Galaxy S21 FE review: Samsung's new phone gives the Pixel 6 some competition
Phones
Speaker 1: With a big screen, a solid camera and long battery life. The galaxy S 21 E has just about everything you'd want in a phone and it's only $700,
Speaker 1: But so does the pixel six, which is a little bit cheaper. Plus Samsung might announce the Galax C S 22 in the near future, which could bring some pretty big camera upgrades. So should you buy the galaxy S 21 F Fe. Now wait for the galaxy S 22 [00:00:30] or just go for the pixel six instead. Let's talk about it. The galaxy S 20 F Fe was a big hit when it launched in 2020. So it's not surprising that Samsung is launching a sequel in jet January 11th calls with the galaxy S 21 Fe it's $100 less expensive than the regular galaxy S 21, and comes with a bigger screen and larger battery. It also runs on the same processor as the S 21 and comes with a triple lens camera. It's a pretty complete package for $700. I've been using it for the past couple [00:01:00] of days and have been really impressed with the battery life and how snappy the performance feels.
Speaker 1: But you might be wondering what's actually new about this phone. Well, not much that's because the S 21 Fe is essentially just a cheaper version of the regular galaxy S 21. Instead of keeping the S 21 around when the galaxy S 22 eventually launches Samsung will just sell the Fe and it's place. So if you're the type of person that typically buys last year's phone to save some money, rather than going for the newer more expensive model, the galaxy S 21 [00:01:30] Fe is probably for you. The galaxy S 21 Fe looks a lot like the regular S 21, especially from the front, both phones have an edge to edge screen with a whole punch cutout for the selfie camera. And both phones also have flat edges, which I prefer over the slightly curved edges on the galaxy S 21 ultra, but you'll notice the galaxy S 21 F E is slightly bigger than the regular model at 6.4 inches compared to the 6.2 inch galaxy S 21.
Speaker 1: Overall, I think this is the [00:02:00] right balance of having more screen space without making the feel too large to use with one hand, the phones look similar from the back too. They both have a matte finish that doesn't get as smudgy as Samsung's older phones that had a more glossy look, but you'll notice that the galaxy S 21 has some shiny metallic accents on the sides and rear camera bump that make it look a little more fancy than the S 21 F Fe the galaxy S 21 Fe is nice enough for a $700 phone, but I prefer the pixel sixes design [00:02:30] it's made of glass and has boxier edges that kind of remind me of Samsung's galaxy note series. Plus I think the two toed color scheme is just more eye catching, but Samsung's phone is lighter than Google's, which can make it easier to use, especially for longer periods of time.
Speaker 1: There's a USBC port at the bottom of the S 21, but no expandable storage. The base model comes with 128 gigs of storage, but you'll have to upgrade to the $770 version to get twice the amount of space. The [00:03:00] galaxy S 21 F E runs on the same processor as the regular S 21, meaning it'll have the Qualcomm snap drag 8 88 processor in the us. It's also the same chip in the Samsung galaxy Z fold three, which means it's definitely capable of some heavy lifting. The interface feels really quick and responsive games run smoothly, even with the graphic set to high and the camera launches nearly instantly. Another thing that makes this phone feel fast is that you can boost the screens refresh rate up to 120 Hertz. [00:03:30] That's not new. And the rest of the galaxy as 21 lineup can do this too, but this used to be an option that was only available in more expensive phones.
Speaker 1: So nice to see it on a more affordable device. Apple, for example, only includes higher refresh rates on the iPhone 13 pro, and Promax not the regular iPhone 13 battery life was a highlight with the S 20 Fe. And that's true again with the S 21 Fe both phones have a 40 500 million battery. That's bigger than the S 21 S battery, which [00:04:00] makes sense since the phone itself is bigger. I've been getting well beyond a day out of the S 21 F Fe, even with the refresh rate set to high, which is really nice to see you'll also get wireless charging and the ability to use the back of your phone as a wireless charging pad for other devices, both the regular S 21, and the pixel six can do that too still. It's great to see extra features like these on Samsung's more affordable device, too. The galaxy S 21 Fe has a triple lens camera with a 12 megapixel [00:04:30] wide camera, 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera, and an eight megapixel telephoto camera. The main difference between this and Samsung's regular S 21 is that the more ex expensive phone has a 64 megapixel telephoto camera.
Speaker 1: The difference was noticeable sometimes, but in certain shots, especially pictures of street signs, it was hard to tell them apart both versions of the S 21. Also let your record with the front and rear cameras at the same time, but on [00:05:00] the regular S one, you can also toggle between the three rear facing and camera lenses when shooting in this mode, which you can't do on the S 21 Fe, this might be useful for YouTubers and vloggers, but honestly, I didn't feel like I was missing out on that much in terms of camera features when switching between the galaxy S 21 and S 21 Fe as for how Samsung's new phone compared to the pixel. Well, there are pros and cons, depending on your preferences. The galaxy S 21 Fe's big advantage is that it has a dedicated telephoto lens. [00:05:30] The pixel six by comparison only has two lenses, a 50 megapixel wide angle camera, and a 12 megapixel ultra wide angle camera.
Speaker 1: That means the S 21 Fe is much better for taking zoomed photos. You can zoom up to 30 times digitally with the S 21 Fe, and that includes a three times optical zoom as well. The pixel six by comparison can only zoom in seven times digitally. You also don't get that dual recording mode on the pixel six, but Google has some other camera tricks [00:06:00] that Samsung is missing. One of my favorite features is face on blur, which fixes blurry faces when the subject is moving. Google lens is also built right into the pixel six's camera, which is much more useful than Samsung's Biby vision image. Quality also varies a little bit between both devices, the galaxy S 21 F E like other Samsung phones tends to boost color, but the pixel sixes photos looked a bit more realistic. Thankfully, both phones also take really great photos in low light conditions.
Speaker 1: Although [00:06:30] I did think that the pixel sixes photo came out just a little bit brighter. The galaxy S 21 F E is a really soft phone for $700. It's cheaper than the S 21, and is even better in some ways, such as when it comes to screen size and battery life. But the pixel six is also attempting choice at $600. It's even less expensive than the S 21 F Fe, although it is heavier than Samsung's phone and lacks a telephoto camera lens, pull Samsung's phone supports both flavors [00:07:00] of 5g while compatibility for Google's phone can vary between carriers, but the pixel six does have a sharper design that makes it feel more expensive than it really is. Plus it's packed with Google features that are really useful. For example, you can have the Google assistant screen spam calls or wait on hold for, for you.
Speaker 1: Plus the pixel six is Google's first phone to come with its own tensor chip, which means we'll probably see even more features like this in the future. You should also consider that Samsung's next major phone release. The galaxy [00:07:30] S 22 might be right around the corner. It'll probably have a newer processor and it could have a 50 megapixel camera and faster charging. According the leaks, if Samsung keeps the same pricing structure as the S 21, the base model of the S 22 might only be $100 more expensive than the S 21 F Fe. So in other words, you should probably wait until the S 22 is announced before making any big decisions.
