Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 Ultra renders and date leaks are puzzling

With the iPhone 12 out of the way, almost all of 2020's main smartphone stars have pretty much taken the stage. Save for the Huawei Mate 40 series, of course, but that will be coming in a few days. That mostly means manufacturers are already looking toward the next stage in the never-ending smartphone upgrade cycle but it seems that Samsung may already be heating to oven very early with a Galaxy S21 that may come far sooner than anyone expected and in a design no one probably asked for either.

The Galaxy S21 might look like no other Galaxy S phone and one can't shake off the feeling that it almost looks like some big rival's phone, sans the notch. The renders that @OnLeaks shared of next year's Samsung flagship shows a flat screen similar to this year's Galaxy Note 20 base model but with more rounded corners. The camera bump on the back has been thankfully reduced in size and does an odd wraparound over the edge.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra isn't so lucky, based on another batch of renders. The screen's curved edges are there but so is the gigantic camera bump. That also wraps around over the edged which makes for yet another eye-catching design, not necessarily in a good way.

Samsung is definitely doing some unusual things with its designs, splitting models again between flat and curved edges, something we haven't seen since the Galaxy S8 edge in 2017. The camera design is once again unique and most likely controversial. Perhaps it is to mask what @IceUniverse claims to be a forgettable phone. And, no, the renders don't show any sign of an S Pen.

If you are a smart Samsung fans, please buy the S20 series as soon as possible, don't wait for the S21 series. Except for the processor, the S21 is not as good as the S20 overall

— ICE UNIVERSE (@UniverseIce) October 17, 2020

As if the Galaxy S21 form weren't unusual enough, the report from SamMobile that suggests it will debut in January makes it even more curious. Samsung might be doing so to space out its early 2021 smartphones, just like it did with the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Z Fold 2 this year. Whether that strategy will work in its favor, especially with these leaked designs, remains to be seen.