Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G First Impressions: Riding the Wave

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy S20 FE 5G have been enormous successes for the corporate, a lot in order that Samsung has reportedly bought over 10 million items globally, to date. Naturally, Samsung desires to proceed driving this wave, and what higher manner to take action than to observe them up with a brand new model.

Samsung has simply launched the Galaxy S21 FE 5G in India, a hotly anticipated smartphone that follows the identical method as earlier than — providing flagship-level specs and options much like these of the premium S21 collection, however lengthy after their launch and with out the premium worth. Samsung despatched us a unit for overview, and whereas that’s ongoing, here is a peek at what you may anticipate from Samsung’s newest worth flagship.

The premium expertise begins with the packaging, which is a minimalistic, slim field identical to those this cellphone’s siblings are available in. Inside, you get the cellphone, a USB Kind-C to Kind-C cable, and a SIM eject instrument. In fashionable flagship trend, there is no energy adapter within the field, as there was with final 12 months’s FE fashions.

In comparison with the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G does not change the sport in any main manner, largely as a result of the earlier cellphone was already packed to the gills with options. As an alternative, we get a number of evolutionary adjustments such because the design and SoC.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has a contour-cut design for the digital camera module, identical to the Galaxy S21 collection, however this portion is constructed from plastic as a substitute of steel and is not an extension of the body. The again panel can be plastic however the show will get Gorilla Glass Victus for higher scratch safety. The steel body feels sturdy, and you will find the ability and quantity buttons on the precise, and the USB port and dual-SIM tray on the underside. There is no headphone jack.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has an in-display fingerprint sensor

The S21 FE 5G is pretty slim at 7.9mm and is unquestionably lighter at 177g than the 190g of the Galaxy S20 FE 5G. The Graphite color unit that I’ve does make the design really feel a bit boring, however fortunately there are additionally brighter shades equivalent to Olive, Lavender and White. The cellphone is out there in two storage variants, 128GB and 256GB, with the identical 8GB of RAM in each. Nonetheless, the SIM tray isn’t the hybrid kind that we noticed within the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, which implies you may’t broaden the interior storage.

On the entrance, now we have a big and shiny 6.4-inch AMOLED show with a 120Hz refresh price. The show is flat on all sides and has comparatively slim bezels too. There is a 32-megapixel selfie digital camera within the cutout, and an in-display optical fingerprint sensor. The show seems nice, within the brief time I have been utilizing it, with good colors and sharpness. The fingerprint sensor works properly too and the excessive refresh price makes utilization really feel snappy.

The following huge change is the SoC. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G options an Exynos 2100, which is similar chip present in Samsung’s flagship S21 collection. We had been hoping to see the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC within the model of this cellphone bought in India, since that is what’s in among the world variants, and particularly because the Galaxy S20 FE 5G was based mostly on the Snapdragon 865 SoC. Nonetheless, The Exynos 2100 remains to be a flagship SoC and we’ll be placing it by way of its paces within the full overview.

On the software program facet, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G ships with OneUI 4, based mostly on Android 12. The brand new model has small tweaks all through the interface and menus, however total, it seems and feels acquainted.

The barebones bundle of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G illustrates the modern-day flagship unboxing expertise

Loads of the options from the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G are carried over to the Galaxy S21 FE 5G. There’s an IP68 ranking for mud and water resistance, stereo audio system, Samsung Pay with NFC, and Wi-fi Dex mode. It even has the identical battery capability of 4,500mAh, with 25W quick wired charging, 15W wi-fi charging, and reverse wi-fi charging.

It is a comparable story with the cameras. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has three rear cameras with the identical resolutions as these on the Galaxy S20 FE 5G. These are a 12-megapixel main, a 12-megapixel ultra-wide, and an 8-megapixel telephoto with 3X optical zoom.. There’s nonetheless plenty of testing to be carried out, however to date the cameras appear fairly competent.

At first, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G does not really feel like a serious step up over its predecessor, and from what I could make out to date, the one huge adjustments appear to be the design and the SoC. The removing of microSD card assist is a bit disappointing too. The official costs for the Galaxy S21 FE 5G are Rs. 54,999 for the 128GB variant and Rs. 58,999 in order for you 256GB of storage, however Samsung has introduced a restricted time cashback supply which knocks Rs. 5,000 off these costs in the event you use HDFC Financial institution playing cards, which makes this cellphone a bit extra enticing. However how does the Galaxy S21 FE 5G stack as much as its rivals, the largest one being the Galaxy S20 FE 5G? We’ll be answering that and lots of extra questions in our full overview, so keep tuned.