This morning Samsung held a Galaxy Unpacked event to unveil several new products, including the 2021 models of its flagship Galaxy S line of smartphones. The Samsung Galaxy S phones are usually the best selling high end Android phones in the western world every year, so this will be one of the biggest releases of the year. And this year’s S21 line has a number of very interesting changes.
Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+
The two mainstream models are the Galaxy S21 and S21+. Both technically have “5G” as part of their full product names, but I won’t be using that here. These phones are fascinating when you compare them to last year’s Galaxy S20 and S20+ not because of what is new, but because of what is missing. Samsung made a real effort to lower the prices of its phones this year, and these phones are the result of that. Both phones feature 1080p screens instead of 1440p on the S20. Those screens are also flat instead of curved along the edges. While both the S20 models had glass backs, the S21 has a plastic back. And there is less RAM in each phone, 8GB instead of 12. The camera module looks different, but the actual camera hardware is the same as last year. Lastly, the phones do not have MicroSD slots to expand their storage. I personally am happy about this, as high end phones usually do not benefit from the much slower storage speeds found in MicroSD cards, but this will upset a lot of people who like to use a MicroSD card to expand their storage.
Now, some of these changes may actually be beneficial. Glass backed phones have been the standard for a few years, but they do increase the fragility. Modern plastic and aluminum backs are very different from those of several years ago, and can feel just as premium when done right. I have no doubt Samsung has done that here. And nothing else is missing because of the different materials on the back. Both phones sport wireless charging, reverse wireless charging, and NFC.
The drop to 1080p may seem like a downgrade, but on the S20 series the phones shipped at a resolution of 1080p out of the box, and could only run at the 120Hz mode at that 1080p resolution. This likely means that the vast majority of S20 users kept the phones at 1080p, so dropping the screen to that resolution will likely have very little impact.
Dropping down to 8GB of RAM may be slightly more problematic. 8GB of RAM should be more than enough for use in 2021, the 12GB of last year’s S20 line still hasn’t really been tested to its limits a year later, but with Samsung now promsing 3 major android updates to its phones, and people holding onto their phones longer, I wonder if the phones will feel as snappy two years from now as they do today. This could be a case of short term gain leading to longer term pain.
Hardware
The actual phones themselves look very nice. The camera module now looks like it is built into the frame of the phone, and I think looks fantastic, and both the S21 and S21+ offer what I think is a striking purple colour that would be the colour I got if I was in the market for these phones. These definitely refine the look of last year’s phones and update them into a more modern look, and I think Samsung did a very good job here.
Cameras
The phones have identical camera systems, featureing a 12MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 64MP telephoto lens. These are largely the same as last year’s, though Samsung says the improvements in the image processing between its own software optimizations and the hardware in the processors will lead to better image quality. Samsung also says it has turned off face smoothing, and made it an optional feature. That alone is a huge deal, as I have found the face smoothing to lead to some very bad photos on my Galaxy Note 10+, especially those of any furry friends you may have in your life. I really hope this makes its way to older phones. On the front of the phone is a 40MP selfie camera sitting in a small, centered hole punch cutout. All of the cameras can do 4k60 video recording.
With all of these changes, the prices have been cut significantly compared to last year. The Galaxy S21 is $1130 in Canada, which is a full $200 less than the S20 of last year. The S21+ is $1400, which is $180 less than the price of the S20+. These prices are for phones with 128GB of storage. Going up to 256GB of storage brings the prices to $1200 and $1470 respectively. Bringing the prices down is very appreciated, and I think that the smaller S21 could sell very well.
Galaxy S21 Ultra
While the S21 and S21+ are undoubtedly the more mainstream phones, Samsung still has the high end, no compromises S21 Ultra for those who want the best smartphone money can buy. The S21 Ultra build and refines on the work of the S20 Ultra from last year. It features a 1440p display that can run at 120Hz, something the S20 Ultra was unable to do. It keeps the 12GB of RAM, and actually includes 16GB of RAM on the version with 512GB of storage. And the camera system features a 108MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide, and two 12MP lenses, one at 3x zoom and one at 10x zoom. The S21 Ultra also has a laser autofocus system, something the S20 Ultra was missing, and caused huge issues with focus speed on that phone.
The Galaxy S21 Ultra also features support for Samsung’s Stylus, the S Pen. Unlike the Galaxy Note line, the S Pen is not built into the phone, nor is it included in the box. This means the optional accessory has to be purchased separately, and purchased with a specialized case that includes a slot for the s pen if a user wants to keep it with them at all times. I’m not feeling this addition, but it could be a precursor of some things to come later in the year.
With this phone sporting no compromises, the price is also not compromised. The phone costs $1650 for 128GB of storage, $1720 for 256GB of storage, and $1890 for 512GB of storage which also includes 16GB of RAM as previously mentioned.
Galaxy Buds Pro
Samsung actually led off the event with a new set of wireless earbuds, the $265 Galaxy Buds Pro. Meant to be an equivalent to Apple’s more expensive AirPods Pro, the Buds Pro offer active noise cancelling, and a refined design over the year old Galaxy Buds+. They offer 5 hours of battery life with ANC on, 7 without, and 13 or 20 hours of additional battery via the charging case with ANC on and off. They also offer an improved transparency mode and a pseudo surround sound mode for supported applications.
These interest me quite a bit, and if I was working I would definitely be picking a pair up, preferably in that awesome purple colour.
Galaxy SmartTags
Lastly, a relatively minor product in the Galaxy SmartTags. These are analogous to Tile trakers, being small square like devices you can attach to various items like a keychain, and allows you to track their location. These do not feature GPS so if they are out of range of your phone your phone will only report the last known location, but they are better than nothing, and may be worth considering if you are in the Samsung ecosystem.
Several media outlets were given an early hands on of the phones last week, but there are no full reviews yet. I’m really interested to read the reviews on the compromises Samsung made to get the price of the S21 down, the camera quality this year, and the Buds Pro. Pending a job, I may be in the market for a phone in the second half of the year, and the Galaxy S line is usually the foundation for the phones Samsung releases later in the year, including the Galaxy Z Flip, Galaxy Z Fold, and Galaxy Note.