Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs. Galaxy S21 | Digital Trends Spanish

The Galaxy S21 FE and S21 are powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip, which is among the most powerful mobile SoCs currently available for Android phones. This translates to excellent performance across the board, and both devices can handle even the most resource-hungry apps without breaking a sweat.

For the extra $100 you pay for the base variant of the Galaxy S21, you get slightly more RAM than the S21 FE, which only has 6GB of RAM. While this should mean a slight performance advantage for the S21, it may not necessarily be noticeable in everyday use.

Being the physically larger phone, the S21 FE has a 4,500mAh battery compared to the 4,000mAh cell in the S21. This will almost certainly translate to better battery life for the S21 FE, given that both phones will be running nearly identical software versions.

Unlike the 2020 S20 FE, the S21 FE doesn’t ship with a charger in the box and you’ll need to purchase one separately if you don’t have a Samsung fast charger with you. This is also the case with the Galaxy S20.

Both phones support the same charging speeds: 25W wired fast charging and 15W wireless fast charging. The S21’s smaller battery should, on paper, take less time to go from zero to 100 percent.

Thanks to the nearly identical hardware on both phones, it’s hard to pick a clear winner for this section. The S21 FE is likely to have a better performing battery, but until we test it, we won’t know for sure. We’re calling this a draw for now.

Winner: Tie

Although the rear camera setup on the Galaxy S21 FE and S21 looks somewhat similar, there are subtle differences in the hardware specifications of the telephoto and ultrawide lenses on these devices.

The only instance where both phones use identical camera hardware is the 12MP main sensor, which is the same across both devices and offers dual-pixel autofocus and optical image stabilization (OIS) support.

The S21 FE’s telephoto camera uses an 8 MP sensor coupled to an f/2.4 lens, supporting 3x optical zoom with OIS. By contrast, the Galaxy S21’s telephoto camera uses a higher-resolution 64MP sensor, which is also physically larger than the one in the S21 FE.

However, the optical zoom figure on the S21 (1.1x) is lower than the S21 FE. This means that if you tend to take a lot of zoomed photos, the S21 FE might be a better option. Note, however, that the S21 also offers the option to capture much larger and more detailed 64MP images that you can crop and zoom in on.

The third camera on both phones uses a 12MP sensor coupled with an ultrawide lens. Again, there are slight differences here, as the S21 has a slightly larger sensor and a narrower field of view (120 degrees) compared to the 123 degree field of view lens used on the Galaxy S21.

In terms of video recording, the Galaxy S21 offers 8K video recording at 24 FPS, while the S21 FE tops out at 4K at 60 FPS.

The Galaxy S21 FE’s 32 MP front camera wins the resolution battle compared to the S21’s 10 MP. However, what it gains in resolution it loses in terms of sensor size and lack of autofocus.

Technically, the S21’s larger sensor, along with autofocus support, should help you capture better selfies overall than the S21 FE. However, we will reserve judgment only after we review the Galaxy S21 FE in the coming days.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is almost as good as the Galaxy S21 in terms of camera hardware. In fact, in some areas like optical zoom (on the telephoto camera) and a wider ultrawide lens, some users may find it better than the S21.

Just keep in mind that there’s no getting around the fact that the Galaxy S21’s larger sensors in the telephoto, ultra-wide, and selfie cameras will allow you to unlock better overall performance.

So this round goes to the Samsung Galaxy S21, albeit by a slight margin. We will also re-evaluate these scores once we review the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S21

If there’s one advantage the Galaxy S21 FE has gained due to its delayed launch, it’s the fact that it’s eligible for one more year of Android updates compared to the rest of its S21 clan.

Its 2022 launch with Android 12 and One UI 4.0 increases the probability that it will receive Android updates for the next four years, while the S21 will reach the end of its useful life in three years, since it is already a year old. As of now, both phones are running Android 12 with One UI 4.0.

Because both devices run the same versions of Android and OneUI, there isn’t much to differentiate between the two. However, we will have to award this point to the Galaxy S21 FE due to its likely longer lifespan.

Winner: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

Since the two phones in this comparison come from the same family of devices, they also share almost all of the unique features that people are used to seeing in Samsung devices.

These range from camera-centric features like Single Take and dual video recording (using the front and rear cameras simultaneously) to specialized features like support for Samsung DeX and Samsung Pay. Needless to say, there is no clear winner for this round.

Winner: Tie

The price of these two phones is where things get interesting. At the time of writing, the Galaxy S21 FE is the cheaper of the two devices with the base variant (6 and 128 GB) priced at $699. The top-end 8GB and 256GB variant of the S21 FE will set you back $769. Color options offered include white, graphite, olive, and lavender.

The base version (8 and 128 GB) of the Galaxy S21 costs $799 USD, and the 8 and 256 GB variant costs $849 USD. The S21 came in gray, white, purple, and pink color options at launch. At this time, however, only the gray color option seems to be available.

Now that the Galaxy S21 is almost a year old, there have been instances where its prices have dropped to S21 FE levels (during sales and discount deals), making it a very attractive option.

Also, with the Galaxy S22 lineup just around the corner, the Galaxy S21 is facing an imminent price cut. Therefore, it would be a good idea to compare the prices of the S21 right before you hit the “Buy” button next to the Galaxy S21 FE.

There’s no getting around the fact that the Galaxy S21 FE is the lowest ranked phone in the S21 hierarchy. Its current entry price of $699 is a bit too close to that of the S21. Unless the S21 FE prices between $500 and $600, it would be hard for us to recommend it over the S21.

However, if you want an S21-series phone with a big screen and battery capacity, but don’t want to spend more than $999 on the S21 Plus, the S21 FE is a great option.

Publisher Recommendations