Samsung·phone
Galaxy S21 FE
Based on 53 credible posts from YouTube, Bluesky & Hacker News. 32 filtered out as bot-like or off-topic.
Medium confidenceA solid sample; expect small shifts as more owners post. How we score
Scored September 27, 2026
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Owner reviews
Overall owner mood
Most owners are happy with it: 72% of 53 reviews are positive and 17% negative. Praise centers on price & value and display. The most common complaint is battery & charging (4 owners). Owners with 6+ months of use feel about the same (71% positive).
What owners like
Price & value praised by 12 owners
“I recently got the google pixel six and I can tell you that it would be a far better value to get that instead of the ( FE ).....Anyways, thanks for the video marques!!!”
Display praised by 9 owners
“I have the 8bg version, the phone flys, screen looks better then my other phone iPhone 13 pro, love the plastic on the back no case needed nice not slipery texture.”
Battery & charging praised by 4 owners
“Great phone, just slightly weaker battery than i wanted, but overall a really good phone especially the camera.”
Performance praised by 4 owners
“Great camera, no lags, good quality.”
What owners complain about
Battery & charging raised by 4 owners
“Can't fine much to complain, other than the less than impressive battery.”
Performance raised by 2 owners
“In December last year it overheated and didn’t turn on until today.”
Software & AI raised by 2 owners
“My Fold 3 "folded" after a Tmobile update so I had to find a new phone.”
What owners talk about
- Price & value12 praise · 1 complain
- Display9 praise · 1 complain
- Battery & charging4 praise · 4 complain
- Performance4 praise · 2 complain
- Software & AI4 praise · 2 complain
- Camera3 praise · 1 complain
- Build & durability1 praise · 1 complain
Built from the reviews themselves — every quote links to the owner who wrote it.
Full text of every credible post we scored. Bot-like and off-topic comments are hidden.
I've been using Firefox mobile browser on my not that old Samsung Galaxy S21FE for one year or more, and I can confidently say that the performance is awful. [...] It often glitches and flashes white when opening/closing the on-screen keyboard and it blinds me for a second if using at night. [...]
I hate this phone I had it since July 20, 2023 Now it has poor battery man. I wish one day I had an upgrade
[...] Battery life is great (I only 'slow' charge, and only charge to 80%. If I'm on vacation or something, and need to charge fast before leaving the hotel, I'll fast charge and up the charge % up to 95%). [...] Huge difference in speed and camera quality. [...] Faster in every way, and camera better. But the S21 FE is so fast and has a really great camera, I can't see any upgrade these days being a big "WOW". [...]
I've had myn since it first came out 5 years is the longest I've ever kept a phone lol.
Have you thought about getting a used legacy iPad? Sometimes its better to get an old high end device than a new low-mid range one (I got a refurbished Samsung Galaxy S21 FE last year instead of the S24)
I just bought one Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, 8/256GB, used for 2 years in perfect condition for $265. [...] 6.4 inch screen, 4500 mAh battery, plastic back and no glass, very nice in the hand, smooth and sleek. [...] Great flagship phone for low price. [...] I have had S8, S9, S10 and S21 FE is the best one so far.
[...] I bought mine in February last year and a year didn’t even go by before it started overheating. In December last year it overheated and didn’t turn on until today. Sent it back to @Samsung for repairs and they told me that the warranty won’t cover it. [...]
Had my s21 fe 4 about 7 months now. I love it. Great phone. Didn't really shop around, and I'm not really a tech person, but ur video really opened my eyes. Thanks. Keep the videos coming. Have a great day
Yeah I'm pretty happy with my galaxy 20 fe, honestly best phone I ever bought with price, durability, performance it is a solid phone and one I'll keep for years.
My S20 FE still have smooth quick performance no issue no problem work really great just like new out of the box when it come between S21 FE and S20 FE I will likely go with S20 FE for expandable memory
standard MKBHD, this phone isn't out yet, I've been using it from last year <3
I don't want my S20 FE to ever die, I'm on year 2 with it and no issues.
Fan Editions shouldn't cross $500. Max it can go to 600 not more. I grabbed my S20 FE for $549 during a sale last year and it still kicks even now 🔥 💯
I got S20FE 5G in India, few months before, at that time price gap between FE and S21 was more than 100$(FE being cheaper), And also FE in India is with Snapdragon and S21 is with Exynos, so FE was appealing Deal for me, But, if both were at same price then I may have moved towards S21.
I got this phone in 2022, battery life struggles these days after 4 years of heavy use but it holds up still for the most part
[...] And you sayd that one ui 7 is last update , that is not true , i just update it to one ui 8 and it works fine . [...]
