Tag: Galaxy

Given everything we already know about Samsung’s Galaxy Note 20, it had looked like the company’s best smartphone of 2020. But that was before Samsung suddenly revealed this stunning new phone. 

Spotted by the eagle-eyed BGR, Samsung has casually inserted an eye-catching notch-less, bezel-less, all-screen Galaxy smartphone in an ad for its new ‘Wind free’ home air conditioner (yeah, me too). The device, seen at 0:55, has the harder angles of a Galaxy Note, but without any top bezel or visible front-facing camera. 

03/31 Update: Samsung has replied to me saying only that it doesn’t comment on future products. This obviously gives the video leak another level of excitement, especially given Samsung’s public commitment to under-display cameras and the leaked 2020 timeline for its introduction on smartphones (more detail below). That said, I also wouldn’t rule out the company just being deliberately vague. I will chase up Samsung again and attempt to get further clarification. In the meantime, try to keep your expectations in check.

My initial reaction was that this is too good to be true, but well connected Samsung insider Ice Universe and acclaimed Korean site The Elec have both stated that Samsung will launch a phone in 2020 with an under-display camera. 

The Elec explained that, internally, Samsung calls the technology ‘UDC’ (literally, Under Display Camera) and it works by integrating a transparent display over the punch hole. The result is no notch, no visible punch hole and no need for a mechanised pop-up camera. The Elec said Samsung began production of these displays in October, while Ice Universe wrote that it would not launch on one of the established Galaxy ranges – which only deepens the mystery. 

Interestingly. Samsung itself been open about its plans. Since as far back as November 2018, Hassan Anjum, Samsung’s product marketing director revealed the company’s ‘New Infinity’ UDC display and said that they “are just around the corner, and I can’t wait to tell you more about them.” Samsung has also long-teased its upcoming smartphones through ‘accidental’ leaks on its website and in marketing videos. 

I have reached out to Samsung for a comment on this mystery device and will update this article when I have a response. In the meantime, keep your fingers tightly crossed. 

Samsung’s Galaxy S11 has leaked and leaked again, revealing a series of radical new features. And now Samsung confirmed its new smartphone for the first time. 

Picked up by the ever-alert XDA Developers, Samsung has publicly revealed the Galaxy S11 for the first time in its application to China’s CCC. The company also disclosed its exact model number as well as its headline feature and fast charging speed. 

12/1 Update: popular Samsung insider @IceUniverse has built upon the OnLeak’s design leak revealing that “key parts are wrong, the real design is more beautiful than this” explaining that the cameras will be symmetrical and the 5x optical zoom lens will be square. While the display will have a class-leading 120Hz display.

11/27 Update: acclaimed leaker @OnLeaks has teamed with CashKaro to reveal just how radical Samsung’s Galaxy S11+ will be thanks to an extreme new quintuple rear camera in a huge rectangular hump. The primary camera is understood to be 108MP with 5X optical zoom, capable of 8K video recording but, aside from ultra-wide angle and telephoto lenses, it is unknown what the other modules will do. Images below:

The first of these is good news. Samsung confirms the Galaxy S11 (listed as ‘SM-G9860’) will come with 5G. This should set the bar for 2020 smartphones with almost all rivals upgrading their flagships to 5G tech, including wide-band support from Apple. 

The second disclosure, is less positive. Samsung reveals that the Galaxy S11 will only have support for a maximum charging speed of 25W. Granted, this is a step-up from the ageing 15W standard of the Galaxy S10, but the Note 10 Plus introduced 45W charging so it’s going to raise eyebrows that Samsung has taken a step down from this. 

I suspect the reality is Samsung will again save 45W charging for the larger Galaxy S11 Plus, but with big rivals like OnePlus, Honor and Huawei all offering phones with 40W+ charge capabilities, it’s surprising to see Samsung be so unambitious with Galaxy S11. It also confirms that revolutionary new battery tech Samsung is working on will not make it into the phone.

