Samsung Galaxy S21 release date, price, specs and leaks

The Samsung Galaxy S21 rumors have been picking up steam for a while now, and at it’s got to the point where we know just about everything there is to know about Samsung’s next flagship phones. This lineup is expected to debut in a month’s time, arriving before the end of January.

It may not have been long since the launch of the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, but we’ve already seen some massive leaks. And now, even Samsung has started dropping hints about what to expect from future phones.

Judging from everything we’ve seen, the Samsung Galaxy S21 should have faster performance from Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888 chip, a more sophisticated camera system, and a flatter overall design. We could also see some Galaxy Note features find their way into the S20 lineup. Of course, there are plenty of other things that could be improved, judging from our Galaxy S20 review, Galaxy S20 Plus review and Galaxy S20 Ultra review.

Here’s everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S21 right now, along with a few things we’d like Samsung to include when the phones see the light of day.

Samsung Galaxy S21 news (Updated December 31) 

Samsung Galaxy S21 release date

It looks like the Samsung Galaxy S21 launch date is January 14, with an expected release date of January 22. This is based on a leak provided by Android Authority, which got in touch with staff at the Samsung opera House, one of India’s biggest Samsung stores.

That corroborates existing rumors about the phone’s launch event, but bumps up the release date by a week.

If you want more proof that a Galaxy S21 launch is imminent, Samsung has started letting people reserve their place in line to pre-order the “next Galaxy” device. The S21 isn’t mentioned by name, but it’s a pretty safe bet that’s what Samsung is referring to. Samsung has launched similar pages for past flagship phone releases, usually a few weeks ahead of a phone’s unveiling.

Samsung Galaxy S21 price

Samsung made a gamble with the Galaxy S20 line by not offering a cheaper Galaxy S20e variant in the $700 to $750 range. Instead, the cheapest Galaxy S20 was $999. 

Leaker Max Weinbach has suggested  S21 models could be cheaper than their predecessors. But Indian publication TechQuila noted that the prices will start in the same range as before, which means we would be looking at S21 $999 / £899 / AU$1,499 for the entry-level model. 

However, a new leak from Ishan Agarwal has the basic Galaxy S21 tipped to start at €849, while the the Galaxy S21 Plus will be €1,049 (with a 256GB model for €1,099) and the Galaxy S21 Ultra will cost €1,399. In dollars, those prices range from $1,040 to $1,715, but given costs between regions are never exact currency conversions, take these prices with a pinch of salt. For what it’s worth, the prices for the S21 and S21 Plus are both cheaper than what Samsung charges for the comparable S20 models in Euros.

Samsung Galaxy S21 specs

Full specs for all three Samsung Galaxy S21 models have leaked courtesy of Android Police, with WinFuture providing info on storage capacities. The camera and processor specs were later confirmed by Android Authority, speaking to staff in India.

Here’s a look at what to expect:

Samsung Galaxy S21 design

The Galaxy S21 may look pretty similar to the Galaxy S20 based on the renders we’ve seen. According to Ice Universe on social media site Voice, The S21 has a vertical camera stack that looks similar to the Galaxy Note 20 series, and the front display is flat instead of curved. The trade-off is that the bezels look a bit thicker for the Galaxy S21.

Ice Universe has also leaked the rough dimensions of the Samsung Galaxy S21. 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9mm (9.0mm with the camera bump included). That’s a pretty big camera bump. By comparison, the Galaxy S20 is 151.7 x 69.1x 7.9 mm, so the S21 could wind up being wider than its predecessor.

IceUniverse has also revealed that the S21 and S21 Plus will both come with the same 2.5D screens included with their S20 counterparts, while the S21 Ultra will come with a more traditional curved display.

There’s also speculation about whether the S21 will get Samsung’s newly patented ‘blade bezel’ design, which aims to almost completely eliminate the bezel. If implemented we could see very thin and flat edges along the S21, and coupled with the curves of the 2.5D display they could end up being very hard to stop.

That said it seems unlikely Samsung would have it ready so soon after receiving the patent. So we don’t expect to see blade bezels on the S21 range.

Samsung has been working on a “perfect full-screen phone” design for well over year, and there were hopes that the Samsung Galaxy S21 could make this vision a reality. Samsung Display started talking about the possibility of eliminating the punch holes on the front of its phones in March 2019.

The idea is that the camera hole would be invisible, “while not affecting the camera’s function in any way.” However, based on early leaks appears that an under-display camera isn’t coming to the Galaxy S21.

We may finally be getting an official glimpse at the Galaxy S21 lineup, thanks to a Max Weinbach report at Android Police. That article shows clips from three teaser videos featuring the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra. The S21 and S21 Plus look a lot a like with flat displays, triple camera arrays and a frame that extends into the camera bump (pictured above).

