The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE or Fan Edition are amongst the first Samsung's smartphone in Malaysia to be released in early 2022. This phone is sold cheaper than the regular Samsung Galaxy S21 released last year. Since last year, its presence has been awaited by fans worldwide. Samsung has provided several improvements on this smartphone from Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, making the Galaxy S21 FE even more interesting.
Design
The Galaxy S21 FE offers a completely different look from its predecessor. The body measures 74.5 x 155.7 x 7.9 mm and weighs 177 grams. Although it is not as compact as the Galaxy S21, S21 FE still comfortable to grip, even for those with small hands. The colour and storage variant we got is the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Olive colour version with 8 GB RAM and 256 GB ROM. The back panel carries a polycarbonate or plastic material. While the side of the frame is made of aluminium.
The back has three cameras with slightly protruding modules, like the regular Galaxy S21. However, the difference is that the camera housing is not made with a metal frame. There is also an NFC feature that can be used to check your digital card balances at the back panel. Still, Samsung applies a matte finish on the back shell that makes it comfortable to hold while minimizing fingerprints.
The power button and volume control are on the right side, with a USB-C port on the bottom. Unfortunately, there's no 3.5mm headphone jack; maybe it's time to use the Samsung Galaxy Buds Pro or Samsung Galaxy Buds2. On the other hand, Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has an IP68 rating for water and dust resistance, so you don't have to worry when it rains or doing any activities in the pool with this smartphone.
Screen
One of the aspects that made us fall in love with this phone is the screen. Samsung implemented a 19.5:9 ratio after adopting 20:9 for a long time. As a result, the edges are made flat, plus the thin bezel gives the impression of being spacious in the view.
The Galaxy S21 FE has a 6.4-inch screen with Full HD + resolution. In addition, the panel uses Dynamic AMOLED 2X as installed in the Galaxy S21 series. The screen quality, in our opinion, looks more eye-catching as the colours presented are so rich and accurate, the details are very good. Samsung's screen issue has never disappointed us.
Equipped with stereo speakers, you can enjoy high-quality audio anywhere you go. Moreover, once we activate the Dolby Atmos feature, the sound quality is instantly boosted. Following the trend, the refresh rate is 120Hz, providing smooth transitions when scrolling the screen.
Camera
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE embeds three rear lenses: a 12 MP main camera with optical image stabilization (OIS), a 12 MP ultrawide camera with a 123-degree field of view, and an 8 MP telephoto camera. In addition, the selfie camera has a size of 32 MP.
In terms of quality, the rear camera shots of the Galaxy S21 FE have good results, especially under adequate lighting. The details are very clear, and the colours are well displayed and captured. The main camera has a subtle depth effect even though it doesn't use portrait mode. However, the portrait mode itself works well if you focus it properly.
Furthermore, using the night mode improves the low light scenario. In addition, the shot is brightened so that it looks good and does not look grainy or fade objects. While the selfie camera provides natural-looking shots under adequate lighting.
Although the ultrawide camera function displays photos wider, the image quality is still maintained, and the colours are still similar to the main lens. In addition, this lens allows the phone to zoom up to three times for telephoto cameras. Meanwhile, digital zoom, or what Samsung calls Space Zoom, can reach up to 30 times.
Samsung also offers several interesting features: an object eraser. This feature will remove unwanted objects in the captured photo. So there is no need to install third-party applications, and how to use them is easy.
Other camera features on the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE include Single Take, Portrait, Photo & Video, Pro, Panorama, Food, Night, Portrait Video, Pro Video, Super Slomo, Slow Motion, Hyperlapse, and Dual Recording. Samsung is known as a mobile phone brand that excels in the camera sector, and it is the same for the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.
For video recording, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G supports resolutions up to 4K 60FPS, both on the front and rear cameras.
Performance
The Galaxy S21 FE is equipped with an Exynos 2100 chipset with a Mali-G78 GPU combined with 8GB of RAM. When using it, the experience is so smooth.
Apps load quickly, multitasking is a breeze, and it can practically handle whatever we're working on.
We had time to do benchmarks test, and the results were quite high and satisfying. Here are the results:
Geekbench
- 1068 (Single-Core)
- 3,077 (Multi-Core)
PCMark
- 13,949 (Work 3.0)
3D Mark
- 6340 (Overall Score)
- 38.00 Average frame rate (FPS)
Battery
For connectivity features, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is equipped with WiFi, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC, 4G LTE, and 5G.
Samsung has equipped a 4,500mAh battery, similar to its predecessor, with 25W fast charging, 15W wireless charging, and 4.5W reverse wireless charging. However, as you may already know, retail units no longer come with a charging adapter; only a USB Type C cable is included. So it's worth needing a standard USB-PD adapter or Type-C charger if you don't already have one. When tested with PC Mark obtained 8 hours 28 seconds.
Conclusion
Overall, the Galaxy S21 FE is an excellent daily driver. Carrying a waterproof body, attractive appearance, okay performance, good camera shots, and supports 5G connectivity.
The phone runs One UI 4 based on Android 12, which brings several changes, from display customization to privacy. In addition, Samsung provides two very useful features, Link To Windows and DeX, so that the Galaxy S21 FE can be used for productivity. Therefore, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is suitable for users who like capable cameras or entertainment needs.
A polycarbonate body still displays a premium impression, a clear 2x Dynamic AMOLED screen, a 120Hz refresh rate for responsiveness. In addition, the camera with the best quality, up to a 4,500mAh battery capacity, is enough to be an advantage of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.
