Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G: Best Purchase I’ve Made In Years
January 7, 2023Performance: Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G, 8GB RAM
Main Display: 6.4-inch, 120Hz Dynamic AMOLED 2x,(2340×1080) FHD+
Weight: 177g
Storage:128GB
Battery: 4,500mAh
Features: UHD 4K (3840×2160) video recording
Rear Camera: 12MP Ultra-wide, 12MP wide-angle, 8MP telephoto
Front Camera: 32MP
Late last year I was looking for a phone that offered the best value for money. I’m not a fan of splurging on the latest and greatest phone. I prefer to spend wisely on a device that is fast enough for my work but not expensive enough that I’d worry about getting it scuffed. This is probably why, for nearly a decade, I’ve been stuck using mid-range phones.
For this reason alone, I have only been able to hop between various Samsung M and A series phones. The M31 and A52 were my favorite of the lot. They were reasonably priced yet were powerful enough to handle whatever I asked of them. But being frugal has its drawbacks. Choosing to use a mid-range device means you are going to have to accept some compromises.
For me, it was mediocre camera hardware, average computing power, lack of DeX functionality and the absence of wireless charging. As such, I’ve had to deal with less-than-optimal photos and jittery videos, slow fingerprint detection and delayed app launches. Let’s not forget about staring with envy at others who don’t have to fuss about with charging cables.
I get it – you can’t have your cake and eat it at the same time. Comprises had to be made in order for me to walk out of a phone shop without feeling like a schmuck. Samsung may have noticed a growing subset of people like me and it was a demographic that was too big to ignore. This is probably why they started the FE project.
FE is an abbreviation for Fan Edition, which is a nomenclature that became very popular after the Note 7 fiasco. If you didn’t know, Samsung got into hot water several years ago when users of said phone started experiencing “explosive” results. The problem was narrowed to the design flaw of the batteries that caused them to short circuit.
Thankfully Samsung admitted that there was a problem and recalled the phones. But instead of taking the loss and moving on, the company decided to rectify the problem, repackage them and sell them as the Note 7 FE. It had the basic blueprint of a flagship but at a much lower price.
The phone was a hit, which spurred the company to continue churning similar projects. FE phones are basically watered-down versions of the devices that they are based on, but not in the way that you’d think. Instead of stinting on performance or general usability, cut backs are made in areas that nobody cares for.
They have flagship hardware, but less powerful camera sensors and smaller screens. Consumers picking up such devices wouldn’t mind the trade off because of what they were getting. This is what drew me to the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. Early in 2021, the company launched the S21 series, which were the latest and greatest phones of their time.
But with flagship phones came flagship prices – which you’ll know by now, didn’t sit well with me. However, much later, Samsung introduced a new model based on the same blueprint – S21 FE. It had the same powerful chipset, responsive 120Hz display, Dex functionality, wireless charging ang “ok-ish” cameras but at a slightly cheaper price.
It had a matte finish as opposed to the S21 series’ glossy “look at me” aura. The understated appeal reeled me in but not enough to win me over. Samsung chose to price it just a few hundred ringgits less than the S21, then subsequently, the S22. This didn’t help much. But as the weeks progressed, vendors started slashing prices on the S21 FE to help increase sales.
This is when I stumbled upon a matte white S21 FE while doom scrolling on Lazada. Priced significantly cheaper than the other colored options, it was going for RM2194.00, which was more than RM700 off the original MSRP. It was a flagship but without the exorbitant price tag. Now, they were speaking my language.
Without hesitation I put in my order and made payment. A few days later, the phone was delivered to my doorstep. The S21 FE in stormtrooper white, was absolutely mesmerizing to look at. It gave off that uber-cool vibe without much effort. That coupled with the fact that it came with nearly identical hardware to a flagship phone – made it my best purchase of the year.
I’ve been using the phone as my daily-driver for close to a year, and till this day, I can confidently say that I have no regrets. The CPU has been a trooper at launching apps in an instant, allowing me to switch apps without hesitation and confidently launch and run DeX without trouble.
Throughout this year, I can only think of a handful of times where I’ve encountered app crashes or weird performance anomalies. This includes tasks that involve recording videos and editing pictures that I’ve taken. There are several instances throughout the day where I cycle across multiple apps, which include web browsers, chat apps and picture editors.
On regular mid-range phones, I would frequently experience lagging, app crashes or other weird glitches. But with the FE, that didn’t happen. It just seems to cope with everything I do, which is a surprise considering that uses, for its time, flagship hardware.
Its 6.4-inch, AMOLED screen hits the sweet spot for many consumers because it’s small enough to fit in a pocket but large enough to accomplish most mobile tasks. Despite what some might think, the 120Hz refresh and crip visuals make for an extremely good viewing and gaming experience.
When compared with the S21 or S22, the FE’s display looks just as good, so I didn’t feel short changed here. And since it has a similarly powerful chipset, I can play just about any game or watch high-definition movies without feeling deprived. This is what sums up the appeal of the phone versus the pricier flagships.
It also has a 4,500mAh battery, which when new, lasts an entire day without any trouble. Now, a year later, it still gets me till the end of a work day but with far lower residual charge (9%-12%). Though that isn’t bad, it can prove to be a little inconvenient at times. Fortunately, the FE supports 25W fast charging, which allows me to juice it up, fairly quickly.
Besides this, there’s also 15W wireless charging, which allows me to use a plethora of chargers. It’s another area where you are not being deprived of a modern convenience that is absent on lower-end phones.
The only chink in the armor is in the camera department. It has a 32MP selfie camera, 12MP wide, 12MP ultra-wide and 8MP telephoto sensors. As good as they are, the trio are no match for that on the S22 and S22+. Cut backs had to be made somewhere and though this might be a deal breaker for some, for me, I value CPU speed and efficiency over photo taking ability.
That said, The S21 FE takes decent pictures in both well-lit and poor lighting conditions. Pictures taken in the latter environment are slightly less appealing but perfectly usable. The same is true of videos. Optical image stabilization and decent tracking abilities allow the phone to take crisp videos that wouldn’t be possible if shot on a mid-range phone.
If you’d like to know more about this topic, read our in-depth review of this phone.
Should You Buy the S21 FE?
If you can get it on sale the way I did, then it’s a no brainer. Granted the A73 5G offers a compelling reason for users to turn away from a one-year-old model for one that is almost as quick but with far superior camera hardware. For me, however, buying the S21 FE is the best decision I’ve made in a while.
It’s worthy of bearing the designation FE, because it definitely has a fan base that comprises people like me who are willing to accept certain tradeoffs in order to get flagship hardware. I believe the S21 FE would have been a runaway hit had Samsung priced it at RM2,4999 or 2,599.
A year in, and I still have no complaints, besides the battery life of course. I’ve formed a bond with it as a utility device. Besides calling, messaging, playing games, watching YouTube videos, juggling between personal and work-related tasks, I also use it to pay for things at grocery stores and restaurants via the Samsung Pay app.
It’s the Swiss army knife of my tech-filled life. And because I got it for the price of a higher end mid-range phone, getting it bumped or scuffed against hard surfaces does not bother me. I’m fond of the S21 FE, which is why, when the time comes, it will be difficult to upgrade.
