Introduction
The Galaxy S21 series will not go gentle into the night. On the contrary, it will produce one last bang before the Galaxy S22 steals the spotlight. The last of the S21 series caters to the true fans of the brand and combines all Galaxy S21 essentials into one powerful no-nonsense smartphone. Yes, this is the Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
Samsung has focused on three fan-favorite features for this Fan Edition - display, performance, and camera. And it has tried to give more of those for less, a job best suited for the flagship-killer kind. We surely are not calling it that, but the S21 FE does sound quite promising as an almost-there-flagship.
The Galaxy S21 FE updates the display with the S21's screen panel. It offers a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X with native HDR10+ support and a 120Hz refresh rate. The Galaxy S20 FE's Super AMOLED had no HDR capabilities, and it was disappointing back then.
Then there is performance - quite expectedly, the Galaxy S21 FE offers the same hardware as the rest of the S21 series - either the Snapdragon 888, or the Exynos 2100 chipset. But the chipset segmentation is reversed here - the international model is the one with the Snapdragon, while Samsung's silicon is limited to Australia (so far).
Finally, let's talk about the camera department. It looks like a copy-paste from the Galaxy S20 FE - a 12MP primary, another 12MP camera for ultrawide photos, and an 8MP tele for 3x optical zoom. The selfie imager is likely the same, too, a 32MP one. Samsung is not advertising the hardware as more capable, but it brags with better processing and cool features like Object Eraser - all possible thanks to the new chipset.
The stereo speakers and the UD fingerprint scanner are here to stay, too, but the microSD slot didn't make the cut. It is one of these fan-favorite features that will not be accepted well among the community, that's for sure. But on a positive note - the S21 FE now features a proper proximity sensor instead of a virtual one, something that should solve the numerous complaints.
Waterproofing is a vital part of the Galaxy S series, and the S21 FE is IP68-rated for dust and water resistance. Its design resembles the rest of the Galaxy S21 phones, and its build is a match to the vanilla Galaxy S21 flagship - a Gorilla Glass Victus front, an aluminum frame, and a matte plastic back.
Here is a rundown of the specs sheet.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G specs at a glance:
- Body: 155.7x74.5x7.9mm, 177g; Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), plastic back, aluminum frame; IP68 dust/water resistant (up to 1.5m for 30 mins).
- Display: 6.40" Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+, 1080x2400px resolution, 20:9 aspect ratio, 411ppi; Always-on display.
- Chipset: Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm) - Version 1, Exynos 2100 (5 nm) - Version 2: Octa-core (1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 & 4x1.80 GHz Kryo 680) - Version 1, Octa-core (1x2.9 GHz Cortex-X1 & 3x2.80 GHz Cortex-A78 & 4x2.2 GHz Cortex-A55) - Version 2; Adreno 660 - Version 1, Mali-G78 MP14 - Version 2.
- Memory: 128GB 6GB RAM, 128GB 8GB RAM, 256GB 8GB RAM.
- OS/Software: Android 12, One UI 4.
- Rear camera: Wide (main): 12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm, 1/1.76", 1.8µm, Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 123˚, 1/3.0", 1.12µm; Telephoto: 8 MP, f/2.4, 76mm, 1/4.5", 1.0µm, PDAF, OIS, 3x optical zoom.
- Front camera: 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide), 1/2.74", 0.8µm.
- Video capture: Rear camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, gyro-EIS; Front camera: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps, gyro-EIS.
- Battery: 4500mAh; Fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min (advertised), Fast wireless charging 15W, Reverse wireless charging, USB Power Delivery 3.0.
- Misc: Fingerprint reader (under display, optical); NFC; Bixby natural language commands and dictation, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified).
The most notable omissions of this new Fan Edition are the 3.5mm jack (not available on the S20 FE) and the microSD slot (available on the S20 FE). We would have liked one of those 10MP AF selfies instead of the 32MP Quad-Bayer snapper, too, but we guess that's going on the S22 FE wish list instead.
There is no cheaper 4G version of the Galaxy S21 FE, like it was with the S20 FE, which is possibly another bummer for some users. We guess the 5G has become the new norm and cheaper 4G versions in the future are highly unlikely.
Unboxing the Galaxy S21 FE
Apple has started something that Samsung quickly adopted, even though consumers don't appreciate it. Yes, we are talking about the 'eco-friendly' cost-saving retail box, which contains only a cable and some paperwork.
That's exactly what you get with each Galaxy S21, and that's what the Galaxy S21 FE 5G retail box contains. The phone supports 25W fast charging, but if you want to enjoy that and you haven't purchased such an adapter yet, now is a good time to do it.
The good news is that once you buy such a charger, you can use it for your next phone a year or two from now. Plus, it can charge plenty of electronics because of its USB-C port and USB-PD support.
