The much anticipated Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has finally been announced, and I have had it for a while now to review. FE stands for Fan Edition and offers the best of the S21 at a more affordable price. Let’s take a closer look at what you need to know about the S21 FE!
What is in the box:
Removing the plastic wrapping, you get the box of the S21 FE, which is thin to reduce the impact on the environment. Cutting the seal and then removing the lid, you are greeted by the Galaxy S21 FE wrapped in protective plastic. Below the S21 FE is a cardboard insert, where you find the sim card ejector tool, and then inside there is a Samsung Pay leaflet, Warranty Card, Quick start guide and a USB Type C cable. There is no charging brick or earphones, to reduce the impact on the environment as many already own these. Watch my unboxing!
The Design:
The S21 FE comes in White, Graphite, Lavender and Olive and this is the Lavender version, which looks great. The back is made of plastic with a fingerprint-resistant top layer. On the back of the device is a triple camera mounted on the top left as well as a flash. On the brushed aluminium sides of the device, you will find the dual sim card tray, the USB Type C port, a stereo speaker and a microphone and then a volume rocker and a power/unlock button. The front of the device has a 6.4 inch display with a pinhole camera. The sim card tray is a dual sim card tray and takes two nano sim cards.
The Display:
The display is a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED Display with 120Hz and support of HDR10+. The display produces a detailed, vibrant image with amazing colours and the 120Hz refresh rate ensures that everything runs smoothly. You can also opt to use the 60Hz refresh rate. There is no dynamic refresh rate, so the refresh rate won’t adapt to what is on the screen like the S21 Ultra 5G. The under display fingerprint sensor is very responsive and recognises your fingerprint quickly.
Performance:
If you are looking for speed, well the S21 FE certainly has it. The Octa-core processor together with 6GB RAM really gives the device the performance it needs. From gaming, multitasking or general social media, the S21 FE performs when you need it to.
Storage:
There is no support of a SD card, but you do get 128GB of Internal Storage!
Camera Setup:
The S21 FE packs a rear triple camera made up of a 12MP wide angle lens, a 12MP ultrawide lens and an 8PM telephoto lens. Together with OIS, an LED flash, auto HDR and loads of other modes and features such as portrait mode and night mode, the S21 FE certainly packs a powerhouse of a camera. I personally use an S21 Ultra 5G and looking at the images/videos that I captured on the S21 FE, the FE does not disappoint.
The front lens, for selfies, of course, has a 32MP wide angle lens, with HDR, and takes detailed selfies.
You can capture video in a range of resolutions: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60/240fps, 720p@960fps, HDR10+, gyro-EIS. Videos from the front lens can be captured in: 4K@30/60fps, 1080p@30/60fps. There are loads of modes that one can use when capturing videos. Dual Recording lets you record with both lenses at the same time. Hyperlapse lets you capture time-lapse videos with ease. Slow motion, lets you see everything in slow motion! See the footage I captured.
The camera app is the same as what you get on any Samsung device these days. Modes are changed simply by swiping, and more modes are just a tap away. The settings of the camera allow you to tweak the camera just to your liking. You can also turn on the flash, change the resolution or filter at the top of the viewfinder. Swiping up or down lets you switch quickly between the rear or front lenses.
How does the camera perform? Let’s take a look at photos I captured out and about:
Snapping with the 12MP wide angle lens (the default mode) produces detailed and vibrant images, with realistic colours, no noise and great dynamic range. With lots of light in the daytime, this lens excels. I took the below photos with Scene Optimiser and auto HDR on, as I do on my S21 Ultra 5G.
The 12MP ultrawide lens captures similar images to the default lens but lets you get more in the frame, without losing detail or adding distortion. The colours and details are great for a wide angle photo.
The 8MP telephoto lens is useful for taking micro photography, my only gripe is that there is no autofocus, so getting the right distance from the subject is vital to get a crisp shot like the below:
The 8MP telephoto lens is also great for capturing images of subjects or objects that are far away. One can zoom up to 30X in, but I found the sweetspot to be around 4X or 10X, otherwise the photo starts to get grainy and lose detail. At around 4X, the photos still have lots of detail with very little noise!
When taking photos at night, you have the choice of letting the scene optimiser suggest that you use night shot. A half moon appears and then you simply tap it and night shot is on. Otherwise, you can use night mode. I found that night mode added more brightness and exposure to the images than the normal or night shot mode. When taking ultrawide photos at night, night mode improved the detail and exposure, and removed some noise. In normal mode, the S21 FE captures really good images in low light conditions. Night mode and Night shot do help brighten up certain areas, but in my below test, I didn’t find these modes to be necessary. I found that the selfie camera at night took great photos regardless of the mode.
Portrait Mode adds bokeh to images to blur the background. This mode did a good job adding background without interfering with the subject, which one sees often on cheaper devices.
Lastly, for those that are into snapping selfies, the S21 FE captures detailed selfies, with low noise and great colours, contrast and dynamic range. Even though there is no autofocus and in fact a fixed focus, I was still able to capture selfies with me in focus!
How did the video footage turn out? I captured footage on my adventures and I was very impressed with the outcome. See my footage on my YouTube Channel:
4K @ 60 FPS
1080P @ 240 FPS
720P @ 960 FPS
The Battery:
To keep you powered up throughout the day, the S21 FE packs a 4500 mAh Battery with 25W Fast Charging – this let’s you charge to 50% in 30 min. I was able to get more than a day of use from the device, which is very good. There are obviously the standard battery saving modes to ensure that you get the best use from the battery. You also get reverse wireless charging for charging your Galaxy Buds or a friend’s device.
Speakers:
The stereo speakers with surround sound with Dolby Atmos technology, produces good vocals and bass, with really good volume.
Software:
Running the show is Android 12 together with Samsung’s One UI which gives a easy to use OS that runs smoothly. I personally am a big fan of Android, and in particular Samsung’s UI look and feel. There is also very little bloatware, which is what you can expect from Samsung.
The Price:
In South Africa, the S21 FE sells from R 14 999,00 (Actually for sale at the time of writing for R12999). It does come in an 8GB and a 256GB version, but not in SA it seems.
The Verdict:
The S21 FE is a great addition to the Galaxy S21 range. It is well designed, packs adequate power, has loads of useful features. A great camera. An excellent battery life. Overall, it is a fantastic device!
