We put the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) through our rigorous DXOMARK Battery test suite to measure its performance in autonomy, charging and efficiency. In these test results, we will break down how it fared in a variety of tests and several common use cases.
6.4-Inch 1080 x 2400 120 Hz OLED display Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 82 battery 72
Charging Full charge 110 224 Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) Best: Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) (224) Quick boost 95 212 Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) Best: Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) (212) 80 Efficiency Charge up 112 205 Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro Best: Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro (205) Discharge 68 194 Apple iPhone 14 Pro Best: Apple iPhone 14 Pro (194) Key performances These key points are derived from the lab measurements during testing and do not figure into the overall score.
Oppo Find X6 Pro 151 3. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon) 142 10. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 136 19. Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G 136 19. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G 134 29. Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 133 32.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S 5G 133 32. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro 129 51. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 121 69. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G 120 71.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 119 77. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro 118 77.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon) 111 105. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) 103 121.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) 98 137. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos) 93 150. Google Pixel Fold 88 152. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 82 157.
Samsung Galaxy S22 (Exynos) 75 34th 34 Position in Premium Ranking 1. Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro 138 2.
Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro 127 6. Oppo Find X3 Neo 126 6.
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro 118 15. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 82 34.
Pros Strong autonomy when calling on the go Very low residual power drain Cons 5% of power drained during the night in a typical usage scenario
Poor autonomy recovered after a quick boost Very high discharge current when gaming
Impressive specifications on the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon), such as the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chipset, a 4500 mAh battery and wireless charging, could not help the device overcome an overall poor performance. The autonomy is low, and the charging time is quite long, whether wired or wireless.
It stands near the last in our general database, as well as in its price segment. About DXOMARK Battery tests: For scoring and analysis in our smartphone battery reviews, DXOMARK engineers perform a variety of objective tests over a week-long period both indoors and outdoors. (See our introductory and how we test articles for more details about our smartphone Battery protocol.) The following section gathers key elements of our exhaustive tests and analyses performed in DXOMARK laboratories.
Detailed performance evaluation reports are available upon request. The table below shows the battery capacity, tested charger, display type and resolution, and processor specifications for the comparison devices.
Battery Charger Wireless Display Processor Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 4500mAh 25W 1080 x 2400 Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G Apple iPhone 13 3227mAh 20W i How Autonomy score is composed Autonomy score is composed of three performance sub-scores: Stationary, On the go, and Calibrated use cases.
Each sub-score comprises the results of a comprehensive range of tests for measuring autonomy in all kinds of real-life scenarios. Battery Life (moderate) 156th 156 Position in Global RankingBattery Life (moderate) 1. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S 5G 72h 12.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G 70h 17. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 69h 20. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 68h 23. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro 67h 24. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon) 67h 25. Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 5G 67h 26.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 65h 34. Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G 62h 44. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G 62h 46. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S 61h 47. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 60h 51. Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro 60h 54.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G 55h 75. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro 53h 90.
Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 49h 120. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon) 48h 123. Google Pixel Fold 47h 127. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) 47h 130. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro 46h 135. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) 44h 140. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos) 41h 148.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 38h 157.
Battery Life (moderate) 34th 34 Position in Premium RankingBattery Life (moderate) 1. Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro 60h 2.
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro 53h 9. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro 46h 26.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 38h 35. i A robot housed in a Faraday cage performs a set of touch-based user actions during what we call our “typical usage scenario” (TUS) — making calls, video streaming, etc. — 4 hours of active use over the course of a 16-hour period, plus 8 hours of “sleep.” The robot repeats this set of actions every day until the device runs out of power. Typical Usage Scenario discharge curves
i Using a smartphone on the go takes a toll on autonomy because of extra “hidden” demands, such as the continuous signaling associated with cellphone network selection, for example. DXOMARK Battery experts take the phone outdoors and perform a precisely defined set of activities while following the same three-hour travel itinerary (walking, taking the bus, the subway…) for each device
Autonomy for on the go use cases (full charge) i For this series of tests, the smartphone returns to the Faraday cage and our robots repeatedly perform actions linked to one specific use case (such as gaming, video streaming, etc.)
