Samsung Galaxy S21 Fe 5G Nits

With these three lenses, the Galaxy S21 FE is a great choice for all-things photography.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review: Good phone, wrong time

To me, fans are the people who are first in line, first to read all the related news and rumors, and most importantly, the first to check out the latest products from their favorite device makers. So when Samsung announced the $700 Galaxy S21 Fan Edition almost a full year after the original S21 came out, it felt long overdue. Elsewhere, the S21 FE essentially has the same design as its forebears, featuring a centrally located selfie cam in front, a power button and volume rocker on the right, and a USB-C port on bottom for data and charging.

There’s a speaker grille down below that works with the phone’s earpiece to provide stereo audio, which sounds fine even if it’s a little light on bass for my taste.

Samsung makes the best phone displays in the industry, and even though the screen on the S21 FE isn’t quite as big or high-res as the S21 Ultra’s, there’s not much to complain about. Visually, this doesn’t have a big impact on the S21 FE’s overall UI and layout, though the extra personalization options do make it easier to customize your home and lock screens. And because Samsung’s spin on Android has long included support for features like scrolling screenshots, the most important upgrade in One UI 4.0 is the new Privacy Dashboard. On the flip side, Samsung actually increased the resolution of S21 FE’s front cam to 32-MP (up from 10MP on the S21), which is nice if you like a lot of selfies or videos for social media.

But at the same time, I don’t really think this one upgrade is enough to change the overall impact of the device, leaving it feeling more like a nice bonus and less like a notable improvement.

It delivers speedy performance and helps support features like 4K video capture across all of the phone’s cameras (at 60 frames per second on the main wide-angle and front selfie cams and 30 fps for the rest).

But for people who do a lot of memory-intensive tasks like gaming or video editing, the FE’s lower base RAM is probably the biggest reason to pay $70 to upgrade to the 8GB model or just opt for a standard S21 or S21+. It’s annoying for sure, but like Apple, Google and others, Samsung says not including a power adapter with its phones should help cut down on e-waste.

It’s still a solid phone, but the standard Pixel 6 shoots better photos, has a more attractive design, and if you get the unlocked model directly from Google, it costs $100 less, too. So even if you’re a huge fan of Samsung’s latest FE handset, at the very least, you should wait to see what the S22 has to offer before purchasing what is essentially a year-old phone.

Instead of a repackaged year-old phone, why not make a premium remixed version sporting a microSD card slot and headphone jack?

Not only would this be a welcome alternative to a lot of today’s flagships with minimal ports, but it’d also be a considerate nod to old-school Galaxy phone fans who may have felt betrayed when Samsung removed those features from the S20 in 2019.

411ppi, up to 120Hz Dimensions 6.13 x 2.93 x 0.31 inches / 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9 mm; 6.24 oz / 177 g Processor, RAM and Storage Qualcomm Snapdragon 888;6GB DDR5 RAM;128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 storage Rear cameras 12MP f/1.8 wide, 1.2-micron pixels, 1/1.31″ sensor and f/1.85 aperture12MP ultrawide camera, 1.25-micron pixels, 114-degree FOV and f/2.2 Front camera 32MP, 1.22-micron pixels, f/2.2 Battery 4,500 mAh, 25-watt fast-charging, fast wireless charging Sensors and connectivity Under-display fingerprint sensor, single sim, NFC, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 Water resistance IP68

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE launched: Key specs, features, and price

As can be expected, Samsung has equipped it with many top-notch features to appeal to users looking to operate a powerful device. The highlights include a 120Hz AMOLED display, Samsung’s 5nm Exynos processor and a triple-lens camera setup with features like Dual Pixel autofocus, space zoom and optical image stabilisation or OIS.

With these powerful offerings, the device is set to go on sale in India starting tomorrow, that is Tuesday.

The Galaxy S21 FE will be up for grabs at an introductory price of Rs 49,999 for the 8GB RAM and 128GB storage variant.

Front camera: There is a 32-megapixel selfie shooter on the phone, placed in a punch-hole cutout at the centre of its display.

