Just received this deal via email. Looks like a pretty good deal. Total cost is $1327 ($499 handset + $828 plan).
Critical Information Summary - ETC is $414.
Samsung Galaxy S21 (128 GB) $499 on Telstra 12 Month $69 P/M Contract 80GB Data @ The Good Guys
1140
Taegukgi on 15/01/2021 - 14:16 thegoodguys.com.au (6331 clicks)
Last edited 02/02/2021 - 14:01 by 2 other users
Last edited 02/02/2021 - 14:01 by 2 other users
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I wouldn't say removing SD card or headphone jack makes it a midrange price.
It appears to be the new trend with phones (not just samsung, and iPhone didnt even have it at all). Even the 2k galaxy fold had the sd card removed.*3k
Yeah that's true, but coming from the perspective of how the galaxy line was marketed before, I think its good to make sure people buy this with lower expectations and that Samsung is very much adopting the same strategy as competitors in terms of their base "flagship" device not actually having all the latest and greatest. The screen is also max 1080p instead of previously 1440p.
The screen one is such a kick. Even the "plus" model doesn't have 1440p, only the $2k~ Ultra does.
Worth noting if you ran the S20 phones at the 120hz high refresh rate, they were maxed 1080p, not 1440p. So if you were going to run at a high refresh rate (you should) then the resolution change doesn't matter.
Also as Iplau mentioned the removal of the SD card and headphone jack is an industry trend, not really a direct cost-cutting. The plastic back would be, but personally, I think plastic or metal is better than glass backs anyway.
@eljayem: Its also perplexing because the same soc S21 Ultra runs at 1440p 120hz so theres no logical reason to it asides from artificial segmentation which itself is not a negative thing due to the lower cost the phone is now
@eljayem: sorry yes thats true but to clarify the S20 panel is technically a 1440p 120hz panel with an soc that cant handle the refresh rate. so in terms of cost the s20 and 21 ultra are fairly similar on the display side.
my point being there was a downgrade to artificially segment the phones and make the s21 cheaper. they could have put the same screen as last gen and ran it at full speed with the new soc
@eljayem: The removal of the SD card is a downgrade when you take into account the video modes: 8K@24fps and 4K@30/60fps.
Just as it is the resolution: 1080 x 2400 pixels (~421 ppi density) on S21 down from 1440 x 3200 pixels (~563 ppi density) on S20
To top it off: no charger, no headset, same crappy ultrasonic fingerprint sensor, same cameras as S20, same crappy 1.1x optical zoom (why is that even called zoom!?) and we get stuck the Samsung chipsets famous for overheating.
All this downgrade for the great discount of 50EUR vs last year launch price (sorry, I don't know the AUD discount).
I was looking forward to upgrade but S21 is such a letdown.
Thanks but no thanks Samsung.@mihait: I think they also forget how people use their phones. I have a drone which used micro SD card. I will take the card straight from the drone and transfer files to my phone. Its easy to do quick edits and share footage on phone rather than using a computer. I have the S20 and I always like to have the newest phone but I can't upgrade this time because they don't have the SD card in S21. I bought the S20 ultra but it was too big so sold that and bought S20 for it's small size. I think they nailed it with the S20 other than the headphone jack.
I think they also forget how people use their phones. I have a drone which used micro SD card. I will take the card straight from the drone and transfer files to my phone.
I must say, your use case sounds unusual. The micro SD slot on the S20 is meant for use as expandable storage rather than a card reader. You can get a type C card reader which plugs directly into your phone BTW.
@All Blacks NZ: USB card reader? Otherwise you have to take the Sim card out with sd card everytime you want to put sd card in.
Just as it is the resolution: 1080 x 2400 pixels (~421 ppi density) on S21 down from 1440 x 3200 pixels (~563 ppi density) on S20
Surely if you're into specs, you would have run the S20 in 120Hz mode? At 120Hz the S20 and S20+ ran at 1080x2400 anyway.
