Samsung’s next flagship phone could be called the Galaxy S21

Samsung Galaxy S21 render
(Image credit: Miror pro/YouTube)

Samsung’s next flagship S-series phones could go by the name of the Galaxy S21, not the Galaxy S30, according to reliable leaker Ice Universe

We’ve been chewing over the potential naming convention for the next Galaxy phone for a while as more rumors have started building up around the phone. We had settled on 'Samsung Galaxy S30' but it looks like the Galaxy S21 could be the right naming convention. 

Ice Universe doesn't detail where they got this name from, though they often get various tidbits of information from insider sources. And you could argue that the naming of Samsung’s next Galaxy phones is of little note. 

The leaker also mentioned "Project U" that could be the "Unbound" codename thought to be linked to the Galaxy S21 Ultra. 

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But it could be translated as a statement of intent from Samsung. The Galaxy S20 series opted for the ‘20’ moniker rather than ‘S11’ to follow on from the Galaxy S10 series. It could be argued that the step-up in specs, tweaked design and camera upgrade, as well as the use of a 120Hz refresh-rate display, prompted Samsung to go for a bigger number in the name. 

As such, the ‘Galaxy S21’ could be seen more of intent by Samsung to create an iterative upgrade on the Galaxy S20 series, rather than introduce a set of phones with a dramatically upgraded feature set, Think of it like when Apple used to create ‘S’ versions of its phones every other year, which acted as tweaked versions of their predecessors rather than redesigned handsets; not that Apple’s done a major redesign of its iPhones for a while now, though that could change with the iPhone 12

Of course, this is all wild speculation on our part, as there’s not a vast amount of information circulating around the Galaxy S21. From what we’ve heard so far it will come with an upgraded 108MP main camera, potentially sport an S Pen in an ‘Ultra’ guise, and possibly make use of the Exynos 1000, a chip that’s expected to come with powerful graphics courtesy of AMD. An S Pen and a powerful chipset could spell the end of the Galaxy Note series, in a move that could see Samsung streamline its flagship handsets. 

Given Samsung has only just released the Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra, we won’t be expecting the Galaxy S21 until at least February next year. Though we’d not be surprised if more leaks pop up about the phone as 2020 draws to a close.  

Roland Moore-Colyer

Roland Moore-Colyer a Managing Editor at Tom’s Guide with a focus on news, features and opinion articles. He often writes about gaming, phones, laptops and other bits of hardware; he’s also got an interest in cars. When not at his desk Roland can be found wandering around London, often with a look of curiosity on his face.