When I’ve used a device for a while, I get used to its “rhythms” – the things it does, the way it does them, and how quickly they are done.
Around March to April this year (2022), something didn’t quite feel right with my phone.
When it started behaving weirdly in certain situations, I knew something was awry.
I assumed it was low storage, or the Android 12 update not playing well with my phone, but none of the fixes I tried solved the issue.
The issue only got worse over time, so I backed everything up, and began a factory reset.
The problem went away, but unfortunately a set of new issues arised. These have also now gone completely (as of November 2022), so maybe it was just a case of one or two apps tripping the system, or a result of the phone optimising itself to my usage.
However, this strange experience made me wonder – if I alone couldn’t solve the phone’s issues, maybe it was firmware related?
Slow motion videos
On the whole, the phone has been great, but every now-and-then things will slow down, the phone will stutter and only a restart will solve it for a time.
In September last year (2021), I went for a walk and decided to take some slow motion and super slow motion videos – so that I could document my adventures.
While recording, I noticed the video footage stuttered to no end. I hoped it was just the camera UI, and that the resulting video would be unaffected.
However, I was wrong. The videos were a stuttery, jerky mess. It was clear something was wrong – even though, as a whole, the phone was perfect.
The jerkiness was only evident in videos. Using the phone normally didn’t reproduce the stutters, so it wasn’t like it was a system wide issue. It was just with taking videos.
That meant I couldn’t return the phone on a whim. Also…
Maybe it was something I was doing?
It was a hot day, so the phone may have been overheating. I was also moving when taking the videos, so maybe that also contributed to the jerkiness?
It may have also been a case of low storage, or too many apps installed – causing the RAM to be overloaded.
While the former certainly wasn’t true – I had over 50GB left of the 256GB storage – the latter may have played a part. And this was with the virtual, RAM Plus feature enabled.
These are not acceptable excuses, however – my Galaxy S9+ was very capable of taking slow motion videos, even while I was running or jogging, and sometimes also on hot days.
And, my Galaxy S9+ was also capable of capturing videos when I’d eaten whole big chunk of the internal storage with a myriad of apps and games.
Unfortunately, this points to the phone itself not being capable of handling tasks that rely heavily on the processor, regardless of weather. And that has to be a problem with either the RAM, the internal storage, or the Exynos processor.
UPDATE: November 2022 – my Galaxy S21 has been working perfectly since October, with none of the aforementioned flaws.
Therefore, I’m now almost certain that the issues I was encountering were bugs in the firmware, which have now been fixed with patches via monthly OTA updates.
120Hz, or not?
Another bug which has introduced itself (but which, as of November 2022, seems to have been patched), is that even with 120Hz mode activated, I’ve noticed the phone is visually reduced to 30-ish Hz.
I’m used to using phones at 60Hz, so even with 120Hz activated, it’s been very easy to notice the drop.
In Developers Options you can turn on a counter to monitor the screen refresh rate, but even when enabled, the phone believes it’s at 120Hz – when, visually, it really isn’t.
So if the phone is reporting that it’s okay, what’s causing the considerable lag? Is it the screen? Processor? What is it?!
S21 not performing as it should – as a “Galaxy S” flagship
Maybe my issues are an issue with the hardware issue, or maybe it was the firmware.
There were reports in 2021 about the phone lagging, which I didn’t personally experience, but which were reportedly fixed with firmware updates.
(I’ve updated this blog in November 2022, as my problems seem to have disappeared.
But if my issues were a result of firmware glitches, as I’ve said above, this has obviously been solved with the very regular monthly patches.)
However, if like the Galaxy S20 FE’s “ghost touch issues” it was a hardware issue – which could never be fully repaired, and only partially sedated with software and firmware updates for the S20 FE – I fear that the problems could return to my Galaxy S21 with the One UI 5 / Android 13 OS update (due to be released for the Galaxy S21 in late 2022, or maybe early 2023).
