got a s21 plus, or should I get one I'm worried about? You know is that resolution high enough, and I have to say for ninety percent of your day. It's going to be high enough now, if you're a pixel people are, you constantly are looking at a lot of screens like a very sharp monitor, and then you look at this, or you look at a sharper tablet, or you have another phone, that's maybe sharper. You might be able to slightly see a slight difference in the overall sharpness of the display, it's not as sharp as the s21 ultra, but I think for the majority of users they're, probably not going to notice it too much. However, I'm not going to give Samsung credit here. I do think they should have kept the 1440p on here, especially considering the price of this device.

That's kind of a setback I feel like, because you can get phones with higher resolution than this for this price point. So that's a little of a step back, but the overall sharpness is decent enough. The brightness is very good. This thing is super bright outside. I was able to see it easily and when I cranked it up in direct sunlight yesterday, this thing got so bright.

It was like I didn't even have to squint nothing. You could look right at it and everything was super bright and ready. Another very good feature about this is the eye comfort shield, for this display. Now that's my custom mode, but the adaptive mode, it's really nice, how it will adapt on the fly and really just display, depending on the environment you're in it's very useful, and I think that it does help the display. Look just look better over time.

Another thing I really like about this display is the ability to go into landscape. I say this about all Samsung phones, and this one is no exception. It can feel like a little tablet when you're in bed, because it does adapt to the way you're going around the UI and having a flat display. It just feels super practical. I just really do like having a flat display, but the color reproduction is awesome here.

Just again, if you cannot deal with 394 PPI- and I don't know why you wouldn't be able to you- might not like this phone. If you want the 1440p, you got to go to the ultra, but other than that. This thing can basically do everything very well in terms of the display, and it still feels like a flagship grade display here and a couple more things about this display before we go forward. If we take it over here down to advanced features, and then we go down here, you will see at the bottom. We do have a video enhancer mode.

Now, what this does are. It will just liven up the image quality it'll, give you more vivid and bright colors, as it says, right there, but YouTube Netflix, prime video Hulu stuff, like that. Definitely will liven up the content, and it really does work. It looks freaking amazing I'll show you that in a second but last display setting, I want to show you is the natural and vivid modes. They are extremely nice because they have a very good contrast when we go to natural, it's very different from the vivid mode.

So if I go over here back to display, I take it down to screen modes and I go to vivid. It really does liven up things, and it looks so much more colorful, so much more saturated. So you can really choose. Do I want that iPhone? Look, basically, that more natural look or do I want the Samsung popping color. Look, you got the options here, the features so let's go over here to YouTube, and we'll go ahead and take a look at a video here.

We'll go sideways now. This does have a 20 by 9 aspect ratio. So you are gonna, get bars here on the sides, but you can just see how vivid the image looks on here very nice and with that flat display it's like you're, holding a little TV in your hand, very nice minimal chin, almost identical to the top there absolutely stunning here in terms of a video watching experience. So that's the last thing I want to mention on the display. So you're just don't be concerned about this display, it's very good and just if you're, just a pixel peeper, you want them extra pixels.

Then you might want to look at the ultra. So what is the software experience been like? Well, we have the one UI 3.1 on here, and I got to say: Samsung spotless things up here in their latest version. It's a lot cleaner. I do like the way the settings look with the icons off to the left just the way they look. They just look spotless, especially for a Samsung device.

Now I will still say: Samsung is definitely not the most minimal experience. I think pixel does a much better job there. The OnePlus series does a much better job in that regard, but they are cleaning things up. Look at this notification, tray super translucent. It looks very beautiful and even when you go to dark mode, it also looks beautiful.

You can see right there when you kind of have swipe out just look at that. It's just very refined, very polished looking for Samsung device compared to Samsung of before. So keep that in mind we're comparing Samsung to Samsung here now. You do still have your Samsung applications here that come combined with the Google apps, so it can be a little overwhelming if you're not used to having so many apps at once, and I think if you get this phone on the carrier editions, you might get some bloatware. Let me know if you picked one up how much bloatware is on your phone, but really I just like how there's so much customization right out of the git from with the one UI, so you can do all your widgets here, like always like you used to, but you have the entire galaxy ecosystem here as well.

You have different icons, wallpapers different, always on display modes. Pretty neat in here also, of course, just like with the other Samsung phones. If you swipe off to this edge screen, you do have app pairs which you can create. In addition, you could do the split screen menu, but basically most of the applications in here. A very neat touch and really does separate this phone from its competition.