To top it off: no charger,
Good, one less thing to not take out of the box. :)
no headset,
Ditto.
same crappy ultrasonic fingerprint sensor,
No, it is a 2nd gen Qualcomm sensor that is 77% larger and 50% faster.
same crappy 1.1x optical zoom (why is that even called zoom!?)
At the end of the day, it's the output that counts. The telephoto setting does produce a 3x-zoomed 12MP image from a 64MP sensor.
and we get stuck the Samsung chipsets famous for overheating.
What makes you say the Exynos 2100 is famous for overheating?
No, it is a 2nd gen Qualcomm sensor(xda-developers.com) that is 77% larger and 50% faster.
I can confirm that the new fingerprint sensor is definitely quicker than the one on the S20.
This is unironically what most people want.
Higher resolution = higher battery drain, and you can't make out the difference on such a small screen anyway. It was always a totally pointless "feature", and I'm glad Samsung finally came to their senses and give people what they want instead of letting marketing do what they want.
iPhone
And no charger. Seriously, if they can get away with it, they remove the actual phone and sell you a box.
Haha! actually IIRC Tiffany and Co will actually sell you an empty box!
Trend being removing user expandable storage, So they can force people to buy more expensive internal storage variants.
Same with 3.5mm jack.Reminds of S6, which was a dud.
As far as I know, its only SD card and its ability to pay via replicating the magnetic strip on your credit card. Which I have never used.
a couple of features removed in order to get the phone to the “midrange” price - no SD card or headphone jack.
The S20 doesn't have a headphone jack either.
No SD card slot is a negative for some people. I used to be one of those people until phones came with 128GB minimum, which works fine for me.
Also plastic construction instead of metal for those that care.
I don't think my phone case will care. ;)
plastic instead of glass you mean? lol
I was going to make that comment.
1080p screen vs previous years' 1440p
S20: 1440 x 3200 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~563 ppi density)
S21: 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio (~421 ppi density)
S20 at high refresh rate was limited to 1080p anyway, not 1440p.
I agree if you were using 120hz mode on the s20, then S21 would be better since it's the native resolution.
@Rauland: I believe this one also has a variable refresh rate as well, which imo is much better as it doesn't impact battery life as much.
Also getting the Galaxy buds with redemption.
drop the net price of the phone by ~$300
You can buy that on eBay $190 a few months later.
They are currently selling for $150 on Ebay if you look at Sold listings recently. Once everyone floods ebay with their redemptions i can see the price falling to $100 on Ebay.
Pretty much, maybe a touch over $100 however as this is exactly what happened with the S10s.
I ended up using mine and sold my barley used Airpods to a mate for $100
Checking the specs and predict the S21 price drop below $900 after April.
Why? It's still going to be the best android phone on the market after april.
would ETC trigger $300 voucher fee? given the fact that upfront price of phone reduced to $499 aka discount applied (even without using or giving out voucher)
No voucher is mentioned so you shouldn't be up for the $300 voucher fee. So the total if you cancel straight away should be $913
thanks
In the t&c link on the post says $300 voucher for new connect, what does it mean?
It means that if there was a voucher or gift card mentioned as part of the deal and you cancel straight away you have to repay it.
Is there any deals with the S21 Ultra?
so with Ultra, does it come with Buds Pro as pre-order?
Yep
Thanks. Just too bad they only do 128GB and no 512GB.
5G?
yes, the whole range is
I heard that sometimes Telstra will offer a $10/month account credit for the plans purchased from JB Hi-Fi, is it the same case with these plans?
It's pure luck for new customers. If you get the right person on chat. Don't go in expecting it.
I've already got an internet service with them but never had mobile before…
5% off gift cards can help bring the initial payment down.
Comparing specs on gsmarwna, the s21 seems to have got the better SoC, no battery capacity boost… Maybe better off waiting for a good s20 discount.
Once again, new customers and port ins only….
Still waiting for the day a decent replacement deal for my expired $69pm galaxy S9 f&f deal comes up. Don't want to stuff around porting out and in…
I am in the same boat. Never had the courage to say so on this forum for fear I would get banned for un ozbargain like behaviour.