Starting from an 80% charge, all devices are tested until they have expended at least 5% of their battery power. Autonomy for calibrated use cases (full charge)
Charging 102 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 218 Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) i How Charging score is composed Charging is fully part of the overall battery experience. In some situations where autonomy is at a minimum, knowing how fast you can charge becomes a concern.
The DXOMARK Battery charging score is composed of two sub-scores, (1) Full charge and (2) Quick boost. Wired 48% in 30 min 0h53 0 – 80% 1h42 Full charge Wireless 21% in 30 min 1h48 0 – 80% 2h37 Full charge
Full charge 110 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 224 Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) i Full charge tests assess the reliability of the battery power gauge; measure how long and how much power the battery takes to charge from zero to 80% capacity, from 80 to 100% as shown by the UI, and until an actual full charge.
Two charts here below illustrate the full charge performance of the smartphone: (1) The charging curves, in wired and wireless (if available) showing the evolution of the battery level indicator as well as the power consumption in watts during the stages of charging toward full capacity. (2) The time to full charge chart breaks down the necessary time to reach 80%, 100% and full charge. Wireless Power consumption and battery level during full charge Power consumption and battery level during wireless full charge Wireless Time to full charge Time to full charge
Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro 0h14 5. Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro 0h19 10. Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro+ 5G 0h24 29.
Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro 0h28 40. Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 Pro 5G 0h33 55. Samsung Galaxy S23 Ultra (Snapdragon) 0h37 61. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 Pro 5G 0h38 66. Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Snapdragon) 0h39 69.
Samsung Galaxy S22 Ultra (Exynos) 0h40 70. Xiaomi Redmi Note 12 5G 0h44 78. Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon) 0h46 83. Xiaomi Redmi Note 11 0h49 90.
Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Exynos) 0h51 102. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 0h52 103. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10S 0h52 104. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 0h53 109.
Xiaomi Redmi Note 11S 5G 0h54 112. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 Pro 0h55 113. Apple iPhone 12 Pro Max 0h57 117. Google Pixel Fold 1h00 122. Apple iPhone 13 Pro Max 1h01 126.
Apple iPhone 14 Pro Max 1h06 135. Xiaomi Redmi Note 10 5G 1h22 145. Nubia RedMagic 6 Pro 0h14 3.
Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro 0h19 7. Nubia RedMagic 8 Pro 0h28 15. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 0h53 32.
Quick boost 95 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 212 Realme GT Neo 5 (240W) Realme GT Neo 5 (240W)
i With the phone at different charge levels (20%, 40%, 60%, 80%), Quick boost tests measure the amount of charge the battery receives after being plugged in for 5 minutes. The chart here compares the average autonomy gain from a quick 5-minute charge.
Average autonomy gain for a 5 minute charge (wired) i How Efficiency score is composed The DXOMARK power efficiency score consists of two sub-scores, Charge up and Discharge rate, both of which combine data obtained during robot-based typical usage scenario, calibrated tests and charging evaluation, taking into consideration the device’s battery capacity.
DXOMARK calculate the annual power consumption of the product, shown on below graph, which is representative of the overall efficiency during a charge and when in use. Annual Consumption Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 5.6 kWh Efficient Good Bad Inefficient
Charge up 112 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 205 Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro Nubia RedMagic 7 Pro i The charge up sub-score is a combination of four factors: the overall efficiency of a full charge, related to how much energy you need to fill up the battery compared to the energy that the battery can provide; the efficiency of the travel adapter when it comes to transferring power from an outlet to your phone; the residual consumption when your phone is fully charged and still plugged into the charger; and the residual consumption of the charger itself, when the smartphone is disconnected from it.