I just bought the 21 FE. It is a used one, but it feels actually like new. It was $150 here in Germany where I live. Very happy with the phone so far.
Oh goody, just found out it doesn't have a calculator either. Seriously? no calculator? Am I the only one massively disappointed in this phone?
okay i just bought a new (secondhand) LCD for my Galaxy S21 FE and i plan to repair my phone by myself once it arrives (with the power of isopropyl alcohol, hairdryer and fuckass tools) but now it kinda burned a hole in my pocket so who wants to donate to a struggling queer with a broken phone 💔💔💔💔
I've been having problems with my Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. [...] Which I got a new Sim card a couple of days ago. [...]
I got this phone for $390 during sale. I don't think any other phone will beat it at this price. 😁
s21fe is in a great position now.with great offers and pixel 6 plagued by software issues and no s22fe,it's the best of it's price range.just got mine when had a hundred off on amazon.i recommend everyone shopping in that price range to consider it an option.
[...] It charges at 25 w, not just 15. [...]
[...] My Fold 3 "folded" after a Tmobile update so I had to find a new phone. I got the 21FE in a pinch for $450 from Best Buy. [...]
[...] The 120hz display is amazing and the most noticeable difference. I really have nothing bad to say about it, especially considering the price I got it at.
Got this phone for my dad, and I honestly like it more than my S21. Bigger screen, and better battery life.
Galaxies have gotten so good that you can literally employ the tactic iphone buyers have done for years, buy last year's when the current year's one is out, securing you a good price with just as good hardware + software. I couldn't be happier about this!
Recently got mine at 600usd ish (after conversion), as I want the bigger screen, so didnt take s21 into account and s21+ is way over my budget, its honestly really lovely and I love it on 60hz. 120 kills battery a little faster than how I would like, and doesn't really makes a difference.
[...] Can't fine much to complain, other than the less than impressive battery. Fun fact, where I'm from they haven't drop the price of the s21. [...] But today all shops sell you the s21 and the s22 at the same price. [...] So got the fe, and with the discount this one did have, and trade in, I got it unlocked for like 300 bucks. [...] Cheap phone options are pretty much Motorola and xiaomi. [...]
[...] I agree that at that price, there are other (better) options and if your phone is working well, it's not worth the upgrade. [...] I just ordered my s21 FE because of a crazy trade-in deal, education discount, and instant rebate Samsung was offering that essentially dropped the price of an unlocked 256 GB s21 FE 5G from $639.49 to $260.40 with sales tax. [...] Certainly worth it for me!
Great phone especially since I was able to get it for 350 from Verizon, definitely a price cut since S22 is hitting the shelves well tomorrow. I upgraded from the S10E so this phone is a big change and Samsung does make some beautiful screens. 😍
[...] At that Price, the S21 FE is an excellent phone.
I got this phone and so far I really enjoy this I switched from and iPhone 11 and I'm happy with the decision
Just got this phone from having an s8. I will always keep my old phone for the headphone jack. I got this phone on the weekend and the s22 literally came out today 😂
[...] This phone is nice and it's literally the perfect size screen. [...] Lastly, yes the price may be a little on the high side, but most people will never pay that regular price. [...]
I got this phone yesterday, love the looks feel and performance of this device. I have the 8bg version, the phone flys, screen looks better then my other phone iPhone 13 pro, love the plastic on the back no case needed nice not slipery texture. [...] And and it is still less expensive the the rest of the S line, unlocked new.
Just got one of these as an upgrade. So far I really like it. 👍
I love samsung phones I been owning almost all samsung galaxy since the galaxy s2 to the my last one the s10 and I wanna upgrade to a new model but I'm not too sure yet because they don't have the option to expand the memory anymore probably for a lot of people they don't care but for me is a big thing. Having the option to take the micro SD card off one phone and put it to another phone and have all your photos and videos without worrying of losing accounts or forgetting passwords .
Shout out to DONUT! Glad to see youtubers supporting other YouTubers. I'm still riding high off of my S21 ultra probably keeping this phone for another 3 years and I'm an upgrade every year kinda person. Solid phone good overall. Sad to see the FE not be as competitive this year.
[...] Great phone, just slightly weaker battery than i wanted, but overall a really good phone especially the camera. [...] Releasing it right before S22 series seems very contradictory considering this flagship price range. [...] So maybe they're releasing it this early in 2022 with this price and in 6 months or so the price will surely have dropped and as a "new 2022 phone", it will sell out well as the S20 FE and S21 are then phased out. The pricing sure does put people off, but again the S20 FE is still being sold now and it just shows how good the phone is as its price goes down. [...]