That said, elsewhere we know Samsung is aiming high. Samsung is equipping its Galaxy S11s with a potentially groundbreaking camera codenamed ‘Hubble’ due to its extreme zoom capabilities. There will also be new shooting modes, a new design, big performance upgrades, next-gen memory, a supersized fingerprint sensor and a real crowdpleaser: much bigger batteries. 

With all this information, should you still buy the Galaxy S10 or Galaxy Note 10? On the surface no, but I will admit there are some massive Black Friday savings to be had on both models, which might just tip the balance. 

Samsung’s Galaxy S11 has leaked and leaked again, revealing a series of radical new features. And now Samsung confirmed its new smartphone for the first time. 

Picked up by the ever-alert XDA Developers, Samsung has publicly revealed the Galaxy S11 for the first time in its application to China’s CCC. The company also disclosed its exact model number as well as its headline feature and fast charging speed. 

The first of these is good news. Samsung confirms the Galaxy S11 (listed as ‘SM-G9860’) will come with 5G. This should set the bar for 2020 smartphones with almost all rivals upgrading their flagships to 5G tech, including wide-band support from Apple. 

The second disclosure, is less positive. Samsung reveals that the Galaxy S11 will only have support for a maximum charging speed of 25W. Granted, this is a step-up from the ageing 15W standard of the Galaxy S10, but the Note 10 Plus introduced 45W charging so it’s going to raise eyebrows that Samsung has taken a step down from this. 

I suspect the reality is Samsung will again save 45W charging for the larger Galaxy S11 Plus, but with big rivals like OnePlus, Honor and Huawei all offering phones with 40W+ charge capabilities, it’s surprising to see Samsung be so unambitious with Galaxy S11. It also confirms that revolutionary new battery tech Samsung is working on will not make it into the phone.

That said, elsewhere we know Samsung is aiming high. Samsung is equipping its Galaxy S11s with a potentially groundbreaking camera codenamed ‘Hubble’ due to its extreme zoom capabilities. There will also be new shooting modes, a new design, big performance upgrades, next-gen memory, a supersized fingerprint sensor and a real crowdpleaser: much bigger batteries. 

With all this information, should you still buy the Galaxy S10 or Galaxy Note 10? On the surface no, but I will admit there are some massive Black Friday savings to be had on both models, which might just tip the balance.

Samsung’s Galaxy S11 has already been heavily leaked, but the company has now revealed it is working on far more radical Galaxy smartphones. 

In newly published patents picked up by the ever-alert PatentlyApple, Samsung has revealed an astonishing array of foldable smartphone designs for its fast-tracked successor to the “Embarrassing” Galaxy Fold. 

Most notable by far is Figure 133 (below) which shows the front-facing foldable design adopted by Huawei and which many feel was the format Samsung should’ve adopted with the original Galaxy Fold. That said, the company has also thrown in some truly eccentric designs, including rollable and tabbed designs. 

The latter, in particular, is ingenious because the tabs are detachable and can be used to add supplemental storage, battery capacity or even physical hardware buttons to the device. I’ve never seen anything like it. 

That said, it is Samsung’s other recent patent which really gets the blood pumping. The company’s plans to integrate front-facing cameras under its display in 2020 have already been leaked by one top insider and the ‘New Infinity’ display tech which will enable it has been described as “just around the corner” by Samsung product marketing director Hassan Anjum. 

Despite this, I suspect it will be the Galaxy S11 which still makes the biggest splash next year. We already know it packs a groundbreaking camera, upgraded design, major performance increases, next-gen memory, a supersized fingerprint sensor and AI-focused image processing while Samsung is also readying some revolutionary new battery tech. 

Samsung has had a bad week. First more major Galaxy S11 details leaked, then the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 were caught up in an embarrassing security debacle. And now there’s another reason to skip Samsung’s 2019 smartphones altogether.

