The Galaxy S21 Ultra is not as easy to repair as the base model

The Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G recently went through a disassembly process on camera, courtesy of tech YouTuber PBKreviews, and it turns out that the largest model from the new flagship series is not quite as easy to repair as the base Galaxy S21 variant. There are a couple of reasons for this and the fancier glass back panel is one of them.

Samsung’s glass-clad flagships always risk getting a lower repairability score than other devices because there’s an inherent risk of damaging the glass back panel upon its removal. A heat gun is virtually required to disassemble the Galaxy S21 or the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but the flexibility of the base model’s polycarbonate back panel prevents it from shattering.

Interestingly, the Galaxy S21 Ultra’s metal camera housing is stuck to the glass back panel with adhesive and each camera lens cover is also removable independently. As far as repairability goes, this is a much more sensible solution than the one employed by the Galaxy S20 Ultra. The latter model has a one-piece glass component covering the entire camera assembly.

Galaxy S21 Ultra gets a 6/10 repairability score

Removing the glass back panel is only the first step. What follows is the removal of numerous screws and ribbon cables; a process that will test your patience should you decide to go the DIY route and repair the Galaxy S21 Ultra yourself.

Like the base Galaxy S21 model, the Galaxy S21 Ultra has a battery that’s stuck to the phone’s chassis with adhesive. Samsung continues the tradition of making the repairman’s job more difficult by excluding pull tabs from the battery, so and once again a heat gun is virtually mandatory for this component’s removal.

Worth noting is that the ribbon cable connecting the display to the motherboard can’t be removed from both ends. The cable is stuck to the display, which makes replacing this component a lot more difficult than it would’ve been otherwise. It’s another reason why the Galaxy S21 Ultra gets a lower repairability score than the base model, the latter of which secured a 7.5/10.

And in case you’re wondering, the international / Exynos-powered Galaxy S21 Ultra model featured in the disassembly video uses graphite film as a cooling solution instead of a copper vapor chamber. The same material was used in some Galaxy Note 20 models seemingly at random, but with the new Galaxy S21 lineup, Samsung may have switched entirely to graphite. The new 5nm-based Exynos 2100 and Snapdragon 888 chipsets are more power-efficient than the previous 7nm solutions so perhaps a vapor chamber is no longer required to keep temperatures in check.

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Could Samsung be key to a unifying start to Biden’s presidency?

Samsung’s aggressive pursuit of the next coveted die shrink in the semiconductor segment is likely to result in another large-scale expansion in the United States. Meaning it’s just a matter of time when the tech giant will be in a position to offer direct support to the new administration. And a White House with a veteran statesman like Joe Biden at the helm is one that’s likely to wholeheartedly welcome any help it can get from its long-time ally of South Korea’s largest company.

After all, veteran statesman Joe Biden has been pretty open about his desire to start the presidency in as unifying and amicable fashion possible since the primaries. The same sentiment was also at the center of the 46th’s Wednesday inaugural address, and there are plenty of reasons why Samsung could be the key to that daunting political undertaking. At least ten billion of them, to be exact.

If you have slept through this morning’s sounds of breaking news and giggling pundits, the short version of the story is that Samsung appears to be on the verge of constructing another futuristic chipmaking plant in the U.S. – one valued at $10 billion, at that.

Why would Samsung want to help Biden, and vice versa?

The company supposedly laid down the preliminary plans for the construction, which is expected to start later this year in Austin, Texas. Most other details are hazy, but the timing of this rumor’s appearance is pretty telling on its own. And what it tells us is that Samsung is eager to finalize the proceedings as swiftly as possible.

The urgency is understandable: TSMC is still ahead of Samsung in the 3nm race and Intel keeps schooling it in sales. The latter is happening even as Santa Clara is simultaneously downsizing its manufacturing so rapidly that it might have to outsource a portion of its 2021 orders to its Seoul-based rival. So, if Samsung is to even approach delivering on its recent vow to launch a 3nm process node ready for mass-production in 2022, it’s running out of time to secure the infrastructure required to push it over the finish line.

And as things usually go with such humongous construction projects ($10 billion roughly equates to two months of Texas’s budget), Samsung is bound to seek some goodwill in the form of high-level tax breaks, deregulation, or other forms of regulatory concessions before it greenlights the single biggest overseas buildout in its 82-year history. Especially given Biden’s reputation as a consistent mediator in such scenarios.

