Galaxy S21+ Leaks - The 2021 Edge Of Reality

Today we're getting our first good look at solid leaks of the Samsung Galaxy S21+. This next-generation device will mark another big move by Samsung away from traditional industrial design into design that's a bit more... daring. Before this, Samsung's biggest industrial design transition points were the Infinity-O (punch hole) display, and the "Galaxy Edge" or "Infinity" display curve.

The Samsung Galaxy S21+ looks a whole lot like the Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21 Ultra leaks we've seen in the last few weeks. This design isn't a surprise, only because we've seen a few other views of the rest of the device family. Take a peek at the rest of the family in the Samsung Galaxy S21 leaks article published on November 16 – it is a good place to start.

Imagery from CoverPigtou and xLeaks7 show this device both front and back, side to side, using CAD drawings as their own source. These are renderings based on leaked specifications generally made to act as guide for accessory-makers and protective case-makers.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 family has a set of displays that are fairly similar to the Galaxy S20. The display bezels are thinner, the punch-hole is smaller. Otherwise we're pretty much on-track with the year-by-year ever-more-sleek simplicity of a full frontside coverage display panel, courtesy of Samsung's Galaxy S lineup.

ABOVE: The Samsung Galaxy Note Edge – the first Samsung phone with a display that cascaded off it's side. BELOW: The Samsung Galaxy S10 "escapes the notch curse" with a punch hole.

The big change comes in the sides and the back of the device. If we look at the Samsung Galaxy S21+, we see the most obvious design move in the camera array. There, three cameras live in an array that sits above the rest of the device's backside – like the Galaxy S20 – with one big change. Here, the camera array island becomes a bit more like a peninsula.

The camera array connects with the silver metal edge of the smartphone, an edge that also contains the power button and the volume rocker.

This is a solution that allows the raised array of cameras to sit above the majority of the back of the device without feeling like an element inflicted negatively upon the device. When we first started seeing backside cameras on smartphones that sat above the flatness of the back of the phone, it was an ugly situation. This might well be the most elegant integration of said design requirement yet.

We'll likely see the Samsung Galaxy S21 family appear officially in the first several weeks of 2021. The Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra will likely be revealed in late January or early February, 2021, with release dates closer to the tail end of February, if history acts as guide for the near future – we shall see!