Samsung Galaxy S21 series is said to be already available for “exclusive blind pre-orders” through the company’s Opera House offline store.
Samsung Galaxy S20 series may soon be superseded with Galaxy S21 models
Samsung Galaxy S21 series India launch details have been leaked on the Web. The South Korean company is expected to launch its Galaxy S21 series in the country soon after its global debut in January. The Galaxy S21 series price in India could also be aligning with the Galaxy S20. Although Samsung has not yet provided any official details about its new flagship phones, the company is reported to have started taking blind pre-orders for the Galaxy S21 series in the Indian market. Separately, information about the in-display fingerprint sensor of the Galaxy S21 has surfaced online.
According to a report by TechQuila, citing a person familiar with the development, the Samsung Galaxy S21 launch in India will take place a few weeks following the global launch that is speculated to take place on January 14. The India launch could happen sometime in the last week of January, as per the report.
However, ahead of the launch, Samsung's Opera House has reportedly started taking “exclusive blind pre-orders” for the Galaxy S21 series in India. The offline store, that is located in Bengaluru, is said to pre-book the phones at an upfront amount of Rs. 2,000. Select customers pre-booking the Galaxy S21 models will reportedly receive their orders on the launch day. Further, some pre-launch offers are also speculated to come in place — to attract people to pre-book the new Galaxy S-series phones in advance.
Alongside the launch details, TechQuila reported that the Samsung Galaxy S21 series price in India would not be higher than that of the Galaxy S20 models. This suggests that Samsung may launch the new phones at the same prices as their predecessors. The report suggests that the regular Galaxy S21 model could be priced between Rs. 60,000-70,000, while the Galaxy S21 Ultra could be priced between Rs. 90,000-1,00,000.
To give some perspective, Samsung Galaxy S20 was launched in India with a price tag of Rs. 66,999. The Galaxy S20+ and Galaxy S20 Ultra, on the other hand, debuted at Rs. 73,999 and Rs. 92,999, respectively. The Galaxy S20 series pre-bookings began in the country in February, while its sale started in March.
A tipster who goes by pseudonym Ice Universe tweeted that the Samsung Galaxy S21 would come with an all-new ultrasonic fingerprint sensor that would be 1.77 times bigger than its predecessor, with a total scanning area of 64mm. The new fingerprint sensor is claimed to be twice as fast as the fingerprint sensor available on the Galaxy S20 models. Further, it could unlock the phone with a single tap.
Samsung introduced in-display fingerprint sensor technology on its Galaxy S-series lineup with the launch of the Galaxy S10 last year. The company used an ultrasonic sensor instead of a traditional optical sensor to detect 3D ridges of fingerprints to recognise users. However, shortly after the launch of the Galaxy S10 series, some flaws in the fingerprint sensor were noticed by some users. It initially had some recognition issues that the company fixed through a software update.
Apart from the new fingerprint sensor, the Galaxy S21 series is rumoured to have the upcoming Exynos 2100 for global markets, while its US variant may come with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC. The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ phones in the lineup are likely to share many similarities, with a flat AMOLED display design and triple rear cameras. The Galaxy S21 Ultra, in contrast, is rumoured to come with a curved display and quad rear cameras. The top-end model is also expected to include a periscope lens as well as laser autofocus.
Some certification documents spotted on the US FCC website suggested that the one of the Galaxy S21 models could come with 9W reverse wireless charging and pack a 4,000mAh battery.
Is this the end of the Samsung Galaxy Note series as we know it? We discussed this on Orbital, our weekly technology podcast, which you can subscribe to via Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, or RSS, download the episode, or just hit the play button below.
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