Galaxy S21 FE Impressions: Great Phone, Odd Price! 

1:40 Fact correction: The graphic says it's LTPO but it's actually just a straight up 120Hz display. LTPO is still reserved for the very highest-end of the high-end.

Samsung dropped the ball on this one. What made the s20 FE awesome was that it performed as good as the S20 and plus even though it was cheaper. This phone really IS oddly priced because the way the specs were described, it's inferior to the s21 lineup, and it released too late: the prices of the s21 lineup are now down to 699 (maybe less) range.

Nice to know this is definitely what I'm gonna get. Solid camera, good ram, and responsive screen is really all I need in a phone

Yeah I'm pretty happy with my galaxy 20 fe, honestly best phone I ever bought with price, durability, performance it is a solid phone and one I'll keep for years.

I think that Samsung will use this price as a; “Hey, this is what it costs.” But - have a TON of “massive” discounts on it when in reality they’re selling it at what it actually costs.

2 things I like about the SE series: the optical fingerprint scanner is known to withstand cracks on the screen better than ultrasonic (my s10 sensor is useless with the screen cracked); the plastic body feels like it is more durable (probably psychological factor but hey nokia 3310 was plastic lol) and being lighter means the hands can grip easier. Those feel like dumb preferences but for people on tight budgets, durability is a must. I am still holding strong to the s10 but the FE family is my go to if something bad happens.

Wow surprised you didn't mention that Samsung didn't include the SD card slot on this one. The S20 FE was done right unlike the S21 FE. S20 FEs are still being sold in many prepaid carriers(Verizon has it for free with a new line) and it's a great starter phone.

I pulled the trigger on this phone. Upgrading from my S9. Mainly wanted the bigger screen, bigger battery and 5G. I can live without expandable storage and a headphone jack. Plus the FE will get updates all the way up to Android 15, whereas the regular S21 only gets up to Android 14. For only $420 shipped I feel it was a good upgrade and good deal.

Technically Samsung has released 3 fan editions. They first released the Note FE in 2017 after they recalled the exploding Note7. They also released the S20 FE in 2020. Now we have S21 FE.

That graphic designer been doin his thang with the intros since he got on the team 👌🏾

In europe, the s21 5g with 256GB of storage and 8GB of ram is equally priced as the s21 FE 5G that also has 256GB/8GB. The big difference here is that the s21 FE has a bigger screen and also a snapdragon processor instead of the exynos one, which makes the phone superior this way. The only negative might be that the camera is potentially less good for the FE, but that seems like a good tradeoff for me personally.

Sadly they removed the microSD-slot, which was present on the S20 FE. I am not willing to give up my additional 256 GB SD card, which I already own, so this would be additional storage for free. No company will ever offer a phone with such a large storage while still being affordable. One additional factor that everyone seems to ignore: When a phone dies (which happens more often than people seem to think), the data on ithe phone dies with it. No feasible chance of recovery. Except for the data I regularily copy over to the SD card. The card can just be removed from the dead phone and be read from any PC.

I really want you to do a second video of this phone. This phone is nice and it's literally the perfect size screen. The finger print reader actually worked really well even when my hand was extremely shriveled from washing dishes. Lastly, yes the price may be a little on the high side, but most people will never pay that regular price. I traded in my regular s20, and got the s21 fe for free as an upgrade. Great deal. I think you should show off the colors too. The olive green is fire 🔥.

I got this phone last week on a half off promotion. I had a Galaxy A50 before this so for me it's a very noticeable upgrade and It doesn't feel like a budget phone unlike the A50. The 120hz display is amazing and the most noticeable difference. I really have nothing bad to say about it, especially considering the price I got it at.

I've got the S21. It's my first phone without a headphone jack... I've had it for 3 months, and it does irritate me not having that. The lack of expandable storage is an irritant, but I can live a bit more. Don't like it, but I'm getting around it. This FE doesn't make any sense with the non-FE the same price.

New Year, new intro, and literally the first review of the year is of Samsung, highly excited for tech this year

Ironically, I love the simplicity in design for the S21 FE. Looks good in that color too!

Couple things worth mentioning - this is snapdragon 888 in more regions, so if someone didn't want to import nor wanted a exynos chip. They have an option now. Being in UK - I was torn between A52s, whole bunch of Chinese branded phones or go slightly older. There is also the benefit if Samsung keeps to their word - This will get Android 15, while Original S21's will get to Android 14....

