Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Introduction:
Samsung 'Fan Edition' (FE) series is really a fan edition? Our evidence for that was the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, which proved pretty great value. The same applies now to its successor, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G. But the S21 FE 5G played it safe. While a fine phone worldwide, that's not enough of an upgrade over the S20 FE 5G to wonder: Should you really spend the cash on this instead or just jump for its predecessor (if still available)?
Evolution, Not Revolution
The S21 FE 5G appears to be an evolutionary tweak in initial takes. This thing probably inherits the unimpeachable core strengths of its predecessor, so it would likely be a safe bet. This involves a bunch of great features such as, quality display camera performance and last but not the least chipset (based on region).
Nevertheless, if you have the S20 FE 5G and running well with it, upgrading could be skipped. The S21 FE 5G seems like a better fit for the market, which means that users will still have something to fall back on once time comes it is for the S20 FE 5G to bow down.
Although more iterative in an evergreen-like way, the S21 FE 5G still arguably has what it takes to compete as a splash in its own right. However when you buy plays can make a big difference. This is where the little research will do you well.
If the S20 FE 5G is still on sale at a big enough discount though, and you're comfortable with its feature set, that could be considered an understandable choice. But if the price gap is small, or worse still, there isn't enough S20 FE 5G to go around anymore, then the S21 FE 5g is stepping up as a worthy successor.
In the long run, when to get hold of an S21 FE 5G will eventually be decided by your own means and on how things are priced at that moment. With that, it is still a pretty good phone with high-end DNA at what could be an appealing cost. Conclusion As always, the best way to find out which handset suits you better is a careful look at where and how much Samsung S20 FE 5G can be bought.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Design:
The name may get the "Fan Edition" ("FE") distinction, but the biggest alteration is in fact its look. The aesthetics and practical aspects of the Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Looks Familiar but A New Material Twist
The likeness of the Galaxy S21 series to mimic its flagship peers cannot be disregarded onthe Galaxy S21 FE 5G The rear camera module is neatly integrated into the phone's back : it comes in its signature "contour-cut" design, and that does indeed hide those big lenses better. But the FE's camera housing is made of plastic, not metal like it was on the S21 series. This option provides a few major benefits. One, by keeping the weight low overall and on a larger size unit it makes the device easier to carry. Firstly, plastic is not as hard to break as glass - and will offer more strength in the case of a tumble.
Now, the Graphite color might seem a pinch mundane but alternative options such as Olive, Lavender and White should give you something that looks more animated. That material choice might not play well with everyone who longed for an all-metal construction after years of plastic Samsung builds, but ultimately it is intended for the person reading this. Nevertheless, the weight saving and strength advantages of carbon is undeniable.
Thinner, Lighter and More Comfortable
Weight loss is one of the more noticeable changes from S20 FE 5G. The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is also lighter by a size-able margin of 13 grams, checking in at just 177g. When combined with a 7.9mm waistline, however - this thing just feels damned good in-hand Its edges are rounded as well, which only adds to the same and that will assist in keeping it comfy.
And it is made of aluminum body which appears to be solid and gives the phone a premium feel. On the right side they are buttons with a good level of travel that we all know are essential for responsive control.
Goodbye MicroSD Card, Hello Slender Body
The Galaxy S20 FE 5G had a microSD card slot for expandable storage but Samsung has now decided to remove it in the new device, which is one trend that we're seeing more and more on mid-range phones where manufacturers are looking to get users onto higher storage variants. There is a 256GB storage option available from Samsung for the S21 FE, but those who depend on external third-party branded memory may find themselves out of luck here with no SD card slot.
Faster Charged, Though With a Lighter Box
You will also observe a lighter package with Galaxy S21 FE 5G. Meanwhile, taking after another development seen on other leaders this year, Samsung has chosen to avoid offering a charger in the box. It makes for a slimmer form, but also requires you to source your own charger from its compatible partner.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G matured design refinements focusing on aesthetics and practicality. The phone still has that classic S-series design but with a twist; it's rocking a plastic back for lighter weight and added comfort. It is crazy light, super slim and the flat display makes an absolute pleasure to hold in your hand. Although no SD card slot and the lack of an in-box charger can be disappointments for some, a beautiful screen good fast charging are major points to consider alongside its low price. In the end, this can make the Galaxy S21 FE 5G an enticing possibility for loyal Samsung customers looking upmarket from a degrading device without having to take down cash on a full flagship.
