The Galaxy S21 lineup is now available. Before you buy one, the biggest takeaway you need to know about the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G, along with the Galaxy S21 Plus 5G and Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, is that Samsung cut the US price of each by $200 (the savings are less in other countries). Clearly this wasn't done out of generosity and Samsung's made trade-offs to hit that lower price on the Galaxy S21: The wall charger and headphones don't come in the box, the phone doesn't have a microSD card slot for expanded storage and it has 4GB of RAM less than the S20. Samsung also removed half of the pixels from the screen and replaced the Gorilla Glass from the back with polycarbonate, which is a nice way of saying plastic.

Samsung's made some wise choices to get the price down on the Galaxy S21. Here's what we think of the new 5G phone.

Lower price; Design; Android 11/OneUI 3.1; High refresh rate screen;

Less RAM; Display is only HD; Gets warm when using it; Lacks a microSD slot;

It has certainly been a minute since we’ve made device-related videos, but with the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Ultra finally in house, we get to do just that. Tim has already unboxed the Galaxy S21 Ultra, leaving me with the “First 10 Things” duties. Ahhh, fresh videos. In this lengthy video, you...

Aside from a rejuvenated design and the obligatory spec bump, the Galaxy S21 does little to improve upon or surpass its predecessor (and in some areas steps backwards). That said, as ever this year's S21 has everything you'll likely want and need in a high-end 2021 smartphone, without pushing the...

Improved battery life; Superb performance; Decent software; Nice design

Cameras are relatively unchanged; Some downgrades from S20; No charger may irk some

There's a lift in design for the Galaxy S21, resulting in a phone that looks fresh and exciting, and a great display, offering adaptive refresh rates. While there's plenty of power - and a flagship performance - the camera doesn't reach the highs that you get from the Galaxy S21 Ultra, leaving this...

Distinctive design; Waterproofing; Great display; Smooth and powerful performance; Decent battery life

No microSD card slot; Camera performance could be better; Easily undercut by the S20 FE

This is the Exynos model, as well as the International model of the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G. It is the direct successor to the Exynos model of S20 of last year, and come in a 6.2-inches display with Full-HD+ resolution. The screen panel is Dynamic AMOLED 2X with upto 120Hz refresh rate.

More durable; lightweight design; improved image processing; tons of premium features; IP68 water resistance; upgraded in-screen fingerprint sensor; variable 120Hz refresh rate; full 5G connectivity

Samsung killed the microSD slot; no headphone jack; power brick doesn't come included; battery life could be a bit better

We take a deep dive with the Samsung Galaxy S21

Great look; Fast and snappy performance; Full of features to explore; Good camera quality; Speakers are improved over last gen

Plastic back is a no-no at $800; The plethora of features can be overwhelming; take it slow; The UI looks a bit flat and tacky; Bye; bye; microSD card slot

I use my smartphones as work tools so I personally focus my attention on the high-end flagships. This year Samsung is making a competitive pitch to also consider the entry level flagship Galaxy S21 5G with a starting price $200 less than last years Galaxy S20.

Small size in a sea of large slabs; Lovely design with matte finish back; 5G support for all bands; Highly capable rear cameras; Competitive pricing; High-end internal specifications

No charger in the box

The Samsung Galaxy S21 packs plenty of power into its small stature and sets the stage for better 5G phone performance in the future.

Hand-friendly form factor; Bright; colorful screen; Better Night photo mode than previous Samsung phones; Supports future 5G network features

5G battery life is just on the edge of acceptable; Future network features don't exist yet

When Samsung introduced the Galaxy S21, it made an incredibly rare move in the high-end smartphone space: It lowered its prices. The Galaxy S21 5G series — across the board — debuts for $200 less than the launch prices of the Galaxy S20 phones. Faced with the reality that Galaxy S20 sales were markedly lower than that of both the S9 and S10, and that 2021 may not end up being as economically stable as originally hoped, this seems like the right move. But Samsung isn’t making this move out of charity — it’s choosing to lower the price to hopefully boost sales, and will make plenty of money on each phone sold regardless. The reality of these prices is that the Galaxy S21 and S21+ aren’t full upgrades over the S20 series phones they replace — and that has smartphone enthusiasts left scratching their heads. On the face of it, there is simply no reason for anyone with a Galaxy S20 to consider buying an S21. Samsung certainly knew this going in, considering it is well aware that a vast major...

Slick and colorful hardware; Excellent display; Improved fingerprint sensor; Lower price leads to great value;

Plastic back on base S21; Not a 2021 flagship camera experience; Galaxy S21+ value disappointing at $1,000;