Samsung has launched its latest Galaxy S21 series of smartphones in the US and Europe. Under the slogan of “5G smartphones within reach,” the company has been working on reforming its flagship model, and as a result, it has decided to downgrade some of the specifications, which is a wise choice but also “uncharacteristic. What is the reason behind this?
Focus on sales expansion
Samsung wants to defend its position as the world’s top smartphone maker in terms of shipments, and in order to do so, the company seems to have made an unusually safe choice in terms of specifications. When I asked the person in charge about the January launch in the US and Europe, he replied that it was because the new coronavirus pandemic was expected to “expand the diversity of what consumers want in mobile products.
Impact of the lockdown
First of all, the price in the UK is £769 for the Galaxy S21 with a 6.2-inch display, £949 for the 6.7-inch Galaxy S21+, and £1,149 for the 6.8-inch Galaxy S21 Ultra. Compared to last year’s models and the iPhone 12 series, all of them are about 30-50 pounds cheaper. Note that there is no 4G option this time, all models are 5G smartphones.
The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ have a full HD screen resolution instead of WQHD to keep the price down. The Galaxy S21 Ultra uses a “Dynamic AMOLED 2X” display with HDR. maximum brightness of 1500 nits.
An obvious downgrade
Another important aspect of the display is the return to a flat display, a departure from the trademark edge display used in the Galaxy S10 and Galaxy S20 series. This is not a downgrade, but rather a result of incorporating feedback from the Internet (Samsung users may already be familiar with curved glass, but some of you may have been surprised when you showed your friends your smartphone).
In contrast, the obvious downgrade is that it no longer supports microSD cards; the Galaxy S20 series was able to expand storage up to 1TB, but the Galaxy S21 series will have a maximum capacity of 512GB. A Samsung spokesperson explained to tech news site The Verge that the price of the model with more storage is not that different and users can also use cloud storage.
However, consumers generally prefer to have more choices. Therefore, it is possible that microSD expandable storage will make a comeback in the future, just like when Google eliminated the earphone jack on the Pixel smartphone.