Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra leak just revealed all the specs

A new leak has revealed the specs for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra and what looks to be official marketing images of the upcoming flagship phone. 

WinFuture’s Roland Quandt posted a suite of images for the Galaxy S21 Ultra and revealed a plethora of details around the phone’s chipset, storage, display, cameras and more. If these leaks are to be believed, then the Galaxy S21 Ultra will be a solid upgrade over the Galaxy S20 Ultra. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra specs 

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra design and display

In keeping with what the other leaks and renders have revealed so far, the front of the Galaxy S21 Ultra looks much like the Galaxy S20 Ultra, only Samsung will drop the latter’s curved edges in favor of a flatter design. 

According to the leaked specs, the S21 Ultra’s 6.8-inch display will sport a 3200 x 1440 resolution and come with a 120Hz refresh rate display, all protected by seventh-generation Gorilla Glass Victus. 

That’s very similar to the S20 Ultra’s 6.9-inch display, but the S21 Ultra will have an LTPO panel – like the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. This will allow the display to dynamically adjust its refresh rate from 120Hz to 1Hz in order to save on power consumption when a high refresh rate isn’t necessary. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra CPU, RAM and storage

Speaking of power, Quandt’s leak says that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will come with Samsung’s Exynos 2100 chip in Europe and the Snapdragon 888 in the U.S.. Both chips are expected to deliver better performance and more energy efficiency, as they’re based on new 5-nanometer process node. So the S21 Ulta could last longer than its predecessor. 

The octa-core Exynos 2100 is tipped to run up to 2.9 GHz, which should give the Galaxy S21 Ultra a hefty dose of performance when it comes to multitasking and running demanding games. 

Backing up the chip is 12GB of RAM  and up to 512GB of onboard storage; there’s no mention of whether this will be expandable through a microSD card. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra quad cameras 

Head round to the back of the Galaxy S21 and you’ll notice its biggest change: the rear camera module. The rectangular unit now curves around the top left-hand-side edges of the handset, which looks slightly odd, but is certainly eye-catching. 

More compelling is the the quartet cameras the model holds. The main camera has a 108MP lens that’s apparently an upgrade on the S20 Ultra’s, and that’s supported by a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 10MP 3x telephoto camera and a 10MP telephoto lens capable of a 10x hybrid zoom.

This camera setup looks set to deliver some impressive standard and zoomed-in shots. It’s not clear whether the 100x Space Zoom (digital zoom) of the Galaxy S20 Ultra will make it over to the S21 Ultra, as the feature was dropped in the Note 20 Ultra.

The rear camera array will be supported by an LED flash and laser autofocus. We’re hoping the latter will deliver better autofocus than the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which initially delivered less-than-impressive results; software updates did help.

However, a lot of the photo results of the Galaxy S21 will hinge on any upgrades and fine tuning Samsung may do to with its computational photography. It will need to bring its A-game, as phones like the Google Pixel 5 and iPhone 12 Pro have delivered very impressive smartphone photography.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra: Battery and charging

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is tipped to come with the same 5,000 mAh battery as its predecessor. However, this phone should be able to last longer on a charge for a couple of different reasons. The Snapdragon 888 chip is more efficient, and the dynamic display scales the refresh rate dynamically. 

On the charging front, WinFuture says the S21 Ultra can be charged quickly via 45W charging, but it likely will be optional. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra: No charger, S Pen optional

Beyond the Galaxy S21 Ultra itself, Quandt’s leak noted that Samsung will be both taking away and adding to its next flagship. In Germany, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is only expected to come with a USB-C charging cable and pretty much nothing else in the box. Like Apple, it would appear that Samasing is dropping the bundled charging brick, either in a bid to save money or reduce electronic waste. 

But what Samsung taketh away it giveth….kinda. The much rumored S Pen support for the Galaxy S21 Ultra looks to be almost certain, with Quandt nothing that Samsung’s stylus will be an optional extra. Just don’t expect a Note-like experience, as the S21 Ultra will apparently have no housing for the S Pen outside of an optional cover case. 

Finally, the Galaxy S21 will come with a host of other features, such as reverse wireless charging, dual SIM support, DeX, IP68 waterproofing and Samsung Knox security. And it will apparently be available in silver and black. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra outlook

Overall, it looks like Samsung is going for evolution and not revolution with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Given how impressive the Galaxy S20 Ultra was, that’s not a bad thing. One could argue Samsung might be playing at a little safe, but it has its foldable phones as vehicles for its innovation. 

Slated for a January 14 reveal and availability at the end of the month, we’ll soon see whether the Galaxy S21 Ultra will earn a spot on our best phones list or fade into mediocrity.