First Samsung Galaxy S21 image leak shows a major camera design change

The Samsung Galaxy S20 range. (Image credit: John Fredrik Kristiansen)

Yesterday we heard that the Samsung Galaxy S21 (alternatively known as the Galaxy S30) could be arriving as early as January. Today, we've got another leak to report: the first pictures showing what the phone might look like.

The renderings are courtesy of seasoned tipster @OnLeaks, who posted a variety of images showing the upcoming phone from all angles (embedded below). Considering the source's track record, these pictures should be fairly accurate.

You'll notice that there's a big design change in terms of the rear camera, with the camera unit seeming to wrap around the top corner of the device. Our first impressions are pretty positive, but of course your mileage may vary.

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The new design actually looks like an evolution of what we saw with the Galaxy S20 and the Note 20 rear cameras, all positioned up in the top left-hand corner on the back of the handsets. It's certainly something a little different.

Around the front it doesn't look as though much has changed in terms of the phone's aesthetics – there's still the punch hole camera in the center at the top of the display, as we saw on both the Galaxy S20 and the Note 20.

The front display is said to be "roughly" 6.2 inches corner to corner, while the overall dimensions are tipped to be 151.7 mm x 71.2 mm x 7.9 mm (5.9 inches x 2.8 inches x 0.31 inches). The camera bump apparently adds an extra 1.1 mm or 0.04 inches.

Also from the same source: the January launch is apparently happening, which is a month earlier than Samsung normally launches its Galaxy S series handsets. Perhaps the company wants to get a head start on its rivals in 2021.

From what we've heard so far, it seems likely that Samsung is going to go with the Galaxy S21 naming rather than follow the 10-digit jump that happened between the Galaxy S10 and the Galaxy S20.

Via Android Police

David Nield
Freelance Contributor

Dave is a freelance tech journalist who has been writing about gadgets, apps and the web for more than two decades. Based out of Stockport, England, on TechRadar you'll find him covering news, features and reviews, particularly for phones, tablets and wearables. Working to ensure our breaking news coverage is the best in the business over weekends, David also has bylines at Gizmodo, T3, PopSci and a few other places besides, as well as being many years editing the likes of PC Explorer and The Hardware Handbook.