There's not a lot of competition in this respect. If we tap that, we can also switch between the windows, giving us even more feature set now, not only that we're not done there if we go into settings Samsung also hooks you up with some pretty good device care features like the ability to check on your battery. How that's been going, you can limit its usage and also one thing: that's a little neat about this, but also you got to keep in mind. If you want the top performance, you can turn on enhanced processing right there for the Samsung phone. If you turn that off you're not going to get the fastest processing, so do keep that in mind if you're doing gaming and stuff you got to tweak that on.

So do remember that. But you do have the reverse wireless charging here as well. I mean just load it and if we go in the settings here for the one UI, and we scroll down to advanced features, look at everything that comes here, the ability to use Samsung DEX, you don't even need a cable, but you can use a cable for a little more of a reliable connection. Lots of motions and gestures here for this phone. You have all the stuff that really just matters, but it's missing one thing as some s pen support.

You know. I wish it was kind of just available on all Samsung Galaxy s phones, but they made that exclusive to the ultra. But I have to say you know it's not like you have to get the plus to get these nice Samsung features, but this one just like the other ones is loaded, and the software has been pretty nice to use. You probably won't even need to download like nova launcher or any other launchers, unless you just want to play around with it. Okay, now performance with this phone, like I say, turn on enhance processing for a little better performance.

However, I didn't even notice it was that bad with it off. It's not bad at all. Actually, 888 CPU in here 8 gigs of ram. However, what I will say is for some odd reasons. Sometimes this phone does reload an application, which is a little unfortunate.

Considering you know this is a flagship grade device. Sometimes I found that it just it'll. Just reload an application, but other than that it's been a very smooth butter, smooth experience, and this is nothing like the Samsung of past trust me on that one. I will say I ran into a little of shutter lag on the camera. I don't know why, but sometimes when I take a photo too fast, it just feels a little slow, especially coming out like if you're outside and just you double-click real quick on this one, and you take the photo.

Sometimes it will get a little delayed. Of course, it's going to show me up in the video. It always does that, but you can see on the front pretty quick overall, I just got to say I did notice that in addition, I found that when using this phone for a long time, high brightness, you know using kind of hardcore, it does heat up a bit and I didn't find that happening on a note, 20 ultra, unlike this one or even the s21 ultra this one just heated up a little more, so it just felt a little warmer to the touch. So if you're not, you're, not that person who likes to deal with the phones getting a little warm, you might want to consider the s21 ultra or maybe the note 20 ultra. This one got a little warmer, but I have to say in terms of just its everyday speed of applications.

Of course, it's 20 21 everything is super blazing fast. You don't really get to worry about nothing like that. It's buttery smooth, you will get a reload from time to time, and it's going to run. Basically every application on the play store all right, guys so battery life how's it been. It's been a major thumbs up.

I've been able to get through the day easily on this phone without having to charge it up. Even overnight, like I woke up the other day, I had like 75, and it made it the whole day on 75 and that's using the phone. Not just messing around your know, leave it in your pocket all day. I was using camera using applications, the battery life on here 4800. This is only 200 William off the s21 ultra.

That phone has a 5000 so and with this one having the lower resolution, that's where the resolution being lower does come in to play the battery life is just damn good on this phone. I think you're going to be very happy in this respect. In addition, like all Samsung phones, it does charge very fast through USB and I did place it on a wireless charger from time to time in which it responded quickly on Samsung's wireless trio charger, and it was just very fast so battery. If there's one reason to buy this one over the s21, it is the battery life, but I wouldn't say it's better than the s21 ultra. It's pretty close, though, and if you want to talk, you know screen time numbers.

I averaged around six hours screen time for this guy. If you have it lower settings, it could get seven, maybe seven and a half, but pretty darn good. If you ask me now, if we talk about storage on this phone 128 gigs again, this is a letdown. This is a definite step back come on Samsung we're going to pay a thousand for a phone. I know it came down, but it started at 9.99. Let's get 256 gigs to start, since you wanted to remove my SD card, because I find that to be trashed that you remove the SD card, because I want to go ahead and take my SD card from my old phone pop it in here and see all my photos.

I want to be able to expand that memory, but if you're not going to go forward with that idea, let's go ahead and throw 256 gigs to start on this boy. So 128 gigs look at this 47.39 percent used in like two weeks. So imagine if a user just uses it pretty hardcore for like four weeks it's going to be basically full. However, I will give them props on one thing: the transfer speeds are ridiculous fast on here with UFS 3.1, the USB 3.2. We also do have you know fast storage, so this SSD in here is pretty snappy, so everything is fast when it comes to the storage, but I want it to be a little higher, all right, so s21 plus, let's talk the cameras, because the real question is: is these good enough to just skip out these massive cameras on the s21 ultra? And the answer is yes, if you don't need that extra zoom, if you're, not taking your photography and videography game super serious, I think if you are trying to have the best of the best go with the ultra, but if you're not, you're, okay with very good- and you want to save some money- you're still going to be happy here.