Galaxy S21 & S21+ 5G

The display can achieve peak brightness of up to 1300 nits, improving the contrast between dark and light aspects of digital content for a more brilliant picture quality, with a 2,000,000:1 contrast ratio to make your mobile experience more immersive.

What’s The Difference?

Keep reading to understand how they differ and the advantages of each model in our detailed comparison.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G review

It still has the usual 1,080 x 2,400 px resolution (411ppi), supports a 120Hz refresh rate and Always-on features. This, with the combination of the Widevine L1 DRM support, allows you to stream Full HD HDR10 content from all popular services (we tried). Unfortunately, the 120Hz mode is not a dynamic one – 120Hz is always forced no matter the content on the screen – video, streaming, browsing, gaming. This came as a surprise as we expected a dynamic refresh rate like on the rest of the Galaxy S21 devices.

Once we reached the end of the slider (when manually adjusting), we captured 385 nits at point white. Then we readjusted it a bit and hit the end again, a warning appeared, and then the screen lit up as high as 792 nits.

The minimum brightness we measured at point white was 1.8nits – an outstanding result. Display test 100% brightness Black, cd/m2 White, cd/m2 Contrast ratio Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 0 792 ∞ Samsung Galaxy S21 5G 0 416 ∞ Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (Max Auto) 0 856 ∞ Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 0 404 ∞ Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Max Auto) 0 823 ∞ Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G 0 459 ∞ Samsung Galaxy S21+ 5G (Max Auto) 0 883 ∞ Apple iPhone 13 0 802 ∞ Apple iPhone 13 Pro 0 856 ∞ Xiaomi Mi 11 0 498 ∞ Xiaomi Mi 11 (Max Auto) 0 926 ∞ Xiaomi Mi 11T Pro 0 516 ∞ Xiaomi Mi 11T Pro (Max Auto) 0 837 ∞ Asus Zenfone 8 0 440 ∞ Asus Zenfone 8 (Max Auto) 0 800 ∞ OnePlus 9 Pro 0 525 ∞ OnePlus 9 Pro (Max Auto) 0.038 871 22921:1 Realme GT 5G 0 443 ∞ Realme GT 5G (Max Auto) 0 650 ∞

The Galaxy S21 FE 5G scored a good endurance rating of 92 hours on our battery life test. The new FE does marvelously when handling calls and playing videos, while its web time stays above the average. Our battery tests were automated thanks to SmartViser, using its viSerDevice app. The endurance rating denotes how long the battery charge will last you if you use the device for an hour of telephony, web browsing, and video playback daily.

Web browsing test done at the display’s highest refresh rate whenever possible. To adjust the endurance rating formula to match your own usage patterns check out our all-time battery test results chart where you can also find all phones we’ve tested. The Galaxy S21 FE 5G supports up to 25W fast charging, but it ships without a power adapter. A full charge requires 1 hour and 15 minutes, another adequate time. The Galaxy S21 FE 5G supports up to 15W wireless charging with compatible Qi pads. It can also wirelessly charge other devices such as earbuds, watches, and even phones – you just need to activate this from the battery settings and then put the power-hungry gadget on its back.

The two speakers are balanced very well if you are listening to music in landscape or portrait orientation. When compared separately, the bottom piece is a bit louder and slightly more bassy. Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones).

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review %

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review summary: Editor’s rating: 3.85/5 Pros Excellent Display No charging adapter in the box Design Display Performance Software Camera Battery ⭐⭐⭐⭐ Rating: 3.5 out of 5.

The most affordable S21 series phone has been making headlines since August but after several delays, it finally managed to see the daylight in January 2022. The successor to Galaxy S20 FE is probably a few months late as Samsung flagships for 2022 are just around the corner which will lead to price cuts for the existing S21 series phones.

Having said that, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE makes a positive first impression with flagship-level specs on paper and its elegant design. Unboxing | Specs | Design | Display | Software | Performance | Camera | Verdict

Things like a wall charger, AKG wired earphones, a phone case – all have become history. A USB C to 3.5mm connector Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Specs & Price Body: 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9 mm, 177g; Gorilla Glass Victus protection, metal frame

Display: 6.4″ Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (peak), 2400x1080px resolution, 20.9 aspect ratio, The front of the phone is dominated by a glorious 6.4-inch screen with a small punch hole cutout to house the selfie camera.

