Galaxy S21 FE 5G Review | Snapdragon 888

[Anikroyale]

Hey guys, Anik this side.

It is time for me to review the Galaxy S21 FE 5G – 2023 Snapdragon Edition, in the “Royale” style! I received my unit from Samsung India, and I’ve been daily driving it for over a month now, so expect a properly organized review. Also, just a disclaimer, receiving this unit free of charge will not affect my review in ANY way. Everything I write here are my own thoughts and experiences, and is not moderated or controlled by Samsung in any way.

Spoiler: Long post, but I believe that a user should know as much as possible about a device before purchasing it, hence I tried to include as many details as possible. Read along to get a good idea about the device.

1. Display: Starting strong, the display on the S21 FE is drop-dead GORGEOUS! It’s a 6.4 inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X display, running at 1080p with 120 Hz refresh rate and 16M colour depth. The bezels are very thin, which makes it aesthetically better. The only very minor complaint that I personally have with the display is that it could have been bigger. 6.4 inches is not enough. That’s just me though, you guys may like smaller and compact devices, and I’m not judging! Display smoothness is top notch, and One UI optimization combined with 120 Hz makes it a great experience. Accurate colours, Widevine L1 support and HDR10+ compatibility just adds to the greatness. The display also houses an optical in-display fingerprint reader, which is pretty fast and accurate, although I would have appreciated it more if it were an ultrasonic one.

2. Cameras: I will talk about the cameras in brief here, and will make a dedicated post for the camera review, because it will make this post very long.

A. Photos: The photos from this device come out AMAZING from the main and ultrawide lens. The Telephoto lens does the job just fine most of the time, but is sometimes a bit unreliable, especially in low light (more on this in the actual review).

B. Videos: Except 4K60, all other modes work absolutely great, WITH stabilization (actual review will say more about this).

C. Front Camera: Pretty happy with it and does the job fine (will elaborate in actual review).

Overall Verdict: Check the full Camera Review of the Galaxy S21 FE Snapdragon here: [LINK WILL BE ADDED ONCE REVIEW IS POSTED]

3. User Interface: The phone comes with One UI 5.1 out of the box with Android 13 at its base, which should give you a pretty good idea about the satisfaction that you’ll experience while using the device. It comes with almost all flagship features that you get with the Galaxy S Series, INCLUDING Good Lock support (Camera assistant and Expert RAW excluded). There is no next to no bloatware when setting up the device, so that is one thing done right. Knox 3.9 is supported (obviously at a hardware level). Screen recorder, Link to Windows, Extra Dim and Enhanced processing, all are supported. One thing that I was a bit disappointed about was the absence of Voice Focus. There is no official confirmation as to whether the device will receive (3+4) or (4+5) years of updates, but it is set to receive monthly security updates from Samsung, which is very nice. There are no lags or stutters whatsoever when using the device and 120 Hz definitely makes the experience a lot better.

4. Battery and charging: This is one department where the phone struggles, and it struggles hard. The 4500 mAh battery is just not good enough. It’s that simple. I recorded a SOT of 6 hours from 100%-1% with no gaming at all. Then I tried gaming and it was down to around 5 and a half hours. All this was on 120 Hz and 5G on all the time with brightness set to 50%. A 5000 mAh battery was necessary, AT LEAST. Snapdragon 888 is known to be a power-hog and it shows why it deserves that reputation. The phone charges at 25 watts wired (typical Samsung) and at 15 watts wireless. Takes around 1 hour and 20 minutes to charge from 0%-100% at 25 watts wired. Overall, pretty disappointing battery capacity and optimization.

5. Overall design and in-hand feel: You guys already know what I say: Design is subjective. For me, personally, I just LOVE the S21 FE’s design and in-hand feel. The iconic S21 series’ Contour Cut design in the Olive colour is amazing! The device has a metal frame and a plastic back. The only thing I don’t like is that the display is completely flat. I like curved displays so much! But anyways, its very comfortable to hold, and coming at just around 177 grams, it’s also very light! The SIM tray is beside the Type C port which can hold 2 SIM cards but no SD card. I guess the lack of an SD card slot is fine because the device comes with 256 GB of internal storage. The phone doesn’t have overly rounded corners which is very good. Overall, great design and great comfort.

6. Performance: The OG S21 FE came with the Exynos 2100 and had good performance. The 2023 edition comes with the Snapdragon 888 and has a bit better performance than the OG one. Day-to-day tasks are just a breeze for this beast. You will literally find no problems with anything you throw at it. Coming to gaming, I played Minecraft with render distance set to 16 chunks and it didn’t see any issues at all. Above 16 chunks, the game is very much playable, but sometimes has minor stutters and frame drops, especially in long hours when the device gets warm. Speaking of, the device does not get very hot, even under heavy usage. It just gets warm, especially the metal frame. Nothing too serious, no overheating. Overall, a solid performer.

7. Miscellaneous: The X-axis vibration motor provides nice and satisfying feedback while it vibrates or while typing; truly great haptics. Flagship features like DeX (both wired and wireless) and wireless power sharing are present. Samsung Wallet with tap-to-pay is supported since the device comes with NFC. It has stereo speakers powered by Dolby Atmos and the audio balance between both are pretty amazing. Sounds rich and full. Watching a movie is going to be delightful. The device is set to receive monthly security patches from Samsung, which is nice. One final thing worth adding is that it has a USB 3.2 Gen 1 Type C port, which is really useful when transferring data from computers.

Overall verdict, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G is one of the best devices available in the 50,000 INR price segment, and has some major points that can blow the competition out of the water. The device only lacks in the battery segment, which I believe could have been a lot better. I hope Samsung finds a way to improve the battery life with software updates because where it currently stands, if you are a very heavy user, then this phone might not be for you. For moderate to kind-of-heavy usage, its fine, I would say. If you want a phone at this price with amazing cameras, this is hands down the phone for you.

So, that was it for the review, if I missed any points, or if you have any further questions regarding the product, ask me in the comments and I will answer accordingly.

Till then, this is Anik and I am signing off, and until next time, have a great one!

[Barmaerdv]

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[Barmaerdv]

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[Members_a4oeLbS]

Galaxy S21FE 5G, Worst Quality and not solved problems, customers support not available from Samsung Mobail Sales
I really disappointed and very bad experience