A Promising Contender
On the software side, users get a One UI 4.0 interface based on Android 12 right out the box which is as intuitive and customizable as ever. Some may say that they want the stock Android 12 experience, but others appreciate a few of One UI's features and settings. Yet, a tiny bug related to framerates may need more documentation before we can say how widespread it is.
On the whole, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G looks set to be one of those top tier mid-range smartphones. That feature list might very well be enough to outweigh any castigation the Exynos processor variant has face in specific markets, but that brings us back around to topic of priorities and wallet size for each user. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has landed as the less expensive choice in the Galaxy S21 range, but does it compromise on everything? Read on for our initial impressions, a look at the handset in detail and its software experience.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Display:
The eye candy is a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with 2340 x1080 resolution at its heart of hearts, The AMOLED screen has a pixel density of 411ppi, which means it approaches the Retina Display level category. Text displays as razor-sharp and other details on the screen are rendered vividly, be it about browsing through webpages, reading ebooks or even watching videos.
Where the display really excels though is its refresh rate. It has a fluid 120Hz refresh rate, which indicates that the image changes everytime over every second. This results in very smooth scrolling, animations and transitions. So if you are gaming, scrolling through various apps or your social media feeds, the display offers a far more responsive experience as compared to typical 60Hz displays. The Galaxy S21 FE 5G also benefits from LTPO tech, as does the OnePlus Nord CE and Google Pixel 6.
This is how the refresh rate can dynamically modulate according to what you are viewing. As a result, the refresh rate can be reduced to save battery power when you are reading static content and then increased up to 120Hz for super smooth motion in high-speed action.
A Display Built for Comfort
Samsung knows that our eyeballs are a rapidly degrading resource, given how you can easily spend hours upon hours pointed at various screens every day. Features of the Galaxy S21 FE 5G display reduce eye strain. One is that it's based on AMOLED, and this tech grants any OLED-equipped device such as the Note 8 to offer far deeper blacks and more vivid colours than most LCD screens. This prevents a murky screen and allows for easily viewable content in low-light settings. The phone also has a flicker-free display which we often see in some displays that can be extremely stressful on the eyes over long periods of usage. To reduce eye strain during nighttime use, and to provide other healthy visual features for the users, finally The phone also provides an Eye Comfort Shield cooling technology that lowers blue light emission.
Bright, True Color Viewing
When it comes to brightness, the display on this Galaxy S21 FE 5G is indeed bright. The tablet can top out at 1300 nits and will be readable outdoors in the sunlight for most use cases. During the presentation it was said that this is especially good for those customers who often use a smartphone on the street or in places with bright ambient light. Plus, the screen is capable of produce colors covering 100% DCI-P3 coverage. All of it, results in vivid and realistic colors that are perfect for photographers and videographers or if you simply love consuming media. It additionally supports HDR10 Plus for a larger variety of colors and better contrast ratios, bolstering the visual appeal.
A Display That Enhances the Experience
The display of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is what a middle-class model should look like. With some visual clarity, a smooth refresh rate and eye comfort features, it offers an interesting experience. Whether you're a gamer, content creator or just someone who loves an amazing display the Galaxy S21 FE 5G has got your back.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Processor & Performance:
The same Exynos 2100 SoC (System on Chip) comes to the heart of it, that also powers the flagship S21 series. Being as powerful a chip, and given its good track record of butter-smooth performance improvements even with the Galaxy S21 FE 5G running Android 12.
But there is a catch for Indian users. While the global variant comes powered by Qualcomm Snapdragon 888, India gets the Exynos version. Some fans may have been expecting the Snapdragon 888 but were left disappointed with this decision.
Notwithstanding, the Exynos 2100 paints a promising picture for forward compatibility. This also positions it for 5G, supporting a decent selection of bands (also gestating to be launched in India at some point). The phone also has the usual Wi-Fi 6, which offers significantly faster internet over your home network at least compared to other devices up until now, Bluetooth 5 for smooth device pairing, and NFC for Samsung Pay contactless payments.
That multimedia shine really stands out more for the S21 FE 5G users who are all about their media enjoyment. Including HDR10 playback support for apps like Netflix. The phone is also a good performer in the gaming department. Games played on it smoothly, and looked stunning. Whether you're duking it out in Call of Duty: Mobile, or blazing through Asphalt 9: Legends the handset cuts a rug. Even after longer gaming sessions (~15-20 minutes), the device just gently warms up at best - but it remains absolutely within limits. Stereo speakers also get the shout out, producing a good sound for gaming and movie watching.
