Drew Evans/CNET
Samsung’s much-awaited Galaxy S21 lineup arrived in January — and the standout function is not discovered on its software program or {hardware}. It’s its price ticket. The next-gen flagship lineup begins at $800 (£769, AU$1,249) for the baseline Galaxy S21, rises to $1,000 (£949, AU$1,549) for the Galaxy S21 Plus, and maxes out at $1,200 (£1,149, AU$1,849) for the Galaxy S21 Ultra, representing a $200 value minimize for the trio of fashions from final yr’s S20 household.Samsung guarantees its new S21 lineup works higher than its predecessors, regardless of its cheaper price ticket. But Samsung is a publicly listed enterprise in spite of everything, and it wanted to make a bunch of calculated compromises to permit the S21 to hit that lowered value, even when element prices are trending decrease. Here are just a few methods Samsung did precisely that.Read extra: The finest cellphone to purchase for 20211. Removed bundled charger and earphonesOne of essentially the most controversial omissions is the in-box wall adapter and earphones. Samsung is pushing its prospects to reuse older equipment within the title of the surroundings, identical to Apple did with the iPhone 12 household. Samsung has been utilizing standardized USB-C kind charging ports since 2017, so older chargers will nonetheless be appropriate with the S21 telephones.
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2. Memory, storage and backbone diminished or eradicatedThe S21 line additionally misplaced expandable native storage, becoming a member of final yr’s Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Z Flip foldables in ditching the microSD card slot as a result of “usage has markedly decreased,” in response to the corporate. One of the opposite trade-offs getting much less consideration is: a discount in RAM on the bottom S21 (it has 4GB much less RAM than the S20); the discount of the display screen decision (by half) on the S21 and S21 Plus.3. S21 cellphone loses glass backingFor its base S21, Samsung changed the Gorilla Glass from the again with a high-end plastic known as polycarbonate, going within the course of its extra professional Note 20 line. The S20 Plus and Ultra nonetheless, every have Victus glass on each the back and front. If you want extra particulars, learn CNET’s Galaxy S21 evaluate for extra or check out our specs chart under.Samsung Galaxy S21 lineup vs. S20 lineup
Galaxy S21
Galaxy S20
Galaxy S21 Plus
Galaxy S20 Plus
Galaxy S21 Ultra
Galaxy S20 Ultra
Display measurement, decision
6.2-inch Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x, (2,400×1,080 pixels)
6.2-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X; (3,200×1440 pixels)
6.7-inch Flat FHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2x, (2,400×1,080 pixels)
6.7-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (3,200×1,440 pixels)
6.8-inch Edge WQHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, (3,200×1,440 pixels)
6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X (3,200×1,440 pixels)
Pixel density
421 ppi
563 ppi
394 ppi
525 ppi
515 ppi
511 ppi
Dimensions (Inches)
2.80×5.97×0.31 inches
2.72×5.97×0.31 inches
2.97×6.35×0.3 inches
2.9×6.37×0.30 inches
2.97×6.5×0.35 inches
2.99×6.57×0.35 inches
Dimensions (Millimeters)
71.2×151.7×7.9mm
69.1×151.7×7.9 mm
75.6×161.5×7.8 mm
73.7×161.9×7.8 mm
75.6×165.1×8.9 mm
76.0×166.9×8.8 mm
Weight (Ounces, Grams)
6.03 oz; 171g
5.75 oz; 163g
7.12 oz; 202g
6.56 oz; 186g
8.07 oz; 229g
7.76 oz; 220g
Mobile software program
Android 11
Android 10
Android 11
Android 10
Android 11
Android 10
Camera
64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)
12-megapixel (wide-angle), 64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultra-wide)
64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (ultrawide)
12-megapixel (wide-angle), 64-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), time-of-flight digicam
108-megapixel (wide-angle), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 10-megapixel (3x telephoto), 10-megapixel (10x telephoto)
108-megapixel (wide-angle), 48-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), time-of-flight digicam
Front-facing digicam
10-megapixel
10megapixel
10-megapixel
10-megapixel
40-megapixel
40-megapixel
Video seize
8K
8K
8K
8K
8K
8K
Processor
Snapdragon 888 64-bit octa-core processor 2.8GHz (max 2.4GHz + 1.8GHz)
64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5GHz + 2GHz)
Snapdragon 888 64-bit octa-core processor 2.8GHz (max 2.4GHz+1.8GHz)
64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5GHz + 2GHz)
Snapdragon 888 64-bit octa-core processor 2.8GHz (max 2.4GHz + 1.8GHz)
64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5GHz + 2GHz)
Storage
128GB/256GB
128GB
128GB/256GB
128GB/512GB
128GB/256GB/512GB
128GB/512GB
RAM
8GB
12GB (5G), 8GB (LTE)
8GB
12GB (5G), 8GB (LTE)
12GB, 16GB
12GB, 16GB
Expandable storage
None
Up to 1TB
None
Up to 1TB
None
Up to 1TB
Battery
4,000 mAh
4,000 mAh
4,800 mAh
4,500 mAh
5,000 mAh
5,000 mAh
Fingerprint sensor
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
In-screen
Headphone jack
No
No
No
No
No
No
Special options
IP68 ranking, 5G-enabled, 30x Space Zoom, 10W wi-fi charging
5G enabled; 120Hz refresh price; water-proof (IP68)
IP68 ranking, 5G-enabled, 30x Space Zoom, 10W wi-fi charging
5G enabled; 120Hz refresh price; water-proof (IP68)
IP68 ranking, 5G-enabled, 100x Space Zoom, 10W wi-fi charging, 10x optical zoom
5G enabled; 120Hz refresh price; 100X zoom; water-proof (IP68)
Price off-contract (USD)
$800 (128GB)
$999
$1,000 (128GB)
$1,199, $1,349
$1,200 (128GB)
$1,399 (128GB), $1,599 (512GB)
Price (GBP)
£769
£799, £899 (5G)
£949
£999 (5G)
£1,329
£1,199 (128GB), £1,399 (512GB)
Price (AUD)
AU$1,249
AU$1349 (4G), AU$1,499 (5G),
AU$1,549
AU$1,499 (4G), AU$1,649 (128GB), AU$1,899 (512GB)
AU$1,849
AU$1,999 (128GB), AU$2,249 (512GB)
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