Samsung Galaxy S21 Allegedly Spotted on US FCC Website With Snapdragon 888

Samsung Galaxy S21 has allegedly received certification from the US Federal Communications Commission (FCC). Although the official details about the new flagship are yet to be revealed, the phone is speculated to launch soon alongside the Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra. Some initial reports had suggested that all three Galaxy S21 models would come with an Exynos SoC. However, a US FCC filing now suggests that at least the vanilla model of the upcoming series could include the newly launched Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC in some markets — a trend similar to earlier Galaxy S-series flagships.

The US FCC site carries details of a Samsung phone with model number SM-G991U. This has so far been associated with the vanilla Samsung Galaxy S21, which recently surfaced on Geekbench as well.

The certification listing, however, doesn't provide more details about the hardware of the Samsung phone. But it does mention 9W reverse wireless charging. Some documents related to the listed model also suggest the inclusion of a charger — particularly the model EP-TA800. However, following Apple's doing away with in-box contents, Samsung is also speculated to sell the Galaxy S21 models without a bundled charger and earbuds.

The charger included in the certification documents is the same 25W USB Type-C adapter that is available with the Galaxy S20 series, as noted by SamMobile.

Apart from the reverse wireless charging and bundled charger details, the US FCC site carries an equipment label description document that shows the presence of a chipset codenamed SM8350. It is believed to be the Snapdragon 888 SoC that Qualcomm launched last week.

Interestingly, Qualcomm didn't include Samsung's name in the list of partners for the Snapdragon 888 SoC. The recent Geekbench listing, however, suggested the flagship chipset on a next-generation Galaxy smartphone.

Samsung may continue with its pattern of launching the Snapdragon version of the Galaxy S21 series in the US, while global markets are likely to get its Exynos option.

The FCC certification also highlights mmWave 5G, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth v5.0, and NFC connectivity on the Samsung phone. Further, it mentions a battery pack EB-BG991ABY that recently surfaced on China's 3C certification site with 4,000mAh capacity.

The new details around the Galaxy S21 comes fresh after three teaser videos emerged online to suggest the design of the new Samsung flagships. The South Korean company is speculated to unveil the phones at a Galaxy Unpacked 2021 event as early as January 14.

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.