In one of the first major smartphone releases of the year, Samsung has confirmed the S21 FE 5G handset will officially launch on 11th January 2022.
The “Fan Edition” handset follows the tradition of previous “FE” releases – removing a handful of the top-of-the-line features or specs of the most expensive S21 flagship series to offer the device at a slightly more affordable price point.
How to pre-order the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Pre-orders are open now via Samsung
In this case, the S21 FE 5G is priced at £699 for the 128GB variant and £749 for the 256GB model. UK customers will get a three-month subscription to the streaming service Disney+ if the handset is bought via the Samsung site.
If purchased via Samsung, it will also be available on contract, priced at £19.42 per month. The company has confirmed it will also be sold via “select partners” from the launch date. We will update this article as we learn more about UK stockists.
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE: what’s new?
!["Galaxy]("https://images.immediate.co.uk/production/volatile/sites/3/2022/01/Galaxy-S21-FE-5G-PR-main7-768x512-afdbe49.jpg?quality=90&resize=620%2C413" "\"Galaxy")
While it’s certainly more affordable than the flagship series – which starts from £769 for the standard Galaxy S21 and £949 for the Galaxy S21+ – the new FE phone retains many of the high-end specs from its siblings, including a 120Hz refresh rate, Exynos 2100 chipset, OLED display, and 12-megapixel f/1.8 main camera setup.
Both of the flagship S21 handsets are now discounted on Amazon, with the Galaxy S21 down from £769 to £709 and the Galaxy S21+ down from £949 to £769.
The aesthetics of the S21 FE 5G are almost identical to the S21 series, although the camera module is now made from matte-coloured plastic rather than metal.
Aside from that, there’s not a massive bunch of major sacrifices, which could explain why the price difference isn’t huge. The main S21 series gives you more RAM (8GB), a higher-res telephoto lens on the camera system, and different colour choices.
The S21 FE 5G comes in four new colour schemes: Graphite, Olive, Lavender, and White. In a press release, Samsung confirmed the phone has 25W fast charging capabilities that provide more than 50% of charge in 30 minutes and that the new handset will be powered by its latest mobile Android software, called One UI 4.
We are yet to test the new handset for ourselves, but for more on Samsung’s phones be sure to read our in-depth Samsung Galaxy S21 Ultra review, and here’s a full list of all Samsung Galaxy phones with prices if you want to compare models.
The S21 FE 5G is an interesting proposition from the company – which already has a budget-to-mid range device in the Galaxy A52s 5G, priced at £379. The standard S21 currently costs £769 (RRP), so the new FE sits somewhere between the two.
Pre-order the Galaxy S21 FE at Samsung
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