Samsung debuts Galaxy S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra

Samsung Electronics has today announced three new flagship phones, as well as an update to its earbuds line, the Galaxy Buds Pro.

The Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra were unveiled this morning, Samsung's newest additions to its roster of smartphones. The company has revamped the design of the phones from their predecessors, updated camera arrays and features, and debuted new processors — and all are 5G capable.

Here are the highlights for each new device.

The Galaxy S21 comes in a 6.2-inch display, while the Galaxy S21+ features a slightly larger 6.7-inch screen. The Galaxy S21 features an edge-to-edge Dynamic AMOLED 2X Infinity-O display with adaptive 120Hz refresh rate.

Both the S21 and S21+ feature 8K video capture capabilities at up to 60fps, with Super Steady technology to mitigate bumpy conditions. The phones feature a new Director's Cut mode, focused on improving the vlogging and video-posting process.

The phones also utilise the popular Single Take feature, allowing users to a variety of still and video formats with a tap, now with Highlight Video and Dynamic Slow-Mo.

The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ both feature triple-lens pro-grade cameras, allowing for the new Portrait Mode and Space Zoom. The latter allows users to utilise 30x zoom by leveraging AI to keep focal points in the centre of the frame.

Both phones come with Samsung Knox Vault, a proprietary chipset level security platform which adds secure memory to the phones' processor. The phones ship with 256GB of local storage and 8GB of RAM.

Each phone will ship with a selection of finishes, including Phantom Black, Phantom Silver and Phantom Violet, with additional colours to be made available on Samsung's website.

Availability begins on 29 January in New Zealand. RRP for the Galaxy S21+ is NZ$2,199.

The largest of the new S21 series, the S21 Ultra comes with a 6.8-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, with 120Hz refresh rate and 1,500 nits of peak brightness. Samsung says the phone has a 50% improved contrast ratio.

The camera array features four lenses (ultra-wide, wide and dual tele-lenses), including an 108MP pro sensor which can capture 12 bit HDR photos. Users can record video in 4K at 60fps across all lenses.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra features 100x Space Zoom powered by the dual-tele lens system, as well as a bright night sensor to improve low-light photography.

The phone supports Wi-Fi 6, allowing users to use more bandwidth on a faster internet connection using 5G.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra comes with Samsung's 'most advanced chipset yet' in a Galaxy device, promising advanced computing and better energy efficiency — when the battery gets low, the devic can reach 50% charge in 30 minutes, Samsung says.

The S21 Ultra features the same security tools as its other S21 counterparts, including Samsung Knox Vault.

The phone can come in a Phantom Silver version with 256GB of internal storage and 12GB of RAM, or an option of two Phantom Black versions: either 256GB and 12GB of RAM, or 512GB and 16GB of RAM.

Avaiable on 29 January, the RRP for the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra starts at $2,199.

These new earbuds feature active noise cancelling and enhanced connectivity across devices.

The Buds Pro come with an 11-millimeter woofer for bass and a 6.5 millimeter tweeter for treble. They feature three microphones for use in phone calls and voice commands, with the Voice Pickup Unit and signal-to-noise ratio working in tandem to separate a user's voice from background noise.

Samsung says users can reduce background noise by up to 99%, and can utilise Ambient Sound to amplify nearby sounds by more than 20 decibels.

The Galaxy Buds Pro allows for toggling between Galaxy smartphones and tablets based on users' usage.

The earbuds provide up to eight hours of playback, with an additional 20 hours of reserve power
available in the wireless charging case. When using active noise cancelling, the earbuds provide 5 hours of playback with 13 hours more available in the case.

Galaxy Buds Pro come in three colours: Phantom Black, Phantom Silver, and Phantom Violet. Galaxy Buds Pro will be available in select markets starting from January 15th.