Design, build quality, handling
Quite expectedly, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G looks just like the Galaxy S21 bunch but with a twist. The phone has a flat front, a thin metal frame, and a slightly curved back that flows into the raised camera block. And that's where it differs!
Galaxy S21 next to the Galaxy S21 FE
See, while the metal frame of the Galaxy S21 flowed into the jutting-out camera slab, Samsung did the opposite here - the plastic back seamlessly flows into a camera island. And while it may seem like the maker chose the cheaper option, we think this looks more organic, at least from an aesthetic perspective.
The build is identical to the Galaxy S21 as well - there is a Corning Gorilla Glass Victus at the front, the frame is brushed aluminum, and the back is a piece of grippy plastic with a matte finish. The S21 FE is water and dust resistant with the same IP68 rating as the rest of the S21 series.
Galaxy S21 next to the Galaxy S21 FE
And while we are still looking at the two most compact S21 members, let's compare them. The Galaxy S21 packs a 6.2-inch display, while the S21 FE utilizes a slightly larger 6.4-inch panel. The FE version is obviously larger - it's 4mm taller, 3mm wider and 8 grams heavier than the original S21 model. We consider both phones pocket-friendly by today's standards. Sure, not as compact as an iPhone mini, but still among the smallest premium Androids around - especially if you count the three separate cameras.
We do like this natural flowing design of the Galaxy S21 lineup and the S21 FE in particular. It is good-looking, and it does prove firmer grip than your average dual-glass smartphone.
Now, let's take a closer look at the Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
As we've established, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G employs a bit smaller 6.4-inch display than the previous S20 Fan Edition. It has the usual circular perforation for the 32MP selfie camera around the top, just below the earpiece. The screen panel has been improved since the S20 FE with HDR10+ support.
There is no grille above the screen, just a thin outlet for the sound. There is a proper speaker placed underneath the display, right next to the selfie camera. It also acts as an earpiece. The Galaxy S21 FE has stereo speakers - this is one of them, while the other one is at the bottom, next to the USB port.
Another thing that's invisible to the naked eye is the under-display fingerprint scanner. It's a Goodix optical sensor, unlike Galaxy S21's ultrasonic eye (by Qualcomm). It is reasonably fast, accurate and reliable, and, overall, we are happy with the experience.
And before we flip over to the back, we should acknowledge the evenly thin screen bezels.
The back is one nicely smooth piece of plastic, and Samsung calls its design a Contour Cut one. It is mostly flat with slightly curved edges, then it rises a bit to envelop the three cameras. The result is indeed one simple and beautiful panel with no abrupt endings or transitions.
We've already seen these three rear cameras - they are the same as on the Galaxy S20 FE. There is a 12MP primary shooter, a 12MP ultrawide one, and an 8MP 3x telephoto.
While the rear panel is made of plastic, it does not feel cheap or hollow. Interestingly, it's not a smudge magnet either, just on the contrary. Even on our Graphite version here, fingerprints are barely visible, if at all.
All Galaxy S21 FE color options
The aluminum frame is slightly curved and brushed, matching the touch and feeling of the back. It provides good enough grip and looks stylish, too.
There is nothing but a secondary mic on its top. The bottom has the primary mic, the dual-SIM tray, the USB-C port, and the second speaker.
The left side is completely bare, while the right one houses the volume and the power/lock keys.
Handling the Galaxy S21 FE 5G was a pleasure during our week with the phone. It is a grippy device, which is rare these days, and then it's not a large handset - something that's even rarer.
And we will remember it exactly for those things - a no-nonsense clean design with pocket-friendly size and good grip.
Display
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display - an update over the S20 FE's 6.5" Super AMOLED. It still has the usual 1,080 x 2,400 px resolution (411ppi), supports a 120Hz refresh rate and Always-on features. The touch sampling rate when using Game Mode is 240Hz, otherwise, it should be 120Hz.
New to the Galaxy S21 FE is the HDR10+ support, a glaring omission on the Galaxy S20 FE. This, with the combination of the Widevine L1 DRM support, allows you to stream Full HD HDR10 content from all popular services (we tried).
You can opt between two Motion Smoothness modes (a.k.a. refresh rates) - High (120Hz) and Standard (60Hz). 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. Unfortunately, that's not the case.
It seems Samsung has updated the One UI 4 brightness slider - it can now reach the maximum brightness once you hit OK on the warning for possible overheating. It is on par with the maximum brightness when using the Adaptive (auto) mode - 792 nits - not far away from S21's 856 nits.
Let's explain this better. 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. And it's not a bug; it works every single time.