The chart here below shows the overall efficiency of a full charge in %. Discharge 68 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G (Snapdragon) 194 Apple iPhone 14 Pro Apple iPhone 14 Pro
i The discharge subscore rates the speed of a battery’s discharge during a test, which is independent of the battery’s capacity. It is the ratio of a battery’s capacity divided by its autonomy.
A small-capacity battery could have the same autonomy as a large-capacity battery, indicating that the device is well-optimized, with a low discharge rate.
Galaxy S21 FE 5G Review | Snapdragon 888
It is time for me to review the Galaxy S21 FE 5G – 2023 Snapdragon Edition, in the “Royale” style! I received my unit from Samsung India, and I’ve been daily driving it for over a month now, so expect a properly organized review. It’s a 6.4 inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, running at 1080p with 120 Hz refresh rate and 16M colour depth. Display smoothness is top notch, and One UI optimization combined with 120 Hz makes it a great experience.
The display also houses an optical in-display fingerprint reader, which is pretty fast and accurate, although I would have appreciated it more if it were an ultrasonic one. The Telephoto lens does the job just fine most of the time, but is sometimes a bit unreliable, especially in low light (more on this in the actual review).
C. Front Camera: Pretty happy with it and does the job fine (will elaborate in actual review). User Interface: The phone comes with One UI 5.1 out of the box with Android 13 at its base, which should give you a pretty good idea about the satisfaction that you’ll experience while using the device.
It comes with almost all flagship features that you get with the Galaxy S Series, INCLUDING Good Lock support (Camera assistant and Expert RAW excluded).
Screen recorder, Link to Windows, Extra Dim and Enhanced processing, all are supported. I guess the lack of an SD card slot is fine because the device comes with 256 GB of internal storage. Coming to gaming, I played Minecraft with render distance set to 16 chunks and it didn’t see any issues at all.
Above 16 chunks, the game is very much playable, but sometimes has minor stutters and frame drops, especially in long hours when the device gets warm. It has stereo speakers powered by Dolby Atmos and the audio balance between both are pretty amazing. One final thing worth adding is that it has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C port, which is really useful when transferring data from computers. Overall verdict, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G is one of the best devices available in the 50,000 INR price segment, and has some major points that can blow the competition out of the water. I hope Samsung finds a way to improve the battery life with software updates because where it currently stands, if you are a very heavy user, then this phone might not be for you.
Battery drain issue S21 FE model ( Snapdragon 888 …
Compare to another phone model (Vivo snapdragon 778g), Samsung is draining more than 5%.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE buyer’s guide: Everything you need to know
As usual, this “Fan Edition” model looks and functions much like its namesake, the Samsung Galaxy S21. In this buyer’s guide, we’re going to give you all the information you need on the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE! Please note: The Galaxy S21 FE is no longer the latest “Fan Edition” phone from Samsung. Samsung launched the Galaxy S21 FE on January 3, 2022, at the annual CES convention in Las Vegas.
That includes a slightly weaker camera system, lower-grade build materials, and less RAM for the base model. These trade-offs resulted in a slightly lower Galaxy S21 FE price, which started at $699. That means it offers a bit less overall in terms of specs and features, but it also costs less. For under $600, you get one of the best mobile chipsets of 2021, a decent camera system, Android 12 out-of-the-box, and more.
You can read our detailed thoughts on the device in our Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review. When you take into account that, even today, it’s only $100 more expensive than the Galaxy S21 FE, you have a tricky situation.
For specific types of buyers, the Galaxy S21 FE might be a good choice. In our review, we thought the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE was a fine phone, giving it a score of 3.5/5 stars.
However, we lamented that the phone landed at the wrong time, making it difficult to recommend. We appreciated the phone’s build quality, display, battery life, and performance. Like us, she loved the display and performance but thought the phone should cost less, considering how late in the cycle we were. Like us, she loved the display and performance but thought the phone should cost less, considering how late in the cycle we were. Once again, he loved the display, performance, and build quality, but didn’t much care for the price. Interestingly, Tom didn’t think the battery life was up to snuff, which is the opposite of how we felt about it. Once again, he loved the display, performance, and build quality, but didn’t much care for the price. Interestingly, Tom didn’t think the battery life was up to snuff, which is the opposite of how we felt about it.
