Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: price in India, specifications, features compared

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has finally been launched in India. The FE (Fan Edition) model is basically a cheaper and slightly less-equipped version of the flagship Galaxy S21 from Samsung. It features an Exynos-branded processor, AMOLED display with a high refresh rate, triple rear cameras, a metal chassis with a plastic rear panel, and Android 12. Since this is the successor to the popular Galaxy S20 FE 5G from last year, we naturally decided to do a comparison and see if it’s a good upgrade that is worth your money. Let’s take a look at the differences and similarities between the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE and the Galaxy S20 FE. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: price in India

Starting with the price, the newly launched Galaxy S21 FE 5G starts at Rs 54,999. You can, however, purchase the device at an effective price of Rs 49,999 using an HDFC Bank card to avail a Rs 5,000 cashback. This base variant comes with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. Samsung has priced the top-end variant with 8GB RAM and 256GB storage at Rs 58,999 (Rs 53,999 via cashback). 

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE with the Snapdragon 865 chipset can be purchased for under Rs 40,000 on Amazon India but is still priced at Rs 49,999 on Samsung’s official online store. It is available in India with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage only. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: specifications, features, and design

Design

The Galaxy S21 FE 5G looks similar to the Galaxy S21 vanilla variant. It features a metal chassis, but comes with a plastic rear panel instead of glass. The front has a hole-punch Infinity-O display that’s protected with Gorilla Glass Victus and features slim bezels all around. From the front, you could mistake the Galaxy S21 FE for its predecessor. The Galaxy S20 FE 5G also has a hole-punch Infinity-O display but doesn’t feature Gorilla Glass Victus protection. It also gets a plastic rear panel and aluminium frame. 

At the back, both phones still feature a triple rear camera module, but the design is different. You could easily tell them apart by looking at the rear panel. The volume and power buttons on both phones are on the right side. The SIM tray, speaker, and USB Type-C ports are at the bottom. 

Processor, RAM, storage

Now, let’s take a look at what’s inside the phones. The new Galaxy S21 FE 5G comes with an Exynos 2100 processor in India, which may disappoint some hardcore Samsung fans. The international variant ships with the Snapdragon 888 chipset. The Exynos SoC is paired with up to 8GB RAM and 256GB internal storage. Unfortunately, Samsung did get rid of the microSD card slot, which is yet another disappointment. 

The older Galaxy S20 FE 5G is available in India with the Snapdragon 865 processor, which is paired with 8GB RAM and 128GB storage. The phone does come with a hybrid SIM tray, which can accommodate a microSD card for adding more storage. 

Display

Coming to the display specifications, both smartphones have similar screen sizes and a hole-punch cutout at the top centre. The Galaxy S21 FE gets a 6.4-inch Dynamic AMOLED display that offers FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+ support. It is protected by Gorilla Glass Victus. 

Meanwhile, the Galaxy S20 FE offers a slightly larger 6.5-inch Super AMOLED panel with FHD+ resolution, 120Hz refresh rate, and HDR10+ support. As you can see, both panels offer pretty much the same features and users shouldn’t be able to tell any difference. 

Both devices come with an in-display fingerprint scanner. 

Cameras

In the camera department, both the Galaxy S21 FE and Galaxy S20 FE feature a triple rear camera setup. You get a primary 12-megapixel sensor, another 12-megapixel telephoto unit with 3x optical zoom, and an 8-megapixel ultra-wide sensor on both smartphones. Even the front 32-megapixel selfie camera is the same on both devices. The only areas they differ are in software, where Samsung has claimed to have improved performance and has added a couple of new features on the newer device. 

Connectivity

Both phones feature a USB Type-C port, Bluetooth 5.0, dual-band Wi-Fi, NFC, and GPS as standard. There’s no difference in terms of connectivity options between the two Galaxy FE phones. The older Galaxy S20 FE 5G does feature a hybrid SIM card tray though, which supports a microSD card. 

Battery

Coming to the batteries, once again, Samsung hasn’t changed much here, apart from bumping up the charging speeds for the Galaxy S21 FE. Both devices house a 4,500mAh battery and support fast charging. The older Galaxy S20 FE maxes out at 15W fast charging, whereas the new Galaxy S21 FE supports up to 25W fast charging. 

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S20 FE: Verdict

There’s not really a lot of difference between the Galaxy S21 FE and the Galaxy S20 FE. The displays are pretty much the same, hardware features apart from the processor are also similar, and you get slightly better rear camera performance. We’d also like to point out that the Galaxy S21 FE 5G comes at a time when Samsung is readying to launch the Galaxy S22 series. If you’d like to save some money, then the Galaxy S20 FE 5G with the Snapdragon 865 chipset is a better deal, and you won’t be missing out on much.