The minimum brightness we measured at point white was 1.8nits - an outstanding result.
| Display test | 100% brightness | ||
| Black, |
White, |
||
| 0 | 792 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 416 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 856 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 404 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 823 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 459 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 883 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 802 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 856 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 498 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 926 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 516 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 837 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 440 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 800 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 525 | ∞ | |
| 0.038 | 871 | 22921:1 | |
| 0 | 443 | ∞ | |
| 0 | 650 | ∞ | |
The screen is tuned to comply with the DCI-P3 (Vivid mode) and sRGB (Natural mode) color spaces. The accuracy is great for both, with an average deltaE of 2.5.
Battery life
The Galaxy S21 FE has the same battery as the S20 FE - a 4,500 mAh cell. It supports up to 25W fast charging, but since there is no charger in the box, you will need to shop for one.
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G scored a good endurance rating of 92 hours on our battery life test. That's on par with the Galaxy S21 5G but about 20 hours less than the S20 FE 5G score.
The new FE does marvelously when handling calls and playing videos, while its web time stays above the average. The standby performance is average though, and that's what is really hurting the performance of the new Fan Edition.
We usually carry out our video test at 60Hz, as most phones, no matter the chosen refresh rate, stream/play videos at 60Hz. It's not the case on the Galaxy S21 FE, though. If you have opted for 120Hz, videos are always shown at a 120Hz refresh rate. We carried our video test again at 120Hz, and it dropped by 2 and a half hours. This brought the final endurance rating down to 88 hours.
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. More details can be found here.
Video test carried out in 60Hz refresh rate mode. Web browsing test done at the display's highest refresh rate whenever possible. Refer to the respective reviews for specifics. 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.
Charging speed
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G supports up to 25W fast charging, but it ships without a power adapter. We have a 25W Samsung PD/PPS charger in our office, and we carried out our charging test with that one.
So, when using the 25W Samsung charger, the battery went from 0% to 51% in 30 minutes. That's reasonably fast, even if not OnePlus/Oppo fast.
30min charging test (from 0%)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 9 Pro
99% - Realme GT 5G (65W)
87% - Xiaomi Mi 11
83% - Asus Zenfone 8
60% - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (25W)
57% - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (25W PD)
55% - Apple iPhone 13
54% - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
51% - Galaxy S20 FE (15W bundled)
37%
A full charge requires 1 hour and 15 minutes, another adequate time.
Time to full charge (from 0%)
Lower is better
- OnePlus 9 Pro
0:32h - Realme GT 5G (65W)
0:39h - Xiaomi Mi 11
0:50h - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (25W)
1:10h - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G (25W PD)
1:13h - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1:15h - Asus Zenfone 8
1:28h - Galaxy S20 FE (15W bundled)
1:35h - Apple iPhone 13
1:46h
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.
Speakers
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G has two full-fledged speakers, like all Galaxy S21 phones. The first one is behind the screen, near the selfie camera, and its outlet is front-facing. The other speaker is at the bottom.
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.
This dual-speaker setup scored a Good mark on our speaker test, on par with the Galaxy S21 5G and the Galaxy S20 FE 5G.
The audio quality deserves another good mark, too. The vocals are pleasing, and we appreciate the rich high notes. The bass is underwhelming, though, while the mid-tones are alright, but not as well presented as on the Galaxy S21.
Use the Playback controls to listen to the phone sample recordings (best use headphones). We measure the average loudness of the speakers in LUFS. A lower absolute value means a louder sound. A look at the frequency response chart will tell you how far off the ideal "0db" flat line is the reproduction of the bass, treble, and mid frequencies. You can add more phones to compare how they differ. The scores and ratings are not comparable with our older loudspeaker test. Learn more about how we test here.
Android 12 with One UI 4
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is the first Galaxy we meet running on the Android 12 with One UI 4 out of the box. You can barely see anything of Android as One UI completely overhauls its interface.
Samsung has brought Android 12's Color Palettes to One UI 4 - these change the accent colors of the entire UI - icons, menus, buttons and even the backgrounds. Like Windows and its Accent colors.
There are also new widgets with rich customization options and new emojis and GIFs available on the keyboard. Improved privacy is also part of OneUI 4 with a new privacy dashboard with various controls and new ways for monitoring permissions.
The lock screen looks the same as before with two monochrome shortcuts - dialer and camera.
The under-display fingerprint reader will likely be the primary method of unlocking for most, but you can still use face unlock either instead or alongside it. It can be more convenient in certain situations, but it generally is less secure since it's just using the selfie camera, meaning tricking it isn't too hard.
Always-on display is available - it's the simplified version from One UI 3. You can choose between a few clock styles or opt for an Image Clock. Music info is also supported. The feature can be always-off, always-on, scheduled, shown only when new notifications are available, or you can opt for tap to show for 10s.