Drawing conclusions
If it was a hardware issue, a lá the S20 FE, I have to ask myself was it wise for me to stick with Samsung?
As a whole, the phone has performed brilliantly. It has done everything I wanted, in a smaller form factor than my S9 Plus, and especially smaller than its much bigger siblings – the Galaxy S21 Pro and Galaxy S21 Ultra.
But with occasional stutters that really shouldn’t happen on a flagship smartphone, it’s really not acceptable.
Sure, I picked the smaller device of the 3 Galaxy S21’s, and I’ve seen people say on Reddit and Twitter that this is what you get when you opt for the smaller, less able phone.
But this shouldn’t matter. A smaller size shouldn’t mean a huge disparity in performance between the Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra.
After all, it is a Galaxy S21-series phone, which was sold alongside it’s bigger Pro and Ultra siblings. The three were marketed together as Samsung’s flagship phones.
If it really is a flagship phone, it shouldn’t just promise flagship performance, it should actually deliver it. But if it isn’t a flagship, this should be made more obvious – like how Samsung itself released the cheaper S20 “Fan Edition” as a newer, cheaper alternative to the S20, S20 Plus and S20 Ultra family.
Apple sells the iPhone SE and the iPhone 13 mini, but whereas the SE is made to be cheaper, the 13 mini was released and marketed as an iPhone 13 series flagship phone. The size isn’t a problem, as although it has a smaller battery, it has the exact same internals – the same SoC, and largely the same performance.
Therefore, even Apple treats the 13 mini as a flagship iPhone – and this is reflected (and thus, explained) in both the hardware & features, and the price.
As my Galaxy S21 was released alongside the S21 Plus and S21 Ultra, its name, price and marketing suggests it’s just as much a flagship as its Plus & Ultra siblings. The phones performance should reflect this, regardless of it being smaller and slightly cheaper than the other two phones.
Summing up (UPDATE: Nov 2022)
It’s fair to say that my experience with the Galaxy S21 has been a bit of a mixed bag so far.
Although it initially failed to deliver on its promises, on the whole it has been perfect, and over time it has gotten a lot better.
As of November 2022, I’m glad to say that it’s now almost perfect. While not every issue has gone completely, they’re now a lot less frequent and a lot less evident.
Again, on the whole my Galaxy S21 has been perfect, but for comparison my older Galaxy S9+ hasn’t had any of the aforementioned issues at all. In fact, its only issue these days is its lack of battery life – unfortunately a result of a solid two-and-a-bit years of use. But the old outperforming the new was at first disparaging and almost heart-breaking.
It made me feel that all my research & blogging about My Next Phone, and the decisions that I made along the way, were a complete waste of time.
But, thankfully, that isn’t the case. Although the launch of the iPhone 14 series in September 2022 made me want to jump ship to an iPhone in 2023, the fact that my Galaxy S21 has started to come good is making me proud to own it.
It’s a shame it has taken this long though, and unfortunately the real damage to my mind was done in the summer, and when Aplle launched the iPhone 14 Pro, I felt myself yearning for a new iPhone.
I already own an iPhone 6s, and although it’s been a pleasure to use, it hasn’t convinced me that iOS is a perfect fit for me.
That said, the issues with my S21 really reached a head in September, and it convinced me that my next, Next Phone – in 2023 – would be the iPhone 14 Pro.
Not that I don’t love Android, but I’m not sure I like the recent direction of the Android OS as a whole – it’s trying too much to be like iOS. Which is ironic, as with iOS 16, Apple is trying to be more like Android with more customisation.
Also, the iPhone itch is one I’ve had for a while, and unlike the majority of Android OEM’s – who, annoyingly, keep offering huge screens at lower price points – Apple still make small-ish phones, which ticks one of the major boxes on my original checklist.
It’s on Samsung now to deliver with the update to One UI 5 and Android 13, because if they slip up, I’m not as hesitant as I used to be to make the jump – if only for a few years.
– Chris JK.
Next up – my S21’s Cameras!
KPH tech blog 
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