Genau wie bei der vorherigen Fan-Edition gibt es auch beim S21 FE nur ein paar kleine, aber feine Unterschiede. So wächst das Display von 6,2 auf 6,4 Zoll an – und punktet im Test mit ähnlich exzellenten Ergebnissen.
Top-Werte in fast allen Kategorien: Das Samsung Galaxy S21 FE im Check
Hinzu kommt, dass Samsung das Gerät noch bis 2027 supportet und bis Android 15 – aktuell sind wir bei Android 13 – alle Upgrades ausspielen will, Sie sich also noch lange keine Gedanken um die Sicherheit des Geräts machen müssen. Zu einem noch älteren Galaxy würden hingegen nicht mehr raten.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
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Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review
On paper, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is a fine mid-range phone, with adequate features like an attractive screen, powerful processor and capable cameras for those looking for a handy, less expensive mobile. However, the launch price is still far too high for what you get, not to mention issues like slow charging speed, laggy software and an unimpressive battery life. This is purportedly the budget member of the Samsung Galaxy S21 range, offering features and specs from the main S21 family, but at a lower asking price because of a few select downgrades that average phone users likely won’t notice. You can pick up the Galaxy S21 – a now older phone with more impressive specs and features – for less (assuming you find a good, sub-$600 deal).
We also found the software to be rather laggy, and swiping between menus, closing and booting up apps, and simply unlocking the phone often took longer than it would have on another mobile. That’s a surprise given the phone’s processor, screen refresh rate and RAM, but this isn’t the first time we’ve found Samsung’s One UI to behave like this.
To be clear, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE isn’t a bad phone, which is why we gave it a mixed score as opposed to a negative one. If you can pick up the phone as part of a bundle, with price reduced in sales, refurbished or second hand, then you might discover the mobile is worth it.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE went on sale on January 11, 2022, after being unveiled at CES 2022 a week before, and retailers in the US, UK and Australia offered various incentives to encourage purchases, including free headphones or in-store credit. What’s more, many mid-range phones like the Realme GT, Moto G200, Pixel 5 and iPhone SE (2020) cost a lot less, and most come with comparable specs that make them more tempting mobiles. You’d be forgiven for confusing the Galaxy S21 FE with its non-FE siblings, because other than its size, it’s a dead ringer for the vanilla and Plus members of its family. That’s right, this is a plastic phone – or maybe we should call it Glasstic, which is Samsung’s marketing term for it, even though its similarities to glass (a common smartphone material) end with the name.
Colors, contrast, and brightness all look great, and it made streaming TV shows or playing games on the phone a treat. This telephoto snapper may be lower-res than the S21’s, but it’s actually paired with the same lens, which allows for 1.1x optical or 3x hybrid zoom; this seeming downgrade therefore won’t make a huge difference for most people. We found pictures taken on the main camera to be very colorful, which is pretty standard for shots taken on a Samsung phone – it’s apparent the brand’s scene optimization software has never heard of oversaturation.
Still, the main camera capabilities make shots look instantly social media-worthy, especially pics taken in well-lit situations. We took the phone for a spin playing games, and it performed admirably, with quick loading, top graphical options available, and no significant lagging or freezing. The RAM, processor and screen refresh rate should make navigating the FE’s menus a breeze, but in our experience, that wasn’t the case.
We found that swiping between home pages, opening apps and unlocking the phone felt a little sluggish, especially when using gesture navigation. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has a 4,500mAh power pack – that’s a fairly standard size for a mobile – but we still found the battery life disappointingly lacking.
With average use – that is to say, some social media browsing, music streaming and maybe the odd game and photo capture here and there, we found the battery just about limped to the finish line and barely survived a whole day between powering.
That’s with the fastest-charging cables we had at home, but since a charger isn’t included in the box, you’ll have to power at the speed of whatever plug you already own or choose to buy.
