If this is some kind of promotional strategy, Samsung has taken it too far. The rumored Galaxy S21 FE, a toned-down version of the Galaxy S21, was first expected to make an appearance at the August Unpacked event. In June, there were reports that the production had been halted because of the global chip shortage.
Later leaks claimed the phone would be released towards the end of the year. The chapter almost came to a close a few days back when a Samsung exec allegedly said that the mid-October event planned for Galaxy S21 FE’s unveiling has been canceled. A little while later, Samsung started removing Galaxy S21 FE support pages, which struck down the possibility of an online-only release.
Well, that may not be the case after all, as the Exynos Galaxy S21 FE has been approved by the FCC. This was spotted by Simranpal Singh and per the accompanying documents, the phone packs a 4,500mAh battery and will ship with a 25W charger and earbuds.
The Galaxy S21 FE got FCC’s stamp of approval on September 2, so it is not necessarily a confirmation that its launch is back on the table, given that Samsung apparently only recently decided to not go ahead with the release. But then again, T-Mobile is apparently gearing up for the launch, so nothing can be said for sure. Samsung was allegedly planning to release the phone on October 29 earlier this month.
Assuming we will never see the phone, we wonder what really came in the way – the rumored chip shortage and the popularity of the Galaxy Z Flip 3, which made Samsung prioritize the latter or fear of sales cannibalization, given that the S21 FE was expected to cost around $649 and the Galaxy S22 series is not too far off.
Rumored specs include a 6.4-inches 120Hz display, three rear cameras (32MP primary +12MP ultrawide + 8MP telephoto), and the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 SoC. That sounds like a winning specs-price combo and the perfect recipe for making the best phone of the year.