Other than the 888, this looks pretty much a slightly repackaged A52s. I hope the S21FE has lost the crappy phantom touch issue of the S20FE, both mine and the wife's S20FE have terrible problems with that - I gave up on mine and changed to the A52s which is pretty much better (oh and has headphone jack!)
I’ve s20 fe, cheaper than flagships so bought it. Great camera, no lags, good quality. Not going to upgrade until this one breaks.
I've had my S20FE shortly since launch and it's been great, this is definitely a product line I will follow when it's time for me to upgrade again.
As a samsung user in Australia, the FE editions are a good option if you like Samsung phones and want the snapdragon version instead of the exynos version. The price is a little high but then again I got my s20 fe really cheap when Samsung did a promotion not long after launch. Curious to see how an s21 and even the s22 exynos versions go against this s21 fe
Sadly they removed the microSD-slot, which was present on the S20 FE. I am not willing to give up my additional 256 GB SD card, which I already own, so this would be additional storage for free. No company will ever offer a phone with such a large storage while still being affordable. One additional factor that everyone seems to ignore: When a phone dies (which happens more often than people seem to think), the data on ithe phone dies with it. No feasible chance of recovery. Except for the data I regularily copy over to the SD card. The card can just be removed from the dead phone and be read from any PC.
Samsung really missed the mark here, I've been using the s10e as my daily since launch since it was great value, rignt now Samsung has better offerings in it's A series. Apart from the chipset it's basically an A series device. Pixel 6 is way more compelling dispite all it's bugs.
Wow i didnt actually know that samsung was going to release the s21 fe. The thing is that i just bought a s21 2 days ago! Edit: Phew after watching the vid (which was great btw), the s21 FE is definitely oddly priced but im glad that i got the s21 but the snapdragon 888 might be a hugw dealbreaker to me as i omly have the exynos 2100 in my variant but overall i think the s21 is still better.
I recently got the google pixel six and I can tell you that it would be a far better value to get that instead of the ( FE ).....Anyways, thanks for the video marques!!!
Still the perfect size and weight if you prefer slightly compact screens. Screen is superb, everything works well. The cameras are not great though compared to the mainstream S series - in fact pretty poor. I'm not sure if they downgraded then during the last few updates.. [...]
Literally sold my S20+ and bought a Pixel 6. Samsung has amazing screens but I prefer the way better software experience and features.
Galaxy S21 FE long-term: how it holds up
When problems show up
- Battery & chargingtypically around 3 years · 2 reports
- Performancetypically around 1 year · 2 reports
The claims, and the evidence
What the brand claims
No published claims on file for this product yet.
What owners report
“[...] Battery life is great (I only 'slow' charge, and only charge to 80%. If I'm on vacation or something, and need to charge fast before leaving the hotel, I'll fast charge and up the charge % up to 95%). [...] Huge difference in speed and camera quality. [...] Faster in every way, and camera better. But the S21 FE is so fast and has a really great camera, I can't see any upgrade these days being a big "WOW". [...]”
after 4 yearsView on YouTube“I've had myn since it first came out 5 years is the longest I've ever kept a phone lol.”
after 5 yearsView on YouTube“I've been using Firefox mobile browser on my not that old Samsung Galaxy S21FE for one year or more, and I can confidently say that the performance is awful. [...] It often glitches and flashes white when opening/closing the on-screen keyboard and it blinds me for a second if using at night. [...]”
after 1 yearView on Hacker News“I hate this phone I had it since July 20, 2023 Now it has poor battery man. I wish one day I had an upgrade”
after 2 yearsView on YouTube
Common Galaxy S21 FE problems
Issues at least two owners independently report.
- Battery & charging4 mentionsView on YouTube
“I hate this phone I had it since July 20, 2023 Now it has poor battery man. I wish one day I had an upgrade”
- Performance2 mentionsView on Hacker News
“I've been using Firefox mobile browser on my not that old Samsung Galaxy S21FE for one year or more, and I can confidently say that the performance is awful. [...] It often glitches and flashes white when opening/closing the on-screen keyboard and it blinds me for a second if using at night. [...]”
- Software & AI2 mentionsView on Hacker News
“I've been using Firefox mobile browser on my not that old Samsung Galaxy S21FE for one year or more, and I can confidently say that the performance is awful. [...] It often glitches and flashes white when opening/closing the on-screen keyboard and it blinds me for a second if using at night. [...]”