The day’s finally here – it’s time to pre-order the next line of Samsung flagship smartphones! The Samsung Galaxy S21 line may feel like it’s been teased for a while now, but the three new smartphones are revealed and not available for pre-order. We’ve rounded up all the Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 deals below!
You may be wondering, though, which Galaxy S21 you should buy. The regular Galaxy S21 model is, of course, the most affordable of the bunch, and still offers some upgrades such as an updated SoC without breaking the bank at $800. The Galaxy S21 Plus, meanwhile, will offer additional upgrades, like a slightly larger screen and a Gorilla Glass back, for $1,000. The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the high-end flagship that offers everything you could want from a 2021 flagship, but it has a steeper price tag to match at a whopping $1,200.
If you’re here, then you’re probably opting for one of the less expensive Galaxy S21 phones. But just because they’re less expensive than the S21 Ultra doesn’t mean you can’t save! Check below for some great Galaxy S21 deals and check out our round-up of the Best Galaxy S21 Ultra deals if you want the best that Samsung has to offer!
Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S21 Deals
If you’re looking for an unlocked Galaxy S21, your best bet is grabbing it directly from the Samsung Store. You also have the options of Best Buy and Amazon!
Samsung Store
Did you reserve your Galaxy S21 before pre-order links went live? That’s great because now you’ll get $50 in accessory credit to go with your new S21! That’s far from all, either – pre-ordering your Galaxy S21 before January 28 will net you $100 in pre-order credit on your new smartphone. Finally, you’ll get free GalaxyTag with your purchase and you can save even more if you trade-in a phone!
Get your pre-order in before January 28 to get $100 in pre-order credit on the Galaxy S21! You'll also get a free GalaxyTag with purchase, and if you reserved your pre-order, now's the time to take advantage of those accessory credits!
If you don’t mind being locked to a carrier, you can save big! You can go with Verizon to AT&T.
Verizon
Verizon has tons of different Galaxy S21 deals to take advantage of! It all depends on if you’re switching to Verizon or upgrading to a new line, including:
Save up to $600 with an eligible trade-in
Buy a Galaxy S21, get a second free when you add a new line
25% Galaxy S21 cases and screen protectors
50% off Verizon charging accessories
Get $100 Verizon Dollars when signing up for a Verizon Visa card, plus $100 credit if you use it to pay your bill
At Verizon, the Galaxy S21 will be $33.33 for 24 months at 0% APR.
As always, Verizon is the king of carrier deals! From trade-in promotions to saving on accessories, you'll be sure to find a promotion or two to take advantage of with them, especially if you're switching from another carrier.
Looking for the Galaxy S21 Plus instead of the normal model? You can find it unlocked at the same retailers–the Samsung Store, Best Buy, and Amazon.
Samsung Store
Did you reserve your pre-order for an S21 line phone before they went live? Good move, because now you’ll get $50 in accessory credit to go with your new Galaxy S21 Plus! On top of that, if you pre-order the Galaxy S21 Plus, you’ll get $150 in pre-order credit and a free GalaxyTag. You can also save up to a further $700 by trading in a recent phone!
Get your pre-order in before January 28 to get $150 in pre-order credit on the Galaxy S21 Plus! You'll also get a free GalaxyTag with purchase, and if you reserved your pre-order, now's the time to take advantage of those accessory credits!
Don’t want to deal with the hassle of grabbing a Galaxy S21 Plus unlocked and getting it to work with your SIM card? You can grab your Galaxy S21 Plus from Verizon or AT&T.
Verizon
As always, Verizon has tons of different Galaxy S21 Plus deals to take advantage of! It all depends on if you’re switching to Verizon or upgrading to a new line, including:
Switch to Verizon to get a Galaxy S21 Plus for free with eligible trade-in
Otherwise, save up to $600 with an eligible trade-in
Buy a Galaxy S21 Plus, get $1,000 off a second when you add a new line
25% Galaxy S21 Plus cases and screen protectors
50% off Verizon charging accessories
Get $100 Verizon Dollars when signing up for a Verizon Visa card, plus $100 credit if you use it to pay your bill
For the Galaxy S21 Plus, you can pay $41.66 a month for 24 months, or $33.33 a month for 30 months.
