Samsung has recently announced the new S21 FE. Like its predecessor, it is meant to be a more affordable version of the S21 Series of flagships. It is meant to offer the high-end features, with a few cost cuts on other things. The FE stands for Fan Edition.

Comparing it to the S21 Base model, you see it is almost the same device in terms of specs.

I think the biggest difference – and this is a good thing – is that the S21 FE ships with a Qualcomm 888 processor while the S21 Series in Kenya has always shipped with Samsung’s Exynos processor.

The S21 FE starts at KES 88,299 in Kenya for the 128GB model. This is very slightly cheaper than the official prices for the S21 Base model. Perhaps this is the reason the S21 FE is launching just days before the company announces the new Galaxy S22 Series.

That’s the weird bit; launching a new device that’s great but has tech that’s about to be old in just a few days.

Also, the pricing for me feels a lot higher than I expected. Especially given that this should be the affordable device in the S21 naming scheme. I’d like to know what you think about those prices listed below.

I am going to be using the S21 FE and will have a review article in a couple of days time. Let me know in the comments sections what parts you want me to talk about.

Availability:

You should be able to pick up the device from January 11th across different Samsung retailers in the country.

Pricing will be as follows:

KES 88,299 for 128GB model
KES 96,999 for 256GB model

Comments from Samsung:

Addressing the new device, Dudu Mokholo, Chief Marketing Officer at Samsung Africa said, “At Samsung, we are focused on bringing the latest mobile innovations to even more people. “We saw an incredible response to Galaxy S20 FE and Galaxy S21 lineup. So we applied the same approach with S21 FE 5G, equipping it with the premium features that matter most to our loyal Galaxy fans — because we’re focused on delivering a smartphone that meets their most important needs.”

Galaxy S21 FE Specifications and Price:

PRICE	KES 88,299 for 128GB model KES 96,999 for 256GB model
Display	6.4 inches 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio Corning Gorilla Glass Victus Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+
Rear Camera	Triple Setup: 12 MP, f/1.8, 26mm (wide), Dual Pixel PDAF, OIS 8 MP, f/2.4, 76mm (telephoto), PDAF, 3x optical zoom 12 MP, f/2.2, 13mm, 123˚ (ultrawide)
Front Camera	Single: 32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide)
Chipset	Qualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm)
GPU	Adreno 660
RAM	6/8GB RAM
Storage	128/256GB Storage UFS 3.1 Expected MicroSD Slot
Operating System	Android 12, One UI 4
Battery	Li-Po 4500 mAh, non-removable Fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min Fast wireless charging 15W Reverse wireless charging USB Power Delivery 3.0
Network	2G, 3G, 4G, 5G Support
Connectivity	Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6e, dual-band, Wi-Fi Direct, hotspot Bluetooth 5.1, A2DP, LE GPS with A-GPS, GLONASS, BDS, GALILEO NFC USB Type-C 3.2, USB On-The-Go
Extra	IP68 dust/water resistant Samsung Pay
Security	Optical Under-Display Fingerprint Scanner
Colour options	White, Graphite, Lavender, Olive