Tim
After a brief bit of uncertainty, Samsung has gone ahead and made the Galaxy S21 FE official this week during CES. The phone will be available beginning January 11, with an attractive starting price of just $699.
Speaking briefly with regard to that aforementioned uncertainty, it looks as though Samsung would’ve been leaving way too much money on the table had it not pushed ahead and made this phone. Last year, Samsung sold 10 million Galaxy S20 FE units, easily making it one of the company’s most popular smartphones. With figures like that, there’s no way you don’t follow up with a Galaxy S21 FE, so here we are.
For specs, the Galaxy S21 FE features a 6.4-inch FHD+ AMOLED display with 120Hz refresh rate, Snapdragon 888 processor, base of 6GB RAM and 128GB storage, 4,500mAh battery with 25W wired charging, Wireless PowerShare, a triple rear camera setup, 5G connectivity (Sub-6 + mmWave), stereo speakers, IP68, and will be the first Samsung smartphone to run Android 12 out of the box. It’ll of course come with One UI running on top of Android 12.
At that starting price of $699, this phone looks like a direct competitor to the Pixel 6 ($599), and in terms of specs, they are very similar devices. However, it would be easy to argue that the S21 FE is slightly better if we look purely at the spec sheet. No one should do that, though. Samsung highlights the S21 FE’s rear side camera array, hardware design, and performance as reasons to consider this device over others in the same price range.
If you’re considering the Galaxy S21 FE, I don’t blame you, but take a second to think about the timing of this device. We should be coming up rather quickly on the Galaxy S22 lineup. If it was my money, I’d simply wait to see what Samsung has in store for us then. On the other hand, am I going to fault anyone for picking up one of these in that matte green colorway? Nope.
Galaxy S21 FE goes on sale, with no charger in the box, starting January 11 on Samsung’s website and retailers/carrier stores across the US.
Galaxy S21 FE Specs
| GALAXY S21 FE | |
|---|---|
| OS | Android 12 (One UI 4) |
| Processor | Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 |
| Display | 6.4” FHD+ (2340 x 1080) Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz Refresh Rate |
| Memory | 6GB RAM + 128GB Storage 8GB RAM + 256GB Storage |
| Battery | 4,500mAh 25W Wired 15W Wireless Wireless PowerShare |
| Rear Camera | 12MP Ultra-Wide, F2.2, 123 ̊ 12MP, Main, Dual Pixel AF, OIS, F1.8, 79 ̊ 8MP Telephoto, 3X Optical Zoom, 30x Space Zoom, OIS, F2.4, FOV 32 ̊ |
| Front Camera | 32MP, F2.2, 81 ̊ |
| Connectivity | 5G Sub6 / mmWave Enhanced 4x4 MIMO, Up to 5CA, LTE D/L Cat.19 (1.6Gbps) LTE U/L Cat.18 (211Mbps) WiFi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/ax 2.4G+5GHz, HE80, MIMO, 1024-QAM, Up to 1.2Gbps Download / Up to 1.2Gbps Upload |
| Other | Stereo Speakers, Dolby Atmos, Optical Fingerprint Sensor, IP68, NFC |
| Size | 74.5 x 155.7 x7.9mm, 177g |
Collapse Show Comments29 Comments