There’s a new Galaxy S21 Ultra color variant in town

Samsung’s at it again: The company has launched a new color option for one of its flagship phones months after it first hit the market. Best Buy in the US now has a new Navy version of the Galaxy S21 Ultra on its website. It’s not to be confused with Phantom Navy, which was one of the custom colors Samsung had on offer for Galaxy S21 pre-orders. This is a navy blue shade, and it lacks the textured camera housing that was a theme on those custom variants.

It’s not clear when this Navy version of the Galaxy S21 Ultra actually came out, but it likely happened recently. In case you’re wondering, only the Galaxy S21 Ultra is getting this new color, and only with 128GB of storage. It’s also exclusive to Best Buy from what we can see. However, you do have the option to pick up an unlocked unit or get one connected to Verizon’s network.

The unlocked variant can be yours for just $999, while the latter will set you back by $1099 if you decide to pay the entire amount upfront. Yes, both of those are excellent prices for the Galaxy S21 Ultra, which is one of the best Samsung flagships to ever make it to market. You can check our review to find out what makes it tick (and what doesn’t), then head over to Best Buy using the links below if you wish to order one.

Galaxy S21 Ultra review

• Buy unlocked Navy Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (128GB) from Best Buy
• Buy Verizon Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (128GB) in Navy from Best Buy

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WhatsApp will soon send your Galaxy S20/S21’s 8K videos without killing quality

WhatsApp users have long bemoaned the messaging app’s annoying habit of butchering the quality of media by compressing it beyond salvage. Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S21 users, in particular, still have no reliable way of sending through their beautiful 8K videos to non-Samsung users. That makes sense for the platforms, given that high-resolution photos and videos can take up quite a lot of space. But a future version of WhatsApp will let you send the full uncompressed version of your file, according to a discovery by WaBetaInfo.

WhatsApp’s video quality is about to get a lot better

As you can see in the screenshot below, the newest WhatsApp beta for Android lets you customize the quality of videos. The ‘Auto’ setting lets WhatsApp determine which video should or should not be compressed. ‘Best Quality’ will send your video as is, or in very high quality, regardless of the resolution and ‘Data Saver’ will compress all of your videos. Currently, the feature is only limited to videos, but we see no reason why it shouldn’t apply to photos via a future upgrade. While the prospect of sending an 8K video over WhatsApp is an exciting one, it is unclear as to how many people will actually use it.

We determined that the Galaxy S20 takes up an eye-watering 600MB per minute of 8K video recorded. Furthermore, file sizes cannot exceed 4GB due to restrictions in Android’s filesystems. Therefore, you could be stuck sending multiple files that may or may not arrive in the correct order. Uploading the said files could take a while, too, depending on your internet connection. Plus, an 8K video doesn’t look a whole lot different from ones captured at 4K, at least on most mobile devices. Lastly, many people would find the prospect of burning through their daily data allowance for a video to be a tad annoying.

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Samsung will instantly give you $500 for buying a Galaxy S21 series phone

Samsung often has amazing deals on offer for a limited time. It provides customers the opportunity to grab one of its many different products at amazing prices. The company often provides bundle deals as well which gets customers two or more devices at a significant discount.

One such deal is now on offer for Samsung fans in the United States. The company is offering them an instant $500 credit for buying a Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+ or Galaxy S21 Ultra.

Instant credit can be used to buy a Samsung TV

Samsung customers in the United States can get an instant $500 Samsung Credit if they purchase any of the Galaxy S21 series phones until July 24. The device must be purchased through Samsung.com or the Shop Samsung app.

This credit can only be used to purchase an eligible Samsung 4K or 8K TV. It can be redeemed instantly if you checkout with the phone and the TV at the same time. Samsung will straightaway deduct $500 from the order total.

Customers also have the option to use this credit at a later date, but again, it can only be used to buy an eligible TV. If the credit is not redeemed instantly, customers will receive the redemption details from Samsung within 14 days after their Galaxy S21 phone is delivered.

This is a great bundle offer that enables customers to get some of Samsung’s best products at a drastically reduced price. Be sure to take advantage of it quickly as this is a limited time offer. Head over to Samsung.com to make the purchase.

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Samsung testing new Exynos processor it will not bring to its fans

Samsung has been making pretty good Exynos chipsets over the past year or so. The Exynos 980 was a compelling processor that offered slightly better performance than the competing Snapdragon 765G. The Exynos 1080 was released one year later with high-end specs, but it was not used in any Samsung phone. Now, the company is working on a new Exynos chipset that could likely succeed the Exynos 1080.

According to GalaxyClub, Samsung (System LSI) is currently testing a new Exynos processor with model number S5E8825. Since the S5E9925 was launched as the Exynos 2200, it is expected that the S5E8825 could be launched as the Exynos 1200. It could be the successor to the Exynos 1080. Since the Exynos 1080 is a 5nm chipset, we could expect the Exynos 1200 to either stick with the 5nm process or go with a slightly improved derivative that Samsung Foundry is marketing as 4nm.