There are razer thin bezels on the sides and a narrow chin which ensures it looks appealing to the eye. Talking of the rear panel, the triple camera module juts out slightly similar to its other S21 siblings.

Its advantage over regular AMOLED is that Samsung has been able to implement a 120 Hz high refresh rate. If you are worried about outdoor visibility, Samsung has you well covered with 1200 nits peak brightness. Stream your favorite show on Netflix or any other OTT platform, you will love the colors, contrast, and brightness that the S21 FE display delivers.

Yes, it delivers slightly boosted colors but most of us social ninjas do appreciate that while scrolling through Instagram or Facebook feeds. Apart from Samsung’s signature boosted colors, the main rear camera delivers a good dynamic range with plenty of details in shots. Even in low light, the Galaxy S21 FE’s primary rear camera manages to retain a good amount of details while efficiently suppressing most of the digital noise. Well, Samsung has once again reiterated its promise of offering 3 years of software updates which makes the phone highly future-proof. On the performance front, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE depends on an Exynos 2100 chip which is paired with 8GB of RAM and up to 256 GB of storage. As a part of our review process, we ran several tests and benchmarks on the Galaxy S21 Fe and it felt smooth in action even with several apps running in the background. Well, we tried several popular AAA game titles from PlayStore including Battleground unknown and Call of Duty Mobile. We manage to run both of these popular titles at max settings and our experience remained lag and jitter-free. With the display refresh rate set to 120 Hz is was able to extract a day’s battery life without compromising on day-to-day activities.

Absolutely, if you wish to experience one of the better implementations of Android 12, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is clearly one of the best options to try. While it’s not a head-turner like its costlier siblings, Samsung has done enough to justify its FE legacy by offering an amazing design, decent cameras, and reliable performance.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review

Why you can trust Tom’s Guide Our writers and editors spend hours analyzing and reviewing products, services, and apps to help find what’s best for you. After going on sale in January, the Galaxy S21 FE is available through both carriers and retailers as well as through Samsung’s own online store. While there is a bump holding that strip of vertically aligned lenses, it blends seamlessly into the side of the phone, making the array seem less prominent. I wish the sides of the Galaxy S21 FE were a little bit more prominent, though — instead, they’re fairly slick, making the phone hard to hold on to. An overlay that appears when the phone is locked makes the sensor easy to find, and I’ve certainly found it more responsive than the Pixel 6’s pokey unlocking feature. The smaller panel doesn’t feel particularly cramped, and I’d go so far as to say it probably makes the S21 FE easier to use with one hand than the previous model.

That means scrolling will look smoother on the Galaxy S21 FE’s display, which leads to a better overall experience with the phone. That said, it looks like you can only toggle between 120Hz and 60Hz manually; the other phones in the Galaxy S21 lineup have adaptive displays that adjust on the fly.

Both Samsung phones recorded Delta-E ratings of 0.29, so colors are just as accurate on the Galaxy S21 FE as they are on the more expensive model. The 8MP telephoto lens is easily the biggest trade-off between the Galaxy S21 FE and Samsung’s standard flagship.

I don’t have either an S21 or S21 Plus on hand, but I imagine photos taken with either phone’s telephoto lens will look a little sharper than what you get from the Galaxy S21 FE. Considering those two devices rank among the best camera phones , it’s worth seeing how the Galaxy S21 FE’s photographic output measures up.

The cilantro leaves topping the tacos in the Galaxy S21 FE shot stand out a bit more distinctly, and the texture of the lime green wall in the background is more detailed. Moving outside to a covered vegetable stand, we see the Galaxy S21 FE exhibit a familiar trait for Samsung camera phones — it likes to amp up colors, even if the end result teeters on over-saturating the shot. I think the Pixel 6’s warmer tones lead to a better composed shot — the tomatoes may not look as vibrant as they do in the S21 FE’s photo, but the overall image is balanced throughout. Not that the S21 FE’s bias toward colors doesn’t pay off in some instances, like in this shot at a nearby marina with downtown Oakland in the background.

