The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE journey has been a never-ending saga that could rival a Bollywood potboiler. The phone — initially slated for launch in August 2021 — was delayed for so long that some people suggested it was better for Samsung to cancel the phone altogether. However, a string of leaks hinted at the likelihood of the phone launching in the first week of January. Today, we have irrefutable evidence that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is, indeed, on its way after someone got their hands on the phone and posted a detailed unboxing video a good two weeks before its supposed launch date.
Folks over at Italian tech blog HDBlog managed to get a hold of what they say is a retail version of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and went ahead and unboxed the phone, showing it in all its detail. The video (embedded below) pretty much reveals everything we ever wanted to know about the little brother to the Galaxy S21 series.
The Galaxy S21 FE derives a lot of its design traits from the S21 and the S21 Plus and uses a combination of glass and plastic materials. The build quality of the phone, according to HDBlog is a notch below the mainstream Galaxy S21 devices and feels more in line with what you would expect from a Galaxy A series device.
Powering the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is the Snapdragon 888, Qualcomm’s outgoing flagship system on a chip for 2021. Even though the new Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip is here, the SD 888 is still a very powerful SoC for a device likely to be positioned as an affordable flagship. The unit showcased in the video gets 6GB of RAM and 128GB storage. Chances are, we could see the phone in an 8GB+128GB variant as well.
The display on the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2x panel that supports a variable refresh rate going up to 120Hz. It also gets a notch for the selfie camera. Other key specs include a decent-sized 4,500mAh battery that supports 25-watt fast charging and an IP67 rating for water and dust protection.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE gets a triple-camera setup on the rear panel consisting of a 12MP primary camera with OIS support, a 12MP ultra-wide-angle camera, and a 12MP telephoto camera with 3X optical zoom and support for OIS. At the front — housed within a hole-punch cutout — is a 32MP front-facing camera with f/2.2 aperture.
The phone showcased in the video runs Samsung’s One UI 4.0, which is based on Android 12, hinting at the possibility that the device will be on the newest version of One UI and Android when it finally launches a few days from now. What we do not know yet is the final launch price of the phone — although previous rumors have hinted at a possible price tag between $500 and $700.
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