Leak Shows Off Samsung’s Redesigned Galaxy S21 Family

Leak Shows Off Samsung’s Redesigned Galaxy S21 Family

All the rumors point to an early 2021 announcement for Samsung’s next-generation Galaxy S21 family. With the announcement possibly just a month away, there’s no doubt things will leak. And sure enough, there are some juicy details about Samsung’s next-generation flagship phones today. Based on some new teaser videos, you can look forward to a whole bunch of cameras.

The leak includes a handful of demo videos that show the redesigned camera modules with contrasting colors. The smallest of the phones, the Galaxy S21 5G is shown below in “Phantom Purple” with gold accents. The shape of that camera module is carried through all members of the S21 family. There’s also a hole-punch front-facing camera in the same style as the S20 family.

According to the leak, the S21 (above) will have a 12MP main sensor, 12MP ultrawide, and 64MP telephoto. That 64MP telephoto might actually be sensor-cropped to 2x or 4x like the S20. That’s not optical zoom, but the high-resolution sensor is necessary for 8K video recording.

The S21+ (see below) will be a slightly larger version of the same phone — that means a bigger screen and battery. The teaser video looks almost identical, and the camera setup should be the same.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra is where things get interesting. This phone will be the largest of the three, of course, and it’ll have a fourth camera module. We’re expecting a 108MP main sensor, 12MP ultrawide, and a 10x periscope telephoto camera — that’s a big boost compared with the 4x periscope in the S20 Ultra. The fourth camera is another telephoto, but this time at 3x for shots that are a bit less zoomed. This gives the phone four different focal lengths to use, depending on the photo you want to take. The S21 Ultra also has a laser autofocus sensor, which will address the autofocus issues from the S20 Ultra.

We expect the unveiling to happen on January 14th, and retail availability will be just a few weeks later at the end of January. The phones will all run on the just-announced Snapdragon 888 5G chip, a new generation of OLED tech, and Samsung’s customary superb build quality. These won’t be cheap phones, but Samsung might back away from the $1,400 price tag from last year’s S20 Ultra. It went down to $1,300 for the Note20 Ultra.

Continue reading

Astronomers Spot Earth-Sized Rogue Planet Wandering the Galaxy
Astronomers Spot Earth-Sized Rogue Planet Wandering the Galaxy

Astronomers have identified more than 4,000 exoplanets orbiting other stars but just a few "rogue planets" wandering the galaxy without a star to call home. A new study claims to have spotted one of these worlds, and it may be a small, rocky world like Earth.

The Fast Radio Burst in Our Galaxy Is Officially a Repeater
The Fast Radio Burst in Our Galaxy Is Officially a Repeater

Last month, a team announced the discovery of a FRB in our own galaxy, giving scientists a chance to study these bizarre signals up close. The scientific community will have a lot of data on FRBs soon enough — a new study confirms this nearby FRB is repeating.

Report: Samsung May Kill Galaxy Note Series, Add Stylus to Galaxy Z Fold3
Report: Samsung May Kill Galaxy Note Series, Add Stylus to Galaxy Z Fold3

Samsung may be planning a major shift in its smartphone strategy in 2021. According to a recent analyst report, Samsung may drop the popular Galaxy Note family in favor of a foldable with a stylus. The problem, it seems, is that the Note series isn't as popular as it once was.

Samsung Starts Rolling Out Galaxy S20 Android 11 Update on Verizon
Samsung Starts Rolling Out Galaxy S20 Android 11 Update on Verizon

Not only does this include the Googley Android 11 enhancements, but it also has numerous Samsung-specific changes as part of the One UI 3.0 revamp.