The FE is the perfect phone. My S20FE is amazing. The display is a bit too big to be handled with one hand but is amazing for content consumption. Battery life is exceptional. The plastic back is going in a 10 dollar case anyway. I can apply screen protectors more easily on the flat display. It's fast enough and has adequate camera. Idon't need anything else.

I love samsung phones I been owning almost all samsung galaxy since the galaxy s2 to the my last one the s10 and I wanna upgrade to a new model but I'm not too sure yet because they don't have the option to expand the memory anymore probably for a lot of people they don't care but for me is a big thing. Having the option to take the micro SD card off one phone and put it to another phone and have all your photos and videos without worrying of losing accounts or forgetting passwords .

The new intro is really nice :D

As an S20 FE user, I recommend everyone to just wait. Mine was also expensive at the launch but got like %25 cheaper in time. Samsung does this all the time. If you are not one of those "I got first" type of consumers, just wait.

That price is insane especially with the cut corners. Around 6 months ago at Costco they had the S21 Plus for $600 on sale. This phone should be $500

I just got my S21 FE and got a Galaxy watch 4 44mm as a part of promotion. Patience pays off regarding my wish to buy S22. i am convinced that i made a smart buy.

The main problem with the f.e is the price tag of 700€. This is very close to the standard S21. For 70€ in plus you can get the original S21. Or, if you wait the launch of the S22, you could get S21+ for 700-750€. Either way, that phone should cost 500-550€ as it was the S20 f.e.

I love how you put one of my favorite other RU-vidrs and RU-vid channels on for the screen showcase 😌😌😌 Donut media makes amazing educational car videos and it's all really premium content 🔥🔥🔥.

its probably just priced that high so they can say its on sale when its being sold for like 599 the entire time

The price makes sense in my local market since the S21 series did not drop in price at all throughout the year, and probably won't for another couple months after the S22 comes out.

Currently selling for $399 in India and an insane value at that price. Similarly, Pixel 6A is selling for $346 and Nothing Phone1 for $364.

Thought the same thing about the time of announcement as you and when I looked for my local pricing, found the S21 for super cheap, brand new and since the FE base price comes with 6GB, the base 21 is a much better deal IMO

Been looking at reviews on this cell all day. Just cause. Lol Not one subscription to a review channel until you. Brilliant. Thank you. I review everything before deciding. Excellent.

Really love your videos and reviews marques. Please keep them coming. Regards from ireland Patrick Brazil.

I got S20FE 5G in India, few months before, at that time price gap between FE and S21 was more than 100$(FE being cheaper), And also FE in India is with Snapdragon and S21 is with Exynos, so FE was appealing Deal for me, But, if both were at same price then I may have moved towards S21.

It pays to wait! I just bought mine for $522 with 256GB, 8Gb Ram and comes with the buds. It charges at 25 w, not just 15. I simply love it.

I'm pretty sure this will be dropping to the expected price as S22 launches. And idk why but I think the S22 line-up will be a very big upgrade compared to last year.

They're currently selling this Dinosaur for $950 in australia when exactly a year ago they were selling for $450 - $550. What a rip!

Just got one for 390 or so. I always flip flop between iPhone and android and usually get a couple flagship generations old so it's not tooooooo bad. Good price and won't take too long to pay off so I'm pretty content. In 2-3 years when I upgrade if I'm not switching back to Apple again I'll try the zflip I think!!!

i mean the major difference between the S21 fe and S21 phones is nothing but the fact that it will get android 15 whereas the rest of the S21 won't get that update

Plastic backs remain elite. Its way more durable and actually helps protect even the screen on drops as the softer plastic absorbs more impact energy than the more dense gorilla glass (or equivalent).

I already own a S20 FE and the S21 FE seems like an extremely minor upgrade.

Icons could have been smaller. If there is an option to minimise the icons it will be better for all.

Hey Marques thanks for your in depth take on the differences between this phone and the flagships, quite relevant as always! Could you compare the flip3 cameras with this phone in a quick comment? 2022 is here let's have a good year 🤗

I'm not convinced this is a great deal anymore. The google pixel 6 seems like a more premium experience for a hundred dollars less. And if the pixel 6a comes out for even less, with the same plastic back, same processor, and only a few downgrades from the pixel 6, the FE is gonna feel like robbery.

