In January 2021, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S21 lineup with price cuts of up to $200, a quiet but meaningful signal that the era of ever-escalating flagship costs may be softening. Three models — the S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra — arrived with sharper processors, adaptive displays, and cameras refined for a world that increasingly lives through its lenses. Most significantly, the Ultra absorbed the S Pen stylus once exclusive to the Note line, raising a quiet question about which Samsung phones will survive the decade. The announcement invites us to consider how technology companies balance a
Samsung Galaxy S21 lineup arrives with lower prices, dynamic displays and S Pen support
The first non-Note phone to support the S Pen
Mark
Why does the S Pen support on the Ultra matter so much? It seems like a feature, not a strategy.
Mimi
Because it's the first time Samsung has put the S Pen on a non-Note phone. The Note has always been the productivity device. Now the Ultra does everything the Note does, except you have to buy the stylus separately and carry a case for it.
Luke
Right, but that's not nothing. You have to buy the pen, you have to buy a case. The Note comes with both built in. So it's not actually the same product.
Mimi
True. But it signals where Samsung's head is. They're testing whether the Note line still needs to exist.
Mark
And the price cuts—$200 off across the board. Is that because the phones are less impressive than last year?
Mimi
No, actually. The S21 Ultra is more capable than the S20 Ultra. Better cameras, better processor, better display. But Samsung is being more aggressive on pricing.
Luke
Or they're responding to pressure. The market's saturated. People are keeping phones longer. Cutting $200 makes the Ultra more competitive against the iPhone 12 Pro Max.
Mark
What about the missing charger? That feels like a real problem for people who don't have spares.
Mimi
Samsung says it's environmental—less packaging, less waste. But yeah, if you don't have a charger at home, you're paying extra.
Luke
And Samsung mocked Apple for doing this exact thing last fall. So there's some irony there.
Mark
The dynamic refresh rate is on all three phones now, not just the Ultra?
Mimi
Yes. The S21 and S21 Plus can adjust between 48Hz and 120Hz. The Ultra goes down to 10Hz, so it has more range. But all three have the feature.
Luke
That's actually significant for battery life. Scrolling at 120Hz all day drains the battery fast. Dropping to 48Hz when you're reading saves real power.
Mark
So what's the real differentiator between the S21 and the Plus?
Mimi
Screen size, battery size, and color options. The S21 has more colors. Otherwise they're very similar.
Luke
And the S21 uses plastic on the back instead of glass. That's why it's $200 cheaper. It's a real material difference, not just a price difference.
The Pulse
- Samsung's decision to cut flagship prices by $200 across the board breaks a years-long industry trend of creeping costs, putting pressure on Apple and Google to justify their own premium tiers.
- The S21 Ultra's adoption of S Pen support without a built-in stylus slot creates a genuine tension — it borrows the Note's identity while leaving Note loyalists without a clear home.
- Removing the charger from the box — after Samsung publicly mocked Apple for doing the same — exposes a contradiction that customers and critics are unlikely to let slide quietly.
- The Snapdragon 888's 25% CPU and 35% graphics gains, combined with dynamic 48–120Hz displays, push performance forward while the adaptive refresh rate attempts to keep battery anxiety at bay.
- Pre-order incentives up to $200, a bundled SmartTag tracker, and broad carrier availability signal Samsung is not just launching phones — it is staking out territory in the broader connected-device ecosystem.
In January 2021, Samsung unveiled its Galaxy S21 lineup with price cuts of up to $200, a quiet but meaningful signal that the era of ever-escalating flagship costs may be softening. Three models — the S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra — arrived with sharper processors, adaptive displays, and cameras refined for a world that increasingly lives through its lenses. Most significantly, the Ultra absorbed the S Pen stylus once exclusive to the Note line, raising a quiet question about which Samsung phones will survive the decade. The announcement invites us to consider how technology companies balance aspiration with accessibility — and what it means when a premium device becomes, by design, a little more within reach.
Samsung opened 2021 by doing something unexpected for a company that helped make thousand-dollar phones feel normal: it cut prices. The Galaxy S21 starts at $799, the S21 Plus at $999, and the S21 Ultra at $1,199 — each $200 less than its predecessor. Pre-orders opened January 14, with retail availability set for January 29 across major U.S. carriers.
The Ultra is the lineup's most consequential device. It becomes the first non-Note Samsung phone to support the S Pen stylus, though buyers must purchase the pen separately and supply their own case — there is no built-in slot. That omission aside, the Ultra is formidable: dual telephoto lenses with 3x and 10x optical zoom, a 108-megapixel main camera, a 40-megapixel front camera, a 6.8-inch 1,500-nit display, a 5,000 mAh battery, Wi-Fi 6E, and ultra-wideband connectivity capable of unlocking compatible car doors. Its S Pen support quietly blurs the boundary between Samsung's S and Note lines — and raises real questions about the Note's future.
The S21 and S21 Plus are quieter upgrades but still capable. Both carry Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888 — the company's first 5-nanometer chip, promising 25% more CPU speed and 35% faster graphics — alongside dynamic displays that shift between 48Hz and 120Hz to balance smoothness and battery life. Their triple-camera systems include a 64-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom. The S21's polycarbonate back helps explain its lower price; the S21 Plus steps up to glass. Neither model includes a microSD slot.
Samsung's software additions are worth noting. The updated Single Take feature now generates slow-motion clips and highlight reels alongside stills, while a new Director's View allows simultaneous front-and-rear video recording. The Ultra gains enhanced low-light processing through nona-binning technology.
