Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Better. MUCH Better!

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This is the Galaxy S21 FE, the successor to one of the sleeper hits of 2020, even if honestly, it does so by being nothing like it. See, Galaxy S20 FE was a good phone in so many ways, but it felt like more of a bumped-up A series, than it did a Galaxy S. Sure, the chip and most of the design elements were flagship territory, but the screen was not, and neither was the photography. What felt like a premium mid-ranger was probably the most in-touch phone Samsung could've launched at such a hard time, but it wasn't really the flagship killer it intended to be for the long run.

To call a phone a "Fan Edition," it has to live up to a few essentials.
- First, it has to be too good for the money
- Second, its execution has to be good enough to develop a following
- Third, it has to be bold enough to compete with a category where even Apple has a pair of contenders.
I'd say this new iteration nails most of these basics really well, but there's one thing I feel it could do better. I'm Jaime Rivera with Pocketnow, and let's discuss what it is in our full review.

0:00 - Introduction
1:40 - Hardware
3:21 - Software & Experience
5:06 - Cameras
6:32 - Conclusion

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[wakinyanthunderheart]

I've had this phone for almost 3 weeks now and I have absolutely no issues with it. I've seen many negative reviews about the S21 FE however I think it's a great phone. If you expect your phone to act like a laptop then buy a laptop. And in 2022 I believe all smartphones are up to par when looking at technology.

[JessikaTPQ]

I think for a phone to be considered a fan edition then the features offered should actually cater to the fans. A lot of people want that micro SD slot and headphone jack. Samsung should bring those back as exclusives to the line.

[MikeCasper]

I honestly prefer plastic back. I used my Pixel 2 XL for 2 years before upgrading to other devices. It feels so good in the hand and I feel ok with it being naked. For my glass phones I don't feel secure to use it without any case.

[imramy]

Bought the green one. My first Samsung since 2009. Been Xiaomi, Google, Huawei, Honor, Sony, Oppo, Realme, Nokia, ZTE and Meizu user since 2010. And best part is - Got the Snapdragon version of the S21 FE. 😊

[DiamondEDC]

Upgraded from an S8... with $150 in store credit and an additional $100 discount, this was a great buy and upgrade for me.

[merlavery]

I got my S21fe almost two weeks ago trading in my S20fe for 375.00. It was an awesome deal they gave me brand new Galaxy buds whit like the colors of my phone. I'm very happy with the S21fe it's miles better than the S20fe . It's a beautiful phone, pics and video do it no justice at all, it looks li, like, a flagship device period. It's has to be twice as fast as my old phone and I thought I would be pissed off that they removed the SD card but it's cool, because I got the white 256 8g model. Anyone thinking of getting one, you will be pleased the cameras are amazing.

[rcuriel]

Thanks Jaime for your honest review, I'm very happy to upgrade from my S20 FE which I do really like. I found myself never even getting half way to capacity on my 128gb sd card in my S20 FE so I think I'll be fine without it. The deal on Samsungs website gave me an enhanced trade in value of 500 for my S20 FE and 100 instant rebate so I got the 256gb 8G for just under 100 bucks. Pretty much a no brainer thanks to your review.

[ricardo_lavra]

Sometimes I only come here to see Jaime pronouncing his name. Great vid btw, I think this S21 FE will be the flagship killer the S20 FE intended to be (when the price receive some devaluation)

[nocturnalag]

Bought one last week as our parent company moved us all to their new database which is not supported on iphone, and provided us all A51s which were rather ordinary to be kind

The 21 FE was certified to work so i got one and the price of $650au it was the same cost as the A73 and just around the same cost as the A53 as well

Coming from the iphone 12 this is super smooth, love 120hz, the samsung apps are quite non intrusive, its comfortable, the screen colours are great, and it never lags.

Would not have paid $1000 for it which was the original price but at $650, wow what a great phone. No regrets at all

[webguardweb]

I hate when youtubers say "the last year CPU it is still ok/good/all right, today" Really??? What do you use that CPU for? Powering a space ship? Jeeeez... Synthetic benchmarks are just.... marketing and 💩 How many times during your daily use, will the CPU reach the top score listed on Antutu??? People use their phones on average 2-3 years before replace them. This stupid marketing 💩💩💩 with 20% faster or 15% less power hungry, or 12k nits brightness should be taken with a whole load of salt.

[mannyamato]

I got the 128gb storage, you can dedicate 6 gigs of storage to act as ram. It's all SSD anyways so 6 gigs of ram and another 6 from storage is 12 gigs 😁. It's handled every game I've thrown at it on max settings without 1 hiccup or stutter. It handles heat displacement extremely well. The cameras are awesome. I took a video of a bee on a dandelion and zoomed it and you could clearly see the pollen dust on her face and her tongue locking up the pollen. No pixelation what so ever. On long distance shots though it does blur a little on max zoom. As others have mentined expandable storage and a headphone jack would be nice but everything is going wireless. This phone can charge another phone wirelessly (it under battery settings) It's an amazing phone and I am extremely satisfied.

[BoxCarBoy]

The removal of expandable memory kills my enthusiasm for this phone. It was the last hardware feature that separated Samsung from its competitors, and now that it's gone I see no reason to get this S21 FE over a Pixel 6.

[alexvirginia]

Nah man.. Im good. My S20fe 5g is good enough.. The S21fe has a slightly smaller screen with no micro SD card slot.. And the cameras aren't that far off either. I'd get the newer one if I didn't have the S20fe already

[John.]

I think the 21 fe looks alot better the regular 21 I had plus it’s cheaper 👍🏼.

[deanthompson]

Thank you, Jaime, for the very complete and honest review of the Galaxy S 21 FE. I totally agree with your statements on Fan Edition Phones. Samsung was looking to the younger generations to be the masses who needed a phone at a reduced price, right before the S22 Series launch. The price will continue to drop after next week. Good, solid specs, nothing knocking this out of the park, you would not expect that. Thanks for your hard work.

[floroman]

I got an iPhone 12 as my daily driver, but I got the S21FE as a company phone and since then I'm not able to leave it down. WTF, I like it so much that I'm thinking of switching to S22 Ultra.

[theamazingcaper]

I'm coming from an S7. I think if you're coming from an older phone. This one is great! If you already have a S20 FE then keep that one because that phone is great!

[aditchawria]

Using it right now! Love it! One UI 4 ❤️

[farhanbarwis]

man, s21 fe has battery draining issue (at least those are the units in my country that using exynoss). the phone itself over all is a good phone and i love it. but there are some discussions in samsung forum in my country that has many cases with battery draining issues. the worst one was a guy who only got 1h 20m SOT since 100% charge even he used little apps bcs he is a office worker. mine also has that battery draining problem. i wish they fix it ASAP.

[CROW_CREEK_SIOUX]

I really enjoyed my S20 FE. It took awesome pics to me. All around it was awesome.