At the same time, the 46th chief of state might not have many openings for bipartisan wins in the coming months. Securing a $10 billion injection right into the heart of the largest red state might just do the trick, however. That would be the same locale where Samsung already opened a fabless silicon shop and R&D center back in 2007. At the time, the facility was the largest wafer factory on the planet. Its very first mass-produced solutions were intended for 300mm NAND flash memory wafers. About 13 years’ worth of Moore’s law still holding up later, the industry is now perfecting 5nm tech, with the next goal being a 3nm die shrink.

How Samsung’s 2021 investment compares to its 2007 Texan debut

The cost of doing business is way higher, however. Samsung’s Texan venture initially set it back around $3.5 billion. That amounts to nearly $4.4 billion in 2021 dollars, adjusted for inflation. And yet the new facility that seems to be on the way is near-guaranteed to dwarf Samsung’s previous investments in the region by several orders of magnitude, as per today’s report.

Regardless of whether Samsung expands its Austin footprint in the near future, the rumors of its alleged plans to do so have emerged a month after its number one rival, TSMC, officially announced plans to construct a similarly cutting-edge facility in Arizona, valued at around $12 billion.

Samsung recently outlined its near-term plans to catch up with TSMC and become the largest chipmaker in the world. Its comeback is meant to begin no later than 2022, as Samsung claims it will already start offering 3nm process node by then.

Given how Samsung’s been telegraphing its growing ambitions in Texas for a while now, the stage is pretty much set for some official talks to happen in the near future. With that said, it remains to be seen whether Samsung manages to navigate its way to a spot in the administration’s first 100-day agenda. To that end, we might see the company become even more involved with COVID-19 relief efforts across the U.S. Not least because Samsung’s many divisions already found so many ways to make a difference in every part of the world.

In any case, the start of the Biden presidency probably won’t put Samsung in any more publicly awkward situations, but that isn’t to say the company won’t try to distance itself from low-level populism, should it suspect any. Doing so would be in line with its long-time policies on dealing with foreign legislators; the principles don’t discourage cooperation, by any means, but definitely emphasize keeping government officials at an arm’s length. After all, Samsung’s failure to do so domestically has been an expensive lesson that continues to this date.

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Samsung’s working on a Galaxy Tab S7 Lite, new evidence suggests

Samsung is apparently working on an upper new mid-range tablet that could eventually go on sale as the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite or even as the Galaxy Tab S8e. Details are scarce but according to our sources, the tablet should be launched in Wi-Fi, LTE, and 5G variants with model numbers SM-T730, SM-T735, and SM-T736B / SM-T736N, respectively.

It’s not entirely clear whether these model numbers truly correspond to the so-called Galaxy Tab S7 Lite but we’re being told that the tablet in question is indeed being worked on, so we’re expecting to find out more soon enough.

A Galaxy Tab S7 Lite Plus / XL could also be on the way

Specifications are missing for the time being and, to make matters a bit more confusing, further evidence suggests that Samsung might also be preparing another Galaxy Tab S7 Lite / Tab S8e variant that would bear the Plus and / or XL designation. If this model is indeed planned for release, we’re guessing that it’ll be more or less the same as the standard Lite variant except it will have a larger display.

Samsung released the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite in H1 2020 so it would make sense for the company to create a sequel, but given its ever-changing product lineup, it’s too early to tell if or when exactly this might happen. We’ll keep you up to speed as soon as we find out more.

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Samsung’s working on a Galaxy Tab S7 Lite, new evidence suggests

Samsung is apparently working on an upper new mid-range tablet that could eventually go on sale as the Galaxy Tab S7 Lite or even as the Galaxy Tab S8e. Details are scarce but according to our sources, the tablet should be launched in Wi-Fi, LTE, and 5G variants with model numbers SM-T730, SM-T735, and SM-T736B / SM-T736N, respectively.

It’s not entirely clear whether these model numbers truly correspond to the so-called Galaxy Tab S7 Lite but we’re being told that the tablet in question is indeed being worked on, so we’re expecting to find out more soon enough.

