[It seems almost certain that Samsung's Galaxy S21 will be launched in January. That's because Samsung's next flagship phone has been certified by Indian regulator BIS.

RootMyGalaxy (via SamMobile) has found a list of Samsung phones with the ID SM-G991B in the database of Indian regulator BIS. Since such authentication takes place quite close to the phone's launch, one can assume that the rumor that the Galaxy S21 will be launched in January is rather on target.

The list does not reveal any new specs, but the fact that it does means that we can begin to look forward to the Galaxy S21's big unveiling.

The phone was approved by the BIS on November 20, a month earlier than the approval date of last year's Galaxy S20. This is consistent with rumors that the S21 series will be launched in January of this year, rather than around February or March as in years past.

According to other rumors, this date change appears to be a tactical decision. The new iPhone 12 series offers some stiff competition to the existing S20 series, not to mention other strong competitors in the Android phone space like the OnePlus 8T. Therefore, Samsung wants to quickly launch a new flagship model with the latest hardware to avoid losing potential sales to Apple and others.

Many of the S21's specs have already leaked; three different sized models are expected: the S21, S21 Plus, and S21 Ultra. All of them will share a smooth refresh rate of 120 Hz and use the same processor (Snapdragon 875 or Exynos 2100, depending on where they are purchased).

The S21 and S21 Plus will reportedly share the same camera array consisting of a 12MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide camera, and a 64MP telephoto camera The S21 Ultra has a much nicer setup: 108MP main camera, 12MP ultra-wide camera, and two 10MP telephoto cameras, one 3x and one 10x, reportedly.

Time will tell if these rumors turn out to be true. But with a January launch seemingly just around the corner, we won't have to wait long to find out if the Galaxy S21 is a smartphone worth upgrading.