Affiliate links on Android Authority may earn us a commission. Learn more.
The Galaxy M21 2021 Edition is here, but the old M21 is still good (Update)
- Samsung has launched the Galaxy M21 2021 Edition in India.
- The phone is apparently identical to the previous model in terms of hardware.
Update: July 20, 2021 (6:15 AM ET): Samsung has announced the Galaxy M21 2021 Edition in India. The phone features identical specs to its predecessor with a mild visual refresh. Read more about the phone, including pricing and availability details, at the link.
Original article: July 9, 2021 (2:10 AM ET): Samsung‘s Galaxy M series of phones are pretty solid budget devices, and the Galaxy M21 was definitely one of the better phones in this family. We previously heard about a Samsung Galaxy M21 2021 Edition launching, and we’ve now seen some apparent specs.
91Mobiles and frequent tipster Ishan Agarwal uncovered the phone’s specs, and it unfortunately looks like you’re getting the same phone as last year. In fact, the duo report that the only major difference is that the new phone will come with One UI 3.1 Core atop Android 11 out of the box. The original phone launched with Android 10 but received Android 11 down the road.
Otherwise, you can expect a 6.4-inch FHD+ OLED panel, an Exynos 9611 SoC, up to 6GB of RAM, up to 128GB of storage, and a 6,000mAh battery with 15W charging. The Galaxy M21 (and therefore the 2021 Edition) also offers a triple rear camera, featuring a 48MP main sensor, 8MP ultra-wide lens, and 5MP depth sensor. A 20MP sensor handles selfies and video calls.
It’s a pity we don’t see improvements like a better chipset, as the Exynos 9611 still uses much older Cortex-A73 and Cortex-A53 CPU cores as well as aging Mali-G72 MP3 graphics. Otherwise, this still seems like a solid if unspectacular budget proposition in 2021.
There’s no word on pricing, but the original model launched at roughly Rs 13,000 (~$174), so we’d expect a similar price tag for the Galaxy M21 2021 Edition.