One can understand why most smartphone brands cleave to the “if it ain’t broke don’t fix it” mentality — if the moolah pours in why bother to change. Samsung could easily have released another samey series of flagship phones with the usual bright display complemented by a bunch of cameras and an increased price tag. Instead, the South Korean company decided to focus on ways to retain long-term users through a high degree of design and tech refinement.

Be it the improved fingerprint sensor, the sharp shooters, a polished-up video department and tweaked audio experience, the three devices in the Galaxy S21 series are among the best the company has produced in quite some time.

We have already seen the S21 Ultra 5G whose splurge factor buys consumers a stand-out camera system that walks toe-to-toe with the iPhone 12 Pro Max. Then there is the middle child in the series, the Galaxy S21+ 5G, which satisfies all the needs of the group of users who are not exactly interested in a few in-depth lessons in smartphone photography. Compromises have been made to keep the price down but they don’t deprive users of a great experience.

Display shines bright

Dropping in for review is the Phantom Violet edition, which, in a way, reminds me of swirling purple nebulae as much as the shade of the skin-tight costume of Phantom. Aesthetically, it’s different from any of the phones out there, taking it to the same club as the iPhone. There’s a nice gold trim on the aluminium frame, which automatically lends a good degree of durability. In way of design, Samsung has sorted out one of the biggest problems it has had in many years — the random placement of buttons. The left edge is absolutely clear while the volume rocker and power button are on the other side.

The only complain is the placement of the SIM card tray (no, there’s no microSD option). Having it on the chin is fine but the hole that attracts the SIM ejector pin looks the same as the microphone opening just next to it. Be careful, you may end up going down the wrong hole!

The 6.7-inch FHD+ dynamic AMOLED 2X display can get very bright when you are in open spaces, directly under the sun. To put it simply: No other brand makes a better display than Samsung. This time we have a flat panel, which is a welcome break. On older flagship phones without covers, there is always the chance of accidental touches on the bottom corner of the screen, where the palm rests. It can be irritating. There are no such problems on a flat display.

To the part about having a Quad HD+ display on the Ultra model and FHD+ on S21+. Don’t listen to the chatter on social media because it really doesn’t do any earth-shattering difference to your movie-viewing or gaming experience. What Samsung offers is 120Hz refresh rate by default; you can downgrade to 60Hz manually but you don’t have to. The adaptive refresh rate works according to the task at hand. If you are just checking the calendar, the software will automatically bring down the refresh rate and while scrolling things get bumped up.

Pictures taken on the S21+ 5G don’t come across oversaturated

Top-drawer camera performance

Diving into the camera, compromises had to be made to fit a price point. The Ultra has a 108MP shooter while here you get a 64MP shooter and on the former there is dual telephoto mechanism while here it’s one. Does that make a huge difference to your experience? No, because the phone has a target group in mind — people who want flagship experience but are not looking for smartphone photography lessons.

The 12MP wide and ultra-wide cameras are sharp, offering just the right kind of colour saturation. It’s a big achievement for Samsung as the company has always been accused of oversaturating images. The pictures have a natural feel to them… mostly! Some landscape shots may get an extra coat of paint but it looks good on social media.

The 64MP telephoto lens has 3x hybrid optic zoom with super resolution zoom up to 30x (unlike the 100x on the Ultra). Frankly, I rarely need anything beyond 2x optical zoom, so this is fair enough. Beyond 3x, pictures are definitely usable at 10x and even at 12-13x after which it becomes gimmicky.

I was expecting laser AF on the S21+ but the feature is on the Ultra model. There are no major autofocus issues and the camera locks in pretty quick. Night photography is also good, keeping noise to a minimum.

There are a lot of features on the video front, including 8K@24fps, in which the output is sharp and stable but it takes up a lot of storage space, which can be a bother because if you constantly record 8K, you will run out space and there is no microSD slot available.

The best option is recording at 4K@60fps or 4K@30fps. I prefer the latter because I am able to zoom out into ultra wide and then zoom in up to 12x, with the lenses offering enough sharpness and recording is up to scratch.

Also available is Director’s View mode in which you can record simultaneously on two cameras — one front and any of the rear. Plus, switching between lenses is quite smooth. But it hasn’t reached the iPhone+Filmic Pro combo level yet.

Is it for you?

Cutting corners meant leaving out S Pen support, which is now available on the Ultra model. It’s something you can do without. But cutting corners doesn’t involve leaving out Ultra Wide Band support. It’s there and it will come in handy when Samsung Galaxy SmartTag Plus (not the regular one) tracking device becomes available. The advanced version of the Tile-like tracker will give accurate location abilities. On the processor side there is the Exynos 2100, which has proved to be a versatile chip for Samsung and has redeemed the company’s reputation on the processor front. Being a power-efficient chip, it ensures that the 4,800mAh battery is difficult to drain. In fact, you can easily get a day and a half on the battery, even with heavy usage.

Agreed it doesn’t come with a charging brick, which means if you have an old one lying around it may not juice up the battery quickly. But it’s a move that Apple has also made and after Samsung, more companies will during the course of the year.

Samsung has used the new series to re-examine what smartphone hardware should be. The company has looked at what people want. And an eye is also on past drawbacks. The result? With the Galaxy S21+ 5G (upwards of Rs 81,999), Samsung has managed to craft a versatile performer. Screen to performance, everything just feels right.

High notes

• Excellent FHD+ dynamic AMOLED 2X display with 120Hz refresh rate
• Battery easily lasts a day and a half
• Switching between cameras is a seamless experience
• 8K video recording
• Fast wireless charging
• Refreshed design

Muffled notes

• The microphone hole can be confused with the one on the SIM ejector tray
• Lack of microSD card can be felt if you often record 8K videos