S21 FE is actually part of the S22 line as it has the same amount of updates.

500 bucks at best buy. Got me and my wife this phone to replace our S10's. So far so good. Ringke cases are the best for this phone. Good value now at the 500 price point.

Great review dude👍

Samsung really missed the mark here, I've been using the s10e as my daily since launch since it was great value, rignt now Samsung has better offerings in it's A series. Apart from the chipset it's basically an A series device. Pixel 6 is way more compelling dispite all it's bugs.

got this 2 months back for $350 on a sale superb value!

I’ve s20 fe, cheaper than flagships so bought it. Great camera, no lags, good quality. Not going to upgrade until this one breaks.

This is another good example of a phone I quite like and meets most of my requirements that's instantly unappealing for not having a headphone jack

Hey everyone! :D I hope you stay safe and have a nice day, God bless you!

For $900 factory brand new. I got the 6.5 inch screen. But the punch hole no teardrop. 200 nits increase from my last a 70 model. I paid $465 for a52s 5G. 1). A52s 5G compatible with 56 network. the a70 my older is not. 2). A52 s5g has 200 more nits of brightness when compared to my old a70 Samsung. 3. The PPI is 405 where is the a70 is 393 4. I have 256 gig of memory with 8 gigs of Ram for horsepower/ multitasking. My old a70 had only gave me 6 gig of Ram 128 of internal memory. 5. The 825 s5g has a refresh rate of 120 MHz.. a70 had 60 hertz. 6. I have a Snapdragon 778 G for the A52s 5G. My old a70 had 675 snapdragon. 6. The a52s 5G model has a waterproof and dust repellent grade of IP67. Which means you can dunk your phone the water up to 1.2 me until still be okay. A70 has none of that. 7. A52s 5g is 5G compatible and is set up for all networks whenever they get ready. The a70 did not have any IP rating for dust or water absolutely nothing. 8. A52s 5g has dual speakers stereo speakers which is very impressive in more pleasant to listen to ... also 15% louder then my original a70. The a70 did not have dual speakers. 9. For uploading and downloading you have an extra 500 MB of information processing faster. 10. The a52s 5K has an adreno card of 642 whereas the a70 model have 602. that is a big Improvement for games. 11. You have expandable SD memory up to 1 terabyte for A52s 5g. My a70 only allowed of the 512 gig. 12. My day 52 s5g has a total of 768 of total internal and external memory that's more than a 70 had and it's more than your phone that you're talkin about. Because the S 21ft does not offer any expanded memory which is terrible. 13. I have a 3.5 mm Jack you do not have that. 14. My A52s5g. 64 mega-pixel camera quad camera. Ultra-wide lens in 12-megapixel. My old a70 had a total of 32 megapixels and it only had eight megapixels for ultrawide. Whereas the a52s 5G has 12 megapixels for ultrawide. Batteries are the same 4500. So gives me 15% more life in my battery than the a70. Plus it charges the phone from 0 to 100% and 17 minutes faster. 16. Samsung a52s 5G model have a special feature calls HDR + 10. A70 does not have that. What that means is your phone will be able to show you a lot more high-definition programming for movies television shows. You'll get more Vivid colors to get more vibrant colors to get more light and you'll get more detail and more accuracy. 17. The design they made for the quad camera and the overall looks of appearance it's much better for the A52 vs. A70. 18. In A52s 5g camera allow you have five levels of macro and five levels of micro depth perception 19. The 8A52s camera allows you to stop in the middle of your recording and then change from front camera to back camera. A 70 cannot do that 20. We have most up-to-date Android system. 21. The camera also give you more options for night time photo and other accessories The only thing that's missing is wireless charging which I don't really care about but it has 25 watt charging but it only comes in the box with 15 watt charging Samsung you must change that.. 22. Let's not forget about the gorilla glass we have Gorilla Glass 5.0 Corning Ware. A70 has 3.0 CorningWare or you could call Gorilla glass protection 23. A52s has Bluetooth is 5.2. Which is a little faster for connectivity and easier toconnect versus a 5.0 the a70. The bottom line is at the a52s 5G is argumentatively a flagship phone.. because if you get the 256 gig of memory like I did making a ramp with 120 MHz refresh rate. There really is no difference between this and the S21. But I have extra storage 3.5 mm Jack. Now I know this guy is got a hard-on for the Fe. But he doesn't know who I am my name Karthic sachin. So why would you buy this phone to this man is telling you to buy for $699 when you can get this on sale for $450. I am computer hacker so I'm not the person who I say I am I'm from Indiana very cheap. This man is wrong there is a phone that is just as good and better than that that's less money he's wrong. I am attack man and I'm very analytical and I'm very cheap

