Samsung Galaxy S21 FE shown off in photos

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By James Rogerson
published

Part of it, anyway

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

The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has leaked a lot, but until now we’d only seen renders of the phone. Now though, we might have seen photos – or at least photos of parts of it.

Leaker Roland Quandt shared images on Twitter that appear to be photos of the back cover of the Galaxy S21 FE, and of parts of the inside.

While the inside doesn’t reveal much, the outer shell does, showing off a triple-lens camera in a similar camera block to the rest of the Samsung Galaxy S21 range. The images also show the phone in black, white, purple, and olive-green shades, which as Android Police points out is the same selection of shades as you’ll find the Samsung Galaxy Buds 2 in.

Interestingly, these components are already being sold by some stores, with Quandt linking to one and claiming that they’re available in a bunch of others.

That’s quite the leak if these components are actually available for sale, rather than just having been photographed. Assuming they’re the real deal anyway, but if nothing else the design and colors match up with unofficial renders that we’ve seen.

Analysis: the cameras could impress

Arguably the most noticeable feature in these images is that triple-lens camera block, and that’s a feature that’s been leaked before.

Beyond the design of the camera – which matches up with the rest of the Galaxy S21 range as we’d expect – we’ve also heard that the camera includes a 12MP main sensor, a 12MP ultra-wide one, and an 8MP telephoto one, with 3x optical zoom.

In that case, the main and ultra-wide snappers may well be the same as the ones on the Galaxy S21 and Samsung Galaxy S21 Plus, but those phones have a 64MP telephoto camera.

64MP isn’t necessarily better though, as they only offer 1.1x optical zoom, with 3x only being achieved through a hybrid of optical and digital zooming. So if the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE really has a 3x optical zoom then it might have a slightly better camera setup overall.

Then again, these specs also sound potentially the same as the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE's camera setup, which wouldn't be so impressive.

Either way, we should find out for sure in a couple of months, with the latest leaks suggesting the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE will land in early January.

James Rogerson
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.