In separate reports, acclaimed Korean site The Elec and popular Samsung insider Ice Universe have revealed Samsung will release a smartphone next year with the camera built under the display. Furthermore, it won’t launch in the models you expect. 

“Samsung will launch an under display camera phone next year! Not S11, not Fold 2,” said Ice Universe in a cryptic tweet. 

Adding flesh to these bones, The Elec explained that Samsung calls the technology ‘UDC’ (literally, Under Display Camera) internally and it works by integrating a transparent display over the punch hole. The result is no notch, no punch hole and no need for a pop-up camera. Manufacturing will begin this month with the company “planning to bring in mass production facilities early next year.”

Samsung has also been quite open about its plans in this area. Back in November 2018, Samsung product marketing director Hassan Anjum announced the ‘New Infinity’ display UDC panel and claimed they “are just around the corner, and I can’t wait to tell you more about them.”

Since then, Samsung has been silent but with rival Oppo revealing its plans for similar tech back in June and a recent telling patent from Samsung surfacing earlier this week, plans are clearly afoot. And if it won’t make the Galaxy S11 or the Galaxy Fold 2 (previous generations were announced in February) then it may well debut in the Galaxy Note 11. 

Interestingly, UDC technology would also allow Samsung to get back into facial recognition because the sensors can also be hidden under the display. With pressure here hotting up from Google’s Pixel 4 and Apple’s dual biometric iPhone plans, the New Infinity Display can’t come soon enough. 

All of which makes 2020 a massive year for Samsung. After all, the heavily leaked Galaxy S11 is expected to deliver a groundbreaking camera, upgraded design, major performance increases, next-gen memory, a supersized fingerprint sensor and AI-focused image processing. And that is before the Fold 2, some potentially revolutionary new battery tech and the New Infinity phones. 

Why is Samsung going so far? BecauseApple’s next iPhones will be radically reinvented as well. So 2020 looks like a year where we all win. 

Samsung’s heavily leaked Galaxy S11 is already making the Galaxy S10 and Note 10 look out of date. But Samsung may have an even more exciting smartphone planned. 

Picked up by the eagle-eyes at Tiger Mobiles (via BGR), Samsung has published a new patent revealing work on a radical new smartphone with a bezel-less design and triple front-facing cameras. Moreover, these cameras are unlikely to look or operate how you expect. 

While the filed patent images (below) show the oval-shaped alignment you would consider essential for a triple-front-facing smartphone camera array, Samsung has already shown us this is not the direction the company is headed. How? Because after using a dual front-facing array in the Galaxy S10 Plus, it pulled this design from the Galaxy Note 10 (a more expensive phone) to go back to a less-obtrusive single lens. So increasing the cut-out to three cameras is not an option. 

Instead, the answer has been sitting out in the open for some time. Back in November 2018, Samsung product marketing director Hassan Anjum revealed the ‘New Infinity’ display – a notch-less, bezel-less panel which hides the cameras under the display. At the time he said New Infinity displays “are just around the corner, and I can’t wait to tell you more about them.”

While the tech missed the 2019 Galaxy S10 and Note 10 launches, “just around the corner” puts it in line for 2020. Personally speaking, I would be blown away if it hits the Galaxy S11 but I suspect it may launch instead in a concept device or even the Galaxy Note 11 at the end of the year. 

But why would you need triple-front-facing cameras? You don’t. You need the extra slots for cutting-edge facial recognition. In 2019 Samsung walked away from its poor implementation of the tech seen in previous devices but with Apple, OnePlus and soon Google’s Pixel 4 ramping up the pressure, Samsung now has to respond. 

Yes, if this tech makes it into the Galaxy S11 it will be a game-changer because we already know the phone packs a groundbreaking camera, upgraded design, major performance increases, next-gen memory, a supersized fingerprint sensor and AI-focused image processing. It could also contain revolutionary new battery tech.