He lauded the performance and display, dinged the phone for a middling camera, and also experienced disappointing battery life.
The chart makes it clear that a huge chunk of our readers would be happy to give up wireless charging if it meant a lower-cost device.
Once again, they won’t need to make this sacrifice since the Galaxy S21 FE has access to both Sub-6 and mmWave 5G networks. Note that even though the selfie camera is a 32MP shooter as compared to the Galaxy S21’s 10MP sensor, this won’t necessarily result in better photos and video.
Note that even though the selfie camera is a 32MP shooter as compared to the Galaxy S21’s 10MP sensor, this won’t necessarily result in better photos and video. Security: The Galaxy S21 FE has an in-display optical fingerprint scanner.
This isn’t the same as the ultrasonic sensor in the Galaxy S21 and could result in slightly slower and less accurate performance.
This isn’t the same as the ultrasonic sensor in the Galaxy S21 and could result in slightly slower and less accurate performance. On the front, the phone has a single 32MP sensor in a centered display cutout. It wasn’t even close to the best smartphone camera of 2022, but it will produce some good shots under ideal conditions. You’ll find the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chipset inside the Galaxy S21 FE in the United States and a few other countries. It should be perfect for multi-taskers and even a good option for folks who toy with console emulation on their phones.
Meanwhile, in many other areas of the world, the Galaxy S21 FE comes with the Exynos 2100, the same found in the global variants of the S21 series. This chipset is nice and powerful but doesn’t meet the same performance peaks as the Snapdragon 888.
A note of caution we’ll make about performance, regardless of which chipset you get, is that the entry-level Galaxy S21 FE comes with 6GB of RAM. Samsung has become the best company out there when it comes to updating its large portfolio of Android phones.
Interestingly, this schedule gives the S21 FE a slight leg up over the rest of the Galaxy S21 family. This makes the Galaxy S21 FE the better buy if software longevity is a primary concern. Ryan Haines / Android Authority Samsung Galaxy S23 FE
Since it has the same price as the Galaxy S21 FE while offering a longer update commitment, better specs, a better camera, and more, it is an easy choice over the 2022 model. ($599.99 at Amazon): The Galaxy S23 FE is now the latest “Fan Edition” phone in Samsung’s lineup. Since it has the same price as the Galaxy S21 FE while offering a longer update commitment, better specs, a better camera, and more, it is an easy choice over the 2022 model.
The Galaxy S23 will have better specs nearly across the board, with battery capacity being the only notable deficiency. Of course, you’ll pay a lot more for this phone, but the upgrades will certainly be worth the premium if you can afford them.
The Galaxy S23 will have better specs nearly across the board, with battery capacity being the only notable deficiency. Of course, you’ll pay a lot more for this phone, but the upgrades will certainly be worth the premium if you can afford them.
Google Pixel 8 ($699 at Amazon): For $100 more than the Galaxy S21 FE, you can get one of the most sought-after phones of 2023. The OnePlus 11 offers a higher-caliber experience, though, with better camera hardware, a faster processor, and a much better display.
The OnePlus 11 offers a higher-caliber experience, though, with better camera hardware, a faster processor, and a much better display. However, third-party retailers, as well as Samsung’s usual carrier partners, will also sell the phone.
If you do decide to move forward with the Galaxy S21 FE, the phone comes in four colors: white, Graphite, Olive, and Lavender.
Keep in mind that some carriers and retail partners will only carry specific colors/variations of the phone.
In India, the phone will be available in the two 8GB RAM variants with the Exynos 2100 from major retailers starting at Rs. That means it offers a bit less overall in terms of specs and features, but it also costs less. If you want a microSD card slot, you can always grab 2020’s Galaxy S20 FE instead, although that is also missing a headphone jack.
Be First to Comment