The Samsung Galaxy S21 series launched last month, but the reception may not have been as warm as Samsung had hoped, with the price of the brand new flagship already being slashed at retailers across regions.
It's unusual for the price to drop on new tech so soon; prior to the Galaxy S21 launch, insiders were sceptical about the direction Samsung was reportedly taking the series, 'downgrading' the material and possibly releasing it with an older chip.
At launch, however, we saw the three-strong lineup release with the Snapdragon 888 in the US, and Samsung's latest Exynos 2100 in other regions, while the Galaxy S21+ and Galaxy S21 Ultra sport glass rear panels – which isn't quite the bonus you'd think, given the shocking lack of durability in drop tests. But the suspicion is that sales aren't taking off as much as Samsung may have hoped, with generous discounts rolling out across all three models barely a month after launch.
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In the US, retailers like Amazon, Best Buy, and B&H Photo cut the price of the Galaxy S21 series by $100 or $200, depending on which variant you picked up. To placate pre-order customers who picked up the smartphone at full price at launch, Samsung US was offering to retroactively price match the retailers – all you had to do was contact customer support.
Now it seems the price drop is rolling out at retailers in France and Vietnam, with discounts of up to 23% and 27% respectively (via Twitter tipster chunvn8888). According to SamMobile, you can pick up the 256GB Galaxy S21 base model for €699 – that's a €210 discount on the usual price. Meanwhile, the premium Galaxy S21 Ultra 256GB variant is discounted by 19%, which works out to €260. French retailer Rakuten, who's running the promotion, has confirmed the prices will hold until March 2.
So if you've been eyeing up the Galaxy S21, Galaxy S21+, or Galaxy S21 Ultra, we suggest you wait; with the price being slashed by a couple hundred dollars, you could be just weeks away from pocketing a similar saving yourself.
Of course, with the OnePlus 9 pegged for a March release, you might as well hold off until then to see what it has to offer.