One decision will generate friction: no charger ships in the box. Samsung once ridiculed Apple for the same choice with the iPhone 12. The company now frames it as an environmental gesture, but for customers without a compatible adapter, it is simply an added cost. Pre-order buyers do receive a SmartTag Bluetooth tracker — a signal that Samsung is eyeing the growing market for connected accessories alongside its phones.
Taken together, the S21 lineup represents a recalibration. The entry model is genuinely accessible for a flagship. The Ultra consolidates features once spread across two product lines. And the whole family arrives at a moment when Samsung seems less interested in chasing price records upward — and more focused on making its best hardware harder to ignore.
Samsung has released three new phones, and the pricing strategy signals a shift in how the company wants to compete. The Galaxy S21 starts at $799, the S21 Plus at $999, and the S21 Ultra at $1,199—each $200 cheaper than last year's equivalent models. For a company that helped normalize the thousand-dollar smartphone, this is a notable move. All three phones hit stores on January 29, with pre-orders beginning on January 14 at 11 a.m. ET. Carriers including AT&T, T-Mobile, Verizon, US Cellular, and Visible will all carry the devices.
The real story, though, is what Samsung packed into the Ultra model. It's the first non-Note phone to support the S Pen stylus—though you'll need to buy the pen separately and provide your own case, since there's no built-in slot like on the Galaxy Note. This addition blurs the line between Samsung's flagship phone and its productivity-focused Note line, raising questions about whether the Note has much of a future. The S21 Ultra also features dual telephoto lenses (one with 3x optical zoom, another with 10x), a 108-megapixel main camera, and a 40-megapixel front-facing camera. Its display is the largest at 6.8 inches and the brightest at 1,500 nits peak brightness. The battery is the biggest too, at 5,000 mAh. It supports Wi-Fi 6E and ultra-wideband connectivity, which means it can unlock compatible car doors automatically on select vehicles.
The S21 and S21 Plus are less flashy but still substantial upgrades. Both have 6.2-inch and 6.7-inch displays respectively, with the same dynamic refresh-rate technology as the Ultra—the screens adjust between 48Hz and 120Hz depending on what you're doing, conserving battery during static tasks like reading while smoothing scrolling and video playback. Both phones use a 12-megapixel main camera, 12-megapixel ultrawide, and 64-megapixel telephoto with 3x optical zoom. They share the same processor as the Ultra: Qualcomm's Snapdragon 888, the company's first 5-nanometer chip. Qualcomm claims it delivers 25 percent more CPU performance and 35 percent faster graphics rendering than last year's Snapdragon 865.
The design differences are subtle but deliberate. The S21 uses reinforced polycarbonate on its back—Samsung calls it "glasstic"—which helps explain its lower price. The S21 Plus uses glass. Both have flat edges and a camera array that integrates into the metal frame, a design Samsung calls the Contour Cut. The S21 Ultra shares this design but adds a curved front display and a matte finish on the back to reduce fingerprints and give it a more premium feel.
All three phones come with 8GB of RAM on the base S21 and S21 Plus, while the Ultra starts at 12GB and goes up to 16GB. Storage begins at 128GB across all models, with 256GB and 512GB options available. Notably, none of the S21 phones have a microSD card slot for expansion. The batteries scale with size: 4,000 mAh for the S21, 4,800 mAh for the S21 Plus, and 5,000 mAh for the Ultra. All support 25-watt charging, with Samsung claiming the Ultra can reach 50 percent charge in thirty minutes. But there's a catch: no charger comes in the box. Samsung is following Apple's lead from the iPhone 12 launch—a move Samsung had previously mocked. The company argues it reduces packaging waste, but for customers without a spare charger, it's an additional expense.
Samsung is bundling a SmartTag key finder with pre-orders, a Bluetooth-based tracker that works with the SmartThings Find app on your phone. It's a signal that Samsung sees an opportunity in the tracking device market, where competitors like Tile and Chipolo already operate, and where Apple is reportedly developing AirTags.
The camera improvements extend beyond hardware. Samsung has updated its Single Take feature, which now creates slow-motion videos and highlight reels in addition to still images. A new Director's View lets you switch between cameras while recording video and even record from front and rear cameras simultaneously. The S21 Ultra gets an improved low-light sensor and 12-megapixel nona-binning technology designed to capture more detail in dark conditions.
Samsung is offering pre-order incentives: $100 credit for the S21, $150 for the S21 Plus, and $200 for the S21 Ultra, redeemable in Samsung's online store. All three phones support 5G connectivity, including mmWave bands. The S21 Plus and Ultra add ultra-wideband support, which enables features like automatic car door unlocking and easier file transfers between compatible devices. The S21 Ultra is the only model with Wi-Fi 6E support, which offers faster speeds on compatible routers. What emerges is a lineup where the entry model is genuinely affordable for a flagship, the Plus offers a middle ground, and the Ultra consolidates features once scattered across Samsung's Note and S series—a consolidation that may reshape how Samsung organizes its phone portfolio going forward.
Notable Quotes
The Galaxy S21 Ultra is the first non-Galaxy Note phone to add S Pen support, though you'll have to buy the stylus separately and provide your own case for storage.— Samsung product specifications
The Snapdragon 888 promises a 25 percent boost in CPU performance and power efficiency over the Snapdragon 865, with GPU graphics rendering speed improved by 35 percent.— Qualcomm performance claims
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