The eagerly awaited Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphones have finally been unveiled at today’s virtual Galaxy Unpacked event dubbed Epic Everyday.
Samsung went with flatter displays for all the devices in the S21 lineup that includes The Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21+ and a slightly curved display with Galaxy S21 Ultra.
The S21 lineup has a weird camera bump with a metal frame that spills to the sides.
The S21 Ultra and the S21 Plus feature Gorilla Glass Victus on both sides while the smaller S21 has a plastic back.
In terms of displays, Samsung dumbed down on the resolutions for the S21 and the S21 Plus from 1440p to 1080p. The S21 Ultra has a 1440p resolution.
The S21 has a 6.2″ display while the S21 Plus has a 6.7″ display and the S21 Ultra features a6.8″ display.
The display have latest Gorilla Glass Victus protection, a center punchhole selfie camera and adaptive refresh rate[between 48Hz and 120Hz]
Running the devices will either be Exynos 2100 chip or Snapdragon 888 depending on the market. In Kenya, we usually get the former.
The S21 and the S21 Plus come with 8GB of RAM with 128GB or 256GB of onboard storage while the S21 Ultra will ship with either 12GB or 16GB of RAM and 512GB of storage.
We have One UI 3.0 and Android 11 straight out of the box.
[UPDATED] These Samsung Galaxy Devices Are Slated to Get Android 11, Android 12 and Android 13
In terms of optics, we get a 12MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide and the 64Mp hybrid telephoto camera for the S21 and the S21 Plus.
Both will have a 10MP selfie camera
The S21 Ultra gets a 108MP main camera, 12MP ultrawide, two telephoto cameras(10MP with 3x optical zoom and 10MP with 10x optical zoom)
The S21 Ultra gets a 40MP selfie camera.
Powering the S21, the S21 Plus and the S21 Ultra will be a 400mAh battery, a 4800mAh battery and 5000mAh battery respectively.
You are getting 25W fast wired and 15W fast wireless charging for all of them.
Here’s what you’re getting in terms of colors:
- S21: Phantom White, Phantom Grey, Phantom Pink or Phantom Violet
- S21 Plus: Phantom Violet, Phantom Silver or Phantom Black
- S21 Ultra: Phantom Black or Phantom Silver
In terms of pricing:
- S21: $799 | Kshs 100,000 – 128GB storage and Ksh 106,000 for the 256GB storage
- S21 Plus: $999 | Kshs 125,000
- S21 Ultra: $1199 | Kshs 154,000 – 256GB storage and Ksh 174,000 for the 512GB storage
When to Pre-order in Kenya
Pre-orders for the S21 series in Kenya will begin from the 22nd(Friday Next week) and the pre-order period will run for three weeks. Early deliveries will be done by the fourth week.
The S21 Ultra will have a bundle offer. Samsung Kenya is offering Care+ in tow too – all valid within the pre-order period.
The company will offer 10 percent discount for a family package (if more than 2 S21 series phones are bought)
You will also be getting 1GB of free Safaricom data.
From tomorrow, the new S21 smartphones will be available in official Samsung retail stores for consumers to check out.