Even now, in 2025, the Galaxy S21 series is considered one of the best-looking Samsung flagships of the modern era. That’s mostly because no other phone series has seamlessly blended the camera housing and the frame like the S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra have.
However, the Galaxy S21 series also stands out as one of the modern Galaxy S lineups marked by unusual Samsung decisions. Here’s one you might not remember: the base Galaxy S21 had a plastic back panel, while the rest of the series was wrapped in Gorilla Glass Victus.
A real, short-lived attempt at cost-cutting?
That kind of discrepancy isn’t something we see today. Apart from the use of titanium in modern Galaxy S Ultra models (and the S25 Edge outlier), people expect a similar build quality across all three variants.
However, back in 2021, Samsung tried to introduce more plastic to the base flagship model. The Galaxy S21+ and the Galaxy S21 Ultra featured Gorilla Glass Victus panels at the front and back.
But the base S21 variant had a Glass Victus screen protection and a plastic back that sandwiched an aluminum frame. Thankfully, all three had an aluminum frame. Samsung wasn’t yet using titanium for the Ultra variant at that time.
Interestingly, the decision to wrap the Galaxy S21 in more plastic wasn’t all that controversial back in 2021. Phone durability wasn’t as high as it is today. Durability seems to have skyrocketed once Samsung introduced flat panels and the enhanced Armor Aluminum frame with the Galaxy S22 series a year later.
But in 2021, some Samsung fans rightfully argued that plastic could be a better choice because it was harder to crack and potentially cheaper to replace.
This argument probably makes less sense in 2025, as build quality is now better than ever. Either way, in retrospect, downgrading the S21 to plastic still seems like an odd decision on Samsung’s part. One we can probably chalk up to simple cost-cutting.
Thankfully, Samsung came back to its senses, and a year later, all three Galaxy S22 models had glass backs and even stronger aluminum frames. Their flat designs without Edge panels (sans the S22 Ultra) also made them more shatterproof.
All in all, this use of plastic is one of the few reasons why the Galaxy S21 is a bit of an oddball in Samsung’s post-2020 premium phone lineup. Similarly, the Galaxy S21 Ultra stands out because it remains the only Galaxy S Ultra phone with downgraded 25W charging.
Author’s Note: The Galaxy S21 wasn’t even the first high-end phone to try plastic instead of Gorilla Glass. The base Galaxy Note 20 variant introduced the strategy a few months earlier.
As for the S series, the last model in the main line to have had a plastic back before the Galaxy S21 was the Galaxy S5.