Benchmarks continue this theme of performance prowess. It scored 7,28,951 points in AnTuTu benchmark and managed to score decently well
This includes working software, which felt like typical Samsung in my initial testing. This user experience was highly customized with the interface offering many shortcuts and adjustments. But there is a little hitch, needs some more inspection. The phone would stutter in frames from time to time during my tests, making many of the gestures and animations feel jerky. Fortunately, these problems appeared to contemporary by themselves then a number of time.
Please also remember this could just be an issue isolated to the review unit I had. Since it is common for frame rate to vary regardless, activists warn that a comprehensive picture will require continuous tracking and feedback from the public.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Camera:
Its camera system is largely unchanged from the one found on its predecessor, and while that's not a bad thing - as it means you're getting another inoffensive generation of images here too well-suited to mid-range devices Samsung could have made some improvements. Read on for our hands-on (well, eyes-on) S21 FE 5G review.
Camera Setup: A Familiar Cocktail
On the back, for photography, there is a quad-camera setup inside S21 FE 5G of which consists of a main / primary (wide) camera sensor: 12-megapixel lens having an f/1.8 aperture with optical image stabilization OIS support. It is paired with an 8-megapixel telephoto camera that gets you up to 3x optical zoom, a wide-angle ultrawide lens (12 megapixels when not in Ultra HD), and a selfie snapper at the front as well.
A big missing marquee feature compared to other competition is special macro camera. In other words, there is no real "Macro" mode visible in camera application. The ultra-wide camera also doesn't have autofocus, so true macro captures are difficult. If you want a real-world validation of this great performance, go outside and shoot with daylight. This is where the wide-aperture really stands out - even in bright sunlight gives vibrant colors while soaking into plenty of ambient light to provide reliable focusing (caveat: just open aperture all the way).
The best of the images taken under good lighting conditions with S21 FE 5G. Images clicked from the primary sensor look vivid and bold on the phone's display. The XE700T1A's detail levels are similarly solid, with nice saturated colors and Samsung image processing that does a good job reducing noise. Close-up shots from the main camera shine, providing a nice bokeh effect in the background. The autofocus is speedy and transitions between focus points well.
The camera app opens easily for quick shooting. While a single tap on the shutter button captures a photo, holding it down starts video recording and swiping right when you're in landscape mode (i.e. horizonal) activates burst shooting to capture multiple images very quickly.
Ultra-Wide: The Good, Old Slippery Notch
Out back, an ultra-wide has a 12-megapixel sensor with (naturally) an even wider field of view than the main camera for when you need to cram more into your shot. It is a little less detailed than the main camera though. It makes sense that Sony ditched the autofocus with an unorthodox lens such as this new ultra-wide, but it can be restrictive for close-up shots on a macro level.
It also has an 8-megapixel telephoto camera that is capable of giving up to a 3x optical zoom with your photo still retaining good quality since you do not need to stretch the digital image wide for you too bring in distant subjects closer. Once you push past this zoom level, it is all in the way of digital zoom -- and rapidly declining image quality. It can go up to 30x with hybrid zoom, but again it will be good for social sharing - you would have cropped your image anyway.
Night Mode saves the day with low-light performance
Most phones struggle with low-light photography, and the S21 FE 5G is no different. The view through the viewfinder is grainy in low-light situations. Fortunately the scene optimizer within the camera app will automatically switch on Night mode to lighten up and brighten your final image. Noise is still rampant, though it's not as distracting and most shots are usable when using Night mode where low-light photography can be a second lease in life. It is even worth using night mode with the ultra-wide camera, which can be a very useful feature for taking low-light panoramas.
Front Camera: Day and Night Details
Below is a look at the capability of this camera among other features...UI (Specs): 32 MP front-camera selfies were great. Daytime shots reveal some great detail and accurate colors in general. While in low-light conditions, the selfies taken from this camera are still quite serviceable: even exposure and colours as well a nice amount of detail.
Stable Video Recording
The S21 FE 5G is a good video camera as well. Front and rear cameras can both record video in 4K at 60 FPS, providing some good range for content creators or the everyday user. The stabilizer itself works well, adding only a minimal amount of jello or shake to high movement shots even in dim light. Clear, crisp audio recording that ensures your videos sound every bit as good they look.
