Samsung Galaxy S21 FE unveiled at CES 2022

The design of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is almost identical to the S21 design from 2021, although it has a larger battery and a single tone colour scheme.

Pricing for the device starts from £699 and it will be released in the UK on Tuesday 11 January 2022.

So far, O2 and Tesco Mobile are confirmed to be stocking the handset when it launches.

Fan Edition

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has been rumoured for some time but the global chip shortage combined with the Covid-19 pandemic pushed the release date back.

It's now going to be released almost exactly a year after the Samsung S21 range hit the shelves, bringing a cheaper version of the popular phone to customers.

Like the standard S21, the S21 FE has a contour cut camera unit but the colour scheme on the FE is single tone rather than the two-tone seen on the earlier model.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has the following specs:

• Dynamic AMOLED 2x display
• 120Hz refresh rate
• 4,500mAh battery
• 25W fast charging
• Qualcomm SM8350 chipset
• 6GB or 8GB RAM
• 12MP wide and ultra wide lenses
• 8MP telephoto lens
• 32MP selfie camera
• IP68 dust and water resistant
• 5G-ready

Although the rear camera specs don't hit the same heights as the S21, the 32MP front camera will be welcome to selfie fans.

Release and pricing

The release of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE was confirmed at the CES 2022 event in Las Vegas earlier this week.

Unveiling the handset, Samsung confirmed it would be available globally from Tuesday 11 January and two UK mobile networks (O2 and Tesco Mobile) already have pre-orders on sale.

There are four colour options to choose from: White, Graphite, Olive and Lavender. Unlike the S21+ where some colours were only available directly from Samsung themselves, all four colour options will be sold via mobile networks and other retailers.

Customers can choose from 128GB or 256GB internal storage depending on their needs but it's worth noting there's no expandable storage on the device.

The 128GB model costs £699 while the 256GB version costs £749 upfront.

Samsung smartphones

The Fan Edition of the S21 is a welcome addition to the Samsung range of devices, especially since the previous iteration (the Samsung S20 FE) made our list of the best Android smartphones to buy in 2021.

Attention will now turn to the Samsung Galaxy S22 range that's expected to be unveiled in the next few months and is rumoured to bring more of the Samsung Galaxy Note functionality to the S brand.

Compared to Apple and Google who released their iPhone 13 and Pixel 6 ranges in September 2021 and October 2021 respectively, Samsung's flagship releases take place in the early part of the year.

This can allow them to set the trends for the year ahead and it also means customers can snap up cheaper deals on Samsung handsets later in the year just as Apple and Google are launching their annual flagship devices.

Samsung also have two folding handsets in the form of the Samsung Galaxy Fold3 and Samsung Galaxy Flip3.

These niche devices are the most expensive in the Samsung range, with the Fold3 retailing from £1,599 at launch and the Flip3 starting from £949 at launch.