Leaked official images confirm no charger in Galaxy S21 boxes, tout "new dual zoom lens system"

January 12, 2021

We’re just a couple of days away from the Galaxy S21 Unpacked event and the official pages and press materials are ready to go – and, of course, some of them leaked out. Let’s start with “What’s in the box”, the answer to which is just the phone, basically.

You do get a USB-C cable for data and charging, a SIM ejector tool and a Quick Start guide. But no charger, no headset. Presumably, the cable is C to C, so you better have a compatible adapter. And if you plan to use a wired headset, you better have a USB-C headset already or an adapter to 3.5 mm. Note that some countries have local laws that require adapters and even headsets to be included with new phones, but users in most of the world will have to bring their own.

Next up are some feature highlight images. One advertises the “new dual zoom lens system” on a phone that appears to be a Galaxy S21 or S21+. Which is odd since the expectation is that those two will have essentially the same camera system as the S20/S20+ with only one zoom lens. Perhaps this refers to image fusion with the main camera.

The next image focuses on the 64MP module, which is the one that will be doing the zooming. As a reminder, the 64MP sensor on the S20 had a proper Bayer subpixel arrangement instead of Quad Bayer. This made for better quality full resolution shots without zoom.

The next two images are about storage. The Galaxy S21 Ultra will have a 512 GB option (with 16GB of RAM). The other two S21 models will probably top out at 256GB (and they are not getting a microSD slot, unlike the Ultra).

Next up, images that boast about the speed of 5G and how good the camera will be in the dark. And, of course, the phones will be dust and water resistant. They have been since the S5.