Samsung to Unveil New Smartphones at Galaxy Unpacked Event on January 14

Samsung has sent out media invites to its Galaxy Unpacked event on Thursday, January 14, when the company is expected to officially announce its new Galaxy S21 lineup.


Samsung is expected to unveil three new smartphones at the event: The Galaxy S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra. The successors to last year's Galaxy S20 series will come in familiar 6.2 to 6.8-inch size options, with the S21 and S21 Plus said to be similar except for size, and the S21 Ultra offering a more premium device featuring better specs and cameras, and support for Samsung's S-Pen stylus.

According to rumors, the S21 and 21 Plus have a flat display with a centered hole-punch camera and minimal front bezels, while the rear camera is a triple camera setup arranged vertically, consisting of a 12MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra wide, and a 64MP telephoto lens.

Meanwhile, the S21 Ultra has a larger curved screen and a quad-lens camera system featuring a single periscope lens with 10MP 10x super-telephoto zoom, alongside a 108MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra wide, and a 10MP 3x telephoto camera. It also has a laser autofocus system that replaces the time-of-flight sensor found in the S20 Ultra.

samsung galaxy s21

Image credit: WinFuture

Samsung is rumored to use Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 and Exynos 2100 chips in its new smartphones depending on the region. Like their predecessors, all the devices will offer 120Hz and 60Hz refresh rates as well as 5G connectivity.

When it became clear that the iPhone 12 lineup and other ‌iPhone‌ models wouldn't ship with a power adapter and headphones, Samsung mocked Apple on its social channels by pointing out that the Samsung Galaxy smartphones continue to ship with a power adapter. However, recent reports have said that Samsung may also remove the power adapter and headphones from its smartphones beginning with the Galaxy S21 lineup.

Samsung's ‌iPhone‌ 12 rivals are expected to come in at a cheaper price point than last year's S20 family – WinFuture cites prices of 849 euros (about $1,043 USD) for the S21 and 1,049 euros (about $1,290 USD) for the S21 Plus. The phones should be available to buy a couple of weeks after the Samsung Unpacked event.

We'll have coverage of the event as it is interesting to take a look at what new features Apple's competitors are unveiling to compete with the ‌iPhone‌.

Popular Stories

iPhone 17 Pro Blue Feature Tighter Crop

iPhone 17: What's New With the Cameras

Friday May 2, 2025 3:52 pm PDT by
We've still got months to go before the new iPhone 17 models come out, but a combination of dummy models and leaks have given us some insight into what we can expect in terms of camera changes. Apple is adding new camera features, and changing the design of the camera bump for some models. You might be skeptical of dummy models, but over the years, they've proven to be a highly accurate...
Beyond iPhone 13 Better Blue Face ID

20th-Anniversary iPhone Will Reportedly Feature an All-Screen Design

Saturday May 3, 2025 9:20 am PDT by
Apple's former design chief Jony Ive long dreamed of an iPhone with a truly all-screen design, and his wish might finally become reality in a few more years. The Information today cited multiple sources who said that at least one new iPhone model launching in 2027 will have a truly edge-to-edge display. The device's front camera and Face ID system would both be placed under the screen....
iPhone 17 Air Size Feature

iPhone 17 Air Expected to Have Battery Case Due to 'Worse' Battery Life

Saturday May 3, 2025 8:24 am PDT by
Apple's rumored iPhone 17 Air model will have "worse" battery life compared to previous iPhone models, according to a paywalled The Information report. In internal testing, Apple determined that the percentage of users who will be able to use the iPhone 17 Air for a full day without needing to recharge the device throughout the day will be between 60% and 70%, according to the report. For...
AirPods Pro 3 Mock Feature

