Samsung Galaxy S21 event: How to watch Unpacked and what to expect

Samsung Galaxy Unpacked January 2022 invite

(Image credit: Samsung)

The Samsung Milky way S21 and its variants volition be the kickoff flagship phones of 2022 after only a smattering of phones were announced at CES 2022. The Samsung Galaxy Unpacked event arrives roughly a month earlier than its normal mid-February timing, just weeks ahead of Mobile World Congress.

Thanks to countless leaks and the less-than-subtle announcement materials from Samsung, we know the Milky way S21 models are coming today. While we have a pretty clear picture show of the phones (quite literally) from the various leaks, there are always some details that were missed. Watch forth to find out exactly where Samsung is setting the bar with the Galaxy S21 and whether it has anything else in store for us today.

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How to watch the Samsung Milky way S21 launch upshot

Galaxy Unpacked will be virtual and will be streaming alive on Samsung'due south website and on YouTube. The event will begin today at 10 a.m. Eastern fourth dimension (vii a.k. Pacific).

Samsung'due south invite for the event didn't requite a full wait at the Galaxy S21, but the lightly obscured object inside the box was pretty hands recognizable as the camera array for the new Milky way S21. Based on the renders and allegedly official marketing materials that take leaked, the camera assortment does seem like the defining feature of the only slightly tweaked design of the Galaxy S21. Below the epitome is the message "Welcome to the Everyday Ballsy," which doesn't really give us any boosted clues.

Galaxy S21, S21 Plus and S21 Ultra

If you want our deep dive on these phones, yous tin can check out our Galaxy S21 hub, only here's a await at some of the highlights.

For those hoping for a meaning rethink of the Galaxy S blueprint, the Galaxy S21 isn't going to scratch that crawling with what appears to be a very subtle change from the Galaxy S20 focused on integrating the photographic camera array into the top and edge of the phone. I didn't find the jutting camera on last yr'due south Galaxy devices to be a especially highly-seasoned attribute of the blueprint so I'm all for this change, although it's far from a full redesign.

Only like last year, there should exist three Galaxy S21 models, starting with the Milky way S21 at half dozen.2-inches, the Galaxy S21 Plus at 6.7-inches and the Galaxy S21 Ultra at 6.8-inches. All volition feature 120Hz panels, but there is some disagreement on whether they will all add the battery conserving adaptive refresh rate technology found on the Galaxy Notation 20 Ultra.

Within, we expect all of the Galaxy S21 models to feature the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor; it'southward not going to go toe-to-toe with Apple's A14 Bionic, simply it is a reasonably significant spring from last year's Snapdragon 865.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra — (Image credit: @OnLeaks)

While the camera assortment may be getting a big design change, the cameras themselves will reportedly remain the aforementioned on the Galaxy S21 and Milky way S21 Plus with 12MP wide and ultra-wide lenses accompanied by a 64MP telephoto. The Galaxy S21 Ultra, on the other paw, will apparently add a fourth lens to the mix. It keeps that same massive 108MP broad angle, a 12MP ultra-wide and now a pair of 10MP telephoto lenses offering 3x and 10x optical zoom. Information technology should also offering improved focus speed and accuracy with the laser autofocus organization from the Note 20 Ultra.

Concluding, only far from least, is the rumor that the Galaxy S21 could be getting a somewhat pregnant price driblet from final year's models. The rumors range anywhere from a $100 to $200 subtract, which would seem like a wise move for Samsung to bring dorsum buyers who were more reluctant to spend upwards of $ane,000 on a new phone last year.

Galaxy Buds Pro

In addition to the Galaxy S21, there accept been persistent rumors of new true wireless earbuds from Samsung. Dorsum in December, the Galaxy Buds Pro were revealed in FCC paperwork. Further back up for a launch alongside the Milky way S21 came in the grade of leaked pre-society deals that include the Galaxy Buds Pro.

Previous leaks have suggested that the Galaxy Buds Pro will characteristic active dissonance-cancellation, Bluetooth 5.i, IP68 water and dust resistance, bear upon controls, USB-C fast charging and wireless charging. As y'all would look with that more than advanced feature ready, they are projected to exist the virtually expensive Galaxy Buds so far at $229. This notwithstanding would bring them in under the AirPods Pro at $249.

Samsung Galaxy SmartTag locator — (Image credit: 91Mobiles)

The terminal device that may arrive at today's event is the Galaxy SmartTag. These are Samsung's respond to Tile and likewise could be stealing Apple'south thunder with its now long-rumored AirTags. Non as much is known nearly these other than integration with Samsung'southward SmartThings platform, Bluetooth five.1 back up and a rumored price of around $18.

Leaked photos of the Galaxy SmartTags uncovered by 91mobiles weren't exactly flattering equally you can come across higher up. They feature a much larger rounded form gene than the slim options nosotros're accepted to from Tile. If the pricing rumors prove correct and the feature fix is compelling then that may not affair, simply the size may eliminate them from some utilise cases.

Sean Riley has been covering tech professionally for over a decade now. Most of that fourth dimension was as a freelancer covering varied topics including phones, wearables, tablets, smart home devices, laptops, AR, VR, mobile payments, fintech, and more. Sean is the resident mobile adept at Laptop Mag, specializing in phones and wearables, you'll notice plenty of news, reviews, how-to, and opinion pieces on these subjects from him here. But Laptop Mag has also proven a perfect fit for that broad range of interests with reviews and news on the latest laptops, VR games, and computer accessories forth with coverage on everything from NFTs to cybersecurity and more.