The ‘Fan Edition’ or FE series from Samsung was designed to offer enthusiast users flagship-grade smartphone features at mid-range prices. This phone looks like an extension of the Galaxy S21 series thanks to the ‘contour-cut’ shape of the rear camera module. The matte finish of the Graphite colour unit that I have looks a bit dull, but I’m sure the Olive, Lavender and White trims will liven things up. This phone looks good overall, and although the back panel is still plastic, it should offer better resilience to cracks if dropped, compared to glass.
Coupled with a thickness of just 7.9mm and rounded edges everywhere, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G is a very comfortable phone to carry and use one-handed. There’s no headphone jack or microSD card slot, but you get a dual Nano-SIM tray and a USB Type-C port on the bottom.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is built well but this Graphite colour option looks a bit boring The glass is flat, which makes usage a lot easier, but the edges of the front panel are very slightly curved to meet the sides and back, which adds to the in-hand comfort. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has an in-display fingerprint sensor and face recognition for biometric authentication.
It’s a powerful SoC that has performed well in past Samsung models, and does a good job running Android 12 on the Galaxy S21 FE 5G too. The Exynos 2100 supports a good number of 5G bands, for whenever that becomes relevant here in India, and also popular wireless standards such as Wi-Fi 6, Bluetooth 5, and NFC for Samsung Pay. This phone also features wireless Dex mode for sharing content to a larger screen and using it like a PC.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has stereo speakers with Dolby Atmos, an IP68 certification for dust and water resistance, and wireless charging. Traces of Google’s Material You design language can be seen in the menus and widgets but it’s still very much OneUI and nothing like the Android 12 experience you’d see on a Pixel device. I did notice one bug – the framerate of the interface would randomly dip, making gestures and animations feel very jerky. I found the auto-brightness to be a little slow at adapting to ambient light at times, but this wasn’t a regular occurrence.
Call of Duty: Mobile was fun to play and framerates were stable even at the highest graphics setting that the game would allow. Coincidently, the 4G version of the Galaxy S20 FE, which used the Exynos 990 SoC (the flagship of the S20 generation) also posted a much lower runtime of under 13 hours in our loop test.
There’s a good level of detail, colours were nicely saturated, and Samsung’s post processing worked well at cleaning up noise. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G main camera sample (tap to see full size) The telephoto camera was serviceable at up to 10X digital zoom, but the quality degraded quickly beyond this magnification level. In low light, the camera app’s scene optimiser automatically engaged Night mode for a brighter image. Objects in the viewfinder appeared very grainy in low light, but the final processed image was a lot better. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G main camera sample with Night mode (tap to see full size)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G selfie camera sample with Night mode (tap to see full size) It would have been nice to have the option to expand storage, a bundled charger is always welcome, and battery life could have been better with regard to video playback.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G – Price in India, Specifications, Comparison (8th December 2023)
The most noticeable change in the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G compared to its predecessor is its design. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G supports HDR10 playback and apps such as Netflix recognise this ability too.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G review – Fan edition, round two, still affordable
Complimentary Tech Event Transform talent with learning that works Capability development is critical for businesses who want to push the envelope of innovation. Overall, it feels good to hold and the plastic back means it doesn’t get too cold or too hot in either weather condition.While some may think the lack of glass or metal makes the S21 FE 5G a less premium phone, it looks and works just as well.The Galaxy S21 FE 5G sports a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a punch-hole notch in the centre, just like its other S21 siblings. It comes with a 120Hz refresh rate and Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection.In day-to-day usage, I found the display to be bright and vibrant enough, even under direct sunlight. This makes it easier to use gestures and swiping from the edges is smooth, while flat sides add a break of sorts while swiping.The display also houses a fingerprint sensor, which is optical this time around. While this makes it less secure than Samsung’s ultrasonic solution, it is faster and more responsive.The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is equipped with the same Exynos 2100 chipset as its more expensive S21 siblings. This is paired with 8GB RAM and up to 256GB of internal storage.From playing graphic-intensive games like Call of Duty: Mobile to multitasking throughout the day, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G handled everything I threw at it well enough.
I also tried a wide range of activities such as streaming videos, playing music in the background and simply using social media apps and surfing the internet – the phone breezes through everything.Coming to the battery department, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G is powered by a 4,500mAh battery with 25W wired charging support and 15W wireless charging support. On a typical day, the phone lasted me through the evening with moderate gaming, multitasking, plenty of texting and phone calls and clicking a few photos.The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is equipped with a 12MP primary camera with optical image stabilisation, a 12MP ultra-wide sensor and an 8MP telephoto sensor with 3X optical zoom.
On the front, the device sports a 32MP selfie camera.Images captured in daylight turned out to be very well balanced, both in terms of details as well as colour reproduction.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Buy This Fantastic Smartphone When It Is At A Discounted Price
2022 is already in full swing for an industry ravaged by a global chip shortage with multiple launches taking place every week. It’s a smartphone that adopts some of the best Galaxy S21 features and brings it at a lower price point thanks to some cost-cutting measures. Samsung has been the forerunner in providing timely software updates and that’s kept its loyal customer base from switching over to any of the competitors.
The rear panel is made of composite plastic and this should allay any fears of it cracking if you’re one of those that frequently let their smartphones slip out of their hands.
The matte finish on the back does pick up many a fingerprint, which I was thoroughly annoyed with, and the accented colour design is missing on the camera module. The sharp AMOLED display is captivating and one with which you can watch hours of YouTube/Netflix/Amazon Prime videos without being distracted from the outside world.
It doesn’t have a variable refresh rate like its older sibling, but that isn’t a deterrent by any means. To make up for the lack of a variable refresh rate, Samsung has included a bigger battery – 4,500 mAh vs Galaxy S21’s 4,000 mAh battery – and this helps the smartphone last a full day even when the 120Hz refresh rate is selected.
It even lasts into the morning sometimes when my usage didn’t include excessive hours watching food videos on YouTube or playing too much Fortnite/Battlegrounds Mobile India. I even attended a couple of work calls from the Galaxy S21 FE and got good feedback on my video quality and clarity of voice.
One wishes that Samsung released the Snapdragon variant of the Galaxy S21 FE, like they did last year, but alas. It may not come close to the Pixel’s of the world (or even Vivo’s X70 Pro+) but it provides plenty of detail with minimal noise for shots that are very much shareable across Instagram feeds.
A little bit lower and it’ll be my go-to recommendation for a mid-range smartphone with a good track record. For less than Rs 50,000, you’re getting a smartphone with a great software update policy, an A+ display, good cameras and a striking design along with all-day battery life. The Galaxy S21 FE arrived a couple of months later than it should have and that made sure the marketing team and sales personnel had a tough job on their hands selling the smartphone.
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