From trade-ins bonuses to promotions for switching, Verizon is the king of carrier deals! Depending on what you're going for, there will be some sort of promotion to take advantage of.
Will you be grabbing the Galaxy S21, the S21 Plus, or the S21 Ultra? Let us know in the comments! Also, don’t forget to pick up a pair of the new Galaxy Bros Pro!
Samsung’s next generation of smartphones is here with the flagship Galaxy S21 series! It may feel like it’s been a long time coming, with all the information we already know about the Galaxy S21 line, but now you can finally pre-order these devices and get ready to step into 2021 with a brand-new, shiny new smartphone. If you want the best that Samsung has to offer, there are already a few Galaxy S21 Ultra deals you can snap up to help save on your pre-order!
You may ask, which Galaxy S21 should I buy? Why exactly should I get the Galaxy S21 Ultra over the normal Galaxy S21, or the Galaxy S21 Plus? We have the answer — it all depends on your smartphone priorities! The Galaxy S21 Ultra is, of course, the high-end option of the S21 line, and it has a price tag to match at $1,200. A bigger price tag comes with high-quality features, though, including S Pen compatibility, quad rear-cameras, and a 120Hz refresh rate at a QHD+ resolution, a first for Samsung. There’s plenty to like about the Galaxy S21 Ultra!
Of course, if you know where to look, you may not have to pay that full price tag. We’ve rounded up all of the pre-order links and Galaxy S21 Ultra deals below, so here’s how you can save on your pre-order!
Unlocked Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra Deals
If you’re looking to pick up an unlocked Galaxy S21 Ultra, you can grab it directly from the Samsung Store, or go with Amazon or Best Buy.
Samsung Store
Did you reserve your Galaxy S21 Ultra from the Samsung Store? Congrats, because now you get to save $50 on accessories with your new phone! That’s not all, though! If you get in your pre-order before January 28, you’ll get $200 in pre-order credit. Finally, you’ll get free GalaxyTag with purchase! If you have a previous phone to trade-in, you can also save up to $700 by trading in your current or spare phone!
Pre-order your Galaxy S21 Ultra before January 28 to get $200 in pre-order credit! You'll also get a free GalaxyTag with purchase. If you reserved your pre-order, now's the time to use your accessory credit too!
If you don’t mind your Galaxy S21 Ultra being locked to a carrier, you can get some great deals! You can go with Verizon or AT&T.
Verizon
Verizon has tons of different deals to take advantage of! With the Galaxy S21 Ultra, you’ll want to take advantage of some savings, too. The deals all depends on if you’re switching to Verizon or upgrading to a new line, including:
Switch to Verizon to get $1,000 off Galaxy S21 Ultra with eligible trade-in
Otherwise, save up to $600 with an eligible trade-in
Buy a Galaxy S21 Ultra, get $1,000 off a second when you add a new line
25% Galaxy S21 Ultra cases and screen protectors
50% off Verizon charging accessories
Get $100 Verizon Dollars when signing up for a Verizon Visa card, plus $100 credit if you use it to pay your bill
For the Galaxy S21 Ultra, payment plans are either $49.99 for 24 months, or $39.99 for 30 months.
Whether you're switching to Verizon or already a member, the carrier has all sorts of deals to take advantage of! Use trade-ins and other special pre-order promotions to get the price of the S21 Ultra down.
Are you planning on grabbing the Galaxy S21 Ultra, or are you looking at the Galaxy S21 Plus or the normal model instead? Let us know in the comments! Also, don’t forget to grab a new pair of earbuds with the Galaxy Buds Pro!
