Don’t Buy the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

With Samsung’s Galaxy S22 lineup due out in only a couple days, I’m sitting right here questioning: What precisely is the purpose of the corporate’s new Galaxy S21 Fan Edition? There appears to be no component of fan service to it by any means, and I can’t think about what devoted Samsung person would pull the set off on this telephone at the moment only for a barely lower cost.

The Galaxy S21 FE 5G isn’t a nasty smartphone by any means. But it does really feel such as you’re scraping the underside of the barrel (a pleasant barrel, however a barrel nonetheless). Some individuals is likely to be OK with that, however with the smaller Google Pixel 6 providing a greater digicam for $100 much less, you need to actually need a Samsung telephone to decide on this “fan edition.”

A Perfectly Fine Design

If I can recognize one factor about Samsung’s gadgets, the {hardware} all the time feels premium even when it’s decidedly not. Samsung’s designs stand out from the ocean of Androids, and the Galaxy S21 FE continues in that vein with a stacked rear triple-camera array, which rumors inform us we’re going to lose with the following era of Galaxy telephones.

Despite its “fan edition” moniker, this model of Samsung’s flagship seems cheaper than the opposite Galaxy S21 fashions. There’s no fancy trim across the smartphone’s edges, and the again cowl appears like only a mere plastic shell. At the very least, it’s matte-like, so the telephone isn’t slipping and sliding round just like the OnePlus 9 and Pixel 6 smartphones when it’s on a desk. The S21 FE is available in a number of colours, together with purple, olive inexperienced, and white. I examined it in black, although it seems darkish grey in individual.

The Galaxy S21 FE 5G has all the identical options because the Galaxy S21 in the identical locations. The quantity rocker and energy button are each on the precise facet of the gadget, and the speaker grill and SIM tray are on the backside. The entrance facet encompasses a almost edge-to-edge 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED show, which makes it the goldilocks of Galaxy gadgets when you thought the Galaxy S21+’s 6.7-inch display was too huge and the Galaxy S21’s 6.2-inch display was too small. There’s solely a tiny sliver of bezel, so your cradling thumb isn’t activating the display. There’s additionally an in-display fingerprint sensor. It works tremendous, although it appears to be specific about the way you place your thumb.

The Galaxy S21 FE additionally has a 120Hz refresh price, which makes issues look good and clean. I like watching movies on this smartphone—even my 720p TV reveals look good on the Galaxy S21 FE. The stereo audio system are loud sufficient to listen to the dialogue on an episode of Beverly Hills, 90210 one room over.

Sacrifices Add Up

These days, you may usually gauge how good an Android smartphone is by its specs. The Galaxy 21 FE 5G sports activities Qualcomm’s Snapdragon 888 processor, the chip that powered most of 2021’s Android flagships. But now we’re in 2022, and new processors are coming by the pipeline—for Android, that’s the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1. If you purchase this telephone now, ask your self when you’re okay with residing with final yr’s {hardware}.

The different factor to think about is that the Galaxy S21 FE solely comes with 6GB of RAM. That’s mid-range residing when you’re an Android person, and there’s a barely noticeable efficiency distinction within the day-to-day between this gadget and the OnePlus 9 I take advantage of each day, which has the identical processor paired with 8GB of RAM. It’s minimal, however the distinction crops up in minuscule methods, like whether or not an animation is stuttering or fluid in intensive apps like Pokémon Go.

On artificial benchmarks, the Galaxy S21 FE’s numbers have been on par with Samsung’s foldable telephones, which have the identical processor. So whereas it’s succesful, there might be occasions when it received’t really feel as snappy as when you had extra reminiscence reminiscence. As for its battery efficiency, the Galaxy S21 FE lasted 13 hours and 29 minutes in our rundown check. The 4,500 mAh battery presents loads of battery life.

Don’t Zoom In Too Much

The Galaxy S21 FE has a triple-lens rear digicam array: a 12-MP wide-angle lens with an f/1.8 aperture; one other 12-MP ultra-wide digicam with an f/2.2 aperture, and an 8-MP telephoto digicam with an f/2.4 aperture. There’s a 32-MP selfie digicam on the entrance with an f/2.2 aperture, which I nonetheless suppose is simply too excessive decision for a digicam that’s imagined to seize your face.

The images I took with the Galaxy S21 FE have been tremendous. The telephone saved up with my toddler throughout the daytime and captured broody night images with its low-light capabilities. But I’m critically contemplating the purpose of the rear zoom lens, because it prompted me essentially the most bother throughout testing.

Samsung swapped out the 64-MP macro sensor on the Galaxy S21 for this 8-MP one, so images taken with its 3x optical zoom aren’t very sharp—and that was with the help of a tripod. Anything zoomed in previous the optical size appeared too grainy to share publicly. I examined it towards the Pixel 6 Pro with a 48-MP lens and a 4x optical zoom (a lens that’s not on the cheaper Pixel 6).

I’ve all the time been just a little miffed with Samsung’s cameras, often due to the overprocessing of the ultimate product. The Fan Edition isn’t any totally different.

Photos taken within the daylight have been crisp and clear however tackle a blue tinge on extraordinarily sunny days. It’s particularly obvious with the identical image taken by the Pixel 6 Pro, which tends to downplay the colour in favor of bumping up element. In some circumstances, the Galaxy S21 FE photograph of a scene would have extra blown-out components than the one shot with the Pixel 6 Pro.

I additionally noticed this overprocessing come into play whereas zooming in to a rapidly-moving object. I took two subsequent images of a flag flapping within the wind, and each occasions there was a blob of what seems like unprocessed pixels floating across the scene. It regarded like anti-aliasing, and it was not one thing I might crop out of the photograph.

The nighttime capabilities of the Galaxy S21 FE have been additionally common by way of efficiency, as a result of it doesn’t have the Pixel 6’s smarts. The Pixel 6 digicam system mechanically switches into an prolonged publicity mode when it senses it’s on a tripod, which helps seize detailed images at evening. You have handbook capabilities with the Galaxy S21 FE inside its digicam app to do the identical, however you don’t have entry to the identical algorithms.

In the digicam instance above, the Pixel 6 Pro’s digicam stayed open for 4 minutes and captured a ton of element. You may even see a aircraft flying by within the distance and texture within the hills. The Galaxy S21 FE’s evening mode stopped in need of that element. The result’s a darker evening shot tinged with inexperienced.

Not Exactly Made for Fans

One bonus is that Samsung presents the most recent model of Android proper out of the field, with Samsung’s One UI 4 layered on prime of Android 12. Samsung has promised as much as 4 years of safety updates on its smartphones, so when you can dwell with the Galaxy S21 FE’s digicam for that lengthy, it has that going for it.

One UI does have its personal quirks. You received’t have entry to the Material You theming capabilities that Google debuted on Android 12, for instance. However, there are different little options you may like (or hate), together with the slide-out dock that hides within the nook of the display the place you may pin apps and issues. There’s additionally a characteristic that permits you to hyperlink your Windows PC along with your Samsung gadget.

The Galaxy S21 FE 5G could also be for Samsung super-fans, but it surely’s arriving method too late and with too few options to make it value shopping for. With the Galaxy S22 launching quickly with a a slew of recent options, together with what’s going to most likely be higher nighttime photo-taking skills, you’re higher off ready a short while longer than spending $700 on this repackaged however in the end underwhelming flagship.