The bend seems more pronounced on the Galaxy S21 FE’s shot, but I think that’s partly because people are walking into the frame just as I hit the shutter button. Once again the Galaxy S21 FE has highlighted the colors, particularly the blue sky, but it’s washed out some elements of the movie theater’s art deco facade. The Galaxy S21 FE’s portrait mode does an adequate job blurring the background of shots to highlight your subject, even if it aggressively smooths out faces. Samsung says it improved the Night Mode on the Galaxy S21 FE, and I think that’s evident from this shot of a skeleton we have hanging in our basement workshop. The skeleton emerges clearly from the shadows in the Galaxy S21 FE shot, and Samsung’s phone even does a good job balancing the ambient lighting streaming in from the right side of the picture. On the bright side, the Snapdragon 888 is the same system-on-chip that powered the entire Galaxy S21 lineup, so you can expect comparable performance with those models.

Samsung includes less RAM, with the 128GB base model of the Galaxy S21 FE sporting only 6GB to the 8GB found in the standard S21. I played PUBG Mobile on the Galaxy S21 FE, and the game ran smoothly without sacrificing any of the first-person shooter’s detailed graphics.

The Pixel 6, which is powered by Google’s Tensor silicon, lags the Galaxy S21 FE with a 2,696 multicore score. You get a 4,500 mAh battery inside the Galaxy S21 FE, which is the same size as the power pack in the phone’s predecessor.

With a slightly smaller screen and a more power efficient chipset running the new phone, you’d be inclined to expect some improvement in battery life over the Galaxy S20 FE’s so-so performance. However, in our demanding battery test — we have a phone surf the web continuously over 5G until it runs out of power — the Galaxy S21 FE fell flat. Disabling that feature improves things considerably, with the Galaxy S21 FE lasting 9 hours and 15 minutes. That’s better than the Pixel 6’s time of 8 hours and 13 minutes with its 90Hz mode turned on, though it stinks that you have to disable a marquee feature to squeeze more battery life out of the Galaxy S21 FE. There are perfectly sound environmental reasons for that move, but it puts the burden on consumers to already have a charger that can support the Galaxy S21 FE’s speeds or to buy one along with the phone. The delayed Galaxy S21 FE launch has a silver lining in one regard — you won’t have to wait for an update to Android 12.

Instead, the Galaxy S21 FE ships with Google’s latest software already installed, along with Samsung’s updated One UI 4.0 interface. One UI 4 introduces a number of ways to customize the look of your phone’s home screen, icons, wallpapers and more. Samsung also adopted many of the privacy features Google built into Android 12, so that you can get alerts when an app tries to use the Galaxy S21 FE’s microphone or camera. Additionally, the launch of the Galaxy S22 has prompted Samsung to extend software support for its top phones to four years.

The Galaxy S21 FE is a fine addition to Samsung’s S21 lineup, retaining the very best features of those flagship phones for a more modest price. The tradeoffs you have to make to save $100 aren’t major ones, with the biggest sacrifice being the lack of an adaptive display as that can impact battery life.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) Display review: Good video rendering

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) came to market in January 2022, and as befits a device in our Premium ($600-$799) segment, it comes packed with goodies. Let’s take a look at how it did in our comprehensive Display protocol tests.

Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm) chipset About DXOMARK Display tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone and other display reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective and perceptual tests under controlled lab and real-life conditions. This article highlights the most important results of our testing. Note that we evaluate display attributes using only the device’s built-in display hardware and its still image (gallery) and video apps at their default settings. (For in-depth information about how we evaluate smartphone and other displays, check out our articles, “How DXOMARK tests display quality” and “A closer look at DXOMARK Display testing.”) Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 130 display Readability 142 162 Google Pixel 8 Pro Best: Google Pixel 8 Pro (162) Color 137 164 Google Pixel 8 Pro Best: Google Pixel 8 Pro (164) Video 150 162 Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon) Best: Samsung Galaxy S23 (Snapdragon) (162) Motion 116 155 Huawei P40 Pro Best: Huawei P40 Pro (155) Touch 102 168 Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 Best: Samsung Galaxy Z Fold5 (168) Artifacts 100 161 Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 Best: Xiaomi Mix Fold 2 (161)

Please be aware that beyond this point, we have not modified the initial test results. While data and products remain fully comparable, you might encounter mentions and references to the previous scores. Apple iPhone 15 Pro Max 149 6. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 149 6.

Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon) 148 11. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 145 18. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) 136 34.

Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) 134 42.

Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon) 131 54. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos) 131 54.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 130 58. Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon) 129 65.

Samsung Galaxy Note20 Ultra 5G (Exynos) 128 74. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 127 78.

Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra 5G (Exynos) 123 101. Apple iPhone 11 Pro Max 116 122.

Xiaomi Black Shark 3 Pro 69 160. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro 60 162. Realme C21 52 10th 10 Position in Premium Ranking 1.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 130 13. Lenovo Legion Phone 2 Pro 60 Pros Brightness is well suited for indoor use

Pleasant brightness when watching HDR10 content Cons Colors shift to blue and appear desaturated when viewed on angle Visible aliasing when playing video games Noticeable stutters when playing video games The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G’s rendering of both still and moving content is particularly good indoors, though it does quite well in outdoor conditions, too. It is a very good device for watching HDR10 videos, with suitable brightness and color fidelity. Brightness vs Contrast comparison (0 Lux)

Brightness vs Contrast comparison (30 000 Lux) Although a bit too bright in low-light conditions, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is readable indoors. Readability indoors, from left to right: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon), Google Pixel 6, Apple iPhone 13 (Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only)

The device lacks brightness when viewed under sunlight.

Readability under sunlight, left to right: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon), Google Pixel 6, Apple iPhone 13 (Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only) Colors are faithful and well rendered indoors.

In outdoor conditions, a slight green cast is often visible. Color rendering outdoors in shade, clockwise from top left: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon), Apple iPhone 13, Google Pixel 6 (Photo credit: DXOMARK; for illustration only) The left-hand chart below shows the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE’s color fidelity in the P3 color space. The center of each circle is the target color; the further the tip of the arrow is outside of the circle, the more users will notice the difference between the color on the display and the original color of the source material.

The S21 FE has generally accurate color reproduction. The scatter chart on the right shows the device’s color shift to blue when viewed at an angle.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE , color fidelity at 1000 lux in the P3 color space Samsung Galaxy S21 FE , scatter graph of white point on angle

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (SDM888) Review

These results tend to lower the average score, but we include them in the calculation because it provides a better indication of real-world performance.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review: Good phone, wrong time

To me, fans are the people who are first in line, first to read all the related news and rumors, and most importantly, the first to check out the latest products from their favorite device makers. So when Samsung announced the $700 Galaxy S21 Fan Edition almost a full year after the original S21 came out, it felt long overdue. Elsewhere, the S21 FE essentially has the same design as its forebears, featuring a centrally located selfie cam in front, a power button and volume rocker on the right, and a USB-C port on bottom for data and charging. There’s a speaker grille down below that works with the phone’s earpiece to provide stereo audio, which sounds fine even if it’s a little light on bass for my taste.

Samsung makes the best phone displays in the industry, and even though the screen on the S21 FE isn’t quite as big or high-res as the S21 Ultra’s, there’s not much to complain about. Visually, this doesn’t have a big impact on the S21 FE’s overall UI and layout, though the extra personalization options do make it easier to customize your home and lock screens.

And because Samsung’s spin on Android has long included support for features like scrolling screenshots, the most important upgrade in One UI 4.0 is the new Privacy Dashboard. On the flip side, Samsung actually increased the resolution of S21 FE’s front cam to 32-MP (up from 10MP on the S21), which is nice if you like a lot of selfies or videos for social media. But at the same time, I don’t really think this one upgrade is enough to change the overall impact of the device, leaving it feeling more like a nice bonus and less like a notable improvement. It delivers speedy performance and helps support features like 4K video capture across all of the phone’s cameras (at 60 frames per second on the main wide-angle and front selfie cams and 30 fps for the rest).