Lockscreen options
The OneUI 4 looks even cleaner than v.3.x, but its logic remains the same - there are homescreen, widgets, notification center, task switcher and an app drawer.
OneUI 4
One of the new One UI 4 features is Color Palettes. This is the implementation of the vanilla Android 12's Wallpaper colors. There are usually four Color Palette suggestions in addition to the default One UI Blue/Black one. Those are picked automatically by the software, depending on your current wallpaper. The color you choose will become the main one in the newly created theme (think Windows' "accent color").
These accent colors are applied on the dialer, the quick toggles, among other tiny bits of the UI. You can choose to apply them on the app icons as well.
Color palettes
The dialer allows you to pick between two layouts for the in-call screen. You can also set up a background image or video for that screen, though it's going to be all the same for all of your calls - you can't have a different one on a per-person basis.
Dialer
The Settings menu contains a new Privacy Dashboard. Here you can easily see which apps are using some of the most important (for privacy) permissions. You can control the camera and control access across apps, opt for clipboard access alerts (useful if you copy passwords, social security numbers, IBANs, among others), and there is, of course, a full-blown permission manager of you like to dig deeper.
Privacy Dashboard
You get a whole bunch of options for using your Galaxy with other devices to enable various use cases. DeX is the proprietary feature that lets you use the phone as the 'computer' and add a monitor and a keyboard for added productivity - it works wirelessly or over HDMI.
Alternatively, the Link to Windows feature provides you with an interface to your phone from your computer so you can exchange images, manage notifications on your PC or even make calls from it.
Another option along those lines but with more limited potential is Continue apps on other devices. This requires you to be logged in to your Samsung account on both devices, hook them up to the same Wi-Fi network with Bluetooth enabled and use Samsung Internet browser or Samsung Notes. You'll then be able to copy and paste text and images across and open the same tabs in the browser.
DeX • Continue apps on other devices • Link to Windows
Other staples of proprietary Samsung software include the Edge panels - the panes that show up when you swipe in from the side and provide tools and shortcuts to apps and contacts. Game launcher, the hub for all your games, which also provides options for limiting distraction when gaming is here to stay as well.
Otherwise, the software package is similar to other Samsung phones, with an in-house Gallery app, the Game Launcher app, and a proprietary file manager. Samsung's Internet web browser is also available on the Galaxy S21 Ultra.
Gallery • Game Launcher • File manager • Internet • Edge panel
The Gallery is where you'd find the new Object Eraser feature. Once you enter photo edit mode, you can opt for object eraser from More options. This is a fancier way of saying smart delete - you either paint over an object or tap on it for automatic selection. And then you hope for the best - if the object's surroundings aren't too complex, you will get a good outcome, otherwise - it's a mixed-bag.
Object Eraser
Performance and benchmarks
The international/global variant of the Galaxy S21 FE 5G employs the popular Snapdragon 888 5G chipset by Qualcomm, while the limited/local model found so far in Australia only, runs on the Exynos 2100 SoC by Samsung.
We have the SD888 model for review, and that's what the performance inspection is based on, obviously. We have already reviewed the original Galaxy S21 5G with Exynos 2100, so you can refer to its test results for comparison here.
So, the Snapdragon 888 may not be Qualcomm's current best as it was recently dethroned by the new Snapdragon 8 Gen1 chip. Still, it's one of the best on the market and will surely make everyone happy.
For the unfamiliar, this chip is based on a 5nm manufacturing process. It contains an octa-core processor with a familiar core configuration 1+3+4 - 1x2.84 GHz Kryo 680 Prime (Cortex-X1 derivative) & 3x2.42 GHz Kryo 680 Gold (Cortex-A78 derivative) & 4x1.8 GHz Kryo 680 Silver (Cortex-A55 derivative). The GPU is Adreno 660.
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is available in three versions, all with LPDDR5 RAM and UFS 3.1 storage - 6GB/128GB, 8GB/128GB and 8GB/256GB. There is no microSD expansion here, the S20 FE was probably the last one with this feature.
And now, it's benchmark time!
The Snapdragon 888 5G CPU is still one of the best on the market, even if, for some reason, it scores a bit lower than the rest of the SD888-featuring peers.
GeekBench 5 (multi-core)
Higher is better
- OnePlus 9 Pro
3636 - Asus Zenfone 8
3604 - Realme GT 5G
3555 - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
3518 - Xiaomi Mi 11
3489 - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
3296 - Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
3244 - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
3238 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
3049 - Xiaomi 11T
2834 - OnePlus Nord 2
2792 - Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
2750
GeekBench 5 (single-core)
Higher is better
- Realme GT 5G
1139 - OnePlus 9 Pro
1126 - Asus Zenfone 8
1118 - Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
1109 - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
1107 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
1096 - Xiaomi Mi 11
1085 - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
1032 - Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
931 - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
906 - OnePlus Nord 2
814 - Xiaomi 11T
742
Same goes for the GPU - it's an outstanding performer under the 120Hz 1080p screen of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.
