Galaxy S21 product strategy analysis 'choose improvement instead of innovation'

Last year's Galaxy S20 product line was a big change, so Samsung introduced a new naming scheme called S20 instead of S11 to emphasize how important this upgrade is. However, this year's Galaxy S21 series improved the existing product instead of lowering the price.

Samsung released three Galaxy S21 models in very similar sizes. The screens of the S21 and S21+ are 6.2 inches and 6.7 inches, the same as the previous S20, respectively, and the screen of the S21 Ultra is 6.8 inches, which is slightly smaller than the 6.9 inches of the S20 Ultra. The upper and lower bezels are also slightly thinner, so they are almost full-screen, but all three models are basically the same size as last year.

Galaxy S21

• S21: 151.7×71.2×7.9mm
• S21+: 161.5×75.6×7.8mm
• S21 Ultra: 165.1×75.6×8.9mm

Galaxy S20

• S20: 151.7×69.1×7.9mm
• S20+: 161.9×73.7×7.8mm
• S20 Ultra: 166.9× 76.0×8.8mm In

addition, the weight of the S21 series is much heavier than last year's model, and the general model is made of 'special reinforced polycarbonate material (plastic)', and the Plus and Ultra models are made of Gorilla Glass Victus.

Galaxy S21

• S21: 171g
• S21+: 202g
• S21 Ultra: 229g

Galaxy S20

• S20: 163g
• S20+: 186g
• S20 Ultra: 222g

This weight increase may be due to a camera module that has not been found in other smartphones. The S21's camera module is not a rectangular or square bump-type array protruding from the top left corner like the iPhone or previous Galaxy phone, but a slightly convex but smoothly expanded feel from the metal side frame. It is also referred to as the 'Contour Cut camera housing' design.

Inside this array, you'll find the S21's biggest upgrade. There are still triple cameras on the S21 and S21+, and quad cameras on the S21 Ultra, but the overall upgrade.

Galaxy S21/Galaxy S21+

• Camera 1: Ultra wide angle (120 degrees) 12 million pixels, f/2.2
• Camera 2: Wide angle 12 million pixels, f/1.8, OIS
• Camera 3: Telephoto (hybrid optical zoom 3x) 64 million pixels, f. 2.0 OIS, 30x space zoom

S21 Ultra

• Camera 1: Ultra wide angle (120 degrees) 12 million pixels, f/2.2
• Camera 2: Wide angle 108 million, f/1.8, OIS
• Camera 3: Telephoto (3x optical) 10 million pixels, f/2.4, OIS
• Camera 4: Telephoto (10x optical) 10 million pixels, f/4.9, 100x space zoom

It is not the misinformation. The S21 Ultra is Samsung's first dual telephoto lens, which will provide a huge boost over the S20's somewhat unstable zoom. Like its predecessor, the S21 Ultra can zoom up to 100x thanks to Samsung's space zoom technology, but the addition of a 10x optical zoom lens will make a big difference.

The color of the S21 feels a bit dull this year

Night photography is also greatly improved. All three models 'improved processing power' when shooting in low light, but with improved noise reduction and 12-megapixel Nona-binning (a technology that accepts more light by merging 9 pixels into one pixel in a low light environment). It provides the 'biggest leap forward in low-light photography' that Samsung claims.

Various enhancements have been made across all S21 models. 8K Snap for capturing still images from 8K movies, Director's View for viewing and switching each camera during movie shooting, 60fps Super Steady, multi-mic recording, enhanced portrait mode, A wider variety of Single Take options are provided, including time-lapse video recording.

General upgrade

The S21 family reverses speculation that it will use Samsung's latest Exynos 2100 chip, and is said to use a Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. It will be quite fast, of course, but Samsung explained somewhat vaguely as "the latest cutting-edge smartphone chipset in Galaxy that can increase speed and energy efficiency, and support 5G connectivity and On-Device AI with advanced computing capabilities."

The back of the Galaxy S21 is plastic, but it's very luxurious

All three S21 models have almost the same screen size as the S20, but Samsung has modified it slightly. In particular, the S21 and S21+ are 'flat' full HD+ (1,080p) displays, while the S21 Ultra is the only model adopting a curved 'edge' screen with QuadHD+ (1,440p) resolution. In addition, the S21 Ultra features a 50% higher contrast ratio with a higher maximum brightness (1,500 nits) than the S20, and a new Eye Comfort Shield that 'automatically adjusts the blue light based on the time of day, the content you are viewing, and when you sleep. Support.

As rumored, Samsung introduced the S Pen for the first time in the Galaxy S family. However, it doesn't offer a Note-like experience. Only the S21 Ultra supports the stylus, and it is not included as standard, so you need to purchase it separately (however, we offer several cases with S Pen slots, and various third-party cases will be available soon). Also, Note 20's Bluetooth-enabled 'air' gesture is not supported. The S Pen on the Galaxy S21 Ultra is for writing only.

Finally, the S Pen can be used on the Galaxy S21 Ultra

Like last year, all models have a 120Hz display, but this year, the adaptive refresh rate is applied, reducing the impact on battery life. The S21 Ultra uses a 120Hz display with quad HD+ resolution, with a wider 10-120Hz adaptive playback range than the S21 and S21+ (48-120Hz) to extend battery life a bit.

Speaking of the battery, the S21 and S21 Ultra have the same capacity as the S20 counterparts (4,000mAh and 5,000mAh, respectively), while the S21+ has improved from the S20 Ultra (4,500mAh) to 4,800mAh. Additionally, the S21 and S21+ have less RAM than the S20 (8GB vs 12GB), while the S21 Ultra continues from the 512GB model, starting with 12GB of RAM and supporting up to 16GB.

Wi-Fi 6E (Wi-Fi 6E) with wider bandwidth and faster internet speed is supported on the S21 Ultra, and regular Wi-Fi 6 is supported on the S21 and S21+. With the support of Ultra Wide Band (UWB) on the S21+ and S21, the new SmartTags Bluetooth ($30) tracker can be enhanced for accurate location tracking.

The Galaxy S21 product package basically contains only a phone and a cable. Samsung also removed the earbuds and charger from the S21, following Apple's move, which was somewhat controversial because the iPhone 12 did not come with a charger.

Instead, the S21 family is slightly cheaper than the S20. Samsung lowers the price of the S21 and S21+ by $200 and sells them for $800 and $1,000, respectively. The Ultra starts at $1,300 as low as $100. The Galaxy S21 is currently available for pre-order. The Galaxy S21 comes in violet, pink, and gray, the S21+ comes in violet, silver, and black, and the S21 Ultra comes in black and silver. If you pre-order on Samsung.com, you get a free smart tag and a Samsung credit of up to $200.