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The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is definitely coming soon, but Samsung's production is not going well

By Adrian Diaconescu

Published: Sep 21, 2021, 6:30 AM

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The Galaxy S21 FE 5G is definitely coming soon, but Samsung's production is not going well

There's been a lot of talk over the last few months about Samsung's next Fan Edition device, which many expected to go official alongside the Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 5G on August 11. Obviously, the Galaxy S21 FE 5G would be up for grabs by now if that ultimately proved the case, but due to some unforeseen production challenges, we're still waiting for the oft-leaked handset to be formally announced.

While waiting, you might be pleased (or at least surprised) to hear that Google has just joined a long list of companies, retailers, and carriers confirming and inadvertently teasing the impending arrival of the "Samsung Galaxy S21 Fan Edition."

Samsung's latest foldables are a problem for the S21 FE

According to 9To5Google, the search giant mentioned the unreleased phone by its full name on the ARCore website yesterday, and although said reference appears to have since been removed, the "damage" is clearly done.

This latest confirmation strongly suggests the Galaxy S21 FE could finally break cover any day now, but unfortunately, the handset's commercial debut is almost certainly still at least a few weeks away.

The Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 might be too popular for the S21 FE's good

That's because, according to Max Jambor over on Twitter, Samsung has only been able to manufacture "roughly" 10,000 of these bad boys "this month", which sounds like a very low number even by Sony or HTC's standards, let alone the biggest smartphone vendor in the world.

Of course, there might be plenty of time left for the company to ramp up production ahead of a rumored pre-order start on October 20 and subsequent October 29 release, but such a poor first wave of units could mean Samsung has yet to fix whatever's been holding up the S21 Fan Edition until now.

Numerous reports have pointed to the industry-wide chip shortages as the main culprit here, but the early and somewhat unexpected success of Samsung's latest foldables could be playing its own part in the S21 FE delays, especially going forward.

If the company has to choose between keeping up with rampant Galaxy Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 demand and trying to get the Galaxy S21 FE off the ground, that seems like a no-brainer. Then again, you have to start wondering why would Samsung even bother releasing another iteration of its early 2021 flagships if said model ends up scheduled just a couple of months ahead of the Galaxy S22 family.

Is the Galaxy S21 FE DOA if it keeps getting delayed?

Said early 2022 family, mind you, could include 6.1 and 6.5-inch members with considerably better specifications and presumably not much higher prices than the 6.4-inch S21 FE 5G.

Powered by a state-of-the-art (at least for the time being) Snapdragon 888 processor in certain regions and a similarly speedy Exynos 2100 SoC in other markets, the Galaxy S21 Fan Edition is expected to start at around $700 stateside.

Leaked S21 FE colors

That may not be low enough to help the 6.4-inch powerhouse crack our list of the best budget 5G phones available in 2021, and in the absence of quick post-launch discounts, it would make the S21 FE kind of hard to recommend over the "standard" Galaxy S21, which has been recently on sale at a measly $650 and up.

In addition to a fairly large, sharp, and smooth 120Hz Super AMOLED display, this thing should have a triple rear-facing camera system with 32, 12, and 8MP sensors going for it, as well as a 4,400mAh or so battery, up to 8 gigs of RAM, and a wide range of attractive colors.

Still, it's difficult to get too excited about a device that simply sounds too familiar and, well, boring, especially after the Galaxy Z Flip 3 and Z Fold 3 knocked our proverbial socks off with their refined designs and surprisingly decent quality/price ratios.

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Adrian, a mobile technology enthusiast since the Nokia 3310 era, has been a dynamic presence in the tech journalism field, contributing to Android Authority, Digital Trends, and Pocketnow before joining PhoneArena in 2018. His expertise spans across various platforms, with a particular fondness for the diversity of the Android ecosystem. Despite the challenges of balancing full-time parenthood with his work, Adrian's passion for tech trends, running, and movies keeps him energized. His commitment to mid-range smartphones has led to an eclectic collection of devices, saved from personal bankruptcy by his preference for 'adequate' over 'overpriced'.