Those same teaser videos depict the Galaxy S21 Ultra with a curved display and four rear cameras. Subsequent leaked images supplied by Roland Quandt to WinFuture show off what the Galaxy S21 Ultra will look like.

Samsung Galaxy S21 cameras

Speaking of camera arrays, the Galaxy S21’s cameras are shaping up to be largely similar to what we saw on the Galaxy S20, but with some key upgrades to the most premium model.

The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus will once again sport triple cameras in the back, sporting an ultrawide 12MP sensor, a 12MP main sensor and a 64MP telephoto lens. The highest-end Galaxy S21 Ultra will pack a second-generation version of the 108MP sensor found in the S21 Ultra and Note 21 Ultra, with a new 3x optical telephoto sensor and a 10x optical “super” telephoto sensor. 

That should lead to a big bump in zoom quality. And according to Android Police, Samsung will be bringing back 100x Space Zoom, while introducing laser autofocus on the S21 Ultra to avoid some of the focus problems from last year’s model.

For Samsung’s part, the company is promising “super-intelligent, pro-grade camera and video capabilities in 2021,” based on a post from TM Roh, president of Samsung Electronics.

Samsung Galaxy S21 processor

If Samsung follows past practices, it will use two different chipsets to power the Galaxy S21 — the latest Snapdragon 8 Series system-on-chip for phones released in the U.S. and one of its one Exynos processors for models that ship in the rest of the world. 

In the U.S. the Galaxy S21 should be powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888, which is the company’s first 5nm chip. It will have a prime Arm Cortex-X1 prime CPU, three Arm Cortex A-78 CPUs and four efficiency cores. You can expect a 25% boost in overall CPU performance along with 25% better power efficiency. 

In addition, the Adreno GPU in the Snapdragon 888 should deliver up to 35% boost in graphics performance. This should be the biggest leap yet. 

Samsung’s next processor is the Exynos 2100, and it’ll be another 5-nanometer chip. This chip was originally thought to be called the Exynos 1000 and could come with a graphics accelerator made with AMD. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 performance and early benchmarks

As noted, the Galaxy S21 series will likely be powered by Qualcomm’s new Snapdragon 888 chip. Early leaked benchmarks for the Galaxy S21 Plus didn’t look promising, though we suspect the phone may not have been using an optimized version of the chip.

However, Qualcomm has subsequently released its own benchmarks for the Snapdragon 888 as it powered a reference device. While a lot can change with Samsung’s implementation of the mobile processing platform for its own phones, Qualcomm’s numbers paint a more encouraging picture, with performance and graphics results well ahead of the Snapdragon 865-powered Galaxy S20. On the multicore Geekbench 5 test, the Snapdragon 888 came within shouting distance of Apple’s A14 Bionic.

Samsung Galaxy S21: No charger included

Apple drew the ire of many when it announced it would ditch packed-in headphones and charging adapters with the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 Pro. Leaker Ishan Agarwal wrote in a now-deleted tweet that the Galaxy S21 won’t include a charger or headphones in the box (at least for the UK). A USB charging cable is set to be the only bundled accessory.

Previously SamMobilecited “Korean media” in its report saying that Samsung would ditch the in-box charger. It’s a predictable step; removing packed-in accessories allows Samsung to reduce its environmental impact while increasing margins on its handsets. Regulatory filings in Brazil also suggest that there won’t be an included charger with the Galaxy S21.

Samsung Galaxy S21: S Pen support

Based on reporting from South Korean publication The Elec, the Galaxy S21 Ultra may feature an S Pen. However, it’s more likely that the phone will offer S Pen support but not feature a holster for the stylus. It would be optional, with cases providing a way to store the S Pen.

These rumors were confirmed by a massive leak from Android Central, which noted that the Galaxy S21 Ultra will indeed support the S Pen but as an optional accessory. WinFuture has also confirmed S Pen support for the Ultra model, with the status of support for the S21 and S21 Plus still unclear. And an FCC listing for the Galaxy S21 Ultra essentially confirms that S Pen support is a done deal.

Roh’s post outlining Samsung’s plans for its 2021 phones all but confirms that S Pen support is coming to the Galaxy S21 Ultra, and possibly other models. In that post, Samsung’s president says that his company has taken a look at “people’s favorite aspects of the Galaxy Note experience and are excited to add some of its most-loved features to other devices in our lineup.” The Note’s most significant feature is its stylus, so we take that to mean other phones will get S Pen support, and the S21’s early release puts it first in line.

Samsung Galaxy S21 battery

Leaks about the Galaxy S21 suggest little is changing about the phone’s battery capacity, at least compared to last year’s Galaxy S models. 

