Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra release date level deluge of details with S Pen

The flood gates have opened, and the Samsung Galaxy S21 was essentially revealed on several fronts. The Galaxy S21 was leaked in gray, white, pink, and violet. The Galaxy S21+ was leaked in silver, black, and violet. The most extravagant member of the family, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra, was leaked in Silver and Black. And there'll be an S Pen stylus in there too!

The Samsung Galaxy S21 family comes packed with 5G connectivity, top to bottom – at least at launch. Per the leaks today that include WinFuture's list and the hands-on video, there would appear to be very little we have left to learn about the Galaxy S21 and friends.

Generally when we get to the point where we have this amount of detail about a smartphone or set of smartphones, we can safely assume we have a release-date-level picture of what we'll be getting. Nothing we're seeing here was shared officially by Samsung – it was all leaked in some way or another – so there's always a chance the odd detail could change before we get to the actual day of announcement.

UPDATE: It would seem that there MAY be a 4G version of the Galaxy S21 available for "emerging markets" ... but that sort of defeats the purpose, doesn't it? In any case, it does not appear that a 4G-only Galaxy S21 will be launched inside the United States.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 and S21+ will both have relatively flat frontside display panels. Both devices will have some of the thinnest bezels we've ever seen on a professionally-delivered smartphone before. The back of these devices sport a three-lens camera setup that's positioned in the upper left-hand corner, appearing to peek around the edge of the handset.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 appears in WinFuture's leak in two internal storage size iterations, including 128GB and 256GB. Both of these sizes appear to be launching in gray, white, pink, and "purple." We'll assume it'll be called Violet, per the earlier leak with a slightly more fancy name.

The Galaxy S21+ also appears leaked in two sizes, one with 128GB internal storage, the other with 256GB internal storage. Both versions appear to be launching in silver, black, and purple. No pink or white for you!

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra will be so very different from the other two devices that we're surprised it's got such a similar-sounding name. The Galaxy S21 Ultra will be available in three internal storage size iterations, including 128GB, 256GB, and 512GB, all in silver and black.

We've been holding out hope that the Galaxy S21 Ultra would launch with an S Pen stylus embedded in its body – but that no longer seems to be the case. Instead, the case is the case.

Several stock list leaks from 3rd-party retailers have shown official Samsung accessories for the Galaxy S21 Ultra with an unexpected feature. The Galaxy S21 Ultra has at least two special accessory covers that'll be made available with an S Pen Stylus included.

Imagine the solution used with the Samsung Galaxy Tab S7+, and apply it to the Galaxy S21 Ultra. With or without the charging component, the Galaxy S21 with a case that allows easy carrying of an S Pen makes a whole lot of sense.

Instead of weakening the design of the Galaxy S21 Ultra in order to integrate an S Pen, Samsung will make the S Pen an optional accessory – making this a far more traditional approach.

What remains odd about this situation is the combination of the stylus and the curved-edge display panel. Like its predecessors, the Galaxy S21 Ultra will have significantly curved left and right sides, cascading down the edges. This is not particularly friendly for stylus control – but what worked for the Galaxy Note series must still work for Galaxy S21 Ultra.

We're confident the Samsung Galaxy S21 and family will be revealed in early January, likely on January 14, 2021. The launch date for the device collection is likely January 29, but there's always a chance there'll be a last-minute change of plans, given the unpredictable state of the world today.