GFX Manhattan ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Asus Zenfone 8
105 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
98 - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
95 - Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
79 - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
77 - Xiaomi 11T
72 - Realme GT 5G
60 - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
58 - Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
58 - Xiaomi Mi 11
57 - OnePlus Nord 2
57 - OnePlus 9 Pro
57 - Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
45
GFX Car Chase ES 3.1 (onscreen)
Higher is better
- Asus Zenfone 8
61 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
56 - Realme GT 5G
55 - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
54 - Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
45 - Galaxy S20 (120Hz, 1080p)
44 - Xiaomi 11T
40 - OnePlus Nord 2
38 - OnePlus 9 Pro
36 - Xiaomi Mi 11
33 - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
33 - Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
33 - Galaxy S20 (60Hz, 1440p)
26
3DMark Wild Life Vulkan 1.1 (offscreen 1440p)
Higher is better
- Realme GT 5G
5872 - OnePlus 9 Pro
5701 - Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G
5691 - Xiaomi Mi 11
5673 - Asus Zenfone 8
5666 - Galaxy S21 Ultra 5G (Snapdragon)
5547 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
5432 - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
5412 - OnePlus Nord 2
4224 - Xiaomi 11T
4172
AnTuTu 9 also puts the Galaxy S21 FE among the top-scoring phones right now.
AnTuTu 9
Higher is better
- Realme GT 5G
810433 - Asus Zenfone 8
799738 - Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
719696 - Samsung Galaxy S21 5G
650829 - OnePlus Nord 2
598022 - Xiaomi 11T
590837
We already know the Snapdragon 888 is not that easy to cool and phones with passive cooling usually throttle at some point to avoid overheating. The Galaxy S21 FE is one of those phones. It scored 68% CPU stability and 63% GPU stability on the respective CPU and GPU stress tests. That is in line with most of the SD888 phones.
The phone doesn't get incredibly hot, so there is nothing to worry about. And this throttling appeared only when we ran stress tests and prolonged benchmarking. We saw no such thing in games, or at least it was not enough for us to notice it.
CPU stress test • GPU stress test
The Galaxy S21 FE is adequately equipped to be a flagship even by 2022 standards. Sure, there is a new chip on the horizon, but for a Fan Edition that's based on the Galaxy S21 series, the S21 FE has exactly what it is supposed to - the favorite hardware among the S21 trio - the SD888. And it can handle everything for the next couple of years, hassle-free, with zero stutters.
Same cameras, new brains
It seems that Samsung has decided on using the same cameras as the Galaxy S20 FE. That's not a critique per se, as we were quite happy with the S20 FE experience. The tri-camera setup on the back consists of a 12MP primary, a 12MP ultrawide, and an 8MP telephoto cameras. The front camera is a 32MP Quad-Bayer shooter.
So, just like the Galaxy S20 FE, the Galaxy S21 FE has a 12MP camera that uses different sensors depending on the chipset model. The Snapdragon 888 version (ours) gets the Sony IMX555 sensor, while the Exynos model relies on Samsung S5K2LD. Both imagers have 1.8µm pixels, Dual-Pixel AF, and sit behind 26mm f/1.8 OIS lens.
The ultrawide camera is a bit of an oddball - it has either Sony IMX258 or the Hynix Hi1336 - both are 13MP sensors with 1.12µm pixels behind 13mm f/2.2 lens and with a focus fixed at infinity. Whatever sensor turns out in your Galaxy S21 FE, it will save 12MP images - as advertised by the PR materials.
The 8MP zoom camera uses a Hynix Hi847 sensor (just like the S20 FE) with 1.0µm pixels and 76mm f/2.4 OIS lens for 3x optical zoom over the main camera. And just like on the previous Fan Edition, this zoom camera also saves a bit upscaled 12MP photos for whatever reason.
Finally, the 32MP selfie camera is also identical to the one on the S20 FE - it relies on a Sony IMX616 Quad-Bayer sensor with a 25mm f/2.2 lens, and a focus fixed at infinity. This camera, contrary to the majority of the Quad-Bayer selfie shooters, saves native 8MP images.
The camera app is the same you'd find on every Samsung phone these days. Swiping left and right will switch between all available modes, and there's an option to re-arrange or remove some of the modes from the viewfinder. Vertical swipes in either direction will switch between front and rear cameras.
