“Better late than never” or “too little, too late”? That is the inevitable question that surrounds the delayed launch of Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. Its predecessor sold 10 million units (4G and 5G versions combined), making it one of the best-selling Galaxy phones last year, so this newcomer has big shoes to fill.
We’ve been hearing about the S21 FE for about half a year now, but between the pandemic and the global chip shortage, rumors of delays and cancellations quickly began to circulate. Well, the phone is very genuine, in fact it is already on sale in some regions and will be launched on January 11th in even more markets.
The base 5G model (6/128 GB) comes with a price tag of € 750 / £ 700, which is about as much as the S20 FE 5G cost last year. However, there was also the more affordable 4G version back then. Not so lucky this year, all models have 5G – but not all have a Snapdragon 888, some will get the Exynos 2100 instead (Australia seems to be such a region).
But the price of the regular Galaxy S21 is still fresh in our minds from the recent Black Friday promotions – it was at one point down to £ 620. Is the new FE really worth the extra 80 pounds? A quick comparison highlights the differences.
Galaxy S21 FE has a 6.4 ”1080p + screen, a dynamic AMOLED screen, which means that it has a variable refresh rate of up to 120Hz. So does the S21, but this is one of the upgrades over the S20 FE. The new model also upgrades to the Gorilla Glass Victus, but again this only brings it in parity with the S21.
The camera setup is different, but since it is the same as on the S20 FE, we do not expect miracles – that’s good, but so is the S21 camera. It leaves only a slightly larger screen (6.4 ”vs. 6.2”) and larger battery (4,500 mAh vs. 4,000 mAh). Samsung has even cut the microSD card slot from this one, though it is a feature that is popular among fans.
There is no shortage of Snapdragon 888-powered phones. Some, like the Motorola G200 5G, cost € 450, well below the S21 FE price tag. There are also recent launches like the Realme GT2, along with faithful ones like the original GT (€ 500), OnePlus 9 (€ 700), Xiaomi 11T Pro (€ 580) and more.
Motorola Moto G200 5G • Realme GT2 • OnePlus 9 • Xiaomi 11T Pro
Of course, the biggest competition for the S21 FE will come from Samsung’s own camp – the Galaxy S21 had already fallen at lower prices, the S21 + was not far off. And they will only get cheaper when the S22 series arrives next month.
Speaking of which, rumor has it that the Galaxy S22 will cost the same as the S21, meaning € 850 in Europe. It’s only € 100 more than the Fan edition, and launch campaigns for the new series are likely to offer more eye-catching offers than a pair of free Galaxy Buds2, which is the S21 FE pre-order bonus.
What do you think of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE? By the way, if you have trouble voting using the poll embedded below, you can try to cast your vote here.
Check out the infographic below for a quick overview of the Galaxy S21 FE:
