SAMSUNG’S recently launched Galaxy S21 series of smartphones is now available for pre-order in South Africa, with the local arm of the South Korean tech giant offering some significant sweeteners to encourage early purchase decisions.
Samsung unveiled the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra at a globally streamed virtual event recently. Each of the striking new devices feature a refreshed design and new-look camera cluster that now wraps around one side of the smartphone, elevating the traditional camera bump into an integral feature of the phone.
The Galaxy S21 and S21+ each come with a triple-lens rear camera array, with the main sensor boasting 108MP resolution. All three models are able to shoot video at 8K resolution and at 30fps.
The range-topping Galaxy S21 Ultra comes with an extra lens in the rear camera cluster for a total of four, including ultra-wide and wide lenses plus two optical lenses for some impressive zoom capabilities.
As with their Galaxy S20 predecessors, each phone in the new Galaxy line-up boasts 5G connectivity, important for users seeking to future-proof their communication options, despite the relatively slow rollout of 5G networks in South Africa.
Eye candy
One of the long-standing selling points of Samsung’s flagship Galaxy S line of smartphones has been their class leading display technology, and the S21 range is no exception.
The S21 and S21+ feature edge-to-edge adaptive 120Hz AMOLED displays with FHD+ screen resolutions, while the S21 Ultra tops this with a 6.8-inch QHD+ AMOLED display which varies its refresh rate from 10Hz to 120Hz to match the application being used.
Big bright screens and powerful processors use a lot of power, but Samsung says this won’t be a problem thanks to the respective 4,000mAh, 4,800mAh, and 5,000mAh battery capacities of the Galaxy S21, S21+, and S21 Ultra.
What you won’t get with any of the new devices are charging plugs and earphones because Samsung has taken a leaf out of arch-rival Apple’s book and omitted them from the now significantly slimmed down box – ostensibly to reduce the company’s impact on the environment.
But you can rectify that lack of earphones if you act quickly.
While the new Samsung Galaxy S21 smartphone line is due to land in stores on 29 January, it’s already available for pre-order and Samsung says that anyone who does this before 28 January 2021 order will receive the new Galaxy Buds Pro earbuds for free. They’re also throwing in a Galaxy SmartTag miniature tracking device at no extra cost.
Samsung has also announced that customers with eligible devices can receive a trade-in value of up to R10,000 of their purchase of any of the new Galaxy S21 line.
Apart from a fairly limited range of contract options, the prepaid prices for the new devices are R17,999 for the Galaxy S21, R21,499 for the S21+ and R27,999 for the S21 Ultra.
