Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review summary:
Editor’s rating: 3.85/5
Pros
- Excellent Display
- Appealing design
- Capable cameras
- Android 12 based software
Cons
- Pricey
- Comparatively slow charging speeds
- No charging adapter in the box
Design
Display
Performance
Software
Camera
Battery
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is finally here. The most affordable S21 series phone has been making headlines since August but after several delays, it finally managed to see the daylight in January 2022. The successor to Galaxy S20 FE is probably a few months late as Samsung flagships for 2022 are just around the corner which will lead to price cuts for the existing S21 series phones.
Having said that, the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE makes a positive first impression with flagship-level specs on paper and its elegant design. But is it worth buying? Well, we have been testing this phone for a week now. Based on that experience, I am sharing this review of Galaxy S21 FE. Here I will be addressing what I liked, where the Galaxy S21 Fe fell short and how does it compare against the competition. Let begin.
Navigate this review:
Unboxing | Specs | Design | Display | Software & Performance | Camera | Battery | Verdict
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Unboxing
In recent years, Samsung has cut down heavily on box content. Things like a wall charger, AKG wired earphones, a phone case – all have become history. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE box includes the following items:
- Samsung Galaxy S21 FE handset without a pre-applied screen protector
- USB Type-C to Type-C cable
- SIM ejector tool and documentation
- A USB C to 3.5mm connector
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Specs & Price
Body: 159.4673.277.36mm, 171g; Gorilla Glass equivalent protection, plastic frame
Display: 6.56″ AMOLED, 90Hz, HDR10+, 800 nits (peak), 2376x1080px resolution, 18.10 aspect ratio,
Chipset: Mediatek Dimensity 1200 (6 nm): 1x Arm Cortex-A78 up to 3GHz, 3x Arm Cortex-A78 up to 2.6GHz, 4x Arm Cortex-A55 up to 2GHz; Mali-G77 MC9 GPU.
Memory: 128GB ROM + 8GB RAM, 256GB ROM + 12GB RAM;
Software: Android 11, FunTouchOS 12.
Rear camera: Wide (main): 108 MP, f/1.88, PDAF, OIS; Ultra wide angle: 8 MP, f/2.2; Macro: 2 MP, f/2.4.
Front camera: Main: 50 MP, f/2.0, Wide: 8MP, f/2.28
Battery: 4,300mAh; Fast charging 44W
Misc: Fingerprint reader (in-display); NFC; Stereo speakers.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Design and build quality
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE follows the design language Samsung established for its S-lineup of 2021. Yes, the Galaxy S21 FE is slightly taller and wider when compared to the vanilla Galaxy S21 thanks to its slightly taller screen and a slightly bigger battery. However, the waistline of the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition is just as slim at 7.9 mm. Yes, it is slightly heavier than the Galaxy S21 (177 grams vs 169grams), however, its excellent weight management ensures you won’t mind those extra grams. Samsung has delivered four fresh colors, out of these four colors we have the Olive Green one which looks quite appealing.
The front of the phone is dominated by a glorious 6.4-inch screen with a small punch hole cutout to house the selfie camera. Samsung has also placed an under-display optical fingerprint sensor that performs well. There are razer thin bezels on the sides and a narrow chin which ensures it looks appealing to the eye.
Talking of the rear panel, the triple camera module juts out slightly similar to its other S21 siblings. Samsung has one of the better implementations of camera hump that seamlessly merges with the frame. As far as durability is concerned, the phone has Gorilla Glass Victus on the front which is the toughest glass available in an Android phone today. The phone also has an IP68 rating for certified protection against dust and water.
All said and done, I am quite pleased with the Galaxy S21 FE design. Yes, it’s not as flashy as some of its competitors. It looks elegant and has a very reassuring in-hand feel.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Display
Once again, Samsung delivers the best in class display. The Galaxy S21 FE gets to flaunt a 6.4-inch display with 1080 x 2400 pixels. It’s an LTPO display which Samsung markets as a Dynamic AMOLED 2X screen. Its advantage over regular AMOLED is that Samsung has been able to implement a 120 Hz high refresh rate. Having said that, it lacks that adaptive feature that Samsung offers in its other S21 offerings.
