The Galaxy S11’s signature feature is expected to be the rear-facing camera, which is getting as many as five distinct sensors. That’s according to recent leaks that claim Samsung is going to incorporate a massive 108-megapixel sensor as well as a periscope zoom lens into the Galaxy S11 camera system. Samsung will make up to five different Galaxy S11 phones, other reports said, and not all of them are expected to get the same camera modules. The more expensive the phone, the better the camera you’re going to get. But if there’s one thing that’s going to be shared by all these S11 devices, that’s the overall design. All Galaxy S11 phones are supposed to feature Infinity-O screens with curved edges on the sides, and tiny top and bottom bezels. A new leak further reinforces that idea, suggesting the Galaxy S11 might have an exciting feature that’s yet to leak.
Well-known Samsung insider Ice Universe posted on Twitter the following image, which shows two screen protectors sitting side by side. According to marketings on them, we’re looking at Galaxy S11 and S11+ accessories:
S11、S11+ pic.twitter.com/z9lWNQ0p8M
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) December 17, 2019
The screen protectors tell us the phones they’re made for will have minimal top and bottom bezels as well as curved edges on the sides. Samsung may have pioneered curved displays, but several Android handset vendors use similar designs right now, so there’s no way to verify the authenticity of these screen protectors.
After all, all smartphone makers out there aren’t done reducing the size of bezels, especially the top and bottom ones.
Assuming the accessories in the photos are supposed to services the Galaxy S11 series, there is one interesting thing to note. There’s no indication of a front-facing top speaker presence in the top bezel of the phone. To be fair, the same goes for current Galaxy S10 screen protectors, as they don’t account for the top speaker of the phone.
However, Galaxy S10 does have a front-facing speaker at the top (see above), which is the kind of design element that can be further eliminated to increase the screen-to-body ratio. By removing the front speaker, Samsung could slightly increase the screen size of the Galaxy S11 and further improve the overall design.
Let’s not forget that Samsung has unveiled a display technology that transforms the display into a full speaker: sound-on-display tech. Samsung may very well use such tech on future products, and the Galaxy S11 might very well be the first to get it — this is just speculation for the time being, as we haven’t seen it mentioned in other reports. LG, by the way, launched such a phone last year, the G8 ThinQ that ships with a Crystal Sound OLED screen.
But let’s not forget that Samsung hasn’t had great success in launching phones that look like last year’s models. The Galaxy S9 is proof of that. Removing the speaker from the Galaxy S11’s front might be the kind of design choice that gets noticed next year.
Also, the screen protectors above suggest the Galaxy S11 might feature uniform top and bottom bezels, which might also be a first for Samsung. The Galaxy S10 and Note 10 feature asymmetric bezels, with the bottom bezel being the bigger one in both cases.
The Galaxy S11 won’t have a 3.5mm port on the bottom, which could help Samsung further reduce the bottom bezels. But that’s also just speculation.
Then again, these screen protectors might feature a symmetric bezel design in spite of the actual design of the phones. The Galaxy S11 handsets could still sport speakers on the top and thicker bezels on the bottom. In such a case, the screen protector would cover the entire screen, save for the speaker area at the top, and a tiny screen area on the bottom.
The Galaxy S11 is supposed to be unveiled in mid-February, according to recent leaks. The closer we get to that launch event, the more S11 leaks we’ll get to see, at which point we’ll know everything about the phones’ design and novel features.
