14 DAY TRIAL // Samsung is projected to announce the Galaxy S21 next month, and while the South Koreans are obviously refusing to discuss anything related to this smartphone, people familiar with the matter continue to provide us with information ahead of the official release.
And while such information should typically be treated with some skepticism, here’s something that’s as official as it gets. A new FCC listing confirms the Galaxy S21 will be powered by the Snapdragon 888, something that makes total sense given this is Qualcomm’s latest chip.
On the other hand, there’s one thing that deserves to be mentioned here.
Most likely, the Snapdragon processor would only be installed on those Galaxy S21 versions sold in South Korea and the United States, while international markets would still get an Exynos chip.
This approach has caused controversy in the past, as Galaxy smartphones powered by Exynos processors delivered a performance that didn’t match the one of Qualcomm siblings, with customers across the world requesting Samsung to bring the Snapdragon variant to all markets.
Launch in mid-January
The Galaxy S21 is expected to launch earlier than usual, as Samsung reportedly plans to take the wraps off the device in mid-January. If this is the case, then the device should hit the shelves later in the same month, which means that in theory, we should be able to get our hands on the S21 by the end of January.
This is obviously earlier than usual, but Samsung treats the S21 as a critical product, especially because its predecessor didn’t sell exactly as anticipated because of the global health issue that impacted delivers across the world and forced the company to close its stores.
For the time being, however, the launch dates haven’t been confirmed, but if they’re accurate, expect Samsung to start releasing more information in early January.