2021 has been another strange year for many of us. But when it comes to mobile phones, it can easily be said to be an exciting year as well. The COVID-19 pandemic has delayed many tech launches, but all in all, we’ve seen a lot of new high-end smartphones throughout the year.
In this article, we wanted to take a look at how 2021 passed in the field of mobile phones and what happened. In doing so, we divided the year 2021 into four quarterly parts.
January – March 2021: A Messy Conference Season
CES 2021 was the first virtual CES show ever due to the ongoing pandemic. The biggest phone story was the LG Rollable, which was showcased for the first time with a short teaser trailer. Everyone expected the release of this extraordinary phone at some point in 2021, but that expectation did not come true. Because in late January, LG announced that it would stop producing smartphones. Thus, the “rollable screen” LG Rollable did not get the chance to see the light of day.
Samsung, on the other hand, held a virtual event concurrent with CES 2021 to announce its new flagship phones, the Samsung Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21 Plus and Galaxy S21 Ultra. All three models arrived at the end of January and can be said to be quite successful.
In fact, other phones at CES 2021 included Motorola showing its G series phones and TCL highlighting the new TCL 20 series. During CES, Sony unveiled support for 360 Reality Audio to take on Dolby Atmos and other spatial audio technology.
While CES 2021 brings some exciting news, MWC 2021 has been delayed to late June due to concerns over COVID-19. Meanwhile, the Honor V40 has been launched and the Xiaomi Mi 11 has emerged as a competitor to Samsung’s Galaxy S21.
On March 11, Oppo Find X3 was added to the new generation flagships. In the same month, Samsung introduced its new mid-range models, the Samsung A52 and A72.
The OnePlus 9 went on sale in March and has proven to be a good option. Gaming phones have made their weight felt with the release of not only ASUS ROG 5, but also Nubia Red Magic 6 and Xiaomi Black Shark 4.
LG Rollable failed to materializeApril – June 2021: Goodbye LG
April was the month when LG officially said goodbye to us by leaving the smartphone world. This meant that impressive looking phones like the LG Rollable and LG V70 ThinQ would never become reality.
During this time, we’ve also seen first glimpses of what we can expect when iOS 15 launches later in the year. Especially the redesigned Control Center caught everyone’s attention.
Apple’s first launch event in 2021 was in April. Spring Loaded focused on Macs and iPads, but also introduced a new iPhone 12 color: Purple.
Samsung has launched the Galaxy M12, a cheap phone with a big battery. At the same time, the company was declared the world’s largest smartphone manufacturer, again with a 22% market share.
Motorola has entered the budget market by launching the Moto G20. Realme 8 5G, added to the same segment, managed to become the most attractive cheap 5G phone in Europe.
In the US, the Department of Defense removed Xiaomi from its blacklist, which meant that the US would not sanction the manufacturer. Xiaomi soon confirmed that its ban has been lifted.
After a long hiatus, Honor phones are finally starting to offer Google apps again as a result of its separation from parent company Huawei. June was full of iPhone rumors, but it would be months before we got any concrete details about the iPhone 13.
Oppo Find X3July – September 2021: Summer, Xiaomi, Samsung and Apple. . .
With the start of summer and until July, we’ve heard a lot of rumors about the Samsung Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Galaxy Z Fold 3. We’re starting to think it’s time we finally see really good foldable phones.
But summer hasn’t been a smooth season for Samsung. The company lost the title of being the world’s largest smartphone seller to Xiaomi.
OnePlus Nord 2 was launched in July. The highly anticipated Nord 2 is a welcome addition to the mid-range phone market, especially as it offers surprisingly high-end features for its price.
Nokia has announced some new phones: the C30 and the extremely robust Nokia XR20 with its huge battery, accompanied by the redesigned Nokia 6310.
Motorola has also been busy in the summer and has officially confirmed that the Moto G60s will be coming to Europe. These phones offered a 120Hz display with a lower price tag than their competitors.
And the iPhone 13 series was announced in September. Especially for the iPhone 13 Pro, Apple offered better features, better video recording possibilities and an OLED display with an adaptive 120 Hz refresh rate.
The camera features in the series were arguably the most exciting aspects. Unfortunately, delivery and supply issues have forced iPhone 13 buyers to wait for weeks.
Google Pixel 6October – December 2021: Even more phones. . .
Alongside the major phone launches, with the end of the year we also witnessed the return of concerns about the return of COVID-19. New Xiaomi phones were quickly launched in the form of the Xiaomi 11T and 11T Pro. The introduction of the Xiaomi 12 series followed.
October also meant the launch of the newest Google Pixel 6 and Google Pixel 6 Pro in the Google smartphone lineup. Increasing its photography capabilities, Pixel has proven to be an ideal phone for photography enthusiasts.
Remember the battle for the biggest smartphone manufacturer? Xiaomi’s lead did not last long, at the end of the year, Samsung prevailed again.
December was largely filled with Samsung Galaxy S22 leaks and many people follow tradition expecting the phone to launch in early 2022.
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