Samsung Galaxy S21 leaks in hands-on images ahead of launch event

Prior to Samsung’s Unpacked event that will take place tomorrow, a thread on Twitter spills much about the Galaxy S21 series a day before its official unveiling. There are some hands-on images that confirm a few things that we’ve been suspecting in recent weeks, along with alleged suggested retail pricing for the US market.

#S21Ultra is THICKKKK😬 I haven't held such a thick flagship in years. Makes the #Note20Ultra and #iphone12promax seem razr thin pic.twitter.com/IzRs5HwslB

— Mr.Techie - We The Techies (@We_The_Techies) January 13, 2021

The images in the first Tweet show all three devices side by side, which gives us an idea of the size difference between them. There’s also an impression that the largest variant, the Galaxy S21 Ultra, is “THICKKKK”. It’s noted as being thicker than both the Galaxy Note20 Ultra and the iPhone 12 Pro Max, which are both 8.1 mm and 7.4 mm thin, respectively.

Carrier employees are being trained to not mention the plastic backs at all 😅 or lack of expandable storage or lack of power adapter in the box lol

— Mr.Techie - We The Techies (@We_The_Techies) January 13, 2021

It would appear that Mr.Techie may have obtained these images through a US retail carrier, as they mention that US carrier employees are being instructed to omit mentioning the fact that the entry-tier S21 has a plastic back, and that none of them come with a power adapter in the box. We assume that the employees would admit the lack of a microSD slot on the S21 Ultra if asked by a customer.

On the same note about carriers, the S21 Ultra is allegedly priced at $1,200 MSRP, but carriers will offer plenty of enticing promotions to push sales of the new Galaxy series. US carriers have been known to do this ever since the days of the Galaxy S7, offering BOGO and trade-in promotions.

$1200 msrp. But carriers will have very aggressive offers to attract buyers. Samsung is pouring tons of many into marketing and kick backs for the carriers to sell these phones

— Mr.Techie - We The Techies (@We_The_Techies) January 14, 2021

The Galaxy S21 has a plastic back, but it’s more reasonable now that the phone’s MSRP is allegedly $800. Meanwhile, the Galaxy S21+ and the Galaxy S21 Ultra both have glass ones. However, the leaker claims they feel like plastic and wishes that Samsung tried to more closely emulated the matte finish of the iPhone 12 Pro lineup.

The #S21Ultra and plus have glass backs but FEEL like plastic due to the matte coating. #Samsung should have just copied how apple did matte coating

— Mr.Techie - We The Techies (@We_The_Techies) January 13, 2021

The battery sizes of the Galaxy S21+ and the Galaxy S21 Ultra are alleged to be 4800 mAh and 5000 mAh, respectively.

4800MAH battery on the #s21+ 5000 on the #S21Ultra

— Mr.Techie - We The Techies (@We_The_Techies) January 13, 2021

A short video posted confirms that the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s SIM tray does not have a slot for expandable storage.

I can confirm, there is NO expandable storage on the #S21Ultra pic.twitter.com/q19jW7B2G2

— Mr.Techie - We The Techies (@We_The_Techies) January 13, 2021

Finally, here’s an image that compares the three Galaxy S21 models with the Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max.

Size comparison between #s21 #s21+ #S21Ultra and #iphone12promax #MrTechie #WeTheTechies pic.twitter.com/ASaVwO4Iqj

— Mr.Techie - We The Techies (@We_The_Techies) January 13, 2021

As of this writing, there are several ongoing leaks of the Galaxy S21. The three cats are officially (but also unofficially) out of the bag and all Samsung has to do now is livestream its presumably pre-recorded presentation.

Via Twitter