Samsung Galaxy S21 FE: the “Fan Edition” finally made official

The Galaxy S20 FE had been made official in September 2020. What to hope that this “Fan Edition” will return at the same period each year, and that an FE variation of the Galaxy S21 will appear in the fall of 2021. If Samsung does not No word, the semiconductor supply difficulties have undoubtedly affected the production of the newcomer, whose announcement therefore had to wait until early 2022, on the occasion of a rowdy edition of the CES in Las Vegas.

While the Korean firm is taking advantage of the usual tech high mass to unveil its new micro-Led and Neo Qled screens, but also home equipment, it announces the officialization of its Galaxy S21 FE. A few weeks just before the Galaxy S22 series, expected around the MWC in Barcelona to be held from February 28 to March 3, 2022, here is its most affordable Galaxy S of the moment.

No revolution this year for the “light” version of the Galaxy S21. The S21 FE looks a lot like the S20 FE, except that there is no 4G version. It will therefore be 5G versions with several storage capacities that will be offered to fans of Samsung products. But for the rest, the S21 FE is presented as a rather discreet technical evolution of its predecessor, making few compromises compared to the classic S21.

A slightly more compact format

Let’s start with the differences. The device relies on a Snapdragon 888 chip, replacing the Snapdragon 865 of the S20 FE, to animate Android 12, logically at work in concert with OneUI 4. It is therefore one of the most powerful chips of Qualcomm in the current market, the models running Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 have not yet been tested in the smartphones available.

This chip is nestled under a slightly smaller screen, whose diagonal goes from 6.5 to 6.4 inches, for a slightly more compact format (155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9 mm, against 159.8 x 74.5 x 8.4 mm) and a lower weight. Note that this panel is based on Dynamic Amoled 2X technology, displays a variable refresh rate (up to 120 Hz) and benefits from Gorilla Glass Victus protection. This screen takes place in a monobloc box, still IP68 certified, and showing a new integration of the back photo modules. This aesthetically pleasing hull comes in lavender, olive, white and graphite.

A photo component unchanged, or almost

The radius of the common points between the Galaxy S20 FE and S21 FE remains the most provided. There is an identical amount of RAM (6 to 8 GB), a 4,500 mAh battery compatible with 25 W fast charging (15 W wireless), or a triple back photo module. The latter consists of a 12-megapixel main sensor with wide-angle optics (f / 1.8, OIS), another 8-megapixel with a telephoto lens (26mm equivalent, f / 2.4 OIS, zoom 3x) ​​and a third of 12 megapixels with an ultra wide-angle (f / 2.2). On the front, a 32-megapixel sensor with f / 2.2 optics is in charge of selfies.

If Samsung indicates that it has used more recent components, the novelties are therefore tenuous, and it is above all on the software processing side that improvements should be sought. We thus note an enriched portrait mode and the appearance of the “director” mode allowing simultaneous filming with the front and back sensors. In short, this S21 FE looks a lot like the “simple” S21: the compromises are slim, and the differences between games, we notice above all that its screen is larger than the 6.2 inches of the S21, that its battery is a little more consequent (4000 mAh for its elder) and that it loses the 64 megapixel sensor linked to its telephoto lens.

An identical price to that of the S20 FE

The Galaxy S21 FE will not make those who wish to acquire it wait any longer. Unveiled today, it will be available immediately at a price of € 759 in its 6/128 GB version, i.e. the release price of the Galaxy S20 FE 5G. Its 8/256 GB version, for its part, will be billed at € 829. Note that an introductory offer is associated with them from January 4 to February 8: the first buyers will be offered a pair of Galaxy Buds 2.