Today, Samsung announced the Galaxy S21 series of smartphones, which are its flagships for this year. In fact, rumor has it that the Galaxy Note series is dead, so this might be the only traditional phone launch that we see, with the H2 launch being for foldable smartphones.
As expected, the Galaxy S21 series comes with Qualcomm"s Snapdragon 888 chipset in the United States. Elsewhere, you"re going to get Samsung"s new Exynos 2100 chipset. They also come with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of storage.
As you can see, there"s a new camera design. Gone is the rectangle with rounded corners, which was copied by almost every OEM last year, and it"s been replaced by a camera bump that blends into the corner of the device. The camera itself is 12MP f/1.8 with OIS, and that"s joined by a 64MP telephoto lens that has Hybrid Optic 3x zoom and a 12MP ultra-wide sensor. Samsung is promising 30x Space Zoom, adding 3x Hybrid Optic zoom to digital zoom.
As for the display, both of them are FHD+ now at 120Hz, with the S21 coming in at 6.2 inches and the S21+ coming in at 6.7 inches. Last year, the S20+ came with QHD resolution, but users had to choose between QHD at 60Hz and FHD at 120Hz. There"s no choice in resolution anymore; they"re just FHD Dynamic AMOLED displays.
As for the battery, you"ll get 4,000mAh in the S21 and a larger 4,800mAh battery in the S21+. Naturally, the S21+ is heavier too at 202g, while the S21 only weighs 171g.
Ultimately, there"s not a whole lot that"s new here, as this is a pretty iterative refresh. It"s got the faster processor, a new design, and so on. Pre-orders for the new devices kick off today at 11am ET, and they"ll be available on January 29. The S21 comes in Phantom Violet, Phantom Gray, Phantom Pink, and Phantom White, while the S21+ comes in Phantom Violet, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Black. There are other colors exclusive to Samsung.com like Phantom Gold and Phantom Red. The S21 starts at $799.99 while the S21+ starts at $999.99.