Samsung has had an incredibly busy 2021, and before the year is up, the company's expected to launch the highly-anticipated Galaxy S21 FE. As the name implies, the S21 FE will be a direct successor to last year's Galaxy S20 FE. And, based on what's been revealed so far, it'll have a similar goal. Where the S20 FE offered the flagship Galaxy S20 experience at a lower price, the S21 FE should do the same for the regular S21.
The Galaxy S20 FE was a phone that seemingly came out of nowhere, but once people got their hands on the thing, it was quickly revealed as one of the best smartphones of the entire year. It had the same flagship processor as the regular S20, a 120Hz AMOLED display, great cameras, and a retail price of just $699 (often discounted to $599 or even $549). It's a smartphone value that continues to be impressive almost a year later. However, bigger and better things are on the horizon with the Galaxy S21 FE.
In regards to its design, the S21 FE should look a lot like the Galaxy S21 that came out back in January. The latest renders, shared by Evan Blass on August 20, confirm this. The Galaxy S21 FE will feature a 6.4-inch AMOLED display, a centered hole-punch cutout, and a triple-camera system on the back. Just like the other entries in the S21 series, the camera bump is a slim rectangle that appears to flow seamlessly with the rest of the design. While the two-tone aesthetic of the S21 isn't present, Samsung will offer the S21 FE in a variety of colors. These include white, gray, green, blue, and violet.
More Galaxy S21 FE Rumors/Leaks
Digging into the rumored specs, the Galaxy S21 FE should have a lot to offer. Similar to its other S21 siblings, the S21 FE is expected to feature the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. That'll allow for flagship-grade performance, good battery efficiency, and both sub-6 / mmWave 5G support. It's also possible the S21 FE will be upgraded to 8GB of RAM over the S20 FE's 6GB, though that spec remains up in the air. Elsewhere, the S21 FE sounds like it'll be very similar to its predecessor. The latest rumors claim it'll have a 120Hz refresh rate, 4,500 mAh battery, 128 or 256GB of expandable storage, and a 32MP selfie camera. The three rear cameras are also shaping up to be identical, consisting of a 12MP primary sensor, 8MP telephoto, and 12MP ultra-wide.
While such a similar spec sheet may be disappointing, this could result in an even lower price than last year. When the S20 FE launched at $699 it was a great deal cheaper than the $999 S20. Seeing as how the Galaxy S21 costs just $799, however, that leaves reason to believe Samsung will also offer a year-over-year price cut for the S21 FE. If Samsung retains the $300 price difference and sells the Galaxy S21 FE for $499, that would be a game-changer. It remains to be seen if Samsung will be that competitive in its pricing, but some sort of price decrease is very likely.
For anyone chomping at the bit to get their hands on the Galaxy S21 FE, there shouldn't be too much longer to wait. According to FCC documents and leaked marketing material, it appears that Samsung had intended to announce the S21 FE in early August alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Flip 3. One source claims the phone will debut in October (just like the S20 FE), though it's difficult to say with too much certainty. It's evident that the S21 FE is coming at some point this year, so here's to hoping that ends up being sooner rather than later.
Source: Evan Blass, FNNews