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Samsung’s new Galaxy S21 FE is good, but comes at a weird time

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.

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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.

Samsung's new S21 FE is good, but comes at a weird time

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.

Samsung's new S21 FE is good, but comes at a weird time

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.” 

Samsung's new S21 FE is good, but comes at a weird time

Galaxy S21 FE Specifications and Price:

PRICEKES 88,299 for 128GB model
KES 96,999 for 256GB model
Display6.4 inches 1080 x 2400 pixels, 20:9 ratio
Corning Gorilla Glass Victus
Dynamic AMOLED 2X, 120Hz, HDR10+
Rear CameraTriple 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 CameraSingle:
32 MP, f/2.2, 26mm (wide)
ChipsetQualcomm SM8350 Snapdragon 888 5G (5 nm)
GPUAdreno 660
RAM6/8GB RAM
Storage128/256GB Storage 
UFS 3.1
Expected MicroSD Slot 
Operating SystemAndroid 12, One UI 4
BatteryLi-Po 4500 mAh, non-removable
Fast charging 25W, 50% in 30 min
Fast wireless charging 15W
Reverse wireless charging
USB Power Delivery 3.0
Network2G, 3G, 4G, 5G Support 
ConnectivityWi-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
ExtraIP68 dust/water resistant
Samsung Pay
SecurityOptical Under-Display Fingerprint Scanner
Colour optionsWhite, Graphite, Lavender, Olive


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