After several months of teasers, rumors and leaks, Samsung has finally launched the Galaxy S21 FE 5G smartphone. In India, this is Samsung’s first smartphone launch in 2024. This new phone is the successor to the Galaxy S20 FE launched last year and is a refreshed variant of the regular Galaxy S21.
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G smartphone claims to offer a flagship experience and offers features such as a 120Hz refresh rate AMOLED display, powerful processor, triple camera setup and more. One of the main highlights of the S21 FE is that the phone supports a wide range of 5G bands. After using this phone for a while, here’s our review of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G design and display
The design is inspired by the flagship of the Galaxy S21 series, with the triple camera module blending nicely into the side frame. Samsung has used a plastic back panel while the frame is aluminum. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G feels light at 177 grams and speaking of the durability of this phone, the screen is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. Not to mention, the housing is also dust and water resistant according to IP68.
To make the phone look good, Samsung has matched the color of the camera module to the back panel. The device is available in four colors: graphite, white, lavender and olive. Overall, the build quality is solid and the device feels compact in the hands.
The viewing angles are comparable to other phones and the color production is quite good. (Image: Debashis Sarkar/News18)
This phone sports a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display panel with Full HD+ resolution. Not only that, the screen refresh rate can be increased to 120Hz for a smoother experience.
Samsung continues with the comparable aspect ratio of 19.5:9, while the pixel density at 411 pixels per inch is reasonable. This means that you will experience few problems if you look at the phone in direct sunlight. The viewing angles are comparable to other phones and the color production is quite good. Overall, there’s nothing in particular you don’t like about this screen. Be it gaming, watching movies or using the phone in general, the experience is quite pleasant.
Samsung is offering the S21 FE 5G variant with the 5nm Exynos 2100 chipset in India. (Image: Debashis Sarkar/News18)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Performance
When we talk about the performance of Samsung phones, the debate starts with why Samsung does not use the Qualcomm Snapdragon chipset for the devices sold in India. In fact, the discussions of Exynos vs Snapdragon chipset have been there for almost all of Samsung’s flagships. While this can be quite polarizing for tech enthusiasts, for end users, adequate performance is all they care about. And this is where this phone performs and you get essentially the same performance you can expect from other S21 series phones.
Samsung is offering the S21 FE 5G variant with the 5nm Exynos 2100 chipset in India. This is the same chipset that powers the flagship smartphones in the S21 series, including the expensive Galaxy S21 Ultra and S21+ devices.
This phone comes with 8 GB of RAM which will help you meet your everyday performance requirements. And there are two storage options. You can choose to buy the S21 FE with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of internal storage or if you need more storage space, you can opt for the 256 GB variant with the same 8 GB of RAM module.
Please note that this phone does not have a microSD card slot. There’s also no headphone jack, so you’ll need wireless headphones to listen to music.
In terms of overall performance, this phone is smooth and offers a good multitasking experience. You won’t have any lags or app crashes while gaming and overall most average users will be very happy with this phone. The device runs on the Android 12 operating system and also delivers a clean software experience.
As India gears up to get 5G connectivity, the good news is that the Galaxy S21 FE will support a wide range of 5G bands. But for obvious reasons, we were unable to test the 5G performance on this phone.
The camera delivers flagship-like results in bright conditions, but you need to have a little patience when shooting in low light. (Image: Debashis Sarkar/News18)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Camera
Samsung has talked a lot about this phone’s camera. The Galaxy S21 FE 5G comes with a triple camera setup on the back with a 12-megapixel dual-pixel wide primary sensor that offers autofocus, optical image stabilization and an aperture of F1.8.
The other two cameras feature a 12-megapixel ultra-wide-angle lens with an aperture of F2.2 and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens with an aperture of F2.4. The phone offers up to 30x digital zoom. While 30X Zoom sounds great, keep in mind that you need super stable hands and a tripod to get the results you want. Also, super zoom images won’t always impress you.
This phone can be used to record videos in 4K resolution up to 60 frames per second. The video quality is good and can easily meet the needs of content creators.
Overall, the camera delivers flagship-like results in bright conditions, but you’ll need to have a little patience when shooting in low-light conditions. On the front is a 32 megapixel selfie camera with an aperture of F2.2 that clicks decent photos for use on social media.
Samsung has trimmed the box of its flagship phones and these days you only get the phone and a charging cable. (Image: Debashis Sarkar/News18)
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Battery
Speaking of the battery life of this phone, the device can easily last a day of mixed use including gaming. At first, you might be surprised to learn that the battery lasts more than a day. There is a battery of 4,500 mAh with support for 25 W fast charging. If you charge this phone wirelessly, you get 15 W fast charging. Not to forget there is also reverse charging with which you can also use the phone to charge earbuds and smartwatches.
That said, you don’t get a charger in the box. So if you don’t have a fast charger, you should buy it. Samsung has trimmed the box of its flagship phones and these days you only get the phone and a charging cable.
Speaking of other features, there is support for Samsung Pay and you can make NFC payments. There is also support for Samsung Dex, which can connect the phone to a PC or monitor and turn the phone into a desktop ‘Android computer’.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is all about providing the flagship experience of the Galaxy S21 series at a much more affordable price. Sure, there are many phones that might sound better on paper, but this phone from Samsung is all about delivering a hassle-free experience with longer life in terms of software, durability and brand value.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G does not promise any flashy new feature, charging or camera capabilities. It’s all about delivering a reliable device with decent cameras, 5G support, good performance and battery life.