The display mesmerizes you with its vibrant colors and punchy contrast. If you are worried about outdoor visibility, Samsung has you well covered with 1200 nits peak brightness.
Stream your favorite show on Netflix or any other OTT platform, you will love the colors, contrast, and brightness that the S21 FE display delivers. It is worth pointing out that, the S21 FE display is HDR certified and I was able to play the HDR content on Youtube and Netflix.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Software and Performance
The V23 Pro comes running on Vivo’s own custom skin FunTouch 12 which is based on Android 12. Vivo has incorporated some of the Android 12 features such as camera, location or mic access in-use indicator, redesigned notification, and quick setting panel. However, it has conveniently left out some of Android 12 features as well. You won’t find Android 12’s personalization features that allow you to pick colors from wallpaper that can be used in different elements. There are no smart controls options while long pressing the power button.
Coming to the performance part, the Vivo V23 Pro is driven by a 6 nm-based MediaTek Dimensity 1200 octa-core chipset which is clocked at 3.0GHz. The chipset is mated with up to 12GB RAM with up to 256GB storage. Vivo has also added 4GB of virtual RAM which uses part of your storage to storage as memory.
With Dimensity 1200 at the heart, it performs similar to OnePlus Nord 2, Poco F3 GT, OPPO Reno 6 Pro, and other similar specced phones. It delivers good day-to-day performance. It manages to handle everyone’s tasks without slowing down. Even the games like CoD Mobile and PUBG mobiles ran without fame drops at 60FPS and 40FPS respectively.
What about throttling you may ask? Well, we ran the CPU throttling test on the V23 Pro and it throttled at 75 percent of its max performance. That means over a longer period of time, system performance dips to manage to keep CPU temperature in check.
As far as other benchmarks are concerned, the Vivo V23 Pro scores 6,34,276 on Antutu. On Geekbench it only manages to score 626 on single-core and 2611 in multiple cores tests.
Overall, the Vivo V23 Pro doesn’t disappoint on the performance front. While it won’t top the price to performance charts but you won’t face any performance stress in day-to-day life with the V23 Pro.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Camera Review
Let’s now take a look at Vivo V23 Pros cameras. Well, the phone has a stack of three cameras at the back featuring a 108MP primary shooter, an 8MP ultra-wide shooter, and a 2MP macro camera. For selfies, Vivo has packed in a setup of 50MP primary snapper coupled with an 8MP ultra-wide sensor. There are also two spotlights on the front with the option to change their colour temperature for better low-light selfies.
The primary rear camera snaps 12MP images by default. These pixel binned shots offer ample details with close to real-life colors (well at least they aren’t as oversaturated as competition).
Having said that, HDR performance is a bit of a hit and miss. The ultrawide lens delivers usable shots when there is enough light. The 2MP macro camera delivers images that look artificial and with almost no details.
The low light performance of the V23 Pro optics isn’t very praiseworthy either. Shots taken with night appear bright on screen but if you try to zoom in you will realize the high noise levels in the picture.
The V23 Pro really shines when it comes to selfies. The 50MP camera front snapper captures a good amount of facial details. That’s not all, Vivo has added a bunch of cool styles and effects to optimize your selfie for social likes.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Review: Battery
The Vivo V23 Pro packs a fairly large 4,300mAh battery and the battery backup is pretty amazing. After making numerous call, attending mail from multiple mail account, and bit out media consumption, music playback, and socializing, I had about 15 percent left in the tank at the end of the day. The 44W charger is also effective as it comes with dual-engine quick charge technology which refills the battery in about fifty minutes (approx.).
Review verdict: Should You Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE?
Should you buy the Vivo V23 Pro? Well, that’s a tricky question to answer. It has its pros and cons. You should buy the V23 Pro if you are looking for a good selfie camera phone. You should consider this phone if you wish to impress your peers with its color-changing back panel.
You should look for other options if you are looking for a better price to specs ratio. Also, if mobile phone gaming is your thing then also you should consider Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 or SD870 based phones for a better gaming experience.
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