Galaxy S21+ Leaked Hands-On Photos Confirm The Flat Face

The Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21+ will come out flat, though it remains to be seen if that will actually be a good thing or not. After years of using curved edge screens as a design hallmark of its Galaxy S series, Samsung has suddenly taken a step back to offer once again flatter options. We've already seen renders of the Galaxy S21 series but nothing puts things into proper perspective than a couple of real-world hands-on photos, like these alleged Galaxy S21+ pics.

To be clear, there isn't really a clear winner between flat screens and curved-edge screens ("Infinity Displays" in Samsung parlance) and both come with their pros and cons. Curved edges make the side bezels virtually disappear but come at the cost of comparatively lower production yields (although they're more common now) and some usability drawbacks (ask S Pen users on Galaxy Note phones). Whatever Samsung's reason may have been, it seems to now be adopting the duality that it hasn't used since the Galaxy S7 and Galaxy S7 edge in 2016.

Today's manufacturing technologies and materials, however, have also made it possible to have nearly bezel-less screens with no curves. Some might even prefer having just a thin black border around their phone, and, judging by these photos of what is claimed to be a Galaxy S21+, it doesn't look that bad at all.

The photos, unfortunately, don't reveal anything we haven't known before, though it also puts the new camera design into a better perspective. It looks different enough to be noticeable and even attractive, but only time will tell if that doesn't come with unforeseen side effects. There was a recent leak of official cases for the Galaxy S21 series and it seems that even Samsung knows some will want to hide that odd bump.

Much about the Galaxy S21+ is already known, though there are still some missing pieces. It isn't certain yet whether it will have support for the S Pen, though that feature might be reserved for the more expensive Galaxy S21 Ultra. It won't take long for those questions to be answered as Samsung is expected to launch its extremely early 2021 flagship in about two weeks.