If we were to guess, the Exynos 1200 could feature ARM’s newly announced v9 architecture and a combination of Cortex-A710 and Cortex-A510 CPU cores. It was rumored that Samsung is working on multiple chipsets with AMD mRDNA2 GPU, and the Exynos 1200 could be one of those chips. We can expect it to feature an improved ISP, an integrated 5G modem with mmWave and sub-6GHz network compatibility, Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5.2 (or newer), and support for LPDDR5 RAM.

However, it is possible that Samsung might not use the Exynos 1200 inside its own smartphones or tablets. That’s because the Exynos 1080, a top-notch chip in its segment, hasn’t been used in any Galaxy smartphone or tablet. Instead, it has been used in multiple high-end smartphones from Vivo, and the company could follow the same footsteps with the Exynos 1200.

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Leak reveals Galaxy Watch 4, Watch 4 Classic and Galaxy Buds 2 price

Several leaks have already revealed most of the products that Samsung will unveil at its next Unpacked event. What’s left now is the information about their pricing and availability. Today’s leak attempts to bring some clarity to the matter.

Samsung has a handful of new products to launch in the coming month. It’s expected to conduct an Unpacked event in August to unveil new smartphones, smartwatches and a pair of new truly wireless earbuds.

Expected prices of Samsung’s new devices

Per today’s leak, the Galaxy Watch 4 price range will be between 350 – 370 euro ($410 – 435) for the 40mm and 380 – 400 euro ($450 – 475) for the 44mm variant. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic that was revealed in fresh renders this week will start at 470 – 500 euro ($550 – 590) for the 42mm and 500 – 530 euro ($590 – 625) for the 46mm variant.

Color options for the Galaxy Watch 4 include black, silver, gold and green. The Galaxy Watch 4 Classic will be offered in black and silver colors. Some reports also suggest that Samsung may offer a 44mm Galaxy Watch 4 Classic as well.

The Galaxy Buds 2 are Samsung’s latest truly wireless earbuds. It’s the successor to the Galaxy Buds+. The price tag for this Samsung device is expected to range between 180 – 200 euro ($210 – 235). Pricing will vary by market.

Keep in mind that none of this has been officially confirmed by Samsung as yet. At best, these may be educated guesses made in line with what Samsung has previously charged for similar products.

Samsung is yet to confirm its Unpacked event for next month. There is some evidence to believe that the event may take place on August 11. The highlight of its next Unpacked will obviously be the new Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Galaxy Z Flip 3.

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Galaxy S21 unlocked units get critical update in the USA

The Galaxy S21 series first received the June 2021 security update in the last week of May. Samsung then released two more updates to the international variants of the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra. One of those updates included camera and performance improvements. Those improvements are now being rolled out to the unlocked variants of the Galaxy S21 series in the US.

Samsung has started rolling out new software updates to the unlocked variants of the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, and the Galaxy S21 Ultra on AT&T, Bluegrass Cellular, C-Spire, Sprint, Tracfone, and Verizon’s networks. The new updates, which bear firmware version G99xU1UEU4AUF5, include the June 2021 security patch that fixes dozens of privacy and security-related bugs. It also fixes the camera lag and overheating issues that some users were facing on their Galaxy S21 series device.

If you are a Galaxy S21 series smartphone user in the US, and if your device is an unlocked variant, you can check for the new software update by navigating to Settings » Software update and tapping on Download and install. Alternatively, you can download the latest firmware for your smartphone from our firmware section and flash it manually.

Samsung had launched the Galaxy S21 series earlier this year with Android 11-based One UI 3.1 onboard. The devices are currently on Samsung’s monthly security update schedule, and they will receive three major Android OS updates in the future.

Galaxy S21

• Model: SM-G991U1
• Dimensions: Bar: 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.2 inch / 157.48 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Snapdragon 888
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S21+

• Model: SM-G996U1
• Dimensions: Bar: 161.5 x 75.6 x 7.8 mm
  
• Display: 6.7 inch / 170.18 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Snapdragon 888
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

Galaxy S21 Ultra

• Model: SM-G998U1
• Dimensions: Bar: 165.1 x 75.6 x 8.9 mm
  
• Display: 6.8 inch / 172.72 mm Dynamic AMOLED 2X
• CPU: Snapdragon 888
• Camera: 12MP

More specifications

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Galaxy M10 starts getting the June 2021 security update

Samsung started rolling out the July 2021 update to some of its flagship products, but some mid-range and low-end products are still getting the June update. The Galaxy M10 is the latest Samsung smartphone to get a new software update, and it includes the June 2021 security patch. The smartphone was launched in early 2019 with Android 8.1 Oreo, and it is currently on Samsung’s biannual security update schedule.

The Galaxy M10 has started getting a new software update in the Philippines and the UAE. The firmware version for the Philippines is M105YDXU7CUF2, while the one for the UAE is M105GDXU7CUF2. It includes the June 2021 security patch and fixes dozens of privacy and security-related bugs found inside the Galaxy M10.

