It’s already one of the bestselling smartphones in Australia, now Samsung Electronics has used CES to reveal a new, lower-cost version of its popular Galaxy S21 with the launch of the sub $1,000 S21 FE 5G.
The Fan Edition is cheaper than the S21 and comes with a better camera and improved battery and battery charging capability.
The new handset has a slightly larger screen at 6.4 inches, compared with 6.2 inches on the regular S21.
The device, which has hurt sales of several Chinese branded smartphone, goes on sale Jan. 11 in Australia has three cameras –12-megapixel main and wide-angle cameras and an 8-megapixel telephoto lens.
The wide-angle and main camera sensors are similar to those on the standard S21, which has a far stronger, 64-megapixel telephoto system.
The new model has the same processor as the original S21 phones but has a higher capacity battery.
The phones are offered in the same 128GB and 256GB storage options, but the lower capacity version has 6GB of memory, or RAM, compared with 8GB on the regular S21 with the same capacity.
The FE has a simpler optical fingerprint sensor than the ultrasonic sensor on the premium Samsung Galaxy smartphones.
There is also a subtle camera bump that comes out of the phone’s edge.
Samsung calls this a Contour-Cut frame that delivers uniformity to the back panel of the phone.
The frame of the S21 FE is also aluminium, and the Dynamic AMOLED panel looks good with colours looking sharp and bright because it supports a 120Hz refresh rate which is good in a sub $1,000 device.
A 32-megapixel selfie camera is also built in for video calls and quick shots.