can you please do a video about the best phone for videography

Like every years I'm switching all my phones, last month i had the S20 FE and the OnePlus 8T ! Now (i wouldn't even think a second i would do that) i have an iPhone 13 and an S21 FE, in France the S20 FE and S21 FE are the only Samsung S series that ships with Snapdragon, so i was happy to see what they did, now i have to find a good fast charging device that i can use for gaming and RU-vid !!!

honestly, thats a really hot phone on the front. I am so glad those stupid curved edges are no longer a trend now. And just having really thin bezels and a barely thicker thin

the 21 FE in Vietnam is kinda hard choice here. imagine paying the same 700$ price with Exynos chip. imo 700$ with 888 is a good deal

If both are available in the same price, which ones better??

The biggest problem of this phone is that it's 6GB of RAM. I'm changing my Galaxy A71 after 1.5 years because (and this is my fault entirely) I'm maybe using too much memory. So 6GB of RAM it's the same as the Galaxy A71. If the phone had 8GB at that price with the Snapdragon 888 I will consider it (hell no with Exynos I'm sorry) but 6GB for that price is stupid.

if you can find s21 (exynos 2100 model +265gb storage) and s21 fe (sd 888 +8gb ram + 256gb storage) at the same price under 600 euros which one is a better deal? i care about camera and batter overall and i keep my phone for a long time

What I take away from this smartphone: Samsung does not listen to its community, an FE (Fan Edition) without memory card support, jack port, no charger in the box and others. The price ($700) which is the same as the S21 currently. But above all I realize that Samsung could and can add at least 300mAh to all of its smartphones for much better battery life, but it's just a matter of non-existent will.

sticking with my s20 FE for now, maybe until some new stuff like pixel 6 or s22

So here we are, 2 months later and times have changed again. The S22 launched and over here in the Netherlands the price of this device dropped significantly. Right now it's cheaper then the pixel 6 and in this situation it seems just perfect. I'm owning the Pixel 6 right now but it still has some strange bugs. 😔

"Since last year" and that COUGH!

Oh damn donut media. DU member myself

Check out My World Phone for the unlocked retail version, competitive price

*I pray anyone that sees this is successful in life*

A fantastic phone, but I might be more excited to see the Pixel 6a in 2022!

Funny story, after recommending an S20 FE to my boss, he bought one, and a week later dropped it in the sea. 3 hours in 4 meter deep salty water later, he recovered it, sprayed the ports down with clean water, and now it's still working perfectly fine!

Ironically the high s20 prices made the s20 fe very appealing, but dropping the price for the s21 series made the s21 fe not seem like as good of a deal

I honestly think Samsung should have skipped this version! Start fresh with an S22 FE later on in the year.

Mkbhd intro combines light and dark mode. Nice.

Pricing it for 700 when you can easily get a S21 and even S21+ (non FE) for less or around the same price is pretty confusing.

You can understand why they wanted to price it more than the Pixel 6 given it has a better display, telephoto lens and arguably a better SoC in raw performance but in reality it should have been $549. At $699 there is no reason you should really buy this over an S21 and with the S22 right round the corner I’d wanna hold out and see what that has to offer first. Still it looks to be a good phone but as the man says, odd price.

🙏🏻

When Marques reviews, time stands still - that clock in the background did not budge a second past 10:10 throughout his entire review. Respect.