All cameras support Night Mode. There's a Pro mode, too, but it works only on the main and ultrawide imagers. You get granular exposure controls and manual focus with peaking, up to 30s shutter speed control (0.5s for UW), but no live histogram.
Camera app
There is a 32MP resolution mode for the selfie camera available as part of the aspect options.
Photo quality
The 12MP default photos from the Galaxy S21 FE's main camera are excellent. The resolved detail is a lot, the sharpening is not over the top, and there is zero noise. The contrast is notably high, while the dynamic range remains very good.
The colors are quite pleasant, even if not perfectly accurate - they came out looking a bit warmer than they really were in real life, but that's fine. Most people would probably prefer them like this instead of, say, Apple's painfully accurate representation.
Overall, the main camera of the new S21 FE excels in daylight conditions. Auto HDR and the Scene Optimizer were set at ON for the entire time.
Main camera, 12MP
The 12MP images from the ultrawide camera are incredibly good, too, especially for this type of shooter. They have enough detail, reasonable sharpness, and once again - we cannot see any noise where it matters. The contrast is great, and the dynamic range is also commendable considering the demanding weather.
The colors are nicely popping, a match to the main camera, and just a bit warmer and punchier than they should have been. But that's the Samsung way of showing the world, and we do like it.
The corners are softer because of the nature of the 13mm ultrawide-angle lens and the automatic distortion correction. This camera has a 13MP sensor, but it saves 12MP images, and our guess is that the corner straightening involves a minor crop, too.
Anyway, we are once again happy with the photos, and we wouldn't change a thing. Well...maybe add autofocus, so we can shoot macro photos, but that's another thing going on the S22 FE wishlist.
Ultrawide camera, 12MP
Now, let's talk about the zoom camera. It uses an 8MP sensor, and yet, it saves 12MP photos. It appears those are upscaled from the original resolution, and the pixel peepers could probably tell that.
These 12MP pictures from the telephoto camera are quite nice nonetheless. Their resolved detail is in the high range, even if the sharpness isn't on par with the other cameras because of the minor upscaling.
The contrast, dynamic range and color presentation are a match to the rest of the cameras, too, meaning you get high contrast, high dynamic range, and a bit warmer and punchier colors than they actually were that day.
The noise is handled well, too, and it's barely noticeable, mostly in areas of uniform or dark colors.
We would have been happy with the native 8MP photos, but we guess Samsung once again had a different thing in mind.
Zoom 3x camera, 12MP
The Galaxy S21, which is probably a direct competitor to the Galaxy S21 FE, has a different type of zoom camera - it's a 64MP shooter with minor 1.1x optical zoom, and it relies on digital zooming and some software to achieve the zoom. We were curious how its camera compares to the S21 FE's 3x optical zoom unit.
In broad daylight, the Galaxy S21 FE telephoto camera is the better shooter, even if by a small margin. The S21 FE offers sharper images with less noise, noticeably better contrast, and more likable colors.
The difference in the resolved detail isn't a major one, but the S21 FE has the upper hand - especially if you crop the photos or inspect them from up close.
Galaxy S21 FE
Galaxy S21
Portrait mode is available on the Galaxy S21 FE, and while it defaults at the 3x zoom camera, you can switch to the primary one as well.
The 12MP 3x zoomed portraits offer proficient subject separation and incredibly pleasant bokeh, but the subjects are often soft and/or a bit noisy.
3x camera, portraits
The portraits from the main camera also excel in separation and bokeh, but their subjects are much sharper, more colorful, and the contrast is better. The noise levels are much lower, thanks to the brighter lens.
Main camera, portraits
Low-light photos
The 12MP low-light photos from the main camera are superb. They are rich in detail, contrasty, with excellent color saturation, high dynamic range and realistic exposure and look. The noise is low, though sometimes more noise is spared in favor of preserving intricate details - as it should be.
Main camera, 12MP
While Auto HDR succeeds in restoring most clipped highlights in the normal shooting mode, it doesn't do much for brightening up the shadows. If you want brighter night-time photos, then you switch to Night Mode.
The Night Mode usually uses 2s exposure time for the main camera, and it does offer brighter photos with improved exposure. More detail appears in the shadows and the sky, the noise is proficiently cleaned without destroying detail in the process.
While the Night Mode photos are brighter, they are not over the top, and if you need better exposure at night, we suggest using this option.
Main Night mode, 12MP
The 12MP ultrawide photos at night offer good color saturation, life-like exposure and higher than expected dynamic range, they are often extremely soft and overrun by noise. We'd recommend using Night Mode.
Ultrawide camera, 12MP
The Night Mode on the ultrawide camera produces likable photos with enough detail, low (or at least tolerable) noise, improved exposure and dynamic range, and excellent color saturation. These Night Mode images are not as great as the ones from the main camera, but they are much better than the default ones and perfectly usable.
