Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is the 2nd Fan Edition of a Galaxy flagship. The S21 FE came pretty late and thus unintentionally competes with the one year old S21 which has dropped considerably in price by now. Which model you should buy is something we are going to find out here.

Finds itself in an awkward position

The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is the newest member of the S21 family and also the last. The S22 is in the starting blocks at the time of writing and the S21 is almost a full year older than this S21 FE. The richly late release of the S21 FE has numerous reasons that we won't discuss here but it does put the device in an awkward situation. Because right after its release, the price is higher than that of the S21. And if we have to be completely honest; choose the Galaxy S21. It has better cameras, a screen that can be brighter and is made of better materials.

A lot of similarities

Yet this S21 Fan Edition has advantages over the S21. Namely, a slightly larger screen, a sharper selfie camera and a larger battery. Moreover, many plus points of the S21 have remained intact. Think of the smooth 120Hz display, the same high-end processor (CPU) and 25W fast charging. It also looks very similar although the camera module on the back is slightly different. Instead of metal, it is now made of plastic. The whole thing is still IP68 waterproof though. Besides a white, black and purple version, you can also get the S21 FE in a green 'Olive' color. Bold!

Main Samsung Galaxy S21 FE specifications

• 6.4 inch color screen with smooth 120Hz display
• Triple camera (12+12+8) with ultra wide-angle and telephoto/zoom lens
• High 32MP selfie camera in beautiful punch-hole
• Powerful high-end processor gives high performance
• Large 4500 mAh battery with 25W fast charging + wireless charging
• Waterproof body (IP68) available in different colors
• Lacks a memory card slot unlike predecessor

Not only a lower camera resolutions

The biggest difference between the S21 FE and S21 is found in the cameras. There we find a 12MP main camera with wide-angle lens, another 12MP camera with ultra-wide-angle lens and an 8MP telephoto camera with 30x Space Zoom. The maximum resolution on the S21 was still 64MP which in theory gives sharper images even during zooming. The selfie camera is much higher in resolution; 32 versus 10 megapixels. Samsung delivers the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition with Android 12 out of the box with on top of that One UI 4 for even more functions and which makes the controls even more user-friendly. Whether you as a fan should ultimately go for this Fan Edition or the regular S21 is up to you, of course, but let the price influence you.

Pro and cons Galaxy S21 FE

• Fast & powerful CPU
• Sharper selfiecam
• Smooth 120Hz screen
• Available in fresh colors

• Unintentionally competes with the better S21