A Galaxy Tab S7 Lite Plus / XL could also be on the way

Specifications are missing for the time being and, to make matters a bit more confusing, further evidence suggests that Samsung might also be preparing another Galaxy Tab S7 Lite / Tab S8e variant that would bear the Plus and / or XL designation. If this model is indeed planned for release, we’re guessing that it’ll be more or less the same as the standard Lite variant except it will have a larger display.

Samsung released the Galaxy Tab S6 Lite in H1 2020 so it would make sense for the company to create a sequel, but given its ever-changing product lineup, it’s too early to tell if or when exactly this might happen. We’ll keep you up to speed as soon as we find out more.

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Samsung’s tomb of lost features is now looking sadder than ever

Technology is getting better with the passage of time and, as a byproduct of this phenomenon, Samsung’s latest flagship phones are more powerful than ever before. A new year usually brings with it a new chipset and other hardware advancements, and this is very true for the Galaxy S21 series and other flagships that came before it.

But aside from processing power, mobile photography prowess, and the use of modern materials like Gorilla Glass Victus, what really draws the line between run-of-the-mill flagships and the very best premium solutions are all those extra features that complete the ecosystem and/or the user experience. And as far as Samsung is concerned, it’s sad to see that the company has done away with a lot of features that have been a part of the Galaxy user experience for a long time.

Here’s a list comprising some of the most important features that have been removed from Samsung’s flagship product lineup over the past few years:

• On-board storage for wireless earbuds: The Gear Icon X wireless earbuds had on-board storage and they allowed users to play audio files locally without having to rely on a Bluetooth connection. This feature has yet to make a comeback in later models.
• Heart rate and SpO2 sensors from Galaxy flagships: The Galaxy S5 was the first to boast a heart rate monitor and the sequel added an SpO2 sensor to the mix. Both these features were removed with the Galaxy S10e and later flagship models, though they were kept for the Galaxy S10 and S10+.
• Iris scanner: The unfortunate Galaxy Note 7 was the first Samsung flagship to feature an iris scanner as a biometric authentication method. The technology was then used by subsequent Galaxy S and Note flagships and was last employed by the Galaxy Note 9.
• Infrared port: This hardware component was a part of the Galaxy flagship experience up until the Galaxy S6 series. It’s never made a return and some users are still missing it to this day.
• 3.5mm audio port: The Galaxy Note 10 series was the first flagship to do away with the 3.5mm standard in favor of USB-C and wireless connectivity.

These handful of features were removed some time ago, but Samsung continued its feature removal streak the following years:

• Edge display: Whether you’re for or against Samsung’s curved display design, there’s no denying that it was a signature of the Galaxy flagship series. It’s now slowly being phased out and new devices that continue to be labeled as boasting an Edge display have a less-obvious curvature.
• Premium glass back panels for base flagship models: This trend of replacing Gorilla Glass with a plastic back panel began with the Galaxy Note 20 and it was continued by the Galaxy S21. Polycarbonate has its advantages but even so, it’s not what customers usually expect from a flagship.
• Expandable storage: Samsung’s 2015 flagships (the Galaxy S6, S6 edge, S6 edge+, and Note 5) were missing microSD slots, and it has happened again to the disappointment of many fans. The Galaxy S21 series lacks expandable storage and this may have set the tone for future flagships.
• Samsung Pay Rewards and Tiers: They were used as an incentive to get customers on board with Samsung Pay, but Rewards and Tiers were removed from the mobile payment platform in December 2020.
• MST: Along with the aforementioned changes to Samsung Pay Rewards and Tiers, the company also decided to abandon MST in some markets — including the USA and India — with the release of the Galaxy S21 series. MST was a convenient mobile payment method and one of the features that made Samsung Pay a better choice than rival platforms.
• Wall charger and wired earbuds: Another change introduced by the Galaxy S21 series has to do with the contents of the retail box. As many of you know by now, the 2021 flagships are no longer sold with a wall charger and wired earbuds included in the box.

Samsung has to do something about this feature removal streak

Arguably, Samsung already did something to mitigate the removal of these features, but in many cases it wasn’t enough. Yes, iris scanners were replaced by in-display fingerprint sensors but they could have co-existed and offer a more complete kit of biometric sensors.

SpO2 and heart rate monitors were removed from smartphones but continue to exist in Samsung’s wearables, which ultimately means that customers who didn’t want to give up on these functionalities had to spend more cash on accessories.

