The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is an unmissable Cyber Monday deal at just $400
The Galaxy S21 FE is an excellent phone that couldn’t get out of the shadow cast by its predecessor, thanks to other devices in the range being better priced than the year before. But now that the S21 FE is down to $400, the phone starts to make sense.
The Galaxy S21 FE had a lot to live up to after the success of its predecessor. While it delivers in performance and other important metrics, it didn’t provide the same value, thanks to the regular Galaxy S21 being cheaper than expected. The basic formula is still valid, taking the Galaxy S21 and swapping the cameras and vibration motor for cheaper units to lower the price, all while leaving the rest of the device the same.
As theCyber Monday dealsroll in, the S21 FE is one of the devices to benefit. $700 was a bit too much to ask, but $400 is much more reasonable, so if you’re looking for a new smartphone, this is one to consider while it’s on sale.
Why you should buy the Galaxy S21 FE
The Galaxy S21 Fe is basically a Galaxy S21+ with a plastic back, a lower-resolution telephoto and selfie camera, and a worse vibration motor. Some would argue that the telephoto lens is actually better, thanks to it being a true 12MP 3X lens rather than cropping 2X into a 64MP sensor. You lose 8K recording, but realistically nobody cares about that. Other than those changes, the S21 FE benefits from everything the rest of the S21 does, like a Snapdragon 888, 6GB or 8GB of RAM, and a bright 1080p 120Hz display.
The market has shifted, and the S21 FE now just plugs a gap between Samsung’s premium mid-range A-series phones and the Galaxy S. And while the new Galaxy S21 FE is a good phone, it’s not a great value. It could be a good deal on discount or through a carrier promotion, but the full price tag is a tough sell.
The issue with the S21 FE,as noted in our review, is that the regular Galaxy S21 was cheaper than the S20, but the S21 FE launched at the same price as the S20 FE, diminishing the value. None of that made it a bad phone, just an awkward one. The device ended up being more expensive than the A53 (without truly justifying the increased cost) and cheaper than the S21 and later the S22, but by such a small amount, most people could buy one of those instead.
But charging $550 for the S21 FE is far more reasonable. In addition to the excellent hardware mentioned above, the software on the S21 FE is top-notch, so long as you like One UI. Samsung’s software adds many quality-of-life features, like better multitasking, insane levels of personalization, and reliability. The software keeps getting better as well, with the S21 FE alreadyrunning Android 13, and it’ll carry on getting fast Android updates through to Android 15, and Samsung promises thatfuture updates will be faster still.
The S21 FE is finally the price it always should have been, undercutting its more premium siblings by a good amount without sacrificing much in the way of specs or useful features, and we’re sure that you’ll be more than happy with it. If you pick up an S21 FE today, you’ll want to make sure it survives the years of use you have planned for it. That’s why we put in all the legwork to find thebest cases you’re able to get for the Galaxy S21 FE.
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