Samsung’s new Galaxy S21 series smartphones are now available for pre-order in South Africa.
Mobile operators are offering customers the ability to pre-order the devices on 24- or 36-month contracts, allowing them to take advantage of a limited launch promotion.
The new range of devices comprise the Galaxy S21, S21+, and Galaxy S21 Ultra, and each sports an overhauled design and a refreshed camera system that wraps around the side of the smartphone.
Like the previous-generation Galaxy S20 devices, all smartphones in the Samsung Galaxy S21 will offer 5G connectivity in addition to high refresh-rate OLED displays.
Following the precedent set by Apple last year, Samsung has omitted charging adapters and headphones from the packaging of its new smartphones.
The new Samsung smartphone lineup will ship from 29 January and have the following prepaid prices:
- Galaxy S21 – R17,999
- Galaxy S21+ – R21,499
- Galaxy S21 Ultra – R27,999
Launch promotion
Samsung has announced that customers who pre-order these smartphones between 14 January and 28 January 2021 order will receive the new Galaxy Buds Pro and a Galaxy SmartTag at no extra cost.
“Pre-order customers can enhance their Galaxy experience and redeem their Samsung Credit on Samsung.com or the Shop Samsung app towards curated bundles and select products like Samsung TVs, SmartThings, gaming, accessories, tablets and more,” Samsung said.
“With the Galaxy SmartTag Bluetooth locator, consumers can keep track of everything that matters.”
“They can attach it to their keys, bag, pet or anything they want to keep tabs on. The promotion will last for a limited time and only while supplies last.”
Samsung also stated that customers with eligible devices can receive a trade-in value of up to R10,000 of their purchase of a Samsung Galaxy S21, S21+, or S21 Ultra.
Vodacom, MTN, and Telkom each offer a range of pre-order contract options for the Samsung Galaxy S21 range of smartphones.
Contract options are limited at the moment, however, with many operators only offering certain contracts as pre-order options.
We have compared a number of the best available contract deals from these operators for the new Galaxy S21 smartphones at the time of writing.
Galaxy S21 5G
| Samsung Galaxy S21 5G | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deal | Data | Minutes | SMS | Extras | Price pm |
| Vodacom | |||||
| Smart XS+ | 350MB | 50 | 50 | Travel charger | R899 |
| Smart Data 1GB | 1GB | 75 | 25 | Travel charger | R949 |
| Red More Data 6GB | 6GB | 150 | 25 | Travel charger | R1,658 |
| MTN | |||||
| Mega Gigs Xs | 1GB | 25 | 25 | 500MB social data, 500MB video data, 20GB once-off data | R649 (36-month) |
| Telkom | |||||
| FreeMe 1.5GB | 1GB | 25 + 500 | 100 | 250MB WhatsApp data, 250MB streaming data | R899 |
| FreeMe 3GB | 2GB | 50 + 1,000 | 200 | 500MB WhatsApp data, 500MB streaming data | R949 |
| FreeMe 6GB | 4GB | 100 + 1,000 | 400 | 1GB WhatsApp data, 1GB streaming data | R999 |
Galaxy S21+ 5G
| Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deal | Data | Minutes | SMS | Extras | Price pm |
| Vodacom | |||||
| Smart XS+ | 350MB | 50 | 50 | Travel charger | R999 |
| Smart Data 1GB | 1GB | 75 | 25 | Travel charger | R1,049 |
| Red More Data 6GB | 6GB | 150 | 25 | Travel charger | R1,369 |
| MTN | |||||
| Mega Gigs Xs | 1GB | 25 | 25 | 500MB social data, 500MB video data, 20GB once-off data | R709 (36-month) |
| Telkom | |||||
| FreeMe 3GB | 2GB | 50 + 1,000 | 200 | 500MB WhatsApp data, 500MB streaming data | R999 |
| FreeMe 6GB | 4GB | 100 + 1,000 | 400 | 1GB WhatsApp data, 1GB streaming data | R1,099 |
Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
| Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Deal | Data | Minutes | SMS | Extras | Price pm |
| Vodacom | |||||
| Smart XS+ | 350MB | 50 | 50 | Travel charger | R1,299 |
| Smart Data 1GB | 1GB | 75 | 25 | Travel charger | R1,349 |
| Red More Data 6GB | 6GB | 150 | 25 | Travel charger | R1,669 |
| MTN | |||||
| Mega Gigs Xs | 1GB | 25 | 25 | 500MB social data, 500MB video data, 20GB once-off data | R909 (36-month) |
| Telkom | |||||
| FreeMe 3GB | 2GB | 50 + 1,000 | 200 | 500MB WhatsApp data, 500MB streaming data | R1,299 |
| FreeMe 6GB | 4GB | 100 + 1,000 | 400 | 1GB WhatsApp data, 1GB streaming data | R1,399 |