Like every year, Samsung has announced that it’ll unveil its new S series smartphones at an Unpacked event. Unlike in previous years, however, Samsung is holding the event in January. When most things around the world are pushed back due to COVID-19, the top phone manufacturer in the world has managed to push up its timeline by a tad more than a month.
To be exact, Samsung will host the Unpacked event on January 14th at 10am ET/7am PT. The video will stream on the company’s website and likely YouTube.
We’re expecting to see the Galaxy S21 series of smartphones, the successor to the Galaxy Buds+ and a new Samsung-branded tracker.
Samsung Galaxy S21 series
The trio of devices will be the company’s newest flagships and potentially the best ‘Candybar’ handsets the tech-maker will release all year, as rumours indicate the South Korean manufacturer may ditch its Note brand.
The largest and greatest of the three phones will likely be the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra. It’s expected to sport a Snapdragon 888 chipset, four rear-facing camera shooters, a large battery and come in two colour variants.
Here are the handset’s rumoured specs, leaked by WinFuture:
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- Snapdragon 888 chipset (Canada/U.S.)
- 12GB of RAM
- Curved 6.8-inch WQHD+, Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED 2X, Always-On display with Gorilla Glass 7, 120Hz refresh rate, 1,600 nits of brightness 515ppi pixel density
- 128GB/256GB/512GB of storage
- 108-megapixel (wide-angle lens, f/1.8, 79-degree field of view, OIS) + 12-megapixel (ultra-wide-angle lens, f/2.2, 120-degree, autofocus) + 10-megapixel (telephoto f/2.4, 35-degree field of view, OIS), 10-megapixel (telephoto f/4.9 10-degree field of view, 3x & 10x hybrid optical zoom)
- 40-megapixel front-facing camera (f/2.2, 80-degree field of view)
- 8K video recording at 30fps, 4K video recording at 30/60fps, etc.
- IP68 rated, Wireless PowerShare, e-SIM, Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner
- 5,000mAh battery, fast charging, Qi charging,
- Phantom Silver, Phantom Black
- 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9mm
- 228g
- For those who think they’ll miss the S-Pen with Samsung potentially ditching the Note series, the S21 Ultra works with the S-Pen. Unlike Note series smartphones, however, S21 Ultra won’t be capable of holding the stylus; instead, you’ll need to purchase a case.
If you want a powerhouse smartphone, the S21 Ultra is it, but it’ll also come at a high price as the handset is rumoured to cost 1,349€ (roughly $2,109 CAD). So, if you’re looking for a more affordable, high-quality device, look no further than the Samsung Galaxy S21+, another phone that Samsung will unveil at next week’s event.
The Samsung Galaxy S21+ is a handset that offers high-quality specs but isn’t over the top. You can expect three cameras on this device, a large 4,800mAh battery, but with less RAM and a screen quality that is by all means quite standard.
Here are the handset’s rumour specs, leaked by WinFuture:
- Snapdragon 888 chipset (Canada/U.S.)
- 8GB of RAM
- Flat 6.7-inch FullHD+, Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED Always-On display with Gorilla Glass Victus, 120Hz refresh rate, 1,300 nits of brightness 398ppi pixel density
- 12-megapixel (f/1.8 aperture, 26mm, 79-degree field of view, OIS) + 64-megapixel telephoto (f/2.0 aperture 76-degree field of view, OIS, 3x hybrid zoom, auto-focus) + 12-megapixel ultrawide (f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree field of view)
- 10-megapixel (f/2.2 aperture, 80-degree field of view)
- 8K video recording at 30fps, 4K video recording at 30/60fps, etc.
- 128GB/256GB of storage
- 5G, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, NFC,
- 4,800mAh battery with 25W charging, Qi Wireless charging and reverse charging
- IP68 rated, Wireless PowerShare, e-SIM, Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner
- Phantom Silver, Phantom Black, Phantom Purple
- 161.4 x 75.6 x 7.8mm
- 202g
Personally, I’m excited to get my hands on the Phantom Purple or Phantom Silver versions of this handset. As with previous years, this phone has been leaked in several videos so that you can get a better look at the device. Check out YouTuber Random Stuff 2’s video to see more of the handset or wait for our official review later this month.
Next up is the smaller handset for those who think 6.7-inch or 6.8-inch smartphones are too large. The Samsung Galaxy S21 is mostly the same phone as the S21+, except it offers a 6.2-inch display paired with a smaller battery. It’s also worth mentioning the phone has a plastic back, this time around.
Here are the handset’s rumoured specs, leaked by WinFuture:
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- Snapdragon 888 chipset (Canada/U.S.)
- 8GB of RAM
- Flat 6.2-inch FullHD+, Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED Always-On display with Gorilla Glass Victus, 120Hz refresh rate, 1,300 nits of brightness 421ppi pixel density
- 12-megapixel (f/1.8 aperture, 26mm, 79-degree field of view, OIS) + 64-megapixel telephoto (f/2.0 aperture 76-degree field of view, OIS, 3x hybrid zoom, auto-focus) + 12-megapixel ultrawide (f/2.2 aperture, 120-degree field of view)
- 10-megapixel (f/2.2 aperture, 80-degree field of view)
- 8K video recording at 30fps, 4K video recording at 30/60fps, etc.
- 128GB/256GB of storage
- 5G, Bluetooth 5.0, USB-C, NFC,
- 4,000mAh with 25W charging, Qi Wireless, and reverse charging,
- IP68 rated, Wireless PowerShare, e-SIM, Ultrasonic in-display fingerprint scanner
- Phantom Gray, Phantom White, Phantom Pink, Phantom Purple
- 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9mm
- 171 grams
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro
While the phones alone are enough for an Unpacked event, rumours indicate that Samsung also has a pair of new earbuds up its sleeves.
Accidentally confirmed by Samsung Canada, the company will likely announce the Galaxy Buds Pro at its Unpacked event. Leaker Walking Cat has revealed quite a bit about the upcoming earbuds, indicating that the buds sport a 2-way speaker, noise-cancelling, three microphones, always-on Bixby and eight hours of battery.
— WalkingCat (@_h0x0d_) December 23, 2020
The earbuds actually seem to be available to purchase from a seller on Facebook in the U.S. YouTuber Digital Slang was able to purchase the earbuds.
In the video, he notes that the noise cancellation isn’t as good as Apple’s AirPods Pro, but the transparency mode is the best he’s heard from any other earbuds.
Finally, rumours are pointing to Samsung officially launching its Galaxy SmartTags, tile-like trackers — and beating Apple to the punch.
The Galaxy SmartTags were spotted on the Taiwanese NCC.
This IoT device reportedly uses Bluetooth to connect with nearby devices, according to 91mobiles. The SmartTag is powered by a standard button cell battery that’ll allow users to swap out the battery when it dies.
We can confirm that Samsung will launch the Galaxy SmartTags in Canada, as it was spotted on the Canadian Radio Equipment List database.
While we’ll see these above devices on January 14, Canadian pricing and availability are currently unclear.
What might be there:
We might see s new Galaxy Z Flip as well. Last year, Samsung revealed the Galaxy Z Flip alongside the Galaxy S series; however, it doesn’t seem likely the company will do so again this year. Rumours indicate that Samsung will launch the Z Flip 3 series sometime in the latter half of the year, near when it’ll launch the Z Fold 3. This is likely to make up for the lack of the Note handsets in 2021.
Sources: Winfuture + Roland Quandt, WalkingCat, Taiwan NCC
Image Credit: Android Police, GSMArena,
