Samsung’s Galaxy S21 FE offers the best S21 features for less

Samsung has been so focused on its own latest folding phones there doesn’t seem to have been a place (or more likely a resource) last fall to refresh its flagship Galaxy S phone line. But it’s the new year and now Samsung is launching things with the launch of the Galaxy S21 FE.

Like previous Fan Edition devices, the Galaxy S21 FE is essentially a cheaper version of S21 and S21 + ranging from $ 700. With a 6.4-inch AMOLED display of 2340 x 1080 with a refresh rate of 120 Hz, the S21 FE is slightly higher than standard 6.2-inch S21, but not quite as big as the 6.7-inch S21 +.

Samsung mixed and matched a lot of standard S21 features for Fan Edition, with the addition of several new and improved elements. For example, instead of a more modern (and more accurate) ultrasonic fingerprint sensor on the screen, Samsung opted for an optical fingerprint reader on the S21 FE.

To Compensate for the less sophisticated fingerprint sensor, Samsung has given the S21 FE a selfie camera with a higher resolution of 32 MP, 25W wired fast charge and 4,500 mAh larger battery instead of less than 4,000 mAh The power pack that comes with the standard S21.

Inside, the S21 FE should have just as strong performance as the S21, which contains the same Snapdragon 888 chip. FE will be available at two slightly different configurations: the base model with 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage, and an upgraded version with 8GB of RAM and 256GB of storage. And no matter which version you choose, both models will support both sub-6Ghz and mmWave 5G.

Rounding out the rest of the package, the FE has three rear lenses: 12 MP main camera, 12 MP ultra wide camera and 8 MP telephoto camera with 3x optical zoom. And as a small added bonus, Samsung claims that the S21 FE has improved night mode compared to last year’s S20 FE.

Samsung sticks to the S21 model distinctive Contour Cut design for the S21 FE, which will be available in four new colors: olive, lavender, white and graphite.

TThe biggest upgrade of the S21 FE could be under the hood: The phone will delivered with Samsung’s One UI 4.0, which is based on Android 12 and includes a range upgrades, including new security and privacy settings, improved home screen customization, updated lock screen controls, and more.

THEn paper, S21 FE check all the correct boxes. It’s essentially a more compact, but still equally powerful version of the S21 + with a few extra upgrades for just that $ 700, which is about the same as the new S21 + costs today.

That’s why I am I wonder if the S21 FE may have arrived a little too late. While it’s hard to blame Samsung for delaying the S21 FE due to supply chain problems plaguing virtually every electronics maker in the past year, buying a new S21 in early 2022 seems like a bad decision. especially when you consider that S21 was originally announced as early as January 14, 2021.Instead of a brand new S22, we get a new version (although very solid-looks rehash) of last year’s device, which seems a bit overwhelming.

It is said, tIt looks like the S21 FE will have a good blend of specs and values ​​when it goes on sale (and unlocked and through all major operators) for $ 700 starting January 11th.