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00:00So today we're going to be talking about the Galaxy S21 versus the S21 FE here.
00:06So these are two very popular phones that a lot of people, you know, want to buy this
00:10year.
00:11So great phones in the used refurbished marketplace.
00:13They're both around the $200 price point on Amazon and eBay.
00:17And yeah, so these have very subtle differences, but there are some, you know, noticeable differences
00:23with these two phones.
00:24So you would think, you know, they're kind of similar, but again, we're going to get
00:27into like the actual difference with these two phones.
00:31So let's go ahead and dive in here.
00:33Hardware wise, both phones are actually pretty much, you know, very similar in terms of material.
00:38They both have metal sides on here and they actually both have a plastic back.
00:43This is when, you know, Samsung was putting the plastic backs on, you know, the smaller
00:47phones.
00:48So yeah, hardware wise, they pretty much feel the same.
00:51They have that matte finish on the back and they're both IP68 dust and water resistant.
00:56Where you will see the actual difference is that the S21 FE is definitely a little
01:02bit bigger than the S21, not by much, but just by a little bit.
01:08And the reason is because it does have a bigger display.
01:10But as far as the hardware, they're both very easy to hold and comfortable.
01:15But the S21, I would say it's easier to manage and it's actually noticeably lighter since
01:19it has a smaller battery as well.
01:22So yeah, this is definitely a little bit more, I guess, compact.
01:26So if you're into like smaller phones and you want something that's, you know, easier
01:30to hold, then yeah, this is technically an easier phone to hold.
01:33Alright, so let's talk about the display differences.
01:35So the S21 FE has a 6.4 inch display.
01:40The S21 has a 6.2 inch display.
01:43So you know, this is a little bit bigger.
01:45So if you like bigger phones, then you would obviously get this one.
01:48Now, as far as the specs, they're pretty much the same.
01:51Dynamic AMOLED, 120Hz, HDR10+, as well too.
01:56And you know, as far as the brightness and stuff like that, the colors, they're essentially,
02:02you know, pretty much the same.
02:03They're not really that much different.
02:05I took them outdoors, you know, again, they both do pretty good in direct sunlight.
02:09So again, these are very minor differences with the display.
02:13But as far as quality-wise, they're pretty much the same.
02:15It really just comes down to the overall size of the display.
02:18And again, which is really not that big of a difference.
02:21As far as like the bezels and stuff like that, they are pretty similar.
02:27I think that the S21 does have slimmer bezels at the bottom for sure.
02:32Yeah, it's definitely slimmer here at the bottom.
02:36So you do have slightly slimmer bezels.
02:38I think the screen-to-body ratio, this is 86.7 on the S21 FE.
02:44The S21 is 87.2, yeah.
02:47So it is a slight difference.
02:48So this does have a kind of like a slimmer bottom, but at the top, they're pretty much
02:53the same here.
02:54All right, so both of these phones have the Snapdragon 888 processor.
02:58So they have the same processor, but the base models are different.
03:02So the base model on the FE is 128 gigs, 6 gigs of RAM.
03:07That's the one I have here.
03:08The base model on here is 128, 8 gigs of RAM.
03:11So you get a little bit more storage, which means that the S21, if you're doing a lot
03:15of multitasking, it will basically keep applications open.
03:20So yeah, so as far as the overall gaming experience, it's pretty much the same, but the S21 is
03:26definitely a little bit more optimized.
03:30It's pretty much across the board, Call of Duty, whatever.
03:32It's just more optimized.
03:33Why?
03:34I don't know.
03:35But yeah, so you can see on the S21, you have 90 frames on here, but we don't have that
03:41option on the S21 FE for PUBG.
03:45And like I said, this is across the board for Call of Duty, Fortnite.
03:48The S21 FE is just getting better settings.
03:50So it's not that it's faster chip-wise, because it's the same thing, it's just better optimized.
03:57So yeah, so definitely take that into consideration if you're like a hardcore PUBG gamer.
04:01The S21, you will get noticeably better frame rates, 90 versus 60, you can pretty much instantly
04:09see it.
04:10So if you're a competitive player, then obviously the S21 is definitely the way to go, because
04:16you're just going to get better frame rates.
04:17Let's talk about the overall software here.
04:19So this is pretty interesting.
04:21So the S21 launched with Android 11, which means its last major update is going to be
04:27Android 15.
04:29The S21 FE launched with Android 12, so that means its last major update is going to be
04:34Android 16.
04:36So definitely, that's definitely a big difference here.
04:40So this one will be supported a year longer.
04:43Now as far as software, they're virtually the same.
04:46You're not really missing out on anything as far as the software experience.
04:49Everything is on here, so all the features are exactly the same here.
04:53What you will notice, like a very random difference, is that Samsung did not give the S21 FE the
04:59circle to search, but the S21 actually got the circle to search feature.
05:06Like I said, very random, but again, this has it, so I don't know why.
05:13But yeah, so you do have that feature on here, which is really cool.
05:15I like the circle to search.
05:17But yeah, take that into consideration as well too.
05:20It's not like a big deal breaker or something like that.
05:22But yeah, those are pretty much the differences with software.
05:26Let's check out the speaker quality.
05:28We're at max volume.
05:36Yeah, so there's pretty much no difference here in terms of the overall sound quality.
06:00They sound pretty much identical.
06:03So yeah, so I do want to talk about the fingerprint scanner here.
06:07So you do have the optical fingerprint scanner on the S21 FE, so it's a really fast one.
06:15It works, but you can see the difference is that if I tap it really fast and lightly,
06:21it's not going to register.
06:22I have to put just a little bit of pressure on it.
06:24Now with the S21, I can lightly tap it since it's an ultrasonic one, so it works really
06:29fast.
06:30Again, this is our very minute thing here.
06:35But yeah, so that's a very small thing, but again, that's a difference there.
06:39All right, so let's talk about the overall camera experience here.
06:44Now roughly the same, I took some pictures.
06:46I thought that the S21's three-time lens was definitely better, but you guys can check
06:52out the side-by-side stills, let me know what you guys think.
06:54But roughly, you're kind of getting the same camera experience here.
06:57So the S21 FE has a 12-megapixel standard, an 8-megapixel telephoto with three times,
07:03and then a 12-megapixel ultrawide.
07:05It shoots in 4K60 on the front and back camera, and then you also have a 32-megapixel selfie.
07:12The S21 here, it has a 12-megapixel standard, but it has a 64-megapixel telephoto.
07:19So this one, you can see you have that 64-megapixel option, you don't on the S21 FE.
07:24And then you also have a 12-megapixel ultrawide, and this actually shoots in 8K24, which you
07:30don't have that option on the, you know, you don't have that option on the S21 FE, it can
07:37only shoot in 4K.
07:39And then you also have a 10-megapixel selfie on here that shoots in 4K60.
07:43So those are the essential differences, check out the side-by-side stills.
09:24Let's talk about battery life.
09:30So the S21 FE definitely has the slight edge here when it comes to battery life.
09:36The battery is just overall bigger.
09:38It's got a 4,500 milliamp hour battery, 25-watt charging.
09:42It does have the wireless and reverse wireless charging.
09:44You have a smaller battery on the S21, and that has 4,000 milliamp, 25-watt charging
09:50and wireless and reverse wireless charging as well.
09:53The battery life is just going to be better simply because the battery is bigger.
09:56So my experience with the S21 FE, it just lasts a little bit longer.
10:01So that is pretty much it, guys.
10:04That's all the pretty much essential differences that you really need to know here.
10:07So let me know what you guys think, and I'll catch you guys in the next one.