If you are a Galaxy M10 user in the Philippines or the UAE, you check your phone for the latest update. If you haven’t received a notification for the update yet, you can manually check for the update by navigating to Settings » Software update and clicking Download and install. Alternatively, you can also download the respective firmware files from our database and flash them manually.

The Galaxy M10 has received two major Android OS updates—Android 9 (with One UI) and Android 10 (with One UI 2)—since its launch, but it will not receive the Android 11 update.

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Apple’s using a Samsung phone to sell its new Beats earbuds

Apple and Samsung have had a long history of taking jabs at each others’ products via not-so-subtle cues in their advertising. Apple, in particular, has a peculiar trait of choosing the ugliest Android smartphone on the market to compare iPhones against. However, Apple’s new Beats Studio Buds (as spotted by PhoneArena) marketing material on the Amazon U.S. website actually uses a high-end Samsung Galaxy S21 for a change. While this might come off as a tad surprising for many, Apple’s decision to use the Galaxy S21 as a prop makes sense from a marketing perspective.

Unlike the AirPods, the Beats Studio Buds wireless earbuds are meant to appeal to a wider audience that doesn’t just consist of people in the Apple ecosystem. Apple wants to rope in people on the Android side of the aisle and Samsung enthusiasts are an excellent place to start, given that Samsung is the only ‘real’ competition Apple has had in the premium smartphone market. If the ad persuades even one Samsung user to pick the Beats Studio over a Galaxy Buds Pro or other Samsung audio product, the campaign is a resounding success.

Additionally, it also sends a subtle message to users in the Samsung ecosystem to switch over to Apple. A simple “these new Beats Studio Buds look awesome, right?” subtext can easily turn into “these look good with your Galaxy S21, but it would pair even better with an iPhone” and eventually, “congratulations on your new iPhone, want to check out what else Apple has in store for you?”. It’s a simple, but effective technique that Apple could have used ages ago, but it instead chose to disparage Android users.

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Galaxy Z Fold 3 confirmed to feature Snapdragon 888, 12GB RAM

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 will be unveiled next month, but almost everything about the foldable smartphone has been revealed via various leaks. The phone’s design was leaked yesterday, while its specifications have been revealed over the past few weeks. It has now been confirmed that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 uses the Snapdragon 888 processor and 12GB of RAM.

The US variant of Samsung’s upcoming flagship foldable smartphone, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 (SM-F926U), was spotted in Geekbench’s database earlier today. The listing confirms that the smartphone uses the Snapdragon 888 processor (codename: Lahaina) instead of the recently-launched Snapdragon 888+ chipset that everyone was expecting. The device also features 12GB of RAM, but there could be a variant with 16GB of RAM and 512GB internal storage. It has also been revealed the device runs Android 11.

Galaxy Z Fold 3 specs

Going by previous leaks, the Galaxy Z Fold 3 features a 6.23-inch Super AMOLED Infinity-O cover display and a 7.55-inch internal Super AMOLED foldable display. Both screens feature HDR10+ and a 120Hz refresh rate. It is also compatible with the S Pen. The phone is expected to come with Android 11-based One UI 3.1.1. Other features include an IP68 rating, stereo speakers, side-mounted fingerprint reader, Samsung Pay, Samsung DeX, 5G, LTE, GPS, Wi-Fi 6E, Bluetooth 5.0, UWB, NFC, and a USB Type-C port.

It was revealed yesterday that the Galaxy Z Fold 3 has a 12MP+12MP+12MP triple-camera setup on the rear, a 10MP selfie camera on the cover display, and a 16MP under-display selfie camera below the foldable display. The 12MP ultrawide camera features an autofocus lens, which can double up as a macro camera. All the cameras are expected to feature 4K 60fps video recording.

The Galaxy Z Fold 3 is powered by a 4,400mAh battery and supports 25W fast charging, wireless charging, and reverse wireless charging.

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Galaxy Fold makes the jump to July 2021 security patch with new update

As has become the norm these days, Samsung is leading the charge with the latest security releases, having started rolling out the July 2021 security update to its devices before the month even began. The Galaxy S10 lineup and the Galaxy Tab Active 2 were the first to get it, and the original Galaxy Fold is now joining in.

Samsung is rolling out a new update with firmware version F900FXXS5EUF3 to the Galaxy Fold. The update is live in France at this time but should be available more widely in the coming days and will most likely have reached every customer before we head into August and towards the launch of Samsung’s new Galaxy Z Fold 3.

Going by the firmware version, this update has nothing but security enhancements to offer. Don’t fret it, though: The Galaxy Fold is likely to be among the first Galaxy devices to get the One UI 3.1.1 update that Samsung is preparing right now. It’s also eligible for Android 12 and One UI 4.0, though that will be its last major Android OS update.

If you’re rocking a Galaxy Fold and live in France, you should be able to download the new update over the air. Just go into the Software update menu of the phone’s settings and select Download and install. An alternative method to upgrade is to head to our firmware archives, download the latest firmware, and use a Windows PC to install it on to your Fold.

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