I’ve by no means actually understood Samsung’s Fan Edition branding. To me, followers are the people who find themselves first in line, first to learn all of the associated information and rumors, and most significantly, the primary to take a look at the newest merchandise from their favourite machine makers. So when Samsung introduced the $700 Galaxy S21 Fan Edition nearly a full 12 months after the unique S21 got here out, it felt lengthy overdue. What we’re right here is much less of a cellphone for die-hard fanatics and extra of a remix that includes a number of the S21’s finest traits for a lower cost. Unfortunately, all that does not clear up the S21 FE’s downside of it feeling outdated primarily on day one.

Design

Look, the S21 FE would possibly technically be a brand new cellphone, however let’s not faux we’ve not seen it earlier than. It’s bought primarily the identical form and design queues as earlier S21s, simply with a barely totally different dimension. Featuring a 6.4-inch display, the S21 FE lands squarely between the 6.2-inch S21 and the 6.7-inch S21+. That stated, at round six ounces the S21 FE feels barely lighter than its siblings due to some streamlined design modifications.

Around again, the S21 FE nonetheless options Samsung’s Contour Cut design, however as a substitute of getting a digital camera bump with a steel shroud, the cellphone’s again is constructed from a single piece of matte plastic. (Samsung calls it glastic as a result of it is plastic that form of feels form of like glass.) And as a substitute of a two-toned coloration scheme, the S21 FE is monotone all through, with a coloration selection of blue, lavender, bronze, white, pink and graphite (proven above).

Elsewhere, the S21 FE primarily has the identical design as its forebears, that includes a centrally positioned selfie cam in entrance, an influence button and quantity rocker on the best, and a USB-C port on backside for knowledge and charging. There’s a speaker grille down beneath that works with the cellphone’s earpiece to offer stereo audio, which sounds superb even when it is a little bit gentle on bass for my style.

Display

Samsung makes the very best cellphone shows within the business, and although the display on the S21 FE is not fairly as large or high-res because the S21 Ultra’s, there’s not a lot to complain about. You get sturdy brightness that tops out at over 700 nits, a 120Hz refresh charge, and a couple of,400 x 1,080 display decision — the identical as what you get on the S21+.

In entrance, the S21 FE’s show is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. It additionally homes a helpful fingerprint sensor beneath its display. And whereas the S21 FE’s optical in-screen fingerprint sensor is not as subtle because the ultrasonic sensors Samsung used within the authentic S21 fashions, in my expertise, it is quick and reliable.

Android 12

While Samsung (and carriers) proceed rolling out Android 12 to older S21 gadgets, the S21 FE comes with One UI 4.0 (which is predicated on Android 12) pre-installed. Visually, this does not have a huge impact on the S21 FE’s general UI and format, although the additional personalization choices do make it simpler to customise your private home and lock screens. And as a result of Samsung’s spin on Android has lengthy included help for options like scrolling screenshots, an important improve in One UI 4.0 is the brand new Privacy Dashboard. In addition to new notifications that decision consideration to when apps are accessing the cellphone’s mics or cameras, the Privacy Dashboard offers a easy and simply accessible manner of managing issues like permissions, knowledge and monitoring settings and extra. At a time when digital privateness stays a relentless concern, extra management over your knowledge is certainly a great factor.

Cameras

The S21 FE’s cameras are one other space the place Samsung’s spec shuffle actually comes into impact. The cellphone has a well-recognized huge, ultra-wide, and telephoto digital camera setup on its again, however with a lower-res 8-megapixel sensor in comparison with the 64MP sensor you get on its predecessors. You nonetheless get a 3x optical zoom, however from a digital camera that produces footage that simply aren’t fairly as sharp or as detailed as a normal S21.