The Galaxy S21 is expected to have a 4,000 mAh battery, the same size as the power pack found in the Galaxy S20. Likewise, the Galaxy S21 Ultra should retain the 5,000 mAh battery found in the S20 Ultra. Only the S21 Plus is getting a battery boost, up to 4,800 mAh compared to the 4,500 mAh in the Galaxy S21 Plus.

Despite the equally sized batteries, though, the Galaxy S21 is expected to offer longer battery life than its predecessor. A big reason why is Samsung’s rumored switch to an FHD+ display in its new phone. That won’t draw as much power, so the S21 could offer as much as two hours more battery life than the S20 did.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra

The major difference between the S21 and the S21 Ultra is the size. The standard S21 is set to come rocking a 6.2-inch display and measuring 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9mm (9.0mm with the camera bump).

According to OnLeaks, who published the first renders of the phone, the S21 Ultra will have a larger display, between 6.7- and 6.9-inches in size, while leaker Ishan Agarwal says it will come with a 6.8-inch display — which is slightly less than the 6.9-inch display on the S20 Ultra. It might even feature a peak refresh rate of 144Hz, though it appears the jury is still out on the legitimacy of that rumor.

The phone will measure 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9mm (10.8mm with the bump), according to OnLeaks. So it’s longer, wider, and ever so slightly thicker than the standard S21 — especially when you take the camera bump into consideration.

OnLeaks’ renders also showed the S21 Ultra with a curved display, and seemingly more pronounced than the 2.5D glass used on the S20 and S20+ last year. That suggests that, like the S20 Ultra, Samsung is sticking to an Edge-style curved display we’ve had for years rather than the more subtle bends of 2.5D. That information has also been corroborated by IceUniverse.

Those renders also showed the S21 Ultra sporting a fourth camera lens, and a wider camera bump to accommodate both it and the flash. However OnLeaks later released an updated render claiming there was actually a fifth lens included on the back of the S21 Ultra.

Further case leaks from IceUniverse still show the phone with four lenses, so we’re not quite sure which is which, but that doesn’t stop us speculating as to what a five-lens S21 Ultra may involve.

So would all those lenses be for? There have been rumors from Korean tech site The Elec claiming that the S21 would get two optical zoom lenses — offering 3x and 10x zoom, respectively. It seems unlikely that the standard S21 would have two lenses, especially now we’ve seen renders of it sporting three cameras, but the S21 Ultra is a perfect candidate. 

While the S20 Ultra came with an incredible 100x hybrid zoom, Samsung reduced it to 50x on the Note 20 Ultra. It’s possible that the extended optical zoom could offer an even longer zoom feature, though it seems more likely that it’ll be used to improve the overall quality of long-range zoom.

However Ishan Agarwal says Samsung will be sticking with the 108MP main lens, which makes sense considering how much resolution that actually is. Likewise he says the S21 Ultra will have the same 40MP front-facing camera as the S20 Ultra did last year. Alongside a 5,000 mAh battery which is, again, the same as before.

Samsung Galaxy S21: What we want

The Galaxy S21 will be fighting the iPhone 12 by the time it is released. And it will also face competition from the Google Pixel 5 as well. 

Here’s how Samsung can improve on the Galaxy S20 while staying one step ahead of the competition.

A lower starting price: The $699 Samsung Galaxy S20 FE proves that Samsung needs a direct answer to the iPhone 12 and iPhone 12 mini out of the gate and not months afterwards. We would expect the standard Galaxy S20 to start at $699, and the Galaxy S20 Plus would be the more premium flagship.

Longer battery life: Despite packing larger batteries across the board in the Galaxy S20 lineup, Samsung’s phones did not all last as long as their predecessors on our web surfing battery test. For example, the regular Galaxy S20 lasted 8 hours and 31 minutes, compared to 10:19 for the S10. And the Galaxy S20 Plus lasted 10:31, compared to 10:56 for the Galaxy S10 Plus 5G.

Only the Galaxy S20 Ultra made our best phone battery life list with a max runtime of 12:13. However, that time dropped all the way down to 9:13 with 120Hz mode enabled. Our best guess is that the addition of 5G took a toll on the endurance of these phones, so perhaps it will take a more efficient modem from Qualcomm to deliver more juice for the Galaxy S21.

Fewer bugs at launch: The good news is that Samsung issued a software update for the Galaxy S20 that addressed some early reviewer and user complaints. The bad news is that the company didn’t catch those issues before launching the phones. The biggest problem we had was with the Galaxy S20 Ultra, which was slow to focus when shooting video. The Note 20 Ultra thankfully uses the same 108MP sensor to much more reliable effect, but here’s hoping Samsung does more internal testing and quality control before releasing the Galaxy S21 lineup.