If you thought that the
Galaxy S21 series that is about to be announced during a
January 14 Unpacked event, will look like the
Galaxy S20 models from the spring, you might be in for a surprise. With the S21 versions, Samsung is launching a design refinement to what is already one of the best screen-to-body ratio scores in their class. First off, we have a sloping, flatter side at the top right corner that makes the back look like it’s been cut from a piece of marble with only the camera island standing loud and proud, fused with the corner sides.
Samsung also aims to refine its
Infinity-O design significantly by not only reducing the chin at the front, but also blending the camera bump with the phone’s sides, thus leaving the impression for one uninterrupted design flow. Samsung is so proud of its uniform display frame width creation at the Galaxy S21 models’ front, that it has trademarked new design features called
Blade Bezel and
Blade Display.The “blade” part may have something to do with the new
Galaxy S21, S21+ and S21 Ultra design that blends the side frame with the camera island but more likely it refers to Samsung’s Great Chin Massacre at the front that shaves off the bottom bezel as much as it can.
Samsung Galaxy S20 vs S21 vs S20+ vs S21+ size comparison
Since only the Galaxy S21 Ultra carries a slightly curved display, while the S21 and S21+ go with flat panels, Samsung resorts to a slight overall bezel thickening to achieve the uniformity. In other words, Samsung has evidently managed to shrink the bottom chin to 2mm, but that’s as far as it can go, considering that this is the area that houses the display connector, and, instead of pushing further, it simply made the rest of the S21/S21+ frame of equal width.
This hits a new symmetrical look all around the display frame, but, together with the flat display, makes the S21 and
S21+ ever slightly wider than their predecessors – 151.7mm x 71.2mm x 8mm dimensions, against the S20’s 151.7mm x 69.1mm x 7.9mm, as you can see above.
Nothing beats uniform bezel width in an “all-screen” Infinity-O Samsung design when it comes to aesthetics, though, so we can’t wait to peruse the new front and rear Galaxy S-series design in the flesh.
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs S21+ vs S21 Ultra vs S20 Ultra size comparison
Needless to say, since the
Galaxy S21 Ultra sports a curved 6.8″ QHD+ display, it can’t do uniform, but this way Samsung won’t have to make compromises with the phone’s width like it does for the S21 and S21+ in order to accommodate the uniform bezel that will now be a tad wider at the sides.
We’d rather have the curved display sides than bezel uniformity for the Galaxy S21 Ultra anyway, though, as its predecessor is positively gigantic and hard to handle even without a case tacked on. The shaved-off bottom chin is an added bonus that results in a tangible height decrease as, when it comes to overall size, the Galaxy S21 Ultra is a little smaller than the Galaxy S20 Ultra (166.9 x 76 x 8.8 mm), at 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9mm in dimensions. Still a giant, heavy phone, though.
Samsung Galaxy S21 vs iPhone 12 Pro vs S21+ vs iPhone 12 Pro Max size comparison
Moreover, Samsung offers more screen real estate, as there is no unsightly notch at the top, just the front camera opening pierced into the screen in a so-called Infinity-O design.
As for the Galaxy S21+ direct competitor among the iPhone 12 series, the 12 Pro Max, well, it’s wider and heavier than Samsung’s 2021 creation, making it a relative pain to use with one hand in comparison, especially with a case tacked on.