But for people who do a lot of memory-intensive tasks like gaming or video editing, the FE’s lower base RAM is probably the biggest reason to pay $70 to upgrade to the 8GB model or just opt for a standard S21 or S21+. It’s annoying for sure, but like Apple, Google and others, Samsung says not including a power adapter with its phones should help cut down on e-waste.

It’s still a solid phone, but the standard Pixel 6 shoots better photos, has a more attractive design, and if you get the unlocked model directly from Google, it costs $100 less, too. So even if you’re a huge fan of Samsung’s latest FE handset, at the very least, you should wait to see what the S22 has to offer before purchasing what is essentially a year-old phone. Instead of a repackaged year-old phone, why not make a premium remixed version sporting a microSD card slot and headphone jack? Not only would this be a welcome alternative to a lot of today’s flagships with minimal ports, but it’d also be a considerate nod to old-school Galaxy phone fans who may have felt betrayed when Samsung removed those features from the S20 in 2019. 411ppi, up to 120Hz Dimensions 6.13 x 2.93 x 0.31 inches / 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9 mm; 6.24 oz / 177 g Processor, RAM and Storage Qualcomm Snapdragon 888;6GB DDR5 RAM;128GB / 256GB UFS 3.1 storage Rear cameras 12MP f/1.8 wide, 1.2-micron pixels, 1/1.31″ sensor and f/1.85 aperture12MP ultrawide camera, 1.25-micron pixels, 114-degree FOV and f/2.2 Front camera 32MP, 1.22-micron pixels, f/2.2 Battery 4,500 mAh, 25-watt fast-charging, fast wireless charging Sensors and connectivity Under-display fingerprint sensor, single sim, NFC, WiFi 6, Bluetooth 5.0 Water resistance IP68

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review: Remakes are rarely as good as the original

Why you can trust Laptop Mag Our expert reviewers spend hours testing and comparing products and services so you can choose the best for you. Taken as a whole, the Galaxy S21 FE is still solid hardware with a Snapdragon 888 processor, a triple camera array with telephoto, a bright and vivid 120Hz display and a large 4,500mAh battery. However, the $699 price point that made it a standout in late 2020, now places it just $100 shy of the main Galaxy S series that is about to be refreshed again and $100 more than the excellent Pixel 6. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE offers IP68 dust and water resistance certification, which should help it hold up to the rigors of daily life.

It’s not an adaptive refresh rate, so unlike the original Galaxy S21 models or most other current flagships, you need to switch between 60Hz and 120Hz manually. However, the Android phones all support a Vivid mode if you want a more saturated look, here the S21 FE again came out on top (146.9%), but this pushed the OnePlus 9 (141.3%) well beyond the iPhone.

Our Delta-E color accuracy test results (lower is better) were reasonable, but not outstanding for the Galaxy S21 FE at 0.29. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE features the now-familiar triple camera array on the back with a wide-angle, ultra-wide and telephoto lens. This is one area where the S21 FE does still stand out versus other phones in its price range as typically you only see a telephoto on top-tier flagships. Samsung is nothing if not consistent with the photo processing on its phones and the S21 FE again cranks the saturation and brightness up to 11, which some love and others hate.

In a similar vein, this night shot of a statue of a Beefeater in an inexplicably U.K.-themed ally near my home gives a bright pop to the red uniform even in minimal lighting. The Galaxy S21 FE doesn’t stand up to the likes of the iPhone 13 or Pixel 6 when it comes to low-light photos, but a little ambient light goes a long way for it.

The ultra-wide performance is similar; here’s that same mural shot again and you’ve got virtually identical brightness and coloring, which is exactly what you want. That holds true in daylight; low-light photography falls off considerably on the ultra-wide due to its weaker aperture, lack of OIS and smaller sensor size. While I still prefer that it exists as you can get usable photos at a distance that you would otherwise miss, it’s such a significant drop off from the primary that it’s harder to know when it will be worth it.

The Galaxy S21 FE has its biggest megapixel monster on the front with a 32MP front-facing camera and the results from it were a bit of a mixed bag.

