The S10 was incredible. Here’s what Samsung’s doing to improve for 2020.
Samsung’s Galaxy S series is always one of the most anticipated smartphone releases year after year. Following a modest upgrade with the S9 series, 2019’s Galaxy S10 lineup shook things up with an all-new Infinity-O design for the display, triple rear cameras, and even a third “budget” model.
In the coming months, it’ll be time for Samsung to take the wraps off of the Galaxy S11 — or the S20, we aren’t 100% sure about the name. The phone has big shoes to fill, but knowing Samsung, it’ll be up to the task.
Without further ado, here’s everything we know about the Samsung Galaxy S11!
- There will probably be three versions
- The S11’s design has been revealed
- Here are the specs we’re anticipating
- Expect a high price
- It should be announced in early 2020
- Don’t count out the Galaxy S10 just yet
Flagship in every way
Samsung Galaxy S10
From $900 at Samsung
Samsung’s 2019 flagship is still worth a look.
The Galaxy S11 is bound to be a great phone, but if you need a handset right now, the S10 is more than worth picking up at this point in 2019. It continues to have a stunning display, blazing-fast performance, and very capable triple rear cameras.
How many models are we expecting?
Most years, Samsung’s Galaxy S lineup has consisted of two releases — the regular model and a Plus one. With the S10, however, Samsung shook things up by launching the Galaxy S10, S10+, and S10e. Looking forward with the Galaxy S11, we’re expecting Samsung to stick with that three-phone release.
On November 9, 2019, tipster Evan Blass shared three screen sizes for the different S11 phones — inlcuding 6.4-inch, 6.7-inch, and 6.9-inch ones. It’s also noted that Samsung will offer the smaller two versions of the S11 in LTE and 5G models, with the larger 6.9-inch phone (likely the S11+) having 5G support as a default feature.
Then, on December 30, another report suggested that Samsung will be dropping the “e” variant in 2020 and instead offer the regular Galaxy S, a Plus, and an Ultra model.
Furthermore, there’s talk that Samsung will ditch the expected S11 branding and instead market the phone as the “Galaxy S20.” If this is to be believed, that means we’ll get the Galaxy S20, Galaxy S20 Plus, and Galaxy S20 Ultra.
We’ll still refer to the phone as the S11 throughout the rest of this article, but keep in mind that the naming is up in the air.
What will it look like?
In regards to the S11’s design, it’s shaping up to be a modest change compared to the S10. November 22 brought us the first CAD renders of the upcoming phone, showcasing the device in all of its glory.
The display once again has a hole-punch cutout for the front-facing camera, but this time it’s centered at the top of the screen similar to what we saw on the Note 10. The edges of the screen are also curved, but it’s possible Samsung will keep a flat display around for the S11e just like it did with the S10e.
[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Psr80Gv1L6k?modestbranding=0&html5=1&rel=0&autoplay=0&wmode=opaque&loop=0&controls=1&autohide=0&showinfo=0&theme=dark&color=red&enablejsapi=1]
Around back, Samsung changed up the rear camera housing quite a bit. Instead of a horizontal bump in the top-center of the phone, we now have a chunky vertical one towards far left side. The S11 appears to have five camera sensors, indicating that Samsung’s ready to up its photography game (more on this below).
The CAD render also reinforces the 6.7-inch screen size that was previously mentioned, along with there being no 3.5mm headphone jack.
Then, on November 26, we got our first good look at the larger Galaxy S11+. It appears to share the regular S11’s curved hole-punch display, but the camera hump is quite a bit larger — consisting of five individual camera sensors. It’s bound to be an impressive photography tool, but there’s no getting around how polarizing this design is.
Hands-on images are still pretty scarce, but on December 9, Samsung tipster @IceUniverse shared two very pixelated real-world shots of the S11.
The S11’s design is mostly hidden behind a “leakproof case” in the photos, but they do allow us to get another look at the phone’s large rear camera housing. Everything here seems to match up with the CAD renders, indicating that this is likely the final (or near-final) design.
Any idea what the specs will be?
Right off the bat, there are a few assumptions we can make about the S11’s specs. There will be an AMOLED display, it’ll be powered by Qualcomm’s next-gen processor (Snapdragon 865?), and there will be at least 6GB of RAM.
In regards to S11 specs, the rumor mill has been talking nonstop about the S11’s new camera. On November 4, Samsung leaker Ice Universe shared that the phone has a “high probability” of offering a 108MP camera for one of its sensors.
The Galaxy S11 has a high probability of using a new 108MP sensor.
— Ice universe (@UniverseIce) November 4, 2019
Samsung officially unveiled its 108MP ISOCELL Bright HMX camera sensor in August, and it only makes sense for the company to debut this on its first big flagship of the year.
The Galaxy S11 is also said to support 5x optical zoom, along with being one of the first smartphones to support 8K video capture at 30 frames-per-second. A report from November 29 mentioned a “Bright Night Sensor” that should allow for impressive low-light photography.
As for the S11’s display, we should see a big upgrade for it, too. Samsung’s One UI 2 Beta included a settings page for a 120Hz display — something we’ve yet to see on any Samsung phone. While it’s possible Samsung’s holding this off for the Note 11, it seems more likely that the company would want to debut this feature on the S11.
120hz Samsung phones are coming pic.twitter.com/DBPXczFCmi
— Max Weinbach (@MaxWinebach) November 20, 2019
On the software side of things, SamMobile has reported that the Galaxy S11 will ship with Android 10 and One UI 2.1 out of the box.
How much with the different S11 versions cost?
Next, let’s talk about everyone’s favorite subject — price.
For comparison’s sake, here’s the retail pricing of the S10 series:
- Galaxy S10e — From $750
- Galaxy S10 — From $900
- Galaxy S10+ — From $1000
- Galaxy S10 5G — From $1300
Phones tend to get more expensive with each year that passes, and that’ll probably be the case for the S11 series.
The severity of those potential price increases remains unclear, but expect next year’s handsets to be more expensive in some capacity. With the Note 10+ having a starting price of $1100, Samsung’s made it evident that it’s perfectly comfortable with $1000+ price tags.
When will the phones be released?
For the last two years, Samsung’s announced its Galaxy S phones in late February right before MWC. The Galaxy S10 was revealed on February 20, and the S9 had its unveiling on February 25.
With no reason to believe that Samsung is changing anything for the S11, it’s safe to say we’ll once again get a February announcement with pre-orders opening up shortly after. This was also confirmed by Evan Blass, with him indicating that we’ll see the “traditional mid-to-late February launch.”
Samsung sent out invites for the S10 Unpacked event a month prior in January, and that’ll also probably be the case with the S11.
What about the Galaxy S10?
While it’s fun to get excited about what the Galaxy S11 will have to offer, that doesn’t mean you should already be counting out the Galaxy S10.
The S10 is still one of the best Android phones that money can buy, and now that it’s been out in the wild for a few months, it isn’t uncommon to find some pretty sweet deals for it.
You can certainly wait a few more months and hold out for the S11 if you prefer, but if you’re in the market for a new phone right now, we absolutely still recommend picking up the S10.
Flagship in every way
Samsung Galaxy S10
From $900 at Samsung
Samsung’s 2019 flagship is still worth a look.
The Galaxy S11 is bound to be a great phone, but if you need a handset right now, the S10 is more than worth picking up at this point in 2019. It continues to have a stunning display, blazing-fast performance, and very capable triple rear cameras.
