Samsung's Galaxy S21 FE Reportedly Launching Alongside Z Fold 3 And Z Flip 3
Samsung may opt to push back the launch of its upcoming Galaxy S21 FE (Fan Edition) smartphone just a tad, and announce it at the same time as the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3 in August of this year. That would give Samsung three high-end smartphone launches this summer, despite there not being another Note-branded handset on the horizon.
For anyone who is not familiar, Samsung's FE variants aim to deliver a premium smartphone experience with the features it deems most important to Galaxy users, at a lower price than the non-FE models. It's a decent strategy—in our Galaxy S20 FE 5G review, we called it a budget-conscious Android phone with flagship specs, which is an appealing proposition.
"The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition is a remarkable handset. Samsung certainly cut a few corners to bring the flagship experience to a more affordable price point. However, we think Samsung cut the right corners, which means that the majority of phone shoppers won't mind and probably won't ever feel limited by its feature set," we wrote in our review.
All three aforementioned smartphones were rumored to launch in July, but according to Yonhap News and the "industry sources" it spoke to, Samsung is now eyeballing August instead.
Source: @OnLeak via Voice
Prominent leaker @OnLeak recently shared what look to be legitimate press renders of the Galaxy S21 FE, as shown above. According to the latest unofficial information, the Galaxy S21 FE is slightly bigger than the non-FE Galaxy S21 5G, adding 4mm in length and 3.3mm in width. It's also said to sport an incrementally larger screen at 6.4 inches versus 6.2 inches.
It's likely the Galaxy S21 FE will retain the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 processor and camera arrangement as the non-FE model. So, to cut costs, we're probably looking at things like less RAM and storage, and maybe more plastic in the design. But we'll have to wait and see.
The same report suggests pricing will be around 700,000 KRW (about $630 in US currency).
As for the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Galaxy Z Flip 3, a recent leak highlight some potential features, like a three-camera arrangement on the rear of latter, stacked vertically, with the LED light positioned underneath. And regarding the former, it's said to have an under-display camera and S Pen support.
It's expected that both of those phones will incorporate a Snapdragon 888 SoC as well, or maybe an upgraded Snapdragon 888 Plus, which is rumored to launch in the second half of this year. Other details will have to wait.