Sometimes, we bargain for our time and hassle, rather than for money.
I'm here for you, friend.
You dont need to port out & back in…….and I'm a Galaxy S8 OG with telstra $59 24 month plan from 3 years ago.
Sign up for a new number, get the gift card (in my case was the $400 good guys from a few weeks back) or new phone and plan (upgraded to 80GB per month for $59 12 month contract) - wait for the new # to show up in your telstra my account, move your OG # to your new account, which closes out your old plan.
Thanks for coming.
I never knew one could port their old number to a newly created account!
How do you move your OG number to the new account? I can't seem to see it under the telstra app
Thanks for the info. Have you actually done this?
Yes, approx 2 weeks ago.
All done via Telstra chat, I just made sure I was very clear what I wanted, and how critical it is that I kept my old (OG) #. The chat person was actually pretty good about it, double and triple checking my request.
Had to use the new sim card that I got when I signed up for the new plan into my old S8. Process only took 1/2 hour or so.
I timed mine so I only had 2 days left on my old contract (month to month) to avoid paying for a service no longer used, but it appears that Telstra refund you the difference anyway, so I don't believe it would make any difference when you completed the port over.
I tried this , didn't work, raised complaint, didn't work. I got lucky and was able to cancel without an exit fee, but the method you raised above may be subject to the agent you get.
Yeah my gut feeling is that this isn't standard practice. If this was an every day thing there'd be no point restricting these deals to port ins and new numbers.
@wombat81 - You and me both. Got the same deal on F&F. Just commited to JBHiFi's Boxing Day 12-month $59 ($69 less $10 credit) + 80gb + $500 gift card deal. This looks like a better offer.
My just taken up deal: $59 per month over 12-mths. Saving of $120 plus a $500 gift card = $620 total "saving"
Pre-order the S21 (albeit not impressed with the specs): $1249 (for the 256gb from JB - was a mistake me thinks)
So the phone costs (in comparison to F&F) $1249 less the $620, so $629.This deal is better by $130. F&F… I miss you.
Oh well… already committed to the 12-mth with JB. Don't think they'll be a better combined deal than this. The S21 will go on special in a few months, however those holding out for the S20 - don't think that's gonna work out. It's been out of stock for the last two months.
Final thought… guess I could be patient and wait for specials on the S12 in Apr, which would bring the total cost down by $200 or so. But… might consider flogging the ear buds cheaply and enjoying the phone earlier. :)
Ahh looks like im going to have to port out again
Which processor it has?
Snapdragon?Nope, only US gets the Snapdragon. Australia is the Exynos.
The Exynos is apparently actually serviceable this time around though.
Why the CPU cores are faster than those in SD888, Mali GPU is still fair bit behind Adreno, and likely that this will results in overall worse performance especially in gaming.
More money , less features. No sd card slot, no charger/headphones in the box, thanks to apple for starting this new trend.
The S20 has a launch price of $1349, that's $100 more than the S21.
Both have too much of an Australia mark up but that is a different issue.
More like thank consumers had people stood up and reviewers stated less features but more $$$ apple would have felt pressure to do it
Whats the odds this deal will come to JB HiFi, have a bunch of gift cards to use up.
That's what I'm hoping.
A little birdie at JB Paramatta told me to watch this space. I'm also hoping to put my GCs to good use.
Will JB hi-fi match this?
As technically they're the same company.
So if my friend was able to sell the phone and buds for, say, $1327 they could remain on the 80GB plan for a year for effectively $0?
If your friend could get $1327, he would have my deepest respect.
I still have a sealed S20 lel.
I’d love to upgrade from my S7 but I'm going to try and hold out until the s22 which will likely have the new AMD GPU and possibly the under display camera. Though this exynos sounds promising for the first time in a few years, they’d have to thoroughly dun goof to fail with a stock ARM configuration this time around. Battery life "should" be better on account of the x60 integrated 5G modem up from the non integrated x55 last year (I assume that’s what they’re using) and the adaptive displays. Very curious to see how these review nonetheless.
