The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE is popping up everywhere, even though the phone hasn't been announced yet. And in most cases, it is Samsung that is leaking it.
The latest version of "Where in the World is the Galaxy S21 FE" was spotted by Sammobile. In its promo, Samsung promises four months of YouTube Premium with the purchase of a qualifying device.
The devices listed include the Galaxy S21 model, the Galaxy Z Fold 3, the Galaxy Z Flip 3 - all of which have been announced - and the S21 FE - which has definitely not been announced.
We visited the Samsung France website, and as of Tuesday afternoon (August 24), the YouTube Premium offer included the unannounced Galaxy S21 FE.
This is the latest in a series of appearances by the Galaxy S21 FE suggesting that a cheaper version of this year's Galaxy S21 flagship phone is about to be released. two weeks ago, Samsung released a back-to-school promo that showed a phone that was not included in Samsung's current lineup included phones that did not appear to be part of Samsung's current lineup. This fueled speculation that Samsung was teasing the existence of the S21 FE.
We have additional evidence that the rumored phone is about to arrive. It has appeared on the Bluetooth SIG's certification list, and leaker Evan Blass posted a rendering of the phone over the weekend.
At one point, the Galaxy S21 FE was expected to appear at Samsung's Galaxy Unpacked event earlier this month. Instead, Samsung chose to focus on its new foldable phone, the Galaxy Watch 4, and the Galaxy Buds 2.
However, there was another reason the Galaxy S21 FE was omitted from that event: in June, reports surfaced that the S21 FE was in limbo due to the chip shortage that has plagued most of the consumer electronics industry for the past year. Speculation is that Samsung may delay the launch of the S21 FE to buy time and use Samsung's own Exynos processor instead of relying on Qualcomm's Snapdragon chips.
What processor the Galaxy S21 FE will have is one of the few mysteries surrounding the phone, as leaked information has revealed other potential details. Like last year's Galaxy S20 FE, the S21 FE will likely adopt many of the features found in the S21 flagship phone, with some features being cut from the $799 Galaxy S21 to lower the price by $100 to $200.
The Galaxy S21 FE is rumored to come in different colors than the rest of the S21 lineup, and the display refresh rate will likely remain at 120 Hz.
Rumors suggest that the Galaxy S21 FE will appear sometime in the fall, and it certainly makes sense that Samsung would want to bring a more affordable version of its flagship device to market. The Galaxy S20 FE has proven to be a popular model, and the Galaxy Z Flip 3 still starts at $999, although Samsung's new batch of folding phones are less expensive than before.
We shouldn't have to wait too long to see if the smoke surrounding the Galaxy S21 FE catches fire online. We'll keep our eyes peeled for additional hints as to a possible release date.
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