Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

[ian87w]

Well, just to make it official in its own thread...
$699, all plastic back (including the camera bump), camera hardware the same as the S20 FE, Snapdragon 888/Exynos 2100 in my country
Basically, putting a a faster SoC into the S20 FE.

The thing is, the regular S21 is already falling down in price. (although Samsung is quite sneaky. They basically pulled all S21 inventory from the offline stores in my country, nobody has it anymore, to make room for this).

I have mixed feelings on this. I'm glad for Samsung to keep making the FE lineup, but their current timing is just off. And it feels more like an S20.5 FE instead of an S21 family. This is probably a decent phone, but if you're lucky, you can just get a proper S21 for the price.

If you can find the regular S21, imo that's a better phone. It has better cameras, actual proximity sensor, and more premium build with the aluminum covering the camera bump. The offset is that the S21 FE is launched with Android 12. So technically it will receive longer software update (an extra year) than the S21 proper.

And... I don't dig the color options. Worse, Samsung seems to highlight "Olive" color as the main color. Doesn't look that great to me. I miss the more colorful S20 FE.

I feel that this will not do as well as the S20 FE. Might be intentional to push people into buying the S22 lineup later though...

 

[The Game 161]

I think they have priced it wrong. Should have been 599 to fit in with the market imo

 

[ian87w]

I think they have priced it wrong. Should have been 599 to fit in with the market imo

In a vacuum, the price is right. $699 for the S21 FE, then $799 for the plain S22, so on and so on. The problem is, we are not in a vacuum, and the one messing up those prices are Samsung's own devices, the S21 series. Prior to the S21 FE launch, one can find the regular S21 at that $699 price point or less.

Samsung literally emptied out the inventories of S21 phones from offline stores and retailers in my country. No matter where you go, no S21 series in stock. The ones that have it are just independent resellers and online marketplaces. It's an obvious move to make the S21 FE price point undisturbed.

They wouldn't price it at $599, as they still have the A53 and A73 to be announced. The A73 will fill that gap.

 

[Ludatyk]

I feel that this will not do as well as the S20 FE. Might be intentional to push people into buying the S22 lineup later though...

This.

Given that they are pushing the S21 out of stock and they have the S22 series around the corner... I believe its there way of pushing people to buy the S22/S22+. Soon as Samsung releases the S22 lineup... the S21FE won't get much attention.

Tbh, they didn’t need to release the S21FE.. but if it gives consumers a push to their S22 series, then perhaps... it's the right move.

 

[Awesomesince86]

That price kills it. Why buy that when the Pixel 6 is better and cheaper? Makes no sense.

 

[MarkX]

That price kills it. Why buy that when the Pixel 6 is better and cheaper? Makes no sense.

It's definitely cheaper!

 

[The Game 161]

In a vacuum, the price is right. $699 for the S21 FE, then $799 for the plain S22, so on and so on. The problem is, we are not in a vacuum, and the one messing up those prices are Samsung's own devices, the S21 series. Prior to the S21 FE launch, one can find the regular S21 at that $699 price point or less.

Samsung literally emptied out the inventories of S21 phones from offline stores and retailers in my country. No matter where you go, no S21 series in stock. The ones that have it are just independent resellers and online marketplaces. It's an obvious move to make the S21 FE price point undisturbed.

They wouldn't price it at $599, as they still have the A53 and A73 to be announced. The A73 will fill that gap.

But it’s like they don’t think people will buy it. Maybe they think this will be available in most countries so people will choose this over the competition.

You could likely get the s21 or ultra around this price already or at least by time s22 ultra is out.

In that 599-799 the pixel 6 is the best Value I would say

 

[ian87w]

That price kills it. Why buy that when the Pixel 6 is better and cheaper? Makes no sense.

The S21 FE will be available in more countries than the Pixel 6. This was a worldwide announcement, not just US.

 

[Awesomesince86]

The S21 FE will be available in more countries than the Pixel 6. This was a worldwide announcement, not just US.

Oh I understand. I'm just saying, I'm surprised that Samsung priced it as high as they did. They've been good in the past couple of years at undercutting the competition while still providing a premium product. But this is just priced poorly. And not just in comparison to the Pixel 6, but priced way too close to the regular S line. You can easily find a regular s21 for a cheaper price right now which is easily a better phone.

 

[ian87w]

Oh I understand. I'm just saying, I'm surprised that Samsung priced it as high as they did. They've been good in the past couple of years at undercutting the competition while still providing a premium product. But this is just priced poorly. And not just in comparison to the Pixel 6, but priced way too close to the regular S line. You can easily find a regular s21 for a cheaper price right now which is easily a better phone.

Well, imo that price has a reason. Samsung is not done yet. This month will be a busy month for Samsung. There’s the S22 lineup coming, along with the A53/A73. Just looking at this upcoming lineup, you can see that the S21 FE had to be priced at $699. Samsung has to make room for the A73 price point at $599 and under. Besides, if more people ended up buying the S22 instead, more money for Samsung. Of course, the S21 FE can end up being not that popular, but maybe that was intentional by Samsung to nudge people to just buy the S22 later.

The S21 is a better phone, but in some markets like my country, Samsung literally cleaned out all S21 inventory in stores and retailers. Nobody have them in stock if you want one. You have to resort to marketplace resellers.

