The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has been the subject of several rumors and leaks in the past few weeks, ranging from apparent renderings to product positioning in the Samsung portfolio.
Now the Korea Herald (Hours.: Sleepy Kuma) reported that the Galaxy S21 FE could actually be cheaper than last year’s Galaxy S20 FE. Specifically, the point of sale suggests that the S21 FE could be sold in its home market for 700,000 to 800,000 won (~ $ 630 to ~ $ 720).
That would be a significant drop in price from the Galaxy S20 FE’s starting price in Korea of 899,800 won (~ $ 809). Of course, there’s no guarantee that other markets could see a similar drop in prices, but it certainly suggests that Samsung will redouble its value-based approach that it introduced last year. A drop in prices would put the Galaxy S21 FE in direct competition with cheap flagships from Realme, Xiaomi and others.
A significant price cut usually leads to tradeoffs to reach that price point, so we wonder what kind of cutbacks we could see (if any) to achieve a lower introductory price. The renders show a phone that looks similar to the Galaxy S21, complete with a center cutout and a similar triple rear camera. But Samsung could theoretically save costs by using cheaper camera sensors, keeping the same RAM / storage variants, using cheaper building materials, and / or foregoing features like wireless charging and an IP68 rating.
What trade-offs are you willing to accept for a cheaper (~ $ 50 to $ 100 cheaper) Galaxy S21 FE? Let us know via the poll below.