I ran the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE through my typical gamut of smartphone tasks, loading up a couple of dozen Google Chrome tabs, running a Netflix video in the background, and then swapping between several other apps including Twitter, YouTube Music, and Gmail . Even with the graphics and refresh rate maxed out the game held up well, leaving me with no one to blame except myself when I got killed in the desert of Miramar.

That’s not of course in the same ballpark as the iPhone 13 (4,436) and even the OnePlus 9 (3,618) beat it pretty handily, but it does outperform the Pixel 6 (2,696) with Google’s new Tensor chip. In the Wild Life Unlimited graphics test, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE hit 34 frames per second, matching the Pixel 6 and OnePlus 9 exactly, while the iPhone 13 (56 fps) waved at the others as it streaked past them.

That is easily outpaced by the iPhone 13 (10:33) and OnePlus 9 (10:53), while the Pixel 6 (7:47) matched it precisely in its static refresh rate mode.

While it’s not going to be storming up the charts among the phones with the best battery life , most people won’t have a problem getting through the day with the S21 FE, just don’t expect much more.

At $699, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is affordable compared to its flagship competitors, but it isn’t the slam dunk value that its predecessor was. And again, given the relatively minor price disparity between the two and the presumed upgrades coming to that phone, the Galaxy S21 FE becomes a tough sell.

At its retail price, I wouldn’t recommend that you pick up the Galaxy S21 FE, it simply doesn’t represent a good enough value this time around. The 6.4-inch, FHD+ display is excellent, the Snapdragon 888 delivers solid performance, the triple camera array gives you flexibility and in terms of usability, the design is one of my favorites in recent memory.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G review: the Familiar Edition

I tried to keep away from the market perspective in this review and focus on the objective qualities of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. People who enjoy having a powerful flagship phone, but don’t want to spend the extra money for the best of the best Users for whom screen quality and refresh rate is important (gamers, multimedia consumers) Looking strictly at its features and performance, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G is an excellent allrounder, with flagship specs and a polished user interface. I would recommend it wholeheartedly to anyone who wants a powerful smartphone, but the truth is there’s a very high chance you can get a Galaxy S21 or an S21 Plus for a similar price. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is supposed to be an “affordable flagship”, and that is apparent as soon as you look at its box.

While the front of the box is embossed and looks pretty cool, its size doesn’t give you much hope of finding any accessories inside. Looking at the back of the box, you get confirmation about the lack of accessories: there is a large note with tiny writing on it warning the user in several languages that no charger is supplied.

If they manage to implement Sony’s tool-less SIM tray ejection and Apple’s planned port-less design, they won’t have to give users anything apart from the actual smartphone.

Until then, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has a 3.3 feet long (1 meter) USB-C charging cable which you can use with any third-party charger with Power Delivery 3.0. On the front, you get an excellent 6.4 inch AMOLED screen with Corning Gorilla Glass Victus protection. The other features visible on the front are the selfie camera (with a round cutout) and the gray edges of the smartphone.

The back of the phone looks cool, no matter which color you pick for your Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. The plastic back has a matte finish, while the camera cluster is not as defined as on the Samsung Galaxy S21 (but still raised slightly from the rest of the phone). If you look closely, you can see a plastic insert in the metal frame, no doubt to improve signal reception. The bottom part of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G houses the charging port

The left side is completely devoid of features, in line with the design of the current Galaxy S21 range. Looking at the spec sheet, there are very few things missing on the Galaxy S21 FE compared to the more expensive S21.

The AMOLED panel has a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels, a 400 ppi density, and a maximum brightness of 800 nits. The main camera has 12 MP, 1.8 µm pixels, Dual-Pixel autofocus, and 26mm f/1.8 lens with optical stabilization The ultrawide camera captures 12 MP images, has a pixel size of 1.12 µm and 13mm f/2.2 lens with fixed focus

I couldn’t obtain one in time for the review, but I did make a charging graph for a 15W third-party charger. For a complete list of technical specifications, as well as the current price, you can visit the product webpage: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G 128GB. On the next page, I describe the experience I had with the Galaxy S21 FE, both in terms of capturing photo and video, as well as actual day-to-day use.