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Samsung teases 2021 plans: cheaper foldables, early S21 announcement, S Pen without Note

By Joshua Swingle

Updated: Dec 18, 2020, 3:15 AM

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Samsung teases 2021 plans: cheaper foldables, early S21 announcement, S Pen without Note

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Next year is shaping up as an interesting one for Samsung. The brand is rumored to be expanding its lineup of foldable devices and saying goodbye to the Galaxy Note series. A much earlier Galaxy S21 announcement is on the cards too.

Now, the South Korean brand has teased all of this.

Upcoming Samsung foldables will be more affordable

In a rather lengthy blog post published this morning, TM Roh, Samsung's President of Mobile, highlighted some of the brand’s most recent achievements, including its extensive lineup of 5G devices, and hinted at Samsung’s 2021 roadmap.

One of the most noteworthy admissions is that Samsung hopes to expand its lineup of foldable devices to make the category more accessible to consumers. That seems to be code for cheaper foldable phones.

Samsung first launched a foldable in 2019 in the form of the original Galaxy Fold. Its lineup now includes the Galaxy Z Fold 2 and Galaxy Z Flip, but come next year, the South Korean giant could double the size of its lineup.

It was revealed recently that, in addition to the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, Samsung is developing more affordable versions of these products that are tentatively called Galaxy Z Fold Lite and Z Flip Lite.

The price point of these devices remains to be seen, but perhaps Samsung will position them as more direct competitors to the Galaxy S21 series, which is rumored to retail between $849 and $1,299 in the US depending on the chosen model.

It sure looks like Samsung is killing the Galaxy Note

TM Roh also hinted at the discontinuation of the Galaxy Note line next summer. Samsung has been “paying attention to people’s favorite aspects of the Galaxy Note experience” and will be adding some of its “most well-loved features” to other devices.

That seems to suggest S Pen will be coming to some non-Note smartphones in 2021, which lines up perfectly with reports about S Pen on the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Naturally, adding support for its popular stylus to other devices puts into question the Galaxy Note’s existence. Aside from the S Pen, each Galaxy Note flagship is virtually identical to the preceding Galaxy S model.

Farewell, Galaxy Note.

Samsung was never going to confirm its plans to kill the Galaxy Note this soon after launching the Galaxy Note 20 but admitting it will bring S Pen to other devices is certainly a step in that direction.

The January Galaxy S21 announcement is almost official

Lastly, let’s talk about Galaxy S21. TM Roh says he is excited to share more in January, which is presumably a reference to the yet-to-be-announced Galaxy S21 Unpacked event next month.

The company hasn’t confirmed any features yet, but TM Roh has told customers to be on the lookout for “super-intelligent, pro-grade camera and video capabilities” in 2021.

Samsung engineers are also working hard to expand on-device AI capabilities, which will allow phones to become smarter and ultimately lead to improvements in battery life and storage consumption, as well as the display.

Samsung Galaxy S21 series concept render

Much like Apple, the company will also continue to bet on ultra-wideband (UWB) tech in 2021. It wants to reassure customers that their data is safe too — new Galaxy devices will be built with security and privacy at the heart.