Samsung Galaxy S21 FE benchmark suggests it's as powerful as we hoped

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE
The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Image credit: Srivatsa Ramesh)

We’ve heard a few things about the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE already, but until now none of the rumors gave us any idea of how powerful it would actually be. Now though, a benchmark has provided a possible answer to that question.

A Geekbench listing spotted by 91mobiles details specs for a Samsung phone with the model number SM-G990B, and that’s a model number that’s previously been linked to the Galaxy S21 FE.

The listing mentions the top-end Snapdragon 888 chipset (found in US models of the Samsung Galaxy S21 range), along with 6GB of RAM and Android 11. That’s slightly less RAM than the rest of the range, with the Samsung Galaxy S21 having 8GB and the Galaxy S21 Ultra having up to 16GB, but the chipset and Android version are the same.

Better than the standard S21

It’s worth noting that in most regions outside the US, the rest of the Galaxy S21 range uses the Exynos 2100 chipset instead. This is similarly powerful but most benchmarks suggest it’s not quite as good as the Snapdragon 888.

It’s possible that the same split will apply to the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, but the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE used a Snapdragon chipset in all regions. So if that’s true again this time then the Galaxy S21 FE could actually have a slight advantage over the rest of the S21 range in much of the world.

We would of course take this benchmark with a pinch of salt for now, but those are exactly the specs we’d have guessed the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE would have, so they’re likely accurate.

We might not know for sure for a while, as current rumors suggest the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE won’t land until August, but we’ll keep you up to date with all the news and leaks until then.

James Rogerson

James is a freelance phones, tablets and wearables writer and sub-editor at TechRadar. He has a love for everything ‘smart’, from watches to lights, and can often be found arguing with AI assistants or drowning in the latest apps. James also contributes to 3G.co.uk, 4G.co.uk and 5G.co.uk and has written for T3, Digital Camera World, Clarity Media and others, with work on the web, in print and on TV.