With almost every single detail out in the open days before the launch, the Samsung Galaxy S21 series has been officially unveiled today. The new smartphone series from the company yet again includes three models – the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. Alongside the new smartphones, Samsung has also launched its first-ever Bluetooth trackers called the Galaxy SmartTag. This is similar to the Bluetooth tracker from Tile, allowing users to quickly locate lost items like your phone, wallet, keys, etc.
The basic Galaxy SmartTag will only offer the functionality of a Bluetooth tag, and nothing beyond that. These tags can be used to help to track objects by using the built-in energy-saving Bluetooth 5.0 LE module. The tags will come with a single button that can be used to send an alert and ensure that it is wirelessly connected to your smartphone. This would also help in finding your device in case you misplace it. Similarly, it would work the other way around where you could use your phone to locate the tag attached to an item of your choice. Meanwhile, the Galaxy SmartTag+ will support ultra wideband for more accurate nearby location tracking, so accurate that it will let you find your device using augmented reality.
Samsung has also launched a dedicated app for its new Bluetooth tags called Galaxy Find Network, which should be available on other Samsung, and hopefully, Android smartphones.
These Bluetooth tags measure 4x4cms and around one centimeter thick. They are made out of plastic with IP53 certification. They will be available in four color options: white, light brown, black, and pink. The Samsung Galaxy SmartTag is powered by a standard CR2032 coin cell battery rated at 220mAh. This means that the tags should be up for about 280 days before you need to replace the battery. You can use the Galaxy SmartTag with any Galaxy series smartphone running on Android 8.
Galaxy SmartTag Pricing & Availability
These will be available in single or multi-packs starting January 29th with a starting price of $29.99. The regular Tag will be included with every Galaxy S21 pre-order. Meanwhile, the Tag+ will be available later this year.
After being leaked into oblivion over the last few weeks, Samsung’s all-new Galaxy Buds Pro is finally here. Launched alongside Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S21 series, the new TWS earbuds feature an in-ear design that looks like a sleeker version of the original Galaxy Buds. But while its design may not be all that new, the Galaxy Buds Pro has a lot to offer. It comes with a couple of cool new features, like Intelligent ANC and Spatial Audio support, that have the potential to make it one of the best earbuds of 2021.
So, if you’ve been planning on purchasing a new pair of premium TWS earbuds this year, here’s everything you need to know about Samsung’s latest offering:
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro: Specifications
Specification
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro
Dimensions & Weight
Earbuds:
19.5 x 20.5 x 20.8mm
6.3g
Case:
50 x 50.2 x 27.8mm
44.9g
Battery & Charging
Earbuds: 61mAh
Case: 472mAh
Qi wireless charging
Speaker & Mic
2-way speaker
11mm woofer
6.5mm tweeter
3 microphones:
One high SNR mic
Dual outer mics
Voice Pickup Unit
ANC & Ambient Sound
2-level adjustable ANC
Ambient sound amplification up to +20dB; 4 adjustable levels
The Galaxy Buds Pro is Samsung’s most feature-packed TWS earbud to date, and it packs all the features that you’d expect from a pair of premium TWS earbuds in 2021. But before we get to the features, let’s take a close look at the hardware on offer. The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro packs a two-way speaker in each unit, comprising of an 11mm woofer and a 6.5mm tweeter. Each earbud also includes three microphones, including a high SNR mic and two outer mics, that help deliver optimal calling performance and fantastic ANC capabilities.
The Galaxy Buds Pro includes 61mAh batteries in each earbud that are rated for up to 5 hours of playback with ANC turned on. The case includes a 472mAh unit that can deliver an additional 13 hours of playback. If you don’t use ANC, the Galaxy Buds Pro can deliver up to 8 hours of playback on a single charge, with an additional 20 hours of reserve power available on the charging case. Speaking of the case, it has the same pebble-shaped design that we’ve seen in the past, and it comes with fast charging support that can deliver up to an hour of playtime with five minutes of charging. As with previous TWS earbuds from Samsung, the Galaxy Buds Pro case supports wireless charging. It’s also worth noting that the TWS earbuds come with IPX7 dust and water-resistance rating, which is the highest water-resistance rating for a Galaxy Buds product so far.
Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro: Features
Now that we’ve gone over the hardware let’s take a look at the features the new Galaxy Buds Pro has to offer. As mentioned earlier, the earbuds come with Intelligent ANC support that can automatically adjust the ANC levels based on the environment. You also get access to manual ANC controls in the companion app, which will let you switch between different ANC levels based on your preference. Samsung claims that the Intelligent ANC feature is capable of cutting external background noise by 99%.
The Galaxy Buds Pro also come with an Ambient Sound mode that picks up audio from the environment around you to ensure that you’re aware of your surroundings when out and about. It’s also capable of amplifying nearby sounds by over 20dB, allowing users to hear nearby sounds clearly. This mode works in tandem with Intelligent ANC, and the earbuds can automatically switch between the two when they detect a conversation. Furthermore, the Buds Pro comes with support for multi-device pairing, allowing users to switch between two or more Galaxy devices seamlessly.
Additionally, the Buds Pro boasts of a new feature called Spatial Audio that can recreate multi-directional surround sound, SND wind-shield sound technology for noise-free calling, and support for Samsung SmartThings to help users find misplaced earbuds easily.
Pricing & Availability
The Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro is priced at $199.99, and it will be available for purchase in the US on Samsung’s website starting today. The earbuds will be available in three colorways — Phantom Violet, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Black. As of now, Samsung hasn’t released any information about international pricing and availability. We’ll update this post as soon as the information is live.
Samsung has just announced its Galaxy S21 series, which as expected includes three phones. We will have coverage of all three devices, but in this piece, we’re focusing on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is Samsung’s new top dog smartphone and represents the very best Android has to offer right now – and perhaps for all of the first half of this year. After spending some time with it in Hong Kong, here are our first impressions!
Wacom Stylus and S Pen support (sold separately and stored externally)
Colors
Phantom Violet
Phantom Gray
Phantom White
Phantom Pink
Phantom Violet
Phantom Gray
Phantom White
Samsung.com Exclusive:
Phantom Gold
Phantom Red
Phantom Gray
Phantom White
Samsung.com Exclusive:
Phantom Titanium
Phantom Navy
Phantom Brown
Galaxy S21 Ultra Design: A big improvement over the Galaxy S20 Ultra
When you pack as much camera technology into a phone as Samsung, the camera bump is going to be huge. Last year’s Galaxy S20 Ultra had a design that in many opinions looked inelegant — it was just a bulky camera island that protruded from the back of the phone, made worse by that tacky “100x Space Zoom” label. Samsung improved matters by the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra last year, but with the Galaxy S21 Ultra, the company has found a new design language of which I am a huge fan.
Samsung calls the camera module design “contour cut,” and it essentially has part of the camera module blend seamlessly into the aluminum chassis of the phone. It not only looks unique in a sea of four-sided, offset camera islands, but helps reduce the wobble effect when pressing on the phone while it’s lying flat on a table.
The elegance of the design looks particularly great on the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus, partly because the camera module is smaller — housing just a triple-lens array — and the purple glass back with gold camera module make for the most striking look in my opinion. The Galaxy S21 Ultra has a larger camera module due to its more advanced camera system, and surprisingly, it only comes in silver or black. With that said, I am a fan of matte black products and I find the black version of the Galaxy S21 Ultra to be very sleek and stylish.
Elsewhere, the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s design will feel very familiar for those familiar with Samsung flagships. The 6.8-inch display is vibrant, gorgeous and still curved on the left and right side. But although I wasn’t able to confirm this with Samsung personnel, it feels to me the curvature is more subtle/less dramatic than even last year’s Galaxy S20 Ultra, which already lessened the curves. In fact, during my hands-on session, I grabbed a Galaxy S21 Plus, which has a flat-screen, and thought it was the S21 Ultra for a good minute before I realized I grabbed the wrong phone. The point I am trying to make is that the curve feels fairly subtle this year.
