A $2,650 Galaxy S21 called the Sirin V3 comes with military-grade security

Sirin V3’s UI has what the company calls a Dual-Persona feature. This feature separates the UI in two modes. A Personal mode and a Confidential Work Space mode are present and made easy to switch in between.

 

Personal mode allows the user to install apps only from Google Play Store. It also provides protection against viruses. The point of this mode is to let you have your personal space more protected than ever, while keeping it separate from your professional needs. Here is a list of all of the mode’s features:

• Play Store apps only.
• Restrict whitelist/blacklist apps.
• Restrict voice recording to secured apps
• Disallow USB apps/data injection.
• Block USB apps/data injection.
• Disallow BT apps/data injection.
• Disallow keyboard replacement.
• Disallow Download-Mode on boot.
• Disallow Developer options.
• Disallow USB-Debugging.
• Disallow Factory-Reset.
• Disallow Safe-Mode.
• Encrypted storage on boot.

Confidential Work Space mode

Confidential Work Space mode offers military-grade encrypted calls which are anonymous and are made via an app. The mode doesn’t allow you to install apps from the Play Store, or anywhere else for that matter, but it does come with the apps the company thinks you need preinstalled. You also cannot do screenshots or voice recordings in this mode. Here is the full list of features of the Work Space mode:

• Secured encrypted apps only.
• Disallow apps installation.
• Disallow voice recording.
• Disallow screenshot.
• Disallow USB apps/data injection.
• Disallow BT apps/data injection.
• Disallow Apps data sharing.
• Disallow keyboard replacement.

There are no hardware or design changes to the phone, so it is identical to the regular, $799 priced Galaxy S21 that we’ve come to know. The Sirin V3 is offered only in Black, with 12GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. The phone is powered by the Exynos 2100 processor for the global market, and the Snapdragon 888 for the US one, same as with the regular Samsung phone. You can also check out our full review of the Galaxy S21.

This isn’t Sirin Labs’ first try at a security focused smartphone. Back in 2018 the company released a smartphone called the Sirin Finney. It cost $999 and the phone had a built-in cold-storage crypto wallet and an in-display fingerprint scanner, which was something new at the time. This Sirin Labs endeavor wasn’t the most successful, and it looks like the company realized that it’s easier to take someone else’s already great smartphone, tweak it and then offer it themselves.