Taking its place as the most affordable option of the Galaxy S21 line-up, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is a great choice for people who don’t want to pay out for a top-of-the-range model, but still want a really good smartphone.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE at a glance
Image credit: Samsung
With its fantastic screen, capable camera and powerful performance, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is a worthy alternative to its flagship counterpart, 2021’s Samsung Galaxy S21.
It takes some of the best features of the higher-end S21 models, such as the same Snapdragon 888 chipset and a bright and bold display, and packs them in a more affordable mid-tier frame.
Specs
- Dimensions: 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9mm
- Weight: 177g
- 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display with a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels
- Triple lens rear camera system and 32MP selfie camera
- 128GB or 256GB of storage
- 6GB or 8GB of RAM
- 5G compatible
- Snapdragon 888 processor
- Ships with Android 12 operating system
Availability and price
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE launched on 11 January 2022 with a price of £699 for the 128GB option, or £749 for 256GB.
See the table at the top of the page to compare deals.
Design
When it comes to look and feel, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE keeps things largely the same as the S21 with a matte-finish premium plastic on the back of the phone and the ‘Contour Cut’ camera bump housing the triple lens setup.
The main difference is that the S21 FE also uses plastic for the camera bump, creating a uniform colour scheme. It comes in four colourways: graphite, white, olive green and lavender.
It’s also a very slim phone – it’s the same thickness as the S21, despite being slightly larger, so it’s comfortable to hold and use.
Display and screen
One of the stand-out features of the Samsung S21 FE is its stunning screen and display.
Colours, contrast and brightness are all great, thanks to the use of Dynamic AMOLED technology. The display measures 6.4 inches diagonally and has a resolution of 1080 x 2340 pixels – it’s very easy on the eyes for gaming, watching videos and browsing the web.
While Samsung’s previous flagships featured curved screens, the Galaxy S21 FE follows the same flat-edge screen design as the S21.
Camera
The rear camera system features three lenses: a 12MP ultra-wide camera, a 12MP wide camera and an 8MP telephoto camera with 3x hybrid zoom. On the front, there’s a 32MP hole-punch selfie camera.
Although the rear camera is a stripped-back version of the one found on the S21, it still performs very well. Samsung generally likes to amp up the colours, so photos often appear more vibrant than in real life. But the resulting pictures are pleasing to view and share on social media.
Both rear and front cameras can film with 4K resolution at 60fps.
Battery
The Samsung S21 FE packs a 4,500mAh battery that supports charging speeds of up to 25W, as well as wireless charging speeds of up to 15W.
It’s enough to last a day of light-to-average use, but power users may find the battery life a little limited.
Plus, the phone takes around an hour and a half to charge from 0 to 100%, so it’s slightly slower to power-up than other fast-charging phones.
Is the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE worth buying in 2024?
By itself, the Galaxy S21 FE is a solid phone with a lot of great features, like its attractive display and solid camera performance.
However, at the time of writing (January 2022), it sits between the previous year’s Galaxy S21 and the upcoming Galaxy S22. So, it might be worth checking out good deals for the Galaxy S21, or waiting to see what the Galaxy S22 has to offer.
Still, with the release of the S22, prices for the Galaxy S21 FE may drop – making it better value for money.
What’s the difference between the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and the Samsung Galaxy S21?
The FE acts as the mid-priced, mid-tier sibling to the S21. Some key differences include a slightly stripped-back camera system, a larger screen and different battery capacity.
Can I get the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE with poor credit?
In general, most mobile networks will run a credit check before you can get a contract with a handset, especially if it’s a newer or more expensive phone. So, if you have a bad credit score, this can be a problem. But this isn’t always necessarily the case – there are still deals you can sign up to.
Galaxy S21 FE 5G specs
Manufacturer | Samsung |
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Operating System | Android |
Sim Card Type | Nano |
Accelerometer | Yes |
---|---|
Proximity | Yes |
Compass | Yes |
Barometer | Yes |
Gyroscope | Yes |
GPS | No |
Form Factor | Candy Bar |
---|---|
Thickness | 7.9 mm |
Size | 74.5mm x 7.9mm x 155.7mm |
Weight | 177 g |
Battery Type | Lithium Ion |
---|---|
Capacity | 4500 mah |
Standby | hours |
Talktime | hours |
Display Size | 6.4 inches |
---|---|
Screen Type | AMOLED |
Resolution | 1080 x 2400 inches |
Pixels Per Inch | 411 ppi |
Touch Screen Type | Capacitive |
CPU | 0 mhz |
---|---|
Processor Cores | Octa Core Cores |
Memory | 6000 MB |
Internal Storage | 128, 256 |
---|---|
External Storage | No |
Primary Camera | 12 MP |
---|---|
Flash | Yes |
LED Flash | |
GEO Tagging | Yes |
Auto Focus | Yes |
Fixed Focus | Yes |
Touch Focus | |
Face Detection | Yes |
Smile Detection | |
Image Stabilisation | Yes |
Video Quality | 2160 |
2nd Camera | 32 MP |
Generation | 5G |
---|---|
Frequency | |
NFC | No |
Wi-Fi | No |
Wi-Fi Hotspot | No |
Wi-Fi Direct | No |
Bluetooth | No |
USB | No |
Loudspeaker | Yes |
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