The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is likely to land in 2021 and we’ve heard a lot of rumors about it.
While the Samsung Galaxy S21 range was unveiled in early 2021, there’s more to come: it seems certain that Samsung will follow the initial trio up with a Samsung Galaxy S21 FE (or Galaxy S21 Fan Edition as it might be called) in the coming months. What makes us so certain is that Samsung itself has accidentally mentioned the phone by name – although on the other hand there have also been hints that the phone is in danger of being canceled. It didn’t show up at the Samsung Unpacked October 2021 event, and we’re still waiting for it to break cover. Most of the smart money now seems to be on it making an appearance at some point during January 2022. The Galaxy S21 FE would be a cheaper, lower end alternative to the S21, much as the Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is to the Samsung Galaxy S20. However, the reduction in cost and specs are both likely to be minimal, with the S21 Fan Edition still likely to be fairly high-end – and priced accordingly. The news and rumors around this phone continue to roll in rapidly – we’ve covered all the best ones below, and come up with a list of things we want from the Samsung Galaxy S21 Fan Edition, along with our best educated guesses at the release date and price. For a long time we thought the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE was sure to land, even though there has only been one Fan Edition model so far. As SamMobile reported, the company said it would launch a new one every year. There have been doubts though: a report that the phone may have been canceled due to the global chipset shortage, a Samsung official saying that the phone was under review, and Samsung removing support pages for the Galaxy S21 FE from its websites. Those documents have since reappeared. The S20 FE launched in August, so it’s clear that the S21 FE is way overdue at this point, but we’re hopeful that it’s still coming. Predictions of a launch in October haven’t been accurate, but we’ve seen predicted launch dates come and go before. A recent leak asserts that the Galaxy S21 FE is indeed January, potentially even taking the release window of the Samsung Galaxy S22 (a second source has now backed that up, saying that it could land at CES 2022, which takes place from January 5-8), while another source points to January 11. So sometime in January looks likely. As for the price, Samsung Ireland has already listed the phone with a price of 769 euros (around $865 / £655 / AU$1,210) for 128GB of storage, and 839 euros (roughly $945 / £715 / AU$1,330) for 256GB. While conversions won’t be totally accurate, those are the same prices as the 5G model as the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE launched for in Ireland, meaning prices are likely to be the same elsewhere too. So with that in mind we’d expect the Galaxy S21 FE will start at $699 / £699 / AU$1,149. That said, one leak puts it at 749 euros (roughly $845 / £640 / AU$1,185) for the phone with 128GB of storage, and 819 euros (around $925 / £695 / AU$1,295) for 256GB. That’s slightly lower than Samsung Ireland’s pricing, so there may be some variation. A listing for the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE on a Chinese certification database has revealed that the phone likely has a 6.4-inch 1080 x 2340 Super AMOLED screen with a 120Hz refresh rate and an in-screen fingerprint scanner – specs that are very similar to the S20 FE. The phone apparently also has an IP68 rating, meaning it’s dust and water resistant. One other rumor has mentioned a 1080 x 2009 resolution though, which is strange. At the moment, the 1080 x 2340 option seems more likely, as it more closely matches the S21. As for the design, numerous leaks have now shown us the possible appearance of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, starting off with one from reputable tipster @OnLeaks, and we’ve embedded one of their tweets below.