 

[Aneres11]

It looks cheap to me. I like the khaki colour one though.
But this is a hard sell. Not really sure on the point of it when the S21 will be reduced in a couple of weeks when the 22's come out.

 

[ian87w]

It looks cheap to me. I like the khaki colour one though.
But this is a hard sell. Not really sure on the point of it when the S21 will be reduced in a couple of weeks when the 22's come out.

Depends on where you are. It might entice people if they cannot find the regular S21 anywhere.

 

[cnnyy20p]

a S21 series in 2022. Hmm... very bad timing indeed.

 

[Bandaman]

This seems like an odd release. Dunno what it's competing with at that price.

 

[ian87w]

a S21 series in 2022. Hmm... very bad timing indeed.

Maybe Samsung should’ve called it S22 lite or something. But they already doubled down on the FE branding.

 

[nickdalzell1]

I'll stick with my S20 FE. The only thing that makes this new one look different is the camera module. I wonder how much RAM you get? the S20 FE has only 6GB where I'm at. Still priced at $699 at Walmart ironically. Either they failed to update the price or that price hasn't gone down. That's for the same 128GB/6GB RAM variant I got.

 

[nfl46]

The S21 FE is available for $599 on Amazon right now.

 

[Fred Zed]

I paid $

Well, just to make it official in its own thread...
$699, all plastic back (including the camera bump), camera hardware the same as the S20 FE, Snapdragon 888/Exynos 2100 in my country
Basically, putting a a faster SoC into the S20 FE.

The thing is, the regular S21 is already falling down in price. (although Samsung is quite sneaky. They basically pulled all S21 inventory from the offline stores in my country, nobody has it anymore, to make room for this).

I have mixed feelings on this. I'm glad for Samsung to keep making the FE lineup, but their current timing is just off. And it feels more like an S20.5 FE instead of an S21 family. This is probably a decent phone, but if you're lucky, you can just get a proper S21 for the price.

If you can find the regular S21, imo that's a better phone. It has better cameras, actual proximity sensor, and more premium build with the aluminum covering the camera bump. The offset is that the S21 FE is launched with Android 12. So technically it will receive longer software update (an extra year) than the S21 proper.

And... I don't dig the color options. Worse, Samsung seems to highlight "Olive" color as the main color. Doesn't look that great to me. I miss the more colorful S20 FE.

I feel that this will not do as well as the S20 FE. Might be intentional to push people into buying the S22 lineup later though...

I paid $320 open box with clear plastics around the frame intact. for an S20 FE 5G. Good for that price.

 

[ian87w]

I paid $

I paid $320 open box with clear plastics around the frame intact. for an S20 FE 5G. Good for that price.

The S20 FE is still a good phone. The only catch is that since it was released back in 2020 with Android 10, it is eligible for only one more Android upgrade to Android 13, and then that's it.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Well, first of all I don't really care about updates. Secondly mine came with Android 11 and One UI 3.1 out of the gate. But of course I bought it in April 2021. Also, given how ugly and white Android 12 looks, I don't feel the need to update past Android 11.

First things I do with any new phone (or used) is disable all updates, disable the Play Store and Galaxy Store, and sideload all my APKs of all the apps I have used since the very first Android I ever had. I don't depend on any 'modern' anything. Besides, most 'modern' apps look like they were designed in the 80s.

 

[cuzo]

I like it, I will think about selling the 11 max for it. I want a lighter phone in the pocket mostly.

 

[learjet]

First things I do with any new phone (or used) is disable all updates, disable the Play Store and Galaxy Store, and sideload all my APKs of all the apps I have used since the very first Android I ever had. I don't depend on any 'modern' anything.

JFC. I can’t believe I’m reading this. Do those presumably ancient APKs run at all, can you use their backend infrastructure? And if so: Do you realise how much outdated and unpatched code, how many potential vulnerabilities and zero days you‘re exposing yourself against?

 

[twdawson]

JFC. I can’t believe I’m reading this. Do those presumably ancient APKs run at all, can you use their backend infrastructure? And if so: Do you realise how much outdated and unpatched code, how many potential vulnerabilities and zero days you‘re exposing yourself against?

This has to be super dangerous running old outdated apps on a modern system.

 

[nickdalzell1]

Oh you people! seriously why does this even affect you? If it works fine for me just leave me be. If it ain't broke don't fix it. Yes, all those apps work. Since they don't change every two weeks I can use them blind if needed since the settings don't get moved around and the UI doesn't sear my retinas in tons of white.

Whatever happened to Android being 'different but not the same?' you people must assume everyone is a moron who visits porn sites or torrents but some of us are smart and smart browsing habits and strong password habits wins out more than blindly updating stuff then having to live with the constant frustration of adjusting to unnecessary changes and UI redesigns every other week. Some of us just want to use our phones and not be bothered with changes.

You people wouldn't be happy unless EVERYONE believed the same as you, and everyone's phone looked and acted the same. Is this even the alternatives to iOS forum or are Android fans now following the Apple mentality of 'homogenized phones are the best phones'?

Heck even the old Angry Birds doesn't need an internet connection. Have fun with your subscription 'rent as a service' freemium ad infested stuff. At least my music will still play when I have no signal!

 

[three]

The S21 FE is already really affordable on Swappa / eBay. Might be the better option if you're looking to pick one up!