Samsung Galaxy S21 FE could launch in October and the hype is real

Samsung’s much-anticipated S21 FE should launch toward the end of October. It’s been one of the mysteries of the last few months, especially given final leaked renders of the device showed up alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 before they launched at Unpacked on August 11. 

According to Front Page Tech and leak conduit Jon Prosser the phone will be available from October 29, with orders opening on October 20. Some rumours have suggested that the phone would appear in September because benchmarks had started to appear on Geekbench, a sure sign that someone has one and is furiously submitting benchmarks to generate some hype. 

• Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is easy on the eye and the wallet in this first look

What’s interesting now is that the FE seems to be appearing with both Snapdragon and Exynos processors. In case you don’t know, Samsung generally launches devices with its own Exynos chips, unless they’re for a region where Qualcomm’s modem tech is needed. Because of the US history with CDMA, American devices tend to be Qualcomm powered while most of the rest of the world gets Exynos. But Tom’s Guide published encouraging numbers from the Samsung SM-G990E which will be the name of the Exynos device. The Qualcomm equipped model is called the Samsung SM-G990B.

The phones seem to sport 8GB of RAM with a Full HD+ display and 120Hz refresh rate for maximum responsiveness. Storage options might include both 128GB and 256GB which is likely to be sufficient for most people. And let’s not forget, this is Samsung’s more affordable version of its flagship, so some compromises will have to be made. 

With all that in mind, this phone does have great potential. We’re all kind of tired of the ever increasing cost of flagship phones and for many of us a grand or more probably isn’t an option. Having a cheaper phone that offers solid performance is likely to go down very well. With rumours that the Z Fold and Z Flip are selling well, it could be that the S21 FE does even better. While the folding handsets are objects of desire, the FE is a flagship for the masses.