Samsung has started Galaxy S11 firmware development

For now, firmware development has been kicked off for the SM-G986B, which should be the Galaxy S11 that falls in the middle of the lineup. The SM-G986B will be the global 5G-equipped model, just like the SM-N976B, the Exynos-powered Galaxy Note 10+ 5G that's sold worldwide. The other two Galaxy S11 models are SM-G981 and SM-G988, which should be the successors to the Galaxy S10e and Galaxy S10+. Right now, Samsung doesn't seem to have any non-5G Galaxy S11 variants in the works, although that could change later down the line.

Samsung is likely to hold the Galaxy S11 launch event in the third week of February, possibly on February 18. If Samsung sticks to the same schedule as it did for the Galaxy S10 series, the Galaxy S11 should go on sale in early March. That leaves the company around four months to get the software completely ready for shipping on retail units, and while we probably won't hear about any new software features until the Galaxy S11's unveiling, we should start seeing leaks that detail the phone's hardware much sooner.

Some information about what we can expect on the Galaxy S11 is already out there. We had exclusively revealed Galaxy S11 storage options, and rumors indicate it will come equipped with 5x optical zoom capability and possibly a 108MP primary rear camera. The displays on the Galaxy S11 series could be taller with bezels smaller than the Galaxy Note 10 and could even have a 120Hz refresh rate, as suggested by the newly announced Exynos 990 SoC.