Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE
Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs S20 FE in a nutshell:
- Similar design styling, plastic construction
- Slightly smaller screen on S21 FE
- Faster Snapdragon 888 chip
- MicroSD card gone on the S21 FE
- S21 FE features upgraded cameras
- Starting price remains $700 on S21 FE
Also read:
Display and Design
The new S21 FE weighs less and is a bit more compact
It’s easy to tell these two apart: the newer S21 FE features a camera module that kind of blends with the back of the phone, much like the flagship S21 and S22 series, while the older S20 FE model features a separated camera island.
Apart from that, both phones are almost the same size, but interestingly, the newer S21 FE is actually a bit more compact (not quite as tall), and it also weighs quite a bit less at 170g vs 190g on the previous model.
Thankfully, both also come with water sealing and carry an official IP68 certification. There is no headphone jack on either one though, such are the modern times.
You have a 6.4-inch display on the S21 FE versus the slightly bigger, 6.5-inch screen size on the S20 FE, and both use Samsung’s AMOLED technology with brilliant colors, excellent viewing angles, 1080p resolution and HDR support.
Both phones also come with a discreet punch hole front camera, and both support image-based face recognition using that camera. The main biometrics, though, come in the form of an in-screen fingerprint scanner.
Battery and Charging
Bigger battery gives the cheaper S21 FE the advantage
Interestingly, there is no change in battery capacity: the S21 FE keeps the same 4,500mAh battery size as the previous model.
We do, however, expect a slight increase in battery life thanks to a more efficient processor, but also with the dynamic refresh rate feature that results in power savings.
We don’t have exact battery life numbers just yet, but we will be updating this article as soon as we test the new S21 FE.
Cameras
Bigger sensors on the S22 make the difference
Samsung is making some subtle changes to the image quality on the S21 FE and the S20 FE, but first, we should mention that leaks say the S21 FE and the S20 FE will have exactly the same camera specs, so no hardware upgrades are due:
Camera Specs | Resolution | Sensor Size | Pixel Size | Lens |
---|---|---|---|---|
Main S21 FE / S20 FE | 12MP | 1/1.76″ | 1.8µm | 26mm, f/1.8 |
Ultra S21 FE / S20 FE | 12MP | 1/3″ | 1.12µm | 13mm, f/2.2 |
Tele S21 FE / S20 FE | 8MP | 1/4.4″ | 1µm | 76mm (3X), f/2.4 |
This doesn’t mean that the software hasn’t improved with better processing for improved photos and video capture.
Obviously, we cannot say much more here until we get to actually test both phones, so stay tuned for an update to this section as soon as we do that.
Performance and Storage differences
Faster chip brings performance gains on the S21 FE
The Galaxy S21 FE being the newer phone also comes with a more powerful processor under the hood in the form of the Snapdragon 888 vs the Snapdragon 865 used on the Galaxy S21 FE. Both models come with 6GB RAM on board.
We will be running performance benchmarks and sharing the results here once we get a hold of the devices.
On the network side, you have 5G connectivity on both phones.
The two also come with 128GB of storage.
Software
One advantage of getting a newer phone is that it ships with the latest version of the operating system, and the Galaxy S21 FE is indeed expected with the latest Android 12 and Samsung One UI 4 pre-loaded.
The S20 FE, on the other hand, originally shipped with Android 10 and One UI 2.5, and was updated to Android 11 in 2021, but at the current moment still hasn’t received Android 12 and expectations are that it will get it some time in early 2022. This is quite the delay, considering that Android 12 was publicly released in early October 2021.
Galaxy S21 FE vs S20 FE: Specs Comparison
And here is a detailed specs comparison between the Galaxy S21 FE and S20 FE:
Galaxy S21 FE | Galaxy S20 FE | |
---|---|---|
Size and Weight | 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9 mm, 170g (6.0oz) | 159.8 x 74.5 x 8.4 mm, 190g |
Colors & Materials | Olive, Black, White, Purple Plastic back, Aluminum frame |
Various colors Plastic back, Aluminum frame |
Display | 6.4″ OLED, 1080p, 120Hz Adaptive | 6.5″ OLED, 1080p, 120Hz Non-Adaptive |
Processor | Snapdragon 888 in the US Exynos 2100 ROW |
Snapdragon 865 |
RAM | 6GB | 6GB |
Storage | 128G, non expandable | 128GB, microSD support |
Cameras | 12MP wide camera, f/1.8 12MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2 12MP 3X zoom camera |
12MP wide camera, f/1.8 12MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2 12MP 3X zoom camera |
Battery size | 4,500mAh | 4,500mAh |
Charging speeds | 25W wired, 15W wireless | 25W wired, 15W wireless |
Prices | starting from $700 | starting from $700 *but commonly discounted to $500-$600 |
Back when the original Fan Edition was announced, there was a $300 price difference between it and the $1,000 flagship S20 model, but in 2022, the entry model S22 flagship will only cost $800 dollars, a far lesser premium. This raises questions whether it even makes sense for Samsung to launch a Fan Edition smartphone these days.
For all the latest Technology News Click Here
For the latest news and updates, follow us on Google News.