The huge and ultra-wide cameras take nice pictures, although the S21 FE nonetheless lags behind the Pixel 6. For instance, in a shot of some toys taken exterior, the Pixel 6 preserved highlights on one toy’s face, whereas holding the toy sitting within the shade from trying too underexposed. In distinction, the S21 FE blew out the sunlit face and eyes with out offering a lot in the way in which of additional sharpness or element. Google’s Night Sight additionally persistently outperformed Samsung’s Night Mode for low-light photographs, although the S21 FE typically wasn’t far behind. That stated, the S21 FE’s cameras aren’t dangerous; they’re simply not so good as the Pixel 6. And let’s not overlook the Pixel 6 solely has two rear cameras, missing any type of devoted telephoto possibility such as you get from Samsung.

On the flip aspect, Samsung truly elevated the decision of S21 FE’s entrance cam to 32-MP (up from 10MP on the S21), which is good in case you like plenty of selfies or movies for social media. But on the identical time, I do not actually suppose this one improve is sufficient to change the general affect of the machine, leaving it feeling extra like a pleasant bonus and fewer like a notable enchancment.

Performance

At this level, the Snapdragon 888 chip contained in the S21 FE is a fairly well-known amount. It delivers speedy efficiency and helps help options like 4K video seize throughout the entire cellphone’s cameras (at 60 frames per second on the primary wide-angle and entrance selfie cams and 30 fps for the remainder). However, as a result of the bottom S21 FE solely comes with 6GB of RAM versus 8GB on a standard S21, I observed the FE felt slower at occasions, together with when it was processing Night Mode pictures.

Granted, it is a fairly minor distinction, and also you may not even discover until you employ the 2 telephones aspect by aspect. But for individuals who do plenty of memory-intensive duties like gaming or video enhancing, the FE’s decrease base RAM might be the largest cause to pay $70 to improve to the 8GB mannequin or simply choose for the standard S21 or S21+.

Battery life

Another bonus of the S21 FE’s bigger physique is that it offers further room for a much bigger battery. So as a substitute of a 4,000 mAh cell such as you get within the S21, the S21 FE includes a 4,500 mAh energy pack, which offers a noticeable enchancment in longevity. On our battery take a look at, the S21 FE lasted 16 hours and 55 minutes, or a little bit greater than an hour and a half longer than the S21’s time of 15:17. And in the true world, the S21 FE’s battery life typically feels much more prodigious than that, as I typically completed the day with upwards of 40 % battery nonetheless left within the tank.

It’s additionally price noting that, like the usual mannequin, the S21 FE would not include an influence adapter within the field. So if you wish to benefit from the cellphone’s 25-watt wired charging, you will in all probability need to shell out for a separate charging brick. It’s annoying for certain, however like Apple, Google and others, Samsung says not together with an influence adapter with its telephones ought to assist minimize down on e-waste.

Wrap-up

With the provision of ordinary S21 fashions beginning to dry up, the S21 FE is not actually competing towards the originals. It’s a substitute that is sadly well beyond due. It’s nonetheless a strong cellphone, however the usual Pixel 6 shoots higher pictures, has a extra enticing design, and in case you get the unlocked mannequin straight from Google, it prices $100 much less, too. The Pixel 6 is just the higher purchase until you actually care about mmWave 5G (which the unlocked Pixel 6 doesn’t help) or accessing a telephoto digital camera.

Hell, the S21 FE is so late Samsung is already planning to launch its subsequent large flagship within the coming weeks. So even in case you’re an enormous fan of Samsung’s newest FE handset, on the very least, it’s best to wait to see what the S22 has to supply earlier than buying what is actually a year-old cellphone. Plus, the arrival of a model new Galaxy S cellphone typically means reductions are coming quickly to older gadgets.

Oh, and if Samsung desires to maintain this entire Fan Edition factor going, what I’d actually wish to see is a tool that higher lives as much as the branding. Instead of a repackaged year-old cellphone, why not make a premium remixed model sporting a microSD card slot and headphone jack? Not solely would this be a welcome various to plenty of immediately’s flagships with minimal ports, however it’d even be a thoughtful nod to old-school Galaxy cellphone followers who could have felt betrayed when Samsung eliminated these options from the S20 in 2019. That’s the form of buyer appreciation I can actually get behind.

Key specs