- Similar design styling, but S22 is glass, and S21 FE is plastic
- More compact 6.06″ screen on S22 vs larger 6.4″ screen on S21 FE
- Brighter screen on the Galaxy S22
- Faster Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip on S22
- 8GB RAM vs 6GB RAM on S21 FE
- S22 has smaller battery size
- S22 features upgraded cameras with new, larger sensors
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Display and Design
The S22 comes with a brighter screen with uniform bezels, while the S21 FE is a bit less impressive, but simply larger
While looking quite similar, it’s not hard to tell these two apart: the Galaxy S22 is the more compact phone, but it’s made using fancy glass on the back and has smaller, uniform borders around the screen, while the S21 FE features a plastic construction and has larger borders around the screen with a bigger bottom bezel.
The camera styling is similar with an island that kind of blends with the frame of the phone, which houses three cameras on both phones. Neither phone comes with a headphone jack, such are the times.
Being smaller, the S22 has the advantage of easier one handed use, plus it naturally weighs less and is just more comfortable to carry around.
You have a 6.06-inch display on the S22 versus a larger, 6.4-inch screen size on the S21 FE, and both use Samsung’s AMOLED technology with brilliant colors, excellent viewing angles, 1080p resolution and HDR support. Both also support adaptive refresh rates that go up to 120Hz for buttery smooth scrolling.
Both also come with a discreet punch hole front camera, and both support image-based face recognition using that camera. However, the main biometrics here come in the form of an in-screen fingerprint scanner. The Galaxy S22 uses a second-gen ultrasonic fingerprint scanner, while the S21 FE is rumored to come with an optical type of a fingerprint scanner.
Battery and Charging
Bigger battery gives the cheaper S21 FE the advantage
The other key difference between the Galaxy S22 and the S21 FE is just in their battery capacity. The battery on the S22 is rumored to be a smallish, 3,800mAh cell, while the Galaxy S21 FE is rumored to feature a 4,500mAh battery. All other factors aside, this is an 18% larger battery on the FE version, a considerable difference.
Cameras
Bigger sensors on the S22 make the difference
While they look quite similar, the three cameras on the Galaxy S22 and the Galaxy S21 FE are probably the biggest difference between these two.
First, let’s take a look at the S22 vs S21 FE camera specs:
| Camera Specs | Resolution | Sensor Size | Pixel Size | Lens |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Main S22 | 50MP | 1/1.57″ | 2.0µm | 26mm, f/1.8 |
| Main S21 FE | 12MP | 1/1.76″ | 1.8µm | 26mm, f/1.8 |
| Ultra S22 | 12MP | 1/2.55″ | 1.4µm | 13mm, f/2.2 |
| Ultra S21 FE | 12MP | 1/3″ | 1.12µm | 13mm, f/2.2 |
| Tele S22 | 10MP | 1/3.94″ | 1µm | 76mm (3X), f/2.4 |
| Tele S21 FE | 12MP | 1/4.4″ | 1µm | 76mm (3X), f/2.4 |
As you can see, the camera setup is quite similar, with a wide, ultra-wide and 3X zoom combo used on both phones. The S22, however, does use a larger and newer sensor for the main camera that can capture more light, and it also has bigger sensors for the ultra-wide and zoom cameras.
We are yet to see actual photographs snapped with these two phones, so we cannot comment any further yet, but we do expect both to have that typical “Samsung” look to photos with saturated, punchy colors.
The bigger difference between these two should become evident in low light shooting where the Galaxy S22 has the technical advantage.
On the video side, the Galaxy S22 supports up to 8K video, while the Galaxy S21 FE is expected to max out at 4K video. Both phones should be able to record 4K HDR video.
Performance and Storage differences
New Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 is all about the gains!
The Galaxy S22 also has the more powerful processor under the hood in the form of the Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 vs last year’s Snapdragon 888 used on the Galaxy S21 FE. The flagship S22 model is also due with 8GB of RAM vs 6GB RAM on the S21 FE. At least these are the specs on the US models, while international models will use Samsung’s slightly less capable processors: the Exynos 2200 on the S22 and the Exynos 2100 on the S21 FE.
We will be running performance benchmarks and sharing the results here once we get a hold of the devices. Early benchmarks indicate some 10% boost in CPU performance on the S22, and it might have an even bigger advantage when it comes to graphics performance and gaming.
On the network side, you have 5G connectivity on both phones. The Galaxy S22 model comes with the newer X65 modem that is more frugal and supports faster networks, while the S21 FE features the X60 modem.
The two also come with 128GB of storage, and unfortunately there is no microSD card support on either one.
Galaxy S22 vs S21 FE: Specs Comparison
And here is a detailed specs comparison between the Galaxy S22 and S21 FE:
| Galaxy S22 | Galaxy S21 FE | |
|---|---|---|
| Size and Weight | 146 x 70.5 x 7.6mm | 155.7 x 74.5 x 7.9 mm, 170g (6.0oz) |
| Colors & Materials | Blue, Gray, Purple, Beige, Black, White, Green, Rose Gold Glass back, Aluminum frame |
Olive, Black, White, Purple Plastic back, Aluminum frame |
| Display | 6.06″ OLED, 1080p, 120Hz Adaptive | 6.4″ OLED, 1080p, 120Hz Adaptive |
| Processor | Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 in the US Exynos 2200 ROW |
Snapdragon 888 in the US Exynos 2100 ROW |
| RAM | 8GB | 6GB |
| Storage | 128G / 256G / 512GB, non expandable | 128G, non expandable |
| Cameras | 50MP wide camera, f/1.8 12MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2 aperture 10MP 3X zoom camera |
12MP wide camera, f/1.8 12MP ultra-wide camera, f/2.2 12MP 3X zoom camera |
| Battery size | 3,800mAh | 4,500mAh |
| Charging speeds | 25W wired, 15W wireless | 25W wired, 15W wireless |
| Prices | starting from $800 | starting from $700 |
Samsung is gearing up to announce the Galaxy S21 FE in the beginning of January 2022, while the Galaxy S22 is rumored to be unveiled a bit later, on February 8th, with in-store availability following on February 18th.
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