Compare Samsung Galaxy S21 Vs Samsung Galaxy S20FE. Which one should you go for?

 

Samsung Galaxy S21 Vs Galaxy S20FE.

After it's launch on January 15th, the Samsung Galaxy S21 is now available for pre-order in many countries including Kenya, with an official country launch expected soon. 

With a pre-order Price of Ksh. 119,999 at Jumia Kenya, it is clear that this is not a phone for every one, and it might be wise to first consider a number of alternatives before settling for one.

Surprisingly enough, the Samsung Galaxy S20FE is one of the best Galaxy S21 are close Competitors with a number of similar specs with slight variations here and there. The S20FE was largely seen as a better alternative to last year's S20 series phones with slightly watered-down specs in order to bring it's price as low as possible without largely compromising on the overall S20 series experience.

With a price of Ksh. 73,999 at Jumia, the Galaxy S20FE is half cheaper than the Galaxy S21, and in this article we are going to give you a detailed comparison of the two Smartphones spec by spec so that you can make the best decision.

Galaxy S21 Vs Galaxy S20FE                     

          

Specs	Galaxy S21	Galaxy S20FE
Network Type	2G, 3G, LTE, 5G.	2G, 3G, 4G LTE, 5G
Display Type	Dynamic AMOLED, 120 Hz, HDR10+	Super AMOLED, 120 Hz, HDR10+
Screen Size	6.2 inch, 1300 nits.	6.5 inch.
Display resolution	1080 x 2400 pixels, 412 ppi	1080 x 2400 pixels, 407 ppi
Processor	Exynos 2100(5nm) .	Exynos 900(7nm)
Memory	8+128, 8+256 GB	6+128, 6+256 GB.
Cameras	Triple 12MP + 64MP telephoto + 12MP Ultra.	Triple 12MP + 8MP tele + 12MP Ultra.
Selfie camera	10MP	32MP
Battery	4,000 mAh, 25W fast charge, 15W wireless charge	4,000 mAh + 25W charge + 15W Wireless charge.
Fingerprint sensor	Under display	Under display
Price(Approximate).	Ksh. 119,999.	Ksh. 63,000.

Design.

Both phones are made of a glass front, plastic back and an aluminium frame, with the S21 having a slight upper hand due to it's Corilla Glass Victus glass front. The S20FE measures 159.8 x 74.5 x 8.4 mm, while the S21 measures 151.7 x 71.2 x 7.9 mm. This means that the S20FE is slightly taller and wider than the S21, and surprisingly is also much slimmer by almost 1.5 mm.

The back of the phones look quite different, as a result of the countour camera design of the S21 series phones which makes them stand out of any other Smartphone in the market. This could be a huge factor for those who love having something eunique, just like the Apple iPhone phones.

Colorwise the two phones are also very much apart. The S20FE is available in Cloud Lavender, Cloud Mint, Cloud White, Cloud Red and Cloud Orange, while the S21 has a phantom color theme available in Phantom Gray, Phantom White, Phantom Violet and Phantom pink. To me the Phantom theme looks more premium, but color won't be the only justification to pay twice the price.

Display.

The Samsung Galaxy S21 has a 6.2 inch Dynamic AMOLED display with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels. It supports HDR10+ and 120HZ Dynamic refresh rate that automatically adjusts based on the content you're viewing. On it's part, the Galaxy S20FE has a 6.5 inch Super AMOLED display with 1080 x 2400 pixels and also supports HDR10+ and 120hz static refresh rate. The S20FE has a pixel density of 407 ppi, while the S21 has 421 ppi, the slight difference resulting from the difference in screen sizes.

Considering that there's no much display differences, the S20FE here has a slightly upper hand due to it's bigger display.

Cameras.

This is where things get alitle bit interesting, and is easy to see why. Both phones feature a triple rear camera setup, with the same 12MP primary lens. However the S21 has a 64MP telephoto while the S20FE has an 8Mp telephoto lens. But while the S21 has a 1.1x optical zoom, the S20FE has a 3x optical zoom. This means that the S20FE will perform much better when it comes to Zoomed in photos.

However the S21 has an upper hand when it comes to video resolution, since it can shoot 8k videos while the S20FE can shoot 4K. But considering that 8K, and even 4K screens are still hard to come by in many parts of the world, it won't make any much sense to shoot 8k videos with no matching screen to enjoy such level of quality. In fact, even the phone's display is not 4k.

The S21 has a single 10MP selfie camera while the S20FE has a single 32MP selfie camera. That means we still give it to the S20FE when it comes to Selfie camera performance.

Software performance.

The S21 is powered by the 5nm Exynos 2100 chipset, while the S20FE spots the 9nm Exynos 990. While both processors over good performance, the S21 has a superior performance, and it's processing speed will be noticeably higher than that of the S20FE. While the S20FE has 6GB of RAM, the S2@ has 8GB, making it much better for multitasking die to it's faster processor has well as slightly bigger RAM. Both phones have 128GB or 256GB internal storage, but the S20FE goes you an option for an SD card which is not available in the Galaxy S21.

Battery life.

While the Galaxy S21 features a 4,000 mAh battery, the S20FE has a 4,500 mAh battery. Both support 25W fast charge via a USB-C port and 3.0 power delivery.

The battery power consumption of both devices is quite high due to the highly demanding display with HDR10 support as well as the 120Hz refresh rate.

So, which one of the two phones should you go for?

This question can have different responses depending on the country you're in, due to the huge price difference of the two devices, plus the slight difference in phone use.

While both devices are 5G enabled, we still don't have 5G in Kenya, and looks like it might not be here anytime soon.

In terms of performance the S21 is much preffred due to it's better processor and bigger RAM, but still you won't need that much performance in the country yet.

The S20FE has a much bigger display, something which is a bigger plus over the S21 according to me, but you might have a different opinion. The S20FE also has a much better camera performance, and it's SD card support is also another plus.

My parting shot is; if you really need an S21 phone, then I suggest you better go for the S21 Ultra, which has much better specs compared to other S21 phones. Otherwise the Galaxy S20FE is a good alternative which has almost the same performance to the S21 at a much cheaper price.

Feel free to air your views on the comments section below.

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