- Samsung’s Galaxy S20 successor might be Samsung’s first phone to feature a perfect all-screen design.
- A leaker claims the Galaxy S21 will have an under-screen selfie camera that would eliminate the hole-punch design compromise.
- Several handset vendors are also working on the same tech for all-screen smartphone designs.
- Visit BGR’s homepage for more stories.
Launched in mid-February, the Galaxy S20 is one of the most interesting Android phones of the year. It packs a great all-screen design and incredible specs, particularly on the Ultra version. It also comes with built-in 5G support, and that’s why it has a much higher entry price than expected. Samsung has already started offering several notable Galaxy S20 promos, as sales haven’t been spectacular, with the unexpected coronavirus health crisis having delivered a huge blow to smartphone sales this year. One deal is particularly exciting, as it comes with a buy-back guarantee that’s valid for 24 months. You’ll have to pay full price for the handset, but Samsung will return 50% of the money if you trade-in the phone at any point in the coming months. And this first rumor about the Galaxy S20’s successor is certainly the kind of leak that could convince you to upgrade to the next Galaxy S model as soon as next year.
Samsung changed the Galaxy S nomenclature this year, so we have no way of telling what comes after the Galaxy S20. Samsung could go for Galaxy S21 to coincide with the year, or it could jump to Galaxy S30, replicating the naming scheme used by Huawei on its flagship handsets.
Noted leaker Ice Universe thinks the Galaxy S20 successor will be called Galaxy S21, and he already has a first detail about the handset.
Samsung is considering using the under-screen camera technology on the Galaxy S21 first, and is evaluating the feasibility of the technology.
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) April 9, 2020
Samsung is considering using under-display camera technology for the Galaxy S21, the leaker said, and it’s evaluating the tech. Placing the camera under the screen would let Samsung eliminate the only thing that’s “ruining” the display of the Galaxy S20, the hole-punch camera.
Samsung is certainly not the first to toy with the technology. Last year, we saw prototypes from other smartphone vendors featuring the novel selfie camera tech (see Oppo’s below). But the technology is still not there yet, or those handset makers would have launched such devices. The part of the screen that’s covering the selfie camera has to be transparent when taking photos. The rest of the time, it has to behave like a regular display.
Samsung Display makes some of the best OLED displays in the industry. These screens are found inside the latest Galaxy S and Note phones, but also all the iPhones with OLED screens, the latest Pixel phones, and even the recently launched Huawei P40 Pro. Samsung Display must have been testing under-screen camera tech for years. But if Samsung is already considering it for the Galaxy S21, then it means Samsung made plenty of progress. A recent patent revealed a Samsung screen design that would fit very well with in-screen camera tech.
On the other hand, this is just a rumor. The leaker has been right before about Samsung’s plans, but not all of his claims panned out. It’s still very early to know anything for sure, and Samsung has plenty of time to decide the final design of the Galaxy S21. We won’t know for sure until late 2020 when more detailed rumors will pop up.
Until then, Samsung will unveil two more flagships, including the Galaxy Note 20 and Galaxy Fold 2. We expect both phones to feature hole-punch displays.