Galaxy S21 Ultra Camera first impressions: The new Zoom King
Disclaimer first: I only had about an hour with the phone in a controlled environment, plus Samsung did not allow media to remove photos from the phone for publication, so this is by no means an in-depth camera review. Despite these limitations, I can say the Galaxy S21 Ultra makes a huge leap in zooming capabilities, not just over last year’s Galaxy S20 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, but even the previous zooming king, Huawei P40 Pro Plus.
Samsung managed to do this by mostly using Huawei’s tricks. The Galaxy S21 Ultra’s camera module features a 10MP Periscope zoom lens that, as far as I can tell, looks noticeably larger, and goes “deeper”, than the one seen in the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra. Samsung hasn’t revealed much beyond the fact that this is a 10x optical zoom lens, but I’m guessing it managed to do so by building more prisms (2 instead of 1) into the Periscope — just like what Huawei did with the Huawei P40 Pro Plus’ Periscope lens that uses 3 prisms plus an extra set of turn mirrors.
That’s not all, Samsung added a shorter 3x optical telephoto zoom lens to help cover the shorter zoom distances, which is a trick also used by the Huawei P40 Pro Plus). This way, any zoom at 1x, 3x, and 10x will in theory be lossless. And from my testing, the shots definitely looked crisp.
What blew me away is when I attempted a longer zoom. Even at 20x and 30x, the shot appeared clean to me, at least on the phone screen (I wasn’t able to examine the photo on a larger monitor). And at 100x — which Samsung calls “Space Zoom” — the shot is surprisingly detailed. In fact, Samsung has managed to improve stabilization at this zoom range in ways I’d never seen before. Words can’t do it justice, so watch the video: I’m holding the Galaxy S21 Ultra with one hand, zoomed at 100x, and the image is stable.
Other phones that can zoom this far (the Galaxy S20 Ultra, Huawei P40 Pro Plus, and the Xiaomi Mi 10 Ultra, all three of which I tested extensively) showed very, very shaky images, which is expected behavior, hence my surprise with the new Samsung.
The Huawei P40 Pro Plus had previously been the best zooming camera system I’ve ever seen (it was better than Samsung’s 2020 offering by some distance), but Samsung has regained the lead with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. This is the new zoom king.
I didn’t have much time to test the 108MP camera, but it should perform great, since the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra’s main camera was already among one of the best.
Another new feature to the Galaxy S21 Ultra is the ability to shoot in 4K/60fps across every lens, and “Director’s View,” which basically allows the user to record a video showing both the front and back view (the selfie camera and main camera system). There’s even a preview thumbnail showing previews of the ultra-wide angle camera, main wide camera, and 3x telephoto zoom camera for instant preview of every angle in real-time. Given the space and time constraint, I couldn’t really test this thoroughly, but switching lenses appeared smooth enough.
Galaxy S21 Ultra: S Pen support
A new feature on the Galaxy S21 Ultra is that it supports the S-Pen stylus that has been a trademark of the Galaxy Note series. Any older S Pen from the Note series or even Wacom stylus will work on the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but the device doesn’t have a slot to house the stylus. To that end, Samsung is selling an official case that houses an S Pen. This S Pen is larger in size and feels closer to the SPen that comes with the Galaxy Tab S7 rather than any Note series’ S Pen.
Sketching and jotting down notes on the Galaxy S21 Ultra felt natural, but the S-Pen lacks any of the Bluetooth controls Samsung introduced to the Note series in recent years.
There were two cases on demo at the session I attended: a folio type case with a flap that offers all-around protection, and a more traditional case that leaves the front uncovered. Both cases have a slot on the left side to house the S-Pen.
Galaxy S21 Ultra Early Thoughts: Slab phones have reached their Apex
Truth be told, the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra had already nearly perfected the “slab smartphone” in my opinion. It had a beautiful design, bleeding-edge screen technology, and a very capable camera system. The Galaxy S21 Ultra mostly improves on these slightly — the SoC is a bit better, video performance a bit better, overall design a bit better.