While the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has similar screen specs to its siblings, it sits at a nice middle ground between them in terms of size. We found the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE comfortable to hold in the hand, with a thin body and light weight, so if you don’t want a chunky device it’s a good option.
We often found we needed to augment our behavior to get the Galaxy S21 FE to last a full day between charges – if you want a reliable one-day-plus mobile, it’s not going to be great for you.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review: A great $700 phone that comes at an awkward time
CNET’s expert staff reviews and rates dozens of new products and services each month, building on more than a quarter century of expertise. A follow-up to Samsung’s previous midrange Galaxy S phone, the new S21 FE starts at $700 and launches on Jan. 11. Despite being $100 cheaper than the regular Galaxy S21, it has the same processor and comes with a larger screen, a triple-lens camera and support for both versions of 5G. These attributes make the Galaxy S21 FE a promising option if you want a relatively affordable new Android 12 device. However, the Galaxy S21 FE may end up feeling lost in Samsung’s lineup and the broader Android phone market. Although the Pixel 6 doesn’t have the S21 FE’s third camera lens, it’s loaded with Google-specific features that could make it more appealing for some.
Photos, games and news articles all look sharp and bold on the S21 FE’s screen. The Galaxy S21 does, however, have some design accents that make it feel like a more expensive phone, such as the glossy metallic finish on its camera module and sides. Google’s $600 Pixel 6 has an eye-catching two-tone glass design with sharper corners that almost makes it feel similar to the Galaxy Note. The Galaxy S21 FE is sleek and lighter than the Pixel 6, and some might find it easier to use with one hand, but it doesn’t leave the same impression.
There’s also an in-screen fingerprint reader and facial authentication for unlocking the device, which I generally found to be pretty reliable. That’s not too shabby, especially since I had the motion smoothness setting on high, which cranks the screen’s refresh rate up to 120Hz.
That chip is found in other high-end phones like Samsung’s Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the OnePlus 9 Pro, so the S21 FE should be able to keep up with those devices easily. Samsung also says the S21 FE supports a response rate of 240Hz, allowing for even quicker reaction times in game mode like the rest of the Galaxy S21 series. However, it scored slightly lower than both the regular S21 and Pixel 6 on a separate benchmark called 3DMark Slingshot Unlimited for testing graphics performance.
The S21 FE’s images are rich in detail and color, and the camera performs well in different lighting conditions. Some people might prefer Samsung’s more colorful shots, but Google’s images looked truer to their surroundings most of the time. (Note: I didn’t change the camera settings on either phone prior to testing other than to adjust the Pixel’s 6 crop ratio.) Overall, I think the Pixel 6’s photos provided the best balance of consistency and accuracy, but it’s safe to say that both phones are capable of taking really great pictures. Photos taken on both phones looked the same in some cases, but the images below of a green bush really highlight the difference between Samsung’s and Google’s cameras. The most notable distinction between the Pixel 6 and Galaxy S21 FE is that Samsung’s phone has an 8-megapixel telephoto lens in addition to a 12-megapixel wide and ultrawide lenses.
While both phones produce similar images when photographing objects like street signs, the Galaxy S21 was able to capture more detail in other scenarios.
The Galaxy S21 FE isn’t very good at freezing moving subjects in frame when taking photos. It’s another sign that the definition of a high-end phone is starting to change as once-premium features like 5G, borderless displays and multilens cameras begin trickling down to more affordable devices.
Samsung typically launches its new Galaxy S phones early in the year, and rumors suggest the next generation could come with a 50-megapixel camera and faster charging. But the Pixel 6 has a more distinguished design and Google-specific goodies like the ability to have Google Assistant screen spam calls and wait on hold for you.
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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 review: The fan edition smartphone goes into the next round
The new smartphone was slightly delayed; instead of celebrating its own market launch in November as expected, it was deferred to mid-January, which brings it very close to the unveiling of the upcoming Galaxy S22 series.
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