Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
It's hard to believe that it's been a year and four months since the "flagship killer" concept was redefined by the S20 FE. At the time, the phone blew us away with its quality, delivering a true flagship experience for a significantly lower price than a "regular" S20. We finally got to try out the new device, the S21 FE, which has been rumored for nearly six months.
The S21 FE has some of the expected improvements over its predecessor but still retains many of the points that made the S20 FE a more affordable device. The camera array on this phone is the same as last year's device, with a 12MP sensor for the main and ultra-wide lens, and an 8MP sensor behind the 3X telephoto lens.
The display got a big touch response rate upgrade, and the processor has been bumped up to the same one that powers the rest of the S21 lineup. The price of the S21 FE is the same as the S20 FE.
It's $100 less than a standard S21, and it has a bigger screen, but does it make too many concessions for a mere $100 savings? Our hands-on should give you an idea of the answer.
The price and availability of the S21 FE were hands-on.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
The category is called
The S21 is a FE.
OS.
OneUI 4 is included in the Android 12.
The Chipset.
The processor is called the "Scorpion"
There is memory.
Either 6 or 8 gigabytes.
There is a display.
The Dynamic AMOLED 2X has a resolution of 2340 x1080.
There is storage.
There are either 128 or 256 gigabytes.
There is a rear camera.
12MP, /1.8
12MP, /2.2.
3x optical zoom, 8MP, /2.4
The front camera has something on it.
32MP, /2.2
There is a battery.
5000mAh.
25 watt fast charging
15 watt wireless charging
Wireless charging is reversed.
The weight.
177g.
Dust and water resistance.
Ip68
There are colors.
White, Olive, and lavender.
The unlocked version of the S21 FE will be available on January 11 from all major carriers, as well as the usual retailers. The price of the S21 FE is the same as the regular S21, making it $100 less expensive.
The 6GB RAM with 128GB internal storage version of the S21 FE sells for $699.99, while the 8GB version sells for $7699.99.
AT&T is one of the first carriers to sell the S21 FE, and it is available for just$15 per month on a qualified plan. That's less than the retail price. The phone is a great buy at that price.
If you trade in your current phone for a new one, you can get a credit towards the purchase of a new one, which will likely be hundreds of dollars less.
The more expensive phone.
The best parts of the S21 are in a more affordable shell.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
We've been talking about the S20 FE for the past year. The overall experience was just as good as a regular S20 for most users, even though the price was excellent and it went on sale. The upgraded processor in the S21 FE will be able to handle anything you throw at it, including the 120Hz display.
The S21 FE has a Dynamic AMOLED 2X from the S21 series, which brings about general improvements in image quality and refresh rate tweaks, but the S20 FE has a 120Hz panel.
While it was subtle, I could tell the difference between the input and output lag in fast games. The 120Hz display physically refresh the image, but the S21 FE is able to detect any touches on the screen twice as fast.
You will feel like any touches made to the screen are instantaneous. The FE series is the first to use this type of input refresh tech, and it has been used on the S20 and S21, as well as plenty of phones from other manufacturers.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
The panel is gorgeous, bright and smooth when 120Hz mode is on, and it's also easy to see why it's called a "beautiful" display. The best experience can be had without changing a single thing if 120Hz is enabled out of the box.
The design of the S21 FE is very much a combined and refined version of the S21 and S20 FE. The side rails of the S21 FE are made of metal and the back is plastic. This is a nice powdery plastic that feels solid throughout, with no obvious give even if you press hard on it.
It's more difficult to tell which parts are metal and which are plastic with the body's matt finish. That is a stark contrast to the S21
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
The metal side rails and back corner of the phone have been straightened out to form a more uniform curve. The hump camera from the S21 has been brought over and now has a smooth transition between the back and the hump. The curve on the S21 FE's camera hump is better than the dual-tone colors of the S21 series.
The location of the in-display fingerprint reader on the S21 was lowered when compared to the S21, which I find to be a much more natural position. I unlocked the phone when I pulled it out of my pocket, because the location where I grab the phone is where the fingerprint reader is located.
The biggest hardware change is the haptic motor. Out of the box, the Galaxy S21 FE's haptic motors feel cheap and old, delivering that harsh, imprecise vibration of the phones of yore. If you're someone who turns on the feedback immediately, it won't bother you, but if you've become a snob about it over the past few years, it's a big turnoff.
There are software, battery, and camera upgrades included in the hands-on.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
All the fantastic features from other flagships are here and as good as ever with the launch of the S21 FE. The new theme engine makes your device feel unique by changing the color of the interface based on the wallpaper you've chosen.
Privacy dashboard and icons that appear on the screen when an app requests the use of your camera, microphones, or location are some of the privacy changes brought by the new version of the operating system. The visual style of OneUI was not altered by the upgrade to the new version of the software. It's the same interface you love, now with a bit more color.
One of my favorite reasons to use a phone from a major brand is Good Lock, because it offers more customization options than any other brand. Do you want a different multitasking screen that is more useful than the stock one? What about the complete history of your notifications? Good Lock is almost certain to allow you to change.
I was able to squeeze two full days of use out of the phone in a few days, despite the same battery size as last year. Even power users will be able to get more than a full day's worth of use from this phone, thanks to the 25W wired and 15W wireless charging. It has reverse wireless charging in case you need to top up your earbuds.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
The camera has seen a few changes despite not having any major hardware changes. I've been able to take a few shots between the two phones and I was impressed with the results. Both the S21 and the S21 were running the same version of the OS, but the S21 had more shadow detail and the S21 had more highlights.
The only place where the S21 FE was behind was in video recording. It's not likely that most people will care about this feature, so it's probably not a real loss.
The 30x Space zoom is a hybrid zoom that combines a digital and optical zoom. It won't look as good as a phone with a larger sensor because the camera is only 8MP.
The value king is still the S21 FE.
Nick Sutrich is from Android Central.
When the S20 FE was launched, it surprised many people because it cut out the "least important" features and delivered a huge price cut. It feels like less of a value win for customers when you consider the fact that the more premium phone is only $100 less than the cheaper one.
The FE model is the better choice for the majority of people because there are very few concessions made that will matter to them.
The elephant in the room is the phone. The Pixel 6 will be the choice for people who want to spend less but still get a good phone.
The question is whether or not there are any bugs in the new phone. The price advantage that Google has is not as great as it could be, but it does have more options and features out of the box.
We'll have our full review soon but, for now, it appears that the price reduction over the standard S21 isn't as stark as the previous iteration.
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