Considering that our only major criticism of the Galaxy S21 FE was its high price, this new low price is well worth a look. On top of that, you get a free 12-month subscription to Disney Plus. With the Samsung Galaxy S22 just around the corner, it seems like a bit of an odd time to launch a phone based on last year’s flagship Galaxy S21, but Samsung obviously feels it’s the ideal time to launch the Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
The S21 FE 5G is aimed at the cost-conscious Samsung enthusiast – the FE mark stands for “Fan Edition” – and follows in the footsteps of the S20 FE, which we reviewed at the time as a budget variant of the Galaxy S20. Just like last year’s FE, this year’s edition has largely similar innards and specs to Samsung’s 2021 flagship, albeit with a slightly lower list price than the original at launch.
In short, you get flagship-class features at a more modest price. The Galaxy S21 FE has the 120 Hz FHD+ display of the regular model, but measures 0.2 inches more diagonally. It also has a triple-camera setup on the back, with a 12-MP main sensor working alongside an 8-MP camera with 3x optical zoom and another 12-MP camera with 123-degree ultrawide shooting. The same 32-MP selfie camera is on the front of the phone.
The most notable difference, however, is that the Galaxy S21 FE opts for Qualcomm’s top-end Snapdragon 888 rather than Samsung’s homegrown Exynos 2100 equivalent. Both chipsets are pretty much identical architecturally, so there’s a good chance you won’t notice any difference between the two in normal use.
At first glance, the S21 FE 5G looks very similar to the original S21. It has the “contoured” case around the three cameras on the back and comes in a similar palette of pastel colors. In this case, you can buy the S21 FE in four different colors: White, Graphite, Olive or Lavender.
Like last year’s FE and the S21, the back is made of matte plastic, which is surprising for a phone that costs almost 700 Euros. However, it does not feel particularly cheap in the hand, and it has the advantage of being extremely light for such a large phone, weighing only 177 grams.