Ultrawide Night Mode, 12MP
The Galaxy S21 FE rarely uses the telephoto camera when shooting regular photos. Most of the time, the low-light 3x zoomed photos you are going to shoot will turn out to be cropped and upscaled from the main camera's output. And you can easily tell that - while good looking, they are quite soft and lacking in detail.
The camera app decided to use the actual telephoto camera only for the last scene - the photo is noisy, but with a lot more detail and more natural-looking.
Zoom camera, 12MP
Using Night Mode when you've selected 3x zoom does the opposite - it uses mostly the zoom camera and rarely resorts to digital zoom over the main one (sixth photo).
The 3x Night Mode images are alright, even if nothing impressive. They are saved in 12MP, meaning they are upscaled from 8MP, and here that's even more obvious. The detail is still satisfactory, and so are the exposure, the contrast, and even the noise reduction. The images are bright, but not over the top, and overall we suggest using 3x zoom with Night Mode if you need to zoom in low-light conditions.
Zoom Night Mode 12MP
And once again, we are pitting the S21 FE and the S21 zoom cameras against each other, this time at night.
The Galaxy S21 is also picky about which camera to use for zooming. We've selected samples only taken with the dedicated zoom camera. The digital zoom on both phones is equally unimpressive.
The standard low-light photos with the S21 zoom camera are noisier, darker and softer than the S21 FE's, which makes it easy for the S21 FE to win here.
Galaxy S21 FE 3x zoom
Galaxy S21 3x zoom
The Galaxy S21 put up a good fight when using Night Mode, and its photos are almost as good as the S21 FE's, meaning its Night mode is quite proficient. Almost is the keyword here, as the S21 FE still has the edge with its slightly sharper photos.
Galaxy S21 FE 3x zoom with Night Mode
Galaxy S21 3x zoom with Night Mode
And here are photos of our usual posters taken with the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. You can see how it stacks up against the competition. Feel free to browse around and pit it against other phones from our extensive database.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G against the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and the Galaxy S20 FE 5G in our Photo compare tool
Selfies
This is not the year the Fan Edition is getting a proper selfie camera with autofocus, but this doesn't mean the 32MP camera isn't good.
The selfie camera on the Galaxy S21 FE, just like on many other Samsung phones, features a toggle to determine how wide the frame will be. This setting annoyingly defaults to the narrower option. Selfies come out in 8MP by default, which is good, though 32MP mode is available, too.
The selfie camera captures some great-looking selfies. They’re natural-looking, with low noise, balanced sharpness, and excellent colors, contrast, and dynamic range.
The fixed focus sweet spot, however, is not ideally tuned for shooting at an arm’s length, so selfie sharpness is less than stellar.
The last photo was shot in 32MP, but it looks like an upscaled version of the standard image.
Selfies
The portraits taken with the selfie camera are great-looking, too. The subject separation is proficient enough, the blur looks nice, and the subjects are well exposed, detailed and colorful.
Portrait selfies
Video recording
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G captures 4K@30fps videos on all cameras, while 4K@60fps is available only to the main and selfie cameras.
The primary and the telephoto cameras support optical image stabilization. Optional electronic stabilization is available for all cameras and works on all resolutions and frame rates.
The video bitrate is generous at 48Mbps in 4K. Audio is captured stereo with a 252Kbps bitrate.
The 4K clips from the main camera are very good - the captured detail is above the average, the dynamic range is outstanding, the colors are great, and the noise is low. We expected a bit more sharpness, but even as is, the 4K footage is admirable.
The 4K ultrawide videos are not that good. They do show a superb dynamic range and likable colors; the contrast is good, too. But the videos are soft, and the detail is mediocre.
The 4K videos from the 3x telephoto camera are quite nice. There is plenty of detail in them; they are sharp, and share all likable qualities we observed on the main camera - great colors, dynamic range, contrast, and even low noise.
The low-light videos from the main camera are alright - they have good color saturation and realistic exposure. They are a bit soft and noisy, but there is enough preserved detail, and they are very much usable.
The low-light ultrawide clips are surprisingly usable, too, even if they are much darker. The gentle noise reduction leaves a lot of detail visible, the exposure is not bad, and the colors aren't that much desaturated. We'd still use this camera only in extreme cases at night, though.
Usually, digital zoom over the main camera is used when shooting zoomed videos at night, and that's the case with the Galaxy S21 FE. You can tell the 4K clips are upscaled, but they still look good on any 1080p phone.
Finally, here is the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G in our video comparison database.
