At its first Unpacked event for 2021, Samsung announced three new flagship Galaxy S21 smartphones, a pair of wireless Galaxy Buds Pro and the new Galaxy Smart Tag tracker. The phones are its next-generation flagships that arrived slightly earlier than last year, which comprises of the Galaxy S21, S21+ and the S21 Ultra, all 5G ready!

The wireless Galaxy Buds Pro will be bundled with the S21 Ultra as a launch offer and available separately, and the Smart Tag trackers will be bundled with all handsets.

S21 and S21+

The S21 and S21+ flagships are similar in that they are 5G enabled, support an adapted screen refresh rate of 48-120Hz, are powered by the Exynos 2100 chipset, and have 8GB of RAM. They also share the same front and rear cameras, which is a 10MP dual-pixel selfie-cam and 80° field of view, and a triple rear camera. The trio of lenses are made up of a 12MP ultra-wide with a 120° FOV, 12MP wide-angle with OIS and a 79° FOV and 64MP telephoto lens. The latter has 3x hybrid optic zoom, OIS and supports 30x Space Zoom. It supports 4K videos @60fps; and screen mirroring at 1080p @30fps.

They differ by display, weight and battery. Both have flat displays that are 6.2-inch (421ppi) and 6.7-inch (394ppi) with a screen resolution of 2400x1080p that is HDR10+ certified. The smaller phone weighs 169g and has a 4000mAh battery, whereas the larger one weighs 200g and has a bigger 4800mAh battery.

The Galaxy S21 comes in Phantom White, Phantom Violet and Phantom Pink; and the S21+ comes in Phantom Black, Phantom Silver and Phantom Violet.

S21 Ultra

The more premium handset of the lot is the Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G, which is aimed at the tech enthusiast, content creators or gamers. It has a 6.8-inch curved edge display, a screen resolution of 3200x1440 (551ppi) and adaptive screen refresh rate of 10-120Hz. It’s Samsung’s first handset that can go up to 120Hz at the maximum 1440p screen resolution. It weighs 228g.

It also has the better camera, which is a 40MP selfie-cam with wide-angle support; and a rear quad-camera with OIS. It features a 108MP wide-angle lens, 12MP ultra-wide (120° FOV), 10MP telephoto with 3x optical zoom, 10MP telephoto with 10x optical zoom and supports 100x Space Zoom.

These are the main differentiators of the S21 range. They all support fast wireless charging, NFC payments, fingerprint sensors with biometric unlocking, dual audio and high-quality playback and an IP68 rating. This year, a USB-C charging cable is included in the box, but no plug.

The Galaxy S21 starts at R649pm and the S21+ starts at R749pm, both come with a pair of Galaxy Buds Live, Samsung travel charger and Galaxy Smart Tag. The Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G starts from R949pm and comes with the Galaxy Buds Pro, Samsung travel charger and Galaxy Smart Tag. Optional Samsung Care+ is also available at R499 once off to ensure you protect what you love!

Order online today

The S21 range will run on Vodacom’s superfast 5G network and is available to buy directly on the Vodacom website here.

Video: Samsung Galaxy S6 Edge

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