Getting started with the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE: will you take much of the 2021? – Frandroid

We were able to try the S21 FE a few weeks before its official presentation. Here are our first impressions: it already seems to be a light and pleasant smartphone serving a user experience worthy of 2022.

Will come out, not come out? the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE will have represented a beautiful Arlesian throughout the year for Samsung. So much so that the model comes out on January 4, 2022, where its predecessor, the first “Fan Edition” from Samsung, was released on October 2, 2020.

It is indeed there, and we were able to take it in hand for a few tens of minutes during a presentation before the THOSE, in Paris. Here is everything there is to know about this new entry in the premium range of Samsung.

A plain and light design

First difference with the S21, the Galaxy S21 FE features a design with a solid color on the back. This makes it stand out quite a bit and makes it look lighter.

But that’s not the only difference with its model. The smartphone frame abandons aluminum to switch to plastic. Result: the entire smartphone apart from its screen is covered with it. We leave it up to you to judge the qualities or defects of this material, but from what we saw, the finishes looked impeccable and the handling rather pleasant. The smartphone has a rather soft coating, very slightly rounded as it approaches the frame. We are far from low-end plastic.

Weight and dimensions level, if Samsung could not give us details apart from a rather thin thickness of 7.9 mm, we know however that it is about a panel of 6.4 inches. The S21 FE is therefore slightly larger than the S21 and slightly smaller than the S21 Plus. It is also a little smaller than the S20 FE and its 6.5 inches. Also, the photo block seemed thinner to me than on the classic S21, but that doesn’t prevent the phone from swaying a bit when you put it on a table. However, it remains fairly stable.

In hand, it’s a smartphone that gives the impression of being small and light despite a beautiful medium-sized panel, which is always appreciable. Here is a comparison with the S21 to get an idea.

To finish on the back, let’s tackle the subject of colors. There are four on the menu, and they exactly match those of Galaxy buds 2 presented at the end of summer 2021. We can therefore set our sights on graphite (black), olive (green), lavender (purple) and white (White).

A flat panel at 120 Hz

Let’s move on to the front panel. The smartphone displays a flat screen without curvature protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. If we add its IP68 certification, we are on the best in terms of resistance.

Where Samsung has certainly given up a little ballast to lower the price of its smartphone, it is in particular on the borders which are rather thick (all proportions kept of course) as well as the black area around the punch, located in the center, which is larger than on more premium models.

The screen itself is a 6.4-inch Amoled in Full HD + (2340x1080px) and 120 Hz which we found to be correct in every way.

The Snapdragon 888 is working overtime

For what we find under its shell, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE skips the Exynos 2100 of the S21 and opts for a Snapdragon 888, namely the top-of-the-range chip par excellence of 2021. It will be helped from 6 to 8 GB of RAM depending on the configurations and from 128 to 256 GB of storage.

Point ofExynos 2200 nor of Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 here, but for an entry level in the S21 series, it is quite normal and the Snapdragon 888 remains an extremely powerful chip.

As for autonomy and charge, we know that Samsung is not used to shining brightly. On paper, the Samsung S21 FE offers the same size battery as the S20 FE with 4,500mAh. On the load side, however, there is better. The supplied unit goes from 15 to 25 W. What to save precious minutes in charge, even if we stay far from the cadets of the fast charge which represent the Chinese brands of smartphones.

Wireless charging for its part is 15 W. Reverse charging is also part of the game, including wireless. According to Samsung, sticking its Galaxy Buds 2 to the back of an S21 FE for 5 minutes would, for example, recover two hours of listening.

X3 optical zoom

On the photo side, the Galaxy S21 FE retains the configuration of the S20 FE by offering a main sensor of 12 megapixels in dual pixel, which should improve portrait mode and night photography, an ultra wide-angle of 12 megapixels and a Zoom X3 8 megapixel optics.

The selfie sensor for its part again offers 32 megapixels.

Let’s add that the S21 FE adds some software improvements over its predecessor. It thus benefits from Samsung’s new portrait mode, which allows you to add textures and colors in the background. The video also incorporates a novelty: the director mode, which allows you to film with the rear and front cameras at the same time.

The first Samsung to release under One UI 4

It’s a bit of a surprise to the chef, even if some rumors let it be understood. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE comes with One UI 4, namely the latest version of the operating system from Google, Android 12. In addition, Samsung France has confirmed to us that the S21 FE will benefit from three years of updates. This therefore means that, in the S21 series, he will be entitled to an additional year of update compared to his little comrades. Good news for a smartphone that comes out almost a year after the series from which it is inspired.

We gave this interface 8/10 in our test. The software part is undoubtedly one of Samsung’s strong points, especially as its new version has gained in fluidity of the animations and in customization and confidentiality options.

Prices and availability

This year, there will be no 4G version, unlike the S20 FE which offered both 4G and 5G. The 6 + 128 GB version is traded at 759 euros and the 8 + 256 GB version is sold at 829 euros. We therefore have smartphones around 100 euros cheaper than the S21. An introductory offer is offering Galaxy Buds 2 for free until February 8. All colors (lavender, olive, graphite and white) are available for sale.