The long awaited Samsung Galaxy S21 FE appears to be just around the corner, given the number of unofficial appearances it has made in recent weeks. After popping up on the Google Play Store console, Instagram and on Samsung’s French site, another sighting has been made on Geekbench.
That would be unremarkable in itself, given the phone first made a Geekbench appearance all the way back in May, but this is a bit different: instead of the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip seen in previous listings, this one has an Exynos 2100 chipset.
This version of the phone is called “SM-G990E”, whilst the Qualcomm version appears to be “SM-G990B”, but performance seems to be pretty much the same whichever model is tested. This listing gives scores of 1084 and 3316 for single- and multi-core tests, and the various recent Qualcomm listings all seem to be in the same ballpark.
While technology minded buyers have in the past fretted over whether they’re getting Qualcomm or Exynos chips in their phones and what that will do to performance and battery life, the news of two versions here is actually good news. Given the S21 FE was rumoured to be cancelled due to a lack of chips at one point, the fact that Samsung is making two versions suggests this won’t be a limited launch, like Google has had with the Pixel 5a.
So, when can you buy one? The leaker Mauri QHD believes that Samsung will be unveiling the phone on Wednesday September 8.
Separately, though, a new report from Korean publication The Elec states that the phone is due to go into mass production in September, which makes the leaked date seem a touch on the optimistic side.
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Of course, announcing a new phone and making it available are two separate things, so perhaps the rumoured September 8 reveal – be it a media event, or, more likely, a press release – will simply announce the specifications with a date to buy a month or two down the road. Either way, we’ll know soon enough.
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Editorial independence means being able to give an unbiased verdict about a product or company, with the avoidance of conflicts of interest. To ensure this is possible, every member of the editorial staff follows a clear code of conduct.
Professional conduct
We also expect our journalists to follow clear ethical standards in their work. Our staff members must strive for honesty and accuracy in everything they do. We follow the IPSO Editors’ code of practice to underpin these standards.
