Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Still a worthy 2022 smartphone?

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: The Galaxy S21 FE was released by Samsung in early 2022. But it was supposed to be a 2021 smartphone. The question now is, should you still buy the Galaxy S21 FE in 2022? Is it still a worthy 2022 smartphone?

It’s important to note that there have been other phones released in 2022 as well. This makes it very competitive for the Galaxy S21 FE to keep a top spot. So, this Samsung Galaxy S21 FE review will explain why you should or should not buy the device in 2022.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review

Display, Design and Build

The display of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is not just colorful but comes with lots of impressive features. Galaxy S21 FE has a 6.4-inches AMOLED 2x display with a 120Hz refresh rate and support for HDR10+. It is protected by Corning Gorilla Glass Victus (strongest glass of 2021) and has the always-on display feature.

The build materials of this phone are a Glass front (Gorilla Glass Victus), plastic back, and aluminum frame. To make the device even more interesting, it has IP68 water and dust resistance rating. This means the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE can be used underwater without issues (you can go swimming with the phone).

As for the design, it has a flat-screen and a center punch hole that houses the selfie camera. It has no 3.5mm jack port but features stereo speakers and the volume and power buttons are to the right side of the device. Overall, the display, design, and build of the Galaxy S21 FE scream quality.

Camera

There is a total of four cameras in the Galaxy S21 FE (three at the rear and one upfront). Galaxy S21 FE comes with a useful triple rear camera set up: a 12MP main camera with OIS, an 8MP telephoto lens with OIS and 3x optical zoom, and a 12MP ultra-wide lens.

Upfront, it comes with a 32MP wide selfie camera placed in the punch hole. The quality of photos from the cameras is of top quality. But, that is not even the best thing about the cameras.

The more impressive thing about the cameras is the use of these cameras. You have options to use a different lens for different tasks. For example, you’ll find the 8MP telephoto lens very useful when taking photos of objects from afar. While the 12MP ultra-wide lens comes in handy when you need to take photos of wider areas.

Not to mention that the cameras can record 4K videos, has features such as gyro-EIS, HDR10+, and OIS for stable photo and video recording. To be clear, you can’t go wrong with the cameras of this device and the camera setup is not a boring one.

Chipset and Performance

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE comes in two different models with different chipsets. This means you can expect to get slightly different performance depending on the chipset inside the model you have. For those in the United States, Canada, and China, the Galaxy S21 FE features the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G chip.

This chip is a very powerful chipset that powers all the flagship smartphones of 2021. The chip has an octa-core processor speed clocked at 2.84GHz with a peak download speed of 7.5 Gbps and a peak upload speed of 3.7 Gbps.

The other model of the Galaxy S21 FE is powered by Samsung’s Exynos 2100 chip. It has an octa-core processor speed clocked at 2.9GHz with a peak download speed of 7.35 Gbps. The Exynos 2100 chip is good but the Snapdragon 888 5G chip is better.

Both chipsets are 5G enabled, packs loads of AI features, have support for fast LPDDR5 RAM tech, and features impressive ISP for processing images and videos.

RAM and Storage

Regardless of the chipset inside, the RAM and internal storage are the same. The Galaxy S21 FE has three RAM and storage combinations to choose from: 6GB RAM + 128GB storage, 8GB RAM + 128GB storage, and/or 8GB RAM + 256GB storage. There is no space for storage expansion via a microSD card.

Battery

The Galaxy S21 FE is powered by a 4,500mAh battery with a 25W fast charge. You can charge the battery from 0 to 100% in about one hour ten minutes. Other charging features are: Fast wireless charging 15W, Reverse wireless charging, and USB Power Delivery 3.0.

Software

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE boots OneUI 4 based on Android 12 out of the box. Samsung has promised up to 3 years of major software updates and 5 years of security patches for this device.

You can download updates, apps, and games from the Google Play Store and you have access to use the Google Mobile Services (GMS). There are also other sensor features such as fingerprint scanner, Samsung Pay (Visa, MasterCard certified), and Bixby natural language commands and dictation.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Conclusion

Why some won’t like to buy the Galaxy S21 FE

The price is little expensive considering that there are other device such as the Xiaomi 12 and Motorola Edge X30 that offers better chipset at a cheaper price.
It has no 3.5mm jack port
Battery is relatively small considering the heavy chipset inside

Why you should buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

Value for money is guaranteed
Very nice display with smooth 120Hz refresh rate and HDR10+ support
Nice camera setup with loads of useful camera features that makes using the phone very exciting.
It’s a very durable device with Gorilla Glass Victus protection and its water and dust resistance certified.
Features a powerful chipset with fast CPUs and GPUs
Latest Android OS and long software update plan

Price

The starting price of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE in the UK is £699 for the 6GB + 128GB storage. While the 8GB + 256GB of storage cost £749. Demand for the device is very high right now and the 128GB version is currently out of stock in the UK. You can buy the device using any of the links in the table below.

Where to buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

Buy Galaxy S21 FE	Price
Buy on Amazon UK	£699.00
Buy on Amazon UK	£749.00
Buy on Amazon US	$699.00

Images: MKBHD