Samsung Galaxy S line has been doing great over the years, and cemented the Android brand depending on who you are asking. All members of the flagship line have been launched in Kenya, including the most recent S20 series.
It has been many months since the S20 series started selling, and as is the usual, Samsung is prepping its successors in the name of S21.
It is also being speculated that Samsung might actually release the phones earlier than expected; usually, the phones are announced in Feb at big trade shows, mainly MWC. However, we are fairly certain the 2021 version of the tech conference will not happen as was 2020’s because of the Coronavirus pandemic.
To this end, we have gotten wind of what the S21 line will bring to the table, and the specs appear quite appealing of they will actually roll down the production line. They have to be appealing because the phones are facing bitter rivalry from Apple’s iPhone 12 series that has won many hearts, especially in the manner it takes and processes images and processing power provided by the class-leading 5nm A14 Bionic silicon.
Besides the rumoured specs, the devices have been visualized with CAD renders that look quite good.
As has been the case, we are expecting three models: the normal S21, S21 Plus and an Ultra model.
Galaxy S21 expected specs:
Screen: 6.2” FullHD+, 120 Hz
Chip: Exynos 2100 or S875 depending on market
Battery: 4000 mAh
Main camera: 12 MP main, 12 MP ultra-wide, 64 MP telephoto
Galaxy S21 Plus expected specs:
Screen: 6.7” FullHD+, 120 Hz
Chip: Exynos 2100 or S875 depending on market
Battery: 4800 mAh
Main camera: 12 MP main, 12 MP ultra-wide, 64 MP telephoto
Galaxy S21 Ultra expected specs:
Screen: 6.8” FWQHD+, 120 Hz
Chip: Exynos 2100 or S875 depending on market
Battery: 5000 mAh
Main camera: 108 MP second gen main, 12 MP ultra-wide, 10 MP 3x optical telephoto, 10 MP 10x optical telephoto
It should be noted that Qualcomm has not announced the S875 yet, so we are not sure if it will affect an expected January launch. The Exynos 2100 is already live, and rumour has it that it will outperform the 875. The 2100 is a 5nm chip, making it one of the few processors that have achieved that feat besides the A14 Bionic. It is also worth noting that Exynos has not been popular in recent years, having been linked to performance inadequacies and poor battery life compared to its matching Qualcomm chip.
The chips all support 5G, so it is not clear if Samsung will launch variants with 4G only for emerging markets.
The cameras appear to have an upper hand for the Ultra model. For now, we are not sure how the improvements will be replicated in real life cases hardware does not tell the whole story. Samsung has also been trailing, with the competition offering so much better in terms of optics. Nevertheless, the Note20 series has been trying to reclaim that position with varying rates of success.
Battery size has not changed as much, but we expect Samsung will do something about charging speeds. Its S20 series can only do 25W in a space where the competition offers double, perhaps more.
What do you want to see in the next Galaxy S phone?
