Samsung is one of the world’s biggest mobile brands, yet in order to keep this title it needs to consistently release fresh smartphones year after year. 2020 will see the Samsung Galaxy S11 hit the market, with an announcement expected in January or February ahead of a release shortly afterwards. Details as to what this device will offer have already started to emerge, painting a picture of a handset that will be subtly redesigned yet pack plenty of new features.
Camera reshuffling
For most smartphone makers, adding a whole heap of new camera tech is the best way to get consumers interested in a product. This will almost certainly be the tactic that Samsung adopts with the Galaxy S11, as early renders of the device suggest it will retain the punch hole front-facing camera but will position this centrally, echoing its larger sibling the Galaxy Note 10.
In terms of its primary camera array, sources suggest that this could offer a huge sensor resolution of up to 108 megapixels, which is based on a technology that Samsung itself has developed.
Also on the cards is an optical zoom capability which will allow the lens to achieve up to 5x magnification without relying on any software trickery, delivering crisper long-distance shots as a result.
Whether or not this will leave the Samsung Galaxy S11 with a pronounced camera bump on the rear remains to be seen, and there is conflicting information on this point. Whatever the case, having mobile phone insurance to protect a handset that will cost at least £800 upfront will almost certainly be sensible for all owners.
Power & performance
The Galaxy S11 will not only push the envelope from a photographic perspective, but will also be packed with impressive components under the skin to make it feel faster and more capable than any of its predecessors.
Some believe that it will have the Snapdragon 865 chipset in some regions, while in other parts of the world it will opt for a Sina processor which is based on a super-efficient 5 nanometre architecture to reduce power consumption without compromising on performance.
Another rumour which is a little more left of field is that the phone will come with an integrated spectrometer. This is a sensor that would allow it to determine the precise chemical makeup of objects at which it is pointed, although quite how this might be useful in a smartphone context is unclear at this point.
A larger battery and 5G connectivity are all but certain for the S11, while the fingerprint sensor found on previous phones is expected to go the way of the dodo as Samsung instead chooses to go all-in on facial recognition for phone unlocking.
More details about the Galaxy S11 will surely emerge in the coming weeks leading up to its launch, and it will be interesting to see whether any of these features are enough to convince owners of older yet still very capable handsets to upgrade.