Samsung also hopes that the removal of expandable storage from the Galaxy S21 flagship series will be less of an issue with the rise of cloud storage, but they’re simply not the same, especially with features like 8K video recording taking up crazy amounts of space.

In truth, many of the features mentioned above haven’t had a proper alternative since they got removed, and once again, this reflects Samsung’s apparent indecision when it comes to planning out the future.

On the bright side, there are new features to look forward to, such as displays with high refresh rates and foldable devices, but significant sacrifices were made along the way and Samsung has left behind what looks like an ever-growing mound of defunct features, many of which may have arguably been retired ahead of time and without a proper replacement.

And who knows what else will be removed from future flagships? The Galaxy Note series is said to be on its last legs and, once again, the optional S Pen accessory that’s now being sold alongside the Galaxy S21 Ultra doesn’t magically turn the aforementioned flagship into a Galaxy Note device.

At the end of the day, technologies evolve while older solutions get replaced, and it’s a good thing that Samsung isn’t afraid of change. Perhaps there was no other, better way of moving forward alongside the industry, and maybe we had to give up on a lot of these features in order to gain others. But whether or not it was all worth it is another matter, and you could argue that it wasn’t.

What’s your favorite feature that got removed ever since you became a Samsung customer? Let us know in the comment section below.

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Samsung said to spend $10 billion on a massive chipmaking plant in Texas

Samsung is a leading semiconductor manufacturer largely because of its dominance in the memory chip market. The company has been investing heavily in its foundry operations for advanced logic chips as it wants to compete more effectively with TSMC. For Samsung, there’s significant growth potential in utilizing its chipmaking expertise to produce logic chips like processors for clients that don’t have their own foundry.

TSMC is the market leader currently and Samsung is reaching into its deep pockets to put on a fight. According to reports, Samsung is considering a massive $10 billion investment in a new chipmaking plant that would be located in Texas.

Samsung has a $116 billion plan to defeat TSMC

Bloomberg reports that Samsung wants to build its most advanced logic chipmaking plant in the United States. It’s willing to spend more than $10 billion on this project. Samsung hopes that this investment will help it win more clients in the US and thus take the fight to TSMC.

Samsung is in discussions to build this new factory in Austin, Texas. It will be able to produce chips on the highly advanced 3nm process there. The plan right now is to start construction work this year with major equipment being installed in 2022 before operations begin in 2023. This will be the first chipmaking plant in the United States to use extreme ultraviolet lithography, a highly advanced technology that Samsung utilizes to manufacture next-gen chips.

The time might be just right for Samsung to consider an investment at this scale in the country. The US government wants to bring back advanced manufacturing jobs that have largely shifted to Asia over the past couple of decades.

The world’s biggest tech companies like Microsoft, Google and Amazon are increasingly designing their own chipsets for datacenters. Since they don’t have their own foundry, they need to work with a partner like TSMC or Samsung. A manufacturing base in the US would put Samsung in a better position to try and win orders from these titans of the industry.

Samsung isn’t the only company that has had this idea. TSMC is also building its own $12 billion chipmaking plant in Arizona. It’s expected to come online by 2024. Samsung currently has a facility in Austin but it’s only capable of running older processes. It needs a new facility for the EUV lines. Samsung only has two EUV plants currently. One is located at its main chip facility in Hwaseong while another is being built in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.

The new plant will be located right next to the Austin fab. Samsung’s US division already purchased land next to the fab in October last year. Samsung has also requested the Austin City Council to permit rezoning that land for industrial development.

With a new administration taking over the government, Samsung is also looking to negotiate potential incentives with the Biden White House. It has hired people in Washington D.C. to lobby for the deal in order to obtain any potential tax benefits and subsidies. The report does mention that Samsung wants to go ahead with the deal even if it doesn’t get any major incentives from the government.

Samsung has made no secret of the fact that it’s dead serious about becoming the largest player in the industry. That would mean dethroning TSMC which isn’t going to be easy. Samsung’s vice chairman and de-facto heir Lee Jae-yong has already said that the company will invest $116 billion over the next ten years to revamp its foundry and chip design business. With its deep pockets, that’s really not going to be an issue for Samsung.

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