AirPods Pro 3 Just Months Away – Here's What We Know

Tuesday April 29, 2025 1:30 am PDT by
Despite being more than two years old, Apple's AirPods Pro 2 still dominate the premium wireless‑earbud space, thanks to a potent mix of top‑tier audio, class‑leading noise cancellation, and Apple's habit of delivering major new features through software updates. With AirPods Pro 3 widely expected to arrive in 2025, prospective buyers now face a familiar dilemma: snap up the proven...
iphone 16 pro ghost hand

iPhone 18 Rumors: What to Expect From Apple Next Year

Friday May 2, 2025 3:01 am PDT by
Apple's is continually working with suppliers on successive iPhone models simultaneously, which is why we often get rumored features so far ahead of launch. The iPhone 18 series is no different, and we already have a picture forming of what to expect from Apple's 2026 smartphone lineup. If you're skipping this year's upcoming iPhone 17 series, or just plain curious about Apple's plans...
iPhone Top Left Hole Punch Face ID Feature

iPhone 18 Pro Models Rumored to Feature Under-Screen Face ID With Top-Left Camera Hole

Saturday May 3, 2025 9:19 am PDT by
Apple's two-generations-away iPhone 18 Pro models will likely feature under-screen Face ID, according to The Information. The paywalled report today cited a source who said the iPhone 18 Pro and iPhone 18 Pro Max will have only a small hole in top-left corner of the screen, to accommodate the front-facing camera, with all Face ID hardware moved under the screen. With under-screen Face ID, ...
Foldable iPhone 2023 Feature Iridescent Search

Apple Plans Split iPhone Launch Strategy: Pro and Foldable in Fall 2026, Standard in Spring 2027

Saturday May 3, 2025 8:32 am PDT by
Starting in 2026, Apple plans to change the release cycle for its flagship iPhone lineup, according to The Information. Apple will release the more expensive iPhone 18 Pro models in the fall, delaying the release of the standard iPhone 18 until the spring. The shift may be because Apple plans to debut a foldable iPhone in 2026, which will join the existing iPhone lineup. The fall release...
maxresdefault

The MacRumors Show: Apple Watch Series 11, Ultra 3, and SE 3 Rumors

Friday May 2, 2025 9:27 am PDT by
On this week's episode of The MacRumors Show, we look at what to expect from the 2025 Apple Watch lineup when new models launch in the fall. Subscribe to The MacRumors Show YouTube channel for more videos The Apple Watch Series 11 is anticipated to offer hypertension detection as the device's next major health monitoring advancement, potentially with AI-powered health-coaching features. It is ...

Top Rated Comments

rp2011 Avatar
57 months ago
Apple needs Samsung to be healthy. Apple’s consumers and stockholders need Samsung and competition to be healthy. Samsung makes good products. Without healthy competition we get innovative stagnation and even worse, complacency. We also get government intervention.
So here is to Samsung and Android and Google and Microsoft and Intel and AMD and Qualcomm and everyone having a great year this year!
Score: 19 Votes (Like | Disagree)
waquzy Avatar
57 months ago

Will there be any charger included in the box?
No. After all, Samsung’s motto is: “First we mock and then we copy!”
Score: 17 Votes (Like | Disagree)
d5aqoëp Avatar
57 months ago

Is it me or does this event keep happening earlier every year?
There will be a time when Galaxy S26 will be launched the same day as S25. Then Galaxy S31 will be launched before S30.
Score: 15 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
57 months ago
The Galaxy line has some decent hardware specs’, that’s for sure. And they’ve got some nice advantages over the iPhone, but I just can’t convert over to android. Unless they can match Apples security and fluidity with continued software updates, there is a reason the iPhone has such a strong-hold when it’s more about the software integration to the user experience, then it is about the hardware.
Score: 13 Votes (Like | Disagree)
goobot Avatar
57 months ago
Is it me or does this event keep happening earlier every year?
Score: 10 Votes (Like | Disagree)
44267547 Avatar
57 months ago

The software updates on my Galaxy roll out pretty much as often as on the iPhone

It’s not the consistency in which the updates ‘roll out’, it’s the longevity. Three years v.s. five years on the iPhone? I’d say the iPhone is more dominant in that respect. That’s why the iPhones perform so well, and look at the iPhone 7 for example compared to a Samsung Galaxy on the same year, which phone do you think peforms better?
Score: 8 Votes (Like | Disagree)