Where the Galaxy S21 Ultra really makes a leap is the zooming system. I’m blown away by what I saw and as someone who loves snapping photos of random life around the city for Instagram, I’m excited to make this my daily driver.
We at XDA will have review units of the S21 Ultra soon so stay tuned for more coverage including a full in-depth review.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 series is here, and it looks to be the best Galaxy smartphone lineup to date. It builds upon the foundation laid down by the Galaxy S20 series and the Galaxy Note 20 series, adding a new layer of refinement and polish to Samsung’s flagships from last year. As expected, the latest Galaxy S series devices pack in some impressive hardware, including the latest SoCs from Qualcomm and Samsung, bigger batteries, better cameras, and much more. In case you missed our announcement post, here’s a quick refresher of the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus, and Galaxy S21 Ultra specs!
Wacom Stylus and S Pen support (sold separately and stored externally)
Colors
Phantom Violet
Phantom Gray
Phantom White
Phantom Pink
Phantom Violet
Phantom Gray
Phantom White
Samsung.com Exclusive:
Phantom Gold
Phantom Red
Phantom Gray
Phantom White
Samsung.com Exclusive:
Phantom Titanium
Phantom Navy
Phantom Brown
All three devices within the Samsung Galaxy S21 series are flagships by virtue of them sporting the latest Samsung Exynos 2100 SoC. This is the latest flagship SoC from Samsung, going head-to-head against the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 flagship SoC.
Move past the SoC, and you’ll see clear differences between the three devices in the lineup. The most prominent difference is their size and display resolution, followed by build materials, and finally the rear camera setup. A few other small details also differentiate the Galaxy S21 series specs. While the Galaxy S21 Ultra is obviously the premier champion within the lot, the Plus variant and the regular can also be viable options in their own right.
While Samsung has typically launched its Galaxy S series right around MWC in the past, the launch was moved ahead by four weeks this year. We don’t know the exact reason behind this move, but the early reveal gives the Galaxy S21 series a much better fighting chance against the new Apple iPhone 12 lineup, and that could be one plausible explanation. Either way, you get shiny new hardware with the latest processor from either Qualcomm or Samsung, so that’s plenty of reason to get excited.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 series is best recognized with its new rear camera module, which flows over the corner of the device. On the front, there’s a massive display, flat on the Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Plus, and slightly curved on the sides on the top-end Galaxy S21 Ultra. Both, the Galaxy S21 Plus and Ultra feature an aluminum mid-frame and Gorilla Glass Victus on both faces, while the regular variant compromises just a little by opting for a polycarbonate back.
Make no mistake, all three of these are Samsung flagships, so they come with flagship SoCs, namely the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC (USA, China, Hong Kong) and the Exynos 2100 SoC (EU, India). We have dedicated coverage on these SoCs, and we encourage that you check them out for more details.
As the naming would imply, there are some differences across the three models, with the regular variant being pitched as the entry-level flagship, the Plus variant sitting in the middle with a few premium features, and the Ultra going all-out to achieve a premium flagship status.
Note: Additional colors will be sold through Samsung.com. These custom colors are limited in stock and may last only till pre-order periods.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 series will be available for pre-order from today till January 28, 2021. Customers who pre-order a device will get Samsung Credits worth $100 with the Galaxy S21, $150 with the Galaxy S21 Plus, $200 with the Galaxy S21 Ultra. All pre-orders will also include a free Galaxy SmartTag.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus is the middle child in the new 2021 flagship series, packing in a flagship SoC and a premium build, along with a decent display and camera setup.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra is the ultimate overkill in the new 2021 flagship series, packing in a flagship SoC, a premium build, a great display, and an amazing camera setup, as well as all the extras expected on a premium flagship.
Both carrier and unlocked variants of the Galaxy S21 series go on open sale worldwide from January 29, 2021. Consumers will be able to purchase the devices through Samsung.com, carriers, and online and offline retailers.