You should get a oneplus 7t pro
Wow, just going back to my notes from March 2019 - My S10+ on would have cost $63 per month for 60GB + Peace of mind data and free upgrade to 5G handset.
So the market hasn't moved much. I ended up on 2 year contract with Optus, who are terrible, 200GB of data which I barely used, lol.
S10+ vs S21 Ultra: https://www.androidheadlines.com/2020/02/phone-comparisons-s…
47 grams heavier! Bah!
More about the processor: https://www.cnet.com/news/right-before-galaxy-s21-unpacked-s…
https://nanoreview.net/en/soc-compare/samsung-exynos-9820-vs…
Says double the AnTuTu 8 scores of my S10+ but I don't game on my phone. I have XM3-1000s so I dunno if I need the new Galaxy buds. Only thing that interests me is the 120hz screen with better brightness outdoors, I'll wait for GSMArena or someone to review the screen.
crappy exynos, no thx.
Crappy in what way?
Give it a chance it’s not even out yet. Typical just repeating what you hear and never even owned one.
Exynos is better than the SD888. Technically both made under 5nm.
No micro sd, no deal. Why is samsung following apple
Just curious, what do you want to be able to store on your sd card? With 80gb of data you can just stream your music. just upload your library to your YouTube music (Google) account. Your photos get backed up to Google photos, so there's no need to store them.
I've always valued having an sd card but, to be honest, I've hardly used it in the last few years.
Google photos is no longer free. Those 4k videos take a lot of space.
I didn't realise photos was no longer free. I've had a G1 account for a while now.
Google photos is no longer free.
It is still free till the middle of the year.
Those 4k videos take a lot of space.
4K videos do not get backed up at 4K with the free backup option. It will get resized to 1080p. So surely you are already manually backing them up somewhere?
I'm on a Boost per year plan because I don't use much data, about 10GB per year. My plan costs me 12 bucks a month.
I record a lot of video and take raw photos and all that goes on the SD card. Till now I've been able to use SD cards in phones with low internal storage. Current phone is an s10 with 128GB internal and supports upto 512GB SD card which you can get for around $100. I'm not going to use a phone that either forces me to signup to a costly monthly plan or a phone with more internal storage which again costs more money.
The other advantage of the SD slot is when you upgrade your phone you get to keep your storage. Now Samsung have forced another hampster wheel upon us.
And I still use the heaphone jack - it uses no power.
I suspect that I am in the minority of users.
For low data plans, i understand. But for an 80gb pm plan, i see very little reason to carry music around with you, for example.
@wombat81: My main point is the lack of SD card storage is adding, for some, increased cost for no benefit. And given the number of people that jumped on the old Boost 80GB/$125 plan I'd say that there are quite a few who use a low data plan.
So the only way to get close to the amount of storage that I have now is to go the the S21 Ultra which costs a lot more and is bigger. Neither of which I want.My TCO for the s10 over two years is $810 s or $34p/m. That is all in, phone purchase and 2 years on Boost. And I got headphones, charger and a neat USB adapter. Plus I carried over my SIM card from the previous phone. The phone was purchased with a 60GB/month Telstra plan but I did the contract break because for my needs it was cheaper to go boost.
My edge case is that I often go to locations where there is poor or zero coverage so no amount of data on any plan is helpful.
C'est la vie
The T&C mentioned $300 voucher for new/eligible customer. Anyone know what the $300 voucher is about? Do we get that on top of this offer?
There isn't. If a voucher is mentioned in the deal by either JB or GoodGuys then it applies.
In the t&c link on the post says $300 voucher for new connect, what does it mean?
As per jbhifi deal, no voucher mentioned. However go thru the process and you will see voucher listed on receipt. It is the receipt that will be their written proof you used a voucher.
With the Xiaomi Mi 11 being 800 AUD in China, was really hoping these would be insane too but really disappointed at the normal version
is there any point getting 5G? I have no coverage still.
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Just be wary that S21 seems to have a couple of features removed in order to get the phone to the “midrange” price - no SD card or headphone jack. Also plastic construction instead of metal for those that care.