2160p: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G against the Samsung Galaxy S21 5G and the Galaxy S20 FE 5G in our Video compare tool
The competition
The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is a well-executed smartphone and a proper sequel to the Galaxy S20 FE. It brings a better display, more powerful hardware, and improved camera performance even if the camera sensors and optics haven't changed much since the S20 FE. Oh, and we do appreciate the new, S21-like design.
But the one thing that should have been spot-on from the get-go - the price - is all wrong. The Galaxy S21 FE should have offered 'more for less' - those are Samsung's words, mind you - yet, it's quite an expensive smartphone at launch with a starting price of €750. And while it arguably offers more over the Galaxy S20 FE and the Galaxy S21, it's not for less.
Galaxy S21 and Galaxy S21 FE
See, the Galaxy S21 5G retails at about €650, which is €100 less than this new Fan Edition. Yet, the standard S21 offers a more capable display with a 120Hz dynamic refresh rate, more RAM (6GB vs. 8GB). The Galaxy S21 has a different type of 3x zoom, but even if it's achieved with some trickery, it is pretty good and not drastically different from the FE. We believe many users will happily save €100 and get the Galaxy S21 instead.
Then there is one of our favorite Galaxy phones for 2021 - the Galaxy A52s 5G. It is an equally stylish smartphone, water-resistant as well, with a similar 120Hz AMOLED screen and quite a powerful Snapdragon 778 5G chipset. If you can live without optical zoom and HDR10 support for the paid streaming apps, the 6GB+128GB model of the A52s costs as low as €360 - and compared to the S21 FE's €750 price - that's a bargain!
Of course, there are other cool options to consider outside Samsungverse. The Realme GT 5G is €250 cheaper, and it beats the S21 FE with a better AMOLED with a dynamic 120Hz refresh rate (and it supports HDR10). It is not a water-resistant phone and has no zoom camera, but if those are not important, you can spend less and still get what's important to you.
The Asus Zenfone 8 is €100 cheaper than the FE, but if you are after a more compact Android, you may want to consider this one instead. It has a superb 5.9-inch AMOLED with 120Hz and HDR10+, runs on the same Snapdragon 888 chipset, has powerful speakers, and offers fan-favorite goodies like a 3.5mm audio jack, FM radio, AF for the selfie camera. It may not be rocking a telephoto camera, but its ultrawide shooter has autofocus and can take macro shots. Overall, it's a great offer worth considering.
Samsung Galaxy S21 5G • Samsung Galaxy A52s 5G • Realme GT 5G • Asus Zenfone 8
Finally, the €480 4G and €530 5G versions of the previous Galaxy S20 FE are still available. They are noticeably cheaper, yet with similar capabilities and identical cameras. If you can live without HDR10 support and put up with the virtual proximity sensor, they are worth considering. Their Snapdragon 865 / Exynos 990 chips are still great performers and part of the flagship crop, plus they run amazingly under 1080p screens. Oh, and they both offer microSD expansion.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE • Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G
Our verdict
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is a brilliant smartphone with top-notch features. It excels in the most critical departments - display, performance, camera, speakers, software, even design. For that - it's a great smartphone.
But it's not a Fan Edition, not like the S20 FE. For a phone that's supposed to cater to the fans, ditching the charger and the microSD slot does not make sense. And it doesn't bring any substantial camera updates, not even AF for selfies or ultrawide, though the improved photo quality could be arguably enough. But these shortcomings are not the Fan Edition's biggest problem.
The Galaxy S21 FE's most notable drawback is the launch price. The Galaxy S21 FE 5G costs €750 for its basic 6/128 version and €830 for the 8/256 model. And that's quite high for the segment the FE's aiming at.
The Galaxy S21 FE launches mere weeks before the Galaxy S22 premiere, and the expectations are that the regular Galaxy S22 with more powerful hardware and a better screen will retail between €800-€900. And it sure makes sense to wait and see what the Galaxy S22 has in store for us. Meanwhile, there are many phones that are offering similar features for much less, and what's worse, some of them are Galaxy phones themselves.
So, the Galaxy S21 FE is a powerful and capable smartphone, no two ways about that. But we just cannot recommend it at this price, not without reservations. Once Samsung introduces its first price cut, though, the Galaxy S21 FE should get a spot on the shortlists of everyone looking for a no-nonsense flagship-like smartphone.
Pros
- Excellent AMOLED HDR10 screen, 120Hz, superb color accuracy.
- Good-looking S21-like body, water-resistant, grippy.
- Flagship-grade Snapdragon 888 5G chip.
- Outstanding camera performance, day and night, photo and video.
- Likable no-nonsense OneUI 4 with powerful features.
- Loud enough stereo speakers.
Cons
- No charger in the box.
- No dynamic screen refresh rate.
- No 3.5mm jack, no microSD, no AF for selfies (pick one).
- Expensive at launch.
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