Samsung Galaxy S11: Everything We Know So Far [Updated]

The Galaxy s11

The Galaxy S11 has leaked and leaked and leaked. This article is a roundup of everything we know so far. There’s much to love, but a couple of changes fans will hate. That said, my overriding opinion is Samsung has a potential game-changer on its hands.

Samsung Galaxy S11 render based on multiple leaks

let's talk about the Samsung galaxy s11

Code name - The Galaxy S11 range is known as Picasso. Why would Samsung name the phone after a great artist? Because the headline change will be the...

Camera - Ice Universe has revealed the Galaxy S11 will add a 48MP telephoto lens to the range. This is capable of 5x optical zoom and is suitably code named ‘Hubble’. It will sit alongside a massive 108MP primary camera that uses pixel binning technology that bins nine pixels to create one large 2.4μm pixel with a final 12-megapixel image size. This should lead to dramatic improvements in low light photography. Its code name is the ‘ISOCELL Bright HM1’.

Design - The Galaxy Note 10 Plus already has a class-leading screen-to-body ratio but we know Galaxy S11 will push this even further by shrinking the front camera. 

Display - Samsung is introducing a class-leading 120Hz display to make up for missing the high refresh rate bandwagon that already started this year. The company is also significantly increasing screen sizes (which should be offset by the smaller bezels. This is what you’ll get:

• 6.4-inch Galaxy S11
• 6.7-inch Galaxy S11+
• 6.9-inch Galaxy S11 5G

S11e ,S11 & S11Plus

Performance - The Galaxy S11 will use Samsung’s newly unveiled Snapdragon 865 which has 20% faster graphics rendering than the Snapdragon 855 in the Galaxy S10 and 35% more power efficiency. There’s also upgraded LPDDR5 smartphone memory (30% faster, 30% more efficient). The bad news is the Exynos-equipped version could yet drag all this down. 

Connectivity - The Snapdragon 865 has 5G baked in so it will come to every Galaxy S11 model. WiFi 6 will also come as standard and Samsung is retaining the microSD expansion slot (though not for the entry-level Galaxy S11e) The bad news: the headphone jack has gone, which is not surprising after it was ditched by the Galaxy Note 10. 

Bio-metrics - Samsung is not expected to introduce a Face ID rival, but it will add a supersized Qualcomm 3D Sonic Max fingerprint sensor to the Galaxy S11 which is 17x larger than the sensor used in the Galaxy S10 (making placement more instinctive). The sensor will also support two fingerprints at the same time which will deliver a significant increase in security which can be reserved for crucial moments, like the completion of financial transactions or logging into a banking app.

Downsides - the Galaxy S11 looks set to have all the bad points of the Galaxy Note 10 and Note 10 Plus: for the S11e that means no microSD while every model will lose the headphone jack. 

Conclusion

After incremental upgrades in 2019, Samsung is going for it in 2020 and a big motivation is Apple’s plans for the iPhone 12. These include an upgraded design, 120Hz ProMotion displays, some incredible 3D camera tricks, the return of Touch ID and, potentially, the end of the Lightning port. Apple may also release as many as six new iPhone models. 

Yes, 2020 is shaping up to be a major year for smartphone fan