The Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra looks amazing in these leaked press renders

As revealed back in October, the Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra features a much more prominent camera bump that houses a laser autofocus system, an LED flash, and an impressive quad-camera setup.

The camera module itself blends into the stainless steel frame, as is the case on the cheaper models, but it doesn't come in a contrasting colors. Instead, the Phantom Black model features a black frame and the Phantom Grey variant offers a grey-colored frame. 

Positioned on the right side of the frame is the usual power button and volume rocker. The bottom of the phone, on the other hand, is home to the USB-C port and speaker. Unfortunately, Samsung has skipped the 3.5mm headphone jack again. 

All of this is coupled with a modern-looking front panel. The display measures in at 6.8-inches and offers curved edges on either side, like the previous-gen Galaxy S20 Ultra, in addition to thin bezels and a cutout for the selfie camera. 

Qualcomm announced the Snapdragon 888 earlier this month and Samsung has been confirmed as a partner. The chipset looks set to power US units of the Galaxy S21 Ultra, but customers in Europe and other international markets like India will have to make do with the Exynos 2100.

If leaked benchmarks and recent rumors are anything to go by, though, the in-house Exynos chip could turn out to be more powerful than Qualcomm's offering this year, which hasn't been the case for several years. 

The chosen processor should be paired with 12GB of RAM as standard and either 128GB or 256GB of storage depending on the region. A pricier 512GB variant is reportedly in the works. 

Samsung is also expected to pre-install Android 11 and One UI 3.1. The South Korean brand has promised that all future flagships will receive three OS upgrades, so eventually the Galaxy S21 will run Android 14 and One UI 6.0, or whatever these versions are officially called. 

Samsung teased its plans for 2021 earlier this week. Most of the focus was on its plans to release more affordable foldable smartphones and extra devices with S Pen capabilities, but hidden in the announcement were references to 'pro-grade' cameras.

The Galaxy S21 Ultra should be the first device launched next year to benefit fit in with this description and, considering the leaks, it's no surprise. Samsung is said to have fitted its next flagship with a massively upgraded 108-megapixel main camera and a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle shooter.

But these aren't even the standout features for 2021. That title instead belongs to the fancy new zoom system which consists of a 10-megapixel 3x telephoto zoom camera and a 10-megapixel 10x periscope zoom camera. 

Both of these will enable a 100x Space Zoom feature, which Samsung is bringing back from the dead after killing it on the Galaxy Note 20 series due to poor performance. Other expected camera features include an improved Moon Mode and Night Mode.