Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review – The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE flagship smartphone is the Fan Edition, launched in January 2022, and is finally available globally. Although the prices are not as high as the high-end Samsung flagships, they are still in the higher segment and deliver a great value to the users without any hassle.
A decent layout, powerful processor, and awesome camera, along with the 5G connectivity support, make it a complete package. Plus, you will obtain flagship-level features that make the overall experience superb. To know more let’s start the detailed review of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE smartphone.
Table of Contents
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review
Highlights
- A 6.4 inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen and up to 120 Hz refresh rate is what comes with Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.
- The smartphone is offered in two 5nm chipset versions, Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chipset and Exynos 2100.
- On the other hand, the software handling is done by the latest Android 12 OS with One UI 4 user interface.
- Triple rear camera channels a 12 MP primary lens with a 32MP front selfie camera.
- The device equips a Li-Ion 4500 mAh battery accompanied by 25W fast charging & 15W fast wireless charging support.
Design and Display
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE’s layout is sleek & straightforward with a glass front, metallic frames & plastic back. The plastic back may not look premium, but it is durable and has a soft, matte finish with a wrap-around camera bump. Besides this, the Corning Gorilla Glass Victus at the front is the best you can get. This protection is widely used in flagship phones.
Moreover, IP 68 rating makes it water & dust resistant. Anyway, the 177grams light-weight device is easy to grip and hold at all times, even during long calls or video chats. Apart from this, the most interesting & wide color options are offered by the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE – White, Graphite, Lavender, Olive. So, you can choose anyone according to your requirements and preference.
Coming to the display, a 6.4 inches Dynamic AMOLED 2X panel with up to 120Hz refresh rate assures smooth swiping and scrolling. The content looks excellent and gives accurate colors HDR10+ support. Also, the gaming experience will be fantastic with the gaming mode. Overall the look isn’t unique; however, the display & build definitely deserves a thumbs up.
Memory and Internal
As far as the processor is concerned, there are two variants of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. First, the 5nm Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset, is for the international market and goes up to a max of 2.84GHz clocking speed. While the other is 5nm Exynos 2100 for selected markets, which we get in India that reach up to 2.9Ghz clocking speed. So this works equally well, delivering more than enough power for your daily tasks & heavy games. The device may warm up during extreme heavy usage, otherwise are no heating issues in everyday use.
Under the hood, you receive One UI 4 interface based on the latest Android 12 OS, this is the first phone that arrives with this interface out of the box. The device is well-optimized with no lags and better control over privacy settings. Additionally, allowing a customizable look and friendly Interface. So, the overall user experience would provide a special feeling, and there’s nothing left behind the trends.
Besides the fast processor, here comes only 6 to 8GB RAM coupled with 128GB to 256GB internal storage, which is non-expandable. Yet the memory management is pretty good & handles everything efficiently. The absence of an SD Card Slot may be an issue for some, but the all-around performance is effortless. Furthermore, the storage is more than enough if you are not a heavy performance user.
Camera
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE’s rear camera setup holds a 12MP wide, 8MP telephoto, and a 12 MP ultrawide lens. Some may think that the camera quality would be low due to fewer megapixels, but that is not the case as the main camera clicks have plenty of detail, lower noise, high contrast & natural dynamic range. The users should also give a big thanks to the image processing software support.
Similarly, the ultra-wide lens is impressive with adequate sharpness & adequate detail with a 123-degree field of view. Low light photos from the main are superbly rich in detail along with a wide dynamic range. On the top, the portraits are amazing with the right amount of sharpness & contrast. Moreover, the 32 MP selfie camera produces natural-looking photos with low noise lively colors, though the sharpness is less.
The phone supports 4K videos @ 60 fps at max. with both the cameras. Moving on to the video, recordings are realistic & exemplary but lack sharpness. Nevertheless, the camera quality is remarkable with OIS and gyro-EIS support. Compared to the latest Samsung creation Samsung Galaxy S22, the phone is slightly behind in terms of AI software and camera quality. But the overall experience is excellent.
Battery and Others
The Samsung handset fits a Li-Ion 4500 mAh battery with 25W fast charging support & 15W fast wireless charging support. But there’s no charger provided, which is a big let-down as far as competition is concerned. Battery life isn’t bad, though 5 to 6-hours of screen time is reasonable with normal usage. You won’t face any issues even while gaming. Although, it might not provide a long-lasting battery experience on heavy usage.
The smartphone owns every essential comm & sensor along with an in-display fingerprint, which is fast & reliable. In addition, the audio quality is well-balanced with Stereo speakers. Talking about the price, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is launched at $499 (Rs 54,999 in India) approx. Well, there are a few cons, but performance justifies the price.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Pros and Cons
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Specifications Detail
Down below you can see the full specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE smartphone.
| Specifications | Samsung Galaxy S21 FE |
| Network | 2G, 3G, 4G, 5G |
| Announced | January 2022 |
| SIM | Dual SIM |
| Dimensions | 6.13 x 2.93 x 0.31 inches |
| Weight | 177 grams |
| Size | 6.4 inches |
| Display | Dynamic AMOLED 2X 120Hz HDR10+ 20:9 ratio ~401 PPI density Always-on display |
| Protection | IP68 dust/water resistant Corning Gorilla Glass Victus |
| Resolution | 1080 x 2400 pixels |
| OS | Android 12, One UI 4 |
| Chipset | Version 1 5nm – Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G Version 2 5nm – Exynos 2100 |
| CPU | Version 1 Octa-core 1×2.84 GHz Kryo 680 3×2.42 GHz Kryo 680 4×1.80 GHz Kryo 680 Version 2 Octa-core 1×2.9 GHz Cortex-X1 3×2.80 GHz Cortex-A78 4×2.2 GHz Cortex-A55 |
| GPU | Version 1 Adreno 660 Version 2 Mali-G78 MP14 |
| Card slot | No |
| RAM | 6GB, 8GB |
| Internal | 128GB, 256GB |
| Camera | 12 MP (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 8 MP (telephoto), PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom 12 MP 123Ëš (ultrawide) LED flash, auto-HDR, panorama Max – 4K@30/60fps, HDR10+, gyro-EIS |
| Selfie | 32 MP (wide) HDR Max – 4K@30/60fps, gyro-EIS |
| Loudspeaker | Yes, with stereo speakers |
| 3.5mm jack | No 32-bit/384kHz audio |
| WLAN | Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot |
| Bluetooth | 5.0, A2DP, LE |
| GPS | Yes, with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO |
| NFC | Yes |
| Infrared port | No |
| Radio | No |
| USB | USB Type-C, USB On-The-Go |
| Sensors | Under-display fingerprint, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, compass Bixby natural language commands and dictation Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified) |
| Battery | Li-Ion 4500 mAh Fast charging 25W Fast wireless charging 15W Reverse wireless charging USB Power Delivery 3.0 |
| Colors | White, Graphite, Lavender, Olive |
| Expected Price | $499 (Rs 54,999 in India) Approx. |
Conclusion
All the Samsung shippers must get their hands on this one because Samsung promised 3 Android updates so that you will get up to Android 15 plus four years of security. Thus if you are the one who doesn’t change phones very often, then the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE smartphone is the best in the global market.
If you are unsatisfied or find it overpriced, then you must consider the OnePlus 9RT or Samsung Galaxy S20 FE as an alternative and decide according to your requirements. We recommend you check both smartphone reviews to make the final decision that fits well according to your budget and preference.
