Description
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Design
First, off the Samsung Galaxy, S21 Fe comes in four color options namely White, Graphite, Lavender, and Olive. It borrows so much of its design inspiration from the S21 Series to which it belongs. With exception of Galaxy S21 Ultra. I would say it is a striking new design but that wouldn’t actually be the case. Don’t get me wrong. This design is sticking, just not new. It will turn heads you can be sure of that. This is because the FE maintains that Contour design that blends the camera island seamlessly with the phones’ frame, making them look like they were cut from a single block of marble metal. Otherwise, the build here is Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), plastic back, aluminum frame, and IP68 dust/water resistance (up to 1.5m for 30 mins) is also ensured.
Camera
Two of the three rear-facing cameras used by the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE are identical to 2020, September 23’s Galaxy S20 FE. The main camera of the Samsung Galaxy S21 Fan Edition is an optically stabilized 12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS. The second lens is an 8 MP, f/2.4, 76mm (telephoto), PDAF, 3x optical zoom ultrawide lens that does not Super Steady video. We also see a 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 123˚ (ultrawide) third lens on this fan edition of a smartphone. As for the selfie camera, you get a 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide) front-facing lens.
Now, unlike the Galaxy S21 which this phone is a vanilla version of, the most notable difference when it comes to the cameras is that 64 MP, f/2.0, 29mm telephoto lens. This one comes with an 8 MP, f/2.4, 76mm (telephoto) one. Also, there is a Super Steady video on the S21 which is not available on this phone. Otherwise more useful features like Portrait Mode’s Studio-quality shots are very much present on this smartphone. AI multi-frame processing also will also bring out more color and detail to your shots.
Platform
What you have got running the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is Android 12, One UI 4.1 launcher. One UI just brings the best of Android 12 here. For instance, the privacy features are present and correct. You can fast toggle the camera and microphone access for all apps. And when you load up an app that uses the camera or the mic, you’ll get a little indicator at the top corner. You’ve got great customization in one UI. For example, you change the wallpaper and everything as usual, but you’ll also see the new color palette option as well. This can actually change up the theme and colors based on the wallpaper you’ve got installed at the time.
Battery
The complaint on battery life is quickly silenced at the mention of S21 FE’s Li-Po 4500 mAh, non-removable battery. The same supports fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min, fast wireless charging 15W, reverse wireless charging, and USB Power Delivery 3.0. S21 FE follows the flagship trend of not including a charger, that is a power brick, inside its retail package. The same can be purchased separately on our website.
5G support
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE supports 5G with support for SA/NSA/Sub6, thanks to the integrated Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor. It should work with whichever phone network you have (but 5G was not yet in Kenya at the time of this review).