I use S20 FE, got it from your recommendation. Great phone, just slightly weaker battery than i wanted, but overall a really good phone especially the camera. To me the S21 FE has nothing that stands out (olive color looks slick though). And yes i agree, i think the pricing and timing of this new phone seems... Wrong? Releasing it right before S22 series seems very contradictory considering this flagship price range. But i was thinking that Samsung meant to release S21 FE as a late sleeper. So maybe they're releasing it this early in 2022 with this price and in 6 months or so the price will surely have dropped and as a "new 2022 phone", it will sell out well as the S20 FE and S21 are then phased out. The pricing sure does put people off, but again the S20 FE is still being sold now and it just shows how good the phone is as its price goes down. So for now the S21 FE is a bad deal considering the market landscape but if you're still interested, wait a few months and it will be a sleeper bang for the buck.

Fascinating how your design team managed to nail the noise effect in the new intro. Usually that stuff ruins the video quality when uploaded to youtube. But here, it looks spot on! Kudos to the designers!

I got this phone yesterday, love the looks feel and performance of this device. I have the 8bg version, the phone flys, screen looks better then my other phone iPhone 13 pro, love the plastic on the back no case needed nice not slipery texture. free earbuds . And who cares if its gonna be outdated in a month, it will still work for years to come. And and it is still less expensive the the rest of the S line, unlocked new.

This phone is built very well for its price but the chip shortage made them release it very late. s20FE released in september, so it had a lot of time to drop in price before s21 released and was arguably a better phone than s20.

Great design, amazing color options but only die hard (read: angry) Samsung fans will spend $699 on this. Yikes!

Nice review. I'm thinking of getting an S21-FE-5G for all the reasons you mention plus it's quite a bit less expensive now 👏👏👏👏

The main stand out for the s20 FE for me were the flagship specs plus the expandable storage option. The 21 FE just blends into the Samsung catalog with nothing noteworthy between it and the s21 but price and now due to the delayed launch, that is going to get chewed up. Do the specs beat the likes of Motorola and one plus, sure. But the key difference was the sd card slot for the last gen. Now that's gone and what you're getting is a cheap phone that could be cheaper, because who runs a naked phone these days? It would be worth it to me at 499. Like others said. You can get an s21 at 599.

If Samsung lowered the price to 550 or 599 in all regions then they would hit in the midrange market with those specs, But 699 is far to much for a device with lower end specs.

I think this phone got delayed due to supply issues hence the awkward timing and price

who noticed nolan from donut media.

This has to be the phone that Samsung wanted to launch 2 months ago, just before the holiday season time. It’s instead a swing and a miss.

The price won't make sense right now, but if it drops by 100-150 in a month or two, it might become the coolest sub-flagship phone. Pixel 6 is there to give it a tough time.

As a samsung user in Australia, the FE editions are a good option if you like Samsung phones and want the snapdragon version instead of the exynos version. The price is a little high but then again I got my s20 fe really cheap when Samsung did a promotion not long after launch. Curious to see how an s21 and even the s22 exynos versions go against this s21 fe

Which One Should You Buy🤡 Sony ♥️ Samsung 💙 Apple 💛

Hypocrite world Iphone mini at $699 (amazing deal) 60hz 5.4inch 1080p No fast charging 2 rear camera S21 FE $699 (bad deal) 120hz Larger display Fast charging 3 rear camera

The main benefit of the S21 fe is bringing the SD 888 to more international markets that usually get the exynos version

Totally agree with you, the same thing happened in India in 2020, where S20+ was selling for 45-50k rs (~$600) in October, but then samsung launched S20 FE 4G version at the same price. This was ridiculous, why would anyone buy an FE when he can get a plus at the same price. The same thing is happening this year too

I recently got the google pixel six and I can tell you that it would be a far better value to get that instead of the ( FE ).....Anyways, thanks for the video marques!!!

This should have come out in September 2021...and undercut the Pixel 6 by $50. It could have been a winner at that time and price point. There is just no reason for it to exist right now.

It worked out great for me, because of their promotional free wireless headphones as well as double the trade-in value I would've normally gotten for my S10e

Just got myself an S20 FE a week ago for $400 unbeatable price for that performance

Considering the fact that the S21 prices are dropping, you’d expect the FE to at least be a bit less . All the same i guess it up to Samsung executives to decide these things 😅

Question is, 699 for the FE, 799 for the s21 ultra once the s22 is released or s22 at, probably 1099? I think I would go for the Ultra

If this had a charger on the box, a headphone jack and expandable storage I'd probably consider buying it.

That Intro so simple , so 🔥🔥🔥🔥