A Dependable Camera System
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Camera System: Nothing new, but something familiar In great light, the phone takes vivid images and can zoom fairly well (particularly with a 3x optical lens) - but as usual in this class you give some sharpness up at long range. It also copes admirably in low-light conditions thanks to Night mode. It may not have a dedicated macro camera and the ultra-wide sensor is sorely missing autofocus as well, but it's good enough for anything normal shots at worst so long as you get no more demanding. For anyone in the market for a phone with predictable camera performance, without any huge surprises along the way, The S21 FE 5G is also plenty good.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Software Experience:
It's powered by Samsung One UI 4.0 based on Android 12 out-of-the-box This works to create a design that feels familiar, and positively unique. However, One UI also comes with a number of shortcuts and customization features peppered throughout the smartphone campus to help you make this phone truly your own.
First the software, which includes HDR10 video playback for high-dynamic-range content. The menus and widgets are impacted by some subtler aspects of Google's Material You design language, as well. But that One UI veneer is still omnipresent, lending the experience a quite different feel from what you'd find on one of Google's very own Pixel devices running stock Android 12.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Battery life:
And now the quite unfortunate part: the battery life. The S21 FE 5G has 4,500mAh battery. However, the battery luep results were not as promising. The phone managed to push through 11 hours and 44 minutes of continueos HD video watching. The previous Snapdragon 865-wielding Galaxy went beyond 18 hours in the same test. Even the 4G S20 FE with Exynos 990 only made it through almost 13 hours.
While the benchmark may not be particularly exciting, in real-world mixed usage we found that the S21 FE 5G was pretty much up to task. Throughout my normal day-to-day life of gaming a bit, using social media and taking photos here and there, I could easily make it through an entire day without any issues.
In addition to Other Features
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G - a phone that reaches far deeper than sheer processing prowess. Dual stereo speakers are also improved with Dolby Atmos technology that adds to the list of things you can do here in an audio immersive sense. The phone is also designed to take a beating, featuring an IP68 rating for dust and water resistance. That means you can sweat it out a little without worrying too much about accidental splashes or spills.
The S21 FE 5G also grants the gift of true wire-free charging for those prefer a wireless charging experience. Furthermore, the phone is compatible with Samsung Dex mode. DexDock for expanding productivity options with a phone-appropriate larger screen that uses the phone like PC.
Conclusion:
Enter the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G -- here to bring some worth into today's landscape of overpriced flagship smartphones. This review lays out its pros and cons to rate whether it's worth the praise or not.
A Serious Rival with Leading Features
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G brings a great overall package that makes it an easy recommendation as the "value flagship." With a very efficient processor, the device delivers excellent overall performance by handling multitasking as well as heavy applications smoothly. Samsung also isn't skimping on essential features. You also get wireless charging, a premium feature often absent from phones at this price. And with an IP68 water and dust resistance rating, the phone is also splash- and spill-proof.
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G appears to be a great offering and can certainly give competitors in its segment, run for their money. In truth, it's probably the standard Galaxy S21 that this makes redundant to some extent, given how little separating feature-wise at a potentially higher price.
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is great in a lot of ways, but there are some corners where it misses the mark. Those needing copious storage capacity in a phone might be turned off by the absence of expandable storage. Moreover, most smartphone manufacturers these days include a charger in the box and not carrying it feels like an oversight. Battery life is another area that could stand to be a bit better. It provides enough oomph for most everyday tasks, but video playback appears to be an especially severe battery eater.
It might set the benchmark for value-based performance at its new low price. The previous generation model that has many similarities with the S21 FE 5G, though it comes close in terms of performance and features. This means that if you skipped the launch deal on the Galaxy S21 FE 5G, then the S20 FE 5G is a mighty fine alternative. To some extent, you're getting a phone that functions almost as well for much less.
So it is all in your hands and of course according to the weight you carry!! If you absolutely need more current features and aren't opposed to paying extra for a new model, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G is still one of your better bets. That said, if you're a bit more frugal and won't mind waiting for the latest smartphone indefinitely then there's really no arguing with what Galaxy S20 FE 5G offers in its midst.
Of course, the S20 FE 5G will likely be exiting retail right around this same time - when its price dips a little lower than today's best deals anyway. Until it does, the previous generation remains a terrific option - which is almost exactly what this camera provides at massive savings.
This content was last updated on 23 November 2024.