This can do 8k, video 4k, 60 video. It has this new director's view right here, where you can put your picture in a split screen: front. Camera, rear camera same time, awesome feature now. You also have a night mode on here and if we go over to more check it out, just like with their other settings in the phone tons of features here now, if we go over here back to photo, you can go ahead and flip it around, and this thing can do up to 4k 60 on this 10 megapixel on the front and video. So let's go to video, we'll take it up to 4k 60, so a very nice 4k 60.

Now, in terms of my overall opinion of these results, I do think the rear camera doesn't always match up perfectly with the front camera. I wish they would up that to a 12 megapixel on the front and just kind of match it exactly with the rear cameras, but I do think it does offer an overall pretty consistent, fast, dual pixel experience. So if you put things in the frame, it's going to lock onto that focus, quick, there's no focus issues with this. One has those nice saturated photos, and I'm going to shut up talking now go ahead and take a look at the samples I took with this, and you could decide if this is going to be enough for you? Yes, yes, yes, yes, yes, three! What's up three? Yes, okay, guys! So when it comes to audio, you do have Dolby Atmos for this phone. I think it was yesterday.

Let me bring the mic down: Samsung phones from 2019, going forward in software for four years, at least for security updates. Now this one should get three years of major updates as well, and let me tell you what I like about the software so far, I like the one UI 3.1 updates. It makes the Samsung phone come to a level the translucent notification tray. Okay, so I think you guys heard enough of the audio there. It was pretty nice and full at the loudest volume, and it does have a nice range of change.

You could change it between some nice ranges, and it does stay pretty consistent. Now, there's no headphone jack. You can find headphone jacks on the series devices not going to be found here for the galaxy s21. Just to keep that in mind so discussing the phone call quality reception. We do have 5g performance available here, and it's some of the fastest and most reliable on phones today.

So it's a major win in this respect. Also, I do think that the in-display fingerprint sensor, while it doesn't set up the fastest once you do have this thing, set up. Look at me missing when I'm trying to boast about it. No listen. I've been finding it to just be more.

You know accurate than before, even though I missed right there. That's because my finger was like over here playing around messing, but this fingerprint sensor has been faster. It has been a little more reliable for me than prior Samsung edition. So I think you're going to be happy with that, and it's very useful because when you're out and about right now, you're wearing a mask whatever just pop the finger on there, you're good to go you're, definitely going to have no issues in that respect. Now, one con about this phone before we get on to the conclusion is the resale value for this phone.

I don't think is going to be incredibly high. Samsung is already discounting this thing and, let's be frank, there's a lot of Samsung phones out there, so the individual resale value on this one, probably going to tank pretty quickly. However, I think you should still be able to net yourself five six hundred bucks within the next two years or so, if you get rid of it before then, and also, I think that trade in values on the next Samsung phones will be high on this phone. So I just wanted to talk a bit about those resale values. Let me know your thoughts on that aspect below and the colors.

You can get this in phantom black phantom silver, violet, pink, gold and red. So there's a healthy amount of colors depending on your know, what's your taste there's? Definitely a healthy amount there. In conclusion, the galaxy s 21 plus, is this phone worth it, and this phone is most definitely worth it, especially with those recent trade and values. If you can get this on a deal, definitely worth it. However, you have to consider.

Do you want the latest and greatest premium Samsung offerings like a s21, because last year's phones are founded at discounts now, and the s21 and s20 plus is not far behind? This actually has some better features like SD card expansion and a higher resolution display. So you have to consider those things. If you can live with one less OS update, you could just go, get the used phone, that's 20, plus and be just fine without this one, it does have the latest and greatest one UI 3 as well, but this phone is perfect for those of you who think the s20 ultra is just too much phone, you don't need this big beast: you're, not gonna, pay that 1400 bucks or whatever that thing can cost, and you were looking at the s181, and you're like the plastic is not for me. Well, let me confirm it for you here. This one is definitely slightly better than the s21 and I think, having the bigger display for a less price.

Big battery definitely makes it a nice sweet option in between the two. So that's it for me on the galaxy s21. What do you guys think about this phone? Is its just another forgotten Samsung phone in a couple of years? Are you picking one up? Are you happy with it? Did you buy one already? Let us know down below and help others out. If you have experience with this phone, so they can be. You know more informed about whether they want to buy this particular device thumbs up if you enjoyed it subscribe.

If you haven't already nick here be sure to be well, I will catch you all in the next episode and peace.

Source : Nick Ackerman