Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: The Verdict
The Galaxy S21 FE is a solid phone that's arrived a little too late. Other than a poor battery, the overall package is pretty good, but if you're considering the Galaxy S21 FE, it's best to wait until it's cheaper.
What we love
- Good camera
- Lovely display
- Solid performance
What could be improved
- Poor battery
- A touch too expensive
The essentials
- Performance: Great for the most part, but a few small hitches on the 6GB RAM model.
- Battery: Bad. Out of the box, the Galaxy S21 FE was only hitting around three hours of screen time. Disabling the 120Hz display extended this out to around four hours of screen time, which still isn't great. Expect to be topping up each day, and sometimes, early.
- Screen: Excellent, as you'd expect from Samsung. It just sucks that you need to disable the 120Hz refresh rate for the sake of battery.
- Camera: Pretty good! The primary lens performs well in most circumstances, even if it lags a little behind the competition.
70/100
No matter a phone's individual strengths and weaknesses, it doesn't exist in a vacuum. While the phone itself is clearly an important part of the equation, the market conditions its launching in are also critical. After all, we judge everything by its competition.
In the case of the Galaxy S21 FE, Samsung is its own biggest competitor. A few months ago, the manufacturer's new "semi-premium" handset would have been a compelling prospect. Now, it stands in the shadow Galaxy S22 family, set to be announced on February 10, ahead of an expected March 4 release date.
The Galaxy S21 FE is ultimately a repackaged version of the Galaxy S21, with a few minor tweaks to bring the price down to $999. While that may sound perfectly reasonable on paper, that's a pretty high price, especially when you consider the Galaxy S21 launched this time last year.
Even if it ticks the right boxes, waiting just a little longer to see what Samsung's new latest and greatest has in store is almost certainly worth it. Maybe the entry-level Galaxy S22 will wow you enough to spend a little extra. And if not, there's every chance you'll be able to get a better deal by waiting. Telstra has already discounted the Galaxy S21 FE by $100 for a promo, for example.
But what if you need a new phone right now? How does the Galaxy S21 FE stack up?
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Remix
As aforementioned, the Galaxy S21 FE is a slightly more budget friendly take on the Galaxy S21. A remix. Most of its key specifications are identical. The biggest differences are a slightly bigger screen and a slightly worse zoom lens. Well, and price. The standard Galaxy S21 still retails for $1,249 (and will almost certainly drop in price when the Galaxy S22 drops), while the Galaxy S21 FE starts at $999.
Otherwise, the overall package isn't that different. That's both good and bad. For example, the Galaxy S21 FE's display is still the same kind of high quality screen you'd expect from Samsung. It holds onto its pricier sibling's 120Hz refresh rate, which makes all motion look that little bit smoother. The display itself measures in at 6.4-inch, which is just a touch larger than the 6.2-inch display you get on the standard Galaxy S21.
A larger screen almost means a slightly larger battery, but this doesn't have seemed to have much of an impact on how long the Galaxy S21 FE lasts. Just like the standard Galaxy S21, the Galaxy S21 FE's battery is woeful. With the 120Hz display on and when connected to 5G, I was struggling to hit even three hours of screen time. For anything more than light usage, that's going to require a recharge before the end of the day.
Disabling the 120Hz refresh rate helps eke out some more battery life, and extended it to around four hours of screen time per charge. That's still not great, but it makes it a little easier to get through an entire day without needing a top-up. Of course, you really shouldn’t have to disable key features just to get usable battery life.
Photo quality is one of those features where performing similarly to the Galaxy S21 is both good and bad. The Galaxy S21 certainly wasn't a bad shooter, and handled most situations well enough. The same holds true with the Galaxy S21 FE, and night mode even looks a little more natural instead of brightening images at the expense of contrast. The Galaxy S21 FE still has similar weaknesses, however, where it isn't always great at capturing moving subjects, and the secondary lenses do a poor job in low light. Especially the zoom lens, which is only really useful in well lit environments.
There's also the fact it's been over a year since the Galaxy S21 released, and in that time, we've seen a number of excellent camera phones hit the market. The iPhone 13 family are excellent shooters across the board, with the iPhone 13 Pro reigning as the phone to beat for photography right now. Of course, that will set you back a lot more than a Galaxy S21 FE. The standard Pixel 6, however, is your best option for an Android camera phone, and it starts at just $999 for the standard model. While it doesn't have a zoom lens, the phone's primary and ultra-wide lenses are a clear step above the Galaxy S21 FE.
Performance is fine for the most part, with the Galaxy S21 FE powered by the same Samsung flagship chip as the Galaxy S21. I did however encounter a few odd stutters here and there, and had apps reloading from scratch (rather than resuming from where I last left off) more than I expected.
I'd chalk this up to the Galaxy S21 FE starting with 6GB of RAM (which I tested for this review), while the standard Galaxy S21 shipped with a minimum of 8GB. It's a small annoyance, but when you're spending almost a grand, you shouldn't have to worry about your phone's performance. The 256GB Galaxy S21 FE includes 8GB of RAM, however, if you're keen to splash out on extra storage. The bump will cost you an extra $100, putting it even closer to the cost of a Galaxy S21.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE - Final Thoughts
Devoid of market context, the Galaxy S21 FE is a solid overall device let down by lacklustre battery, which, admittedly, has been the trend with high-end Android phones lately. It's a cheaper Galaxy S21, one year later, warts and all.
Of course, the Galaxy S21 FE can't escape the fact it's being launched so close to Samsung's next phone, or the fact it is a year out of date. If Samsung had got it on shelves earlier, it would have been a lot more attractive.
None of this makes the Galaxy S21 FE a bad phone, but it's not one you should rush out and nab right now. If you need a sub-$1,000 Android device right now, my recommendation is the Pixel 6. But if you can find the Galaxy S21 FE for around $800, it's a much better buy - and those discounts will come sooner than you think.
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