Today’s top-end phones can be quite expensive, so Samsung recently introduced a version of its Galaxy S21 FE (Fan Edition) with a few fewer features than the regular Galaxy S21 at what now qualifies as the mid-range price of $699. After a couple of weeks of using it, I’ve found for most applications, it will do the job quite well.
The S21 FE has the same basic design as the full S21, with rounded corners and three cameras in a vertical arrangement in a cut design on the back. Measuring 6.14 by 2.93 by 0.31 inches (HWD), it’s a bit bigger than the standard Galaxy S21 (5.97 by 2.80 by 0.31 inches), not surprising since the FE has a 6.4-in display, which puts it in the middle in size between the regular S21, which has a 6.2-inch display, and the S21+ with a 6.7-inch display. Weighing 6.24 ounces, it feels good in the hand. It is available in white, graphite, olive, and lavender.
The 21 FE has a 2,340-by-1,080 AMOLED display that normally runs at 120Hz, which provides more smooth scrolling, though you can enable 60 Hz mode for better battery life. I missed the adaptive display feature that lets some phones switch speeds depending on the application. The display has a small cutout for the front camera in what Samsung calls its “Infinity-O” display, and an under-screen fingerprint reader, which worked just fine.
The processor is the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 used in the North American versions of the Galaxy S21 (some other geographic regions get versions based on Samsung’s Exynos chip). This has one “Prime Core” (essentially an ARM Cortex-X1 clocked at up to 2.84 GHz), three performance cores (based on the A78 and clocked at up to 2.42 GHz), and four efficiency cores (based on the A55 architecture and clocked at up to 1.8 GHz). The unit I tested had 6GB of RAM and 128GB of storage. Performance seems to be on par with the regular Galaxy S21.
It has a 4500 mAh battery. It supports 25-watt wired charging and 15-watt wireless charging. While the phone comes with a USB-C charging cable, it doesn’t include a charger, so if you don’t have one, factor that in. Like most phones today, unfortunately, it lacks both a memory expansion micro-SD slot and a headphone jack.
There are bigger changes with the camera. On the back, you’ll find a 12-megapixel main or “wide” camera, a 12-megapixel “ultra-wide” camera, and an 8-megapixel telephoto. The main rear-facing camera seems to be basically the same as on the regular S21. It has a 79-degree field of view and f/1.8 aperture, making it pretty flexible. It has 1.8 µm pixels, which is larger than on most phones, enabling night mode photos, where if you hold the phone steady, it will combine up to 14 images to produce a better photo. I found these to be pretty good in many situations, if not quite the best I’ve seen.
The ultra-wide camera offers a 123-degree field-of-view and f/2.2 aperture and uses 1.12 µm pixels compared with the 1.4 µm pixels on the standard S21, but I still found it took quite good photos.
The telephoto lens is somewhat different as well. While the standard S21 has a 64M telephoto that has a 76-degree field-of-view and f/2.0, the FE has an 8MP telephoto with a 32-degree field of view and f/2.4, so it’s not quite as strong. It can still take what Samsung calls 3X optical zoom with optical image stabilization, which when added to digital zoom, creates what Samsung calls a “30X space zoom.” I’ve never gotten good pictures at 30X zoom on any phone, and this wasn’t an exception; in fact, the less dense sensor naturally is not as good as the standard S21. On the other hand, most phones in this class don’t have optical image stabilization, and I was generally very happy with pictures and videos captured with the S21 FE.
It can shoot video at up to 4K 60 fps, though it defaults to 1080p at 30fps to save space. The image editing features include some advanced capabilities, such as dual recording for video, portrait video, and super slo-mo video. Again, there are phones with higher-end video capabilities, but for most of us, this would be more than sufficient.
Perhaps the bigger change is to the front-facing camera, which has a 32-megapixel, f/2.2 camera compared with the 10MP camera on the standard S21. This allows for sharper selfies, and it’s particularly good for things like video conferencing. When you first start it, it asks if you prefer natural or bright pictures, a nice option.
On the software side, the S21 FE runs Android 12 with Samsung’s One UI 4.0 skin, which includes several customization options.
For business users, the 21 FE includes all the features you would expect, including Samsung’s Knox security environment and Samsung’s unique DeX feature, which lets you plug the phone into an external monitor or a small USB-C dock with a monitor, keyboard and mouse, to use it like a desktop. I continue to think this offers real benefits in some environments, such as retail, where users may not normally need full PCs. Other features such as Dual Record for video turn out to have some advantages for people like realtors who want to show a property and talk about it.
Overall, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is an interesting device. It does provide the S21 features at a lower price, but the S21 was only $100 more when it came out, and all signs point to a Galaxy S22—which presumably will offer more features—being announced on Feb 9, 2022. And of course, there are a number of less expensive Android phones, including the $599 Google Pixel 6 to Samsung’s own $250 Galaxy A13. However, for business users looking for a fleet of devices with mostly top-end features but a lower price point, the 21 FE might fit the bill.
Here’s PCMag’s full review.
