The Samsung Galaxy S21 – the tech titan's next big flagship smartphone – is finally here. Samsung unveiled the new phone range at its swish Samsung Unpacked event, alongside a couple of other new products.
It seems like only yesterday that the five-star Samsung Galaxy S20 hit stores, but Samsung isn't one to rest on its laurels. The company launches a new Galaxy S series flagship phone every year like clockwork and nothing – not even a global pandemic, it seems – has been able to blow the Galaxy S21 off course. In fact, it actually arrived earlier than the S20 did last year.
The three handsets in the range boast next-gen processors, new cameras and a big boost in battery life. They're cheaper than last year's models, too – which is pretty much unheard of from a major new phone line.
Temped? We don't blame you. Here we'll run down what each model offers so you can weigh up whether to upgrade.
The Galaxy S21 launched on 14th January 2021 and will start shipping on the 29th January. You can pre-order all three phones in the range right now on www.samsung.com
Samsung fans have had 14th January circled in their diaries for many months. There have been many leaks surrounding the release of the hotly-anticipated smartphone, including this 3rd November tweet from tipster Jon Prosser, who advised tech fans to keep the 14th January free. Looks like he was right.
Price
The Galaxy S20 5G price started at $999 / £899 / AU$1,499 so this is quite a bit cheaper than 2020’s phone due to the slight cut in specs. If you want the very top-end specs, you’ll be looking for the Galaxy S21 Ultra that has a much higher price but sports elements like a WQHD+ display and expandable storage.
Design and display
The Galaxy S21 has a 6.2-inch AMOLED display and matte finish in four colors: Phantom Gray, Phantom White, Phantom Violet, and Phantom Pink. It looks like things haven’t changed too much from the S20, outside of the shiny finish being exchanged for a matte one.
Look closer though and there are changes. Samsung’s new flagship gets a flat instead of a curved screen, and the Full HD+ resolution is now your only option, dialed back from Quad HD. You don’t have to choose between the 120Hz refresh rate and Quad HD resolution here, as was the case with the S20, as the latter isn’t available. Many people won’t notice, as 1080p is a more than adequate resolution for most people on a phone of this size.
The in-screen fingerprint sensor area is now larger in the S21 lineup, meaning your wayward thumb has a better chance at logging into your phone than on the previous two generations of Samsung’s handsets. It’s also supposedly faster to recognize your fingerprint, but we’ll need more time to test that out – if so, it’ll be a huge relief when wearing a mask (something Apple's Face ID isn't able to fix).
What you’re missing compared to the S21 Plus and S21 Ultra is the glass back, while the S21 Ultra counts the curved display edges, Quad HD resolution, and S Pen compatibility as exclusives, along with larger screen sizes.
Read more on
www.samsung.com
