A new listing from Australia suggests there is an Exynos variant of the Galaxy S21 FE too. (Image Source: Samsung) The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G, which recently launched globally is the company’s successor to the popular S20 FE 5G from last year. One of the highlights of the value flagship is the Snapdragon 888 chipset it comes with. However, a new report suggests that Samsung may not actually ship the S21 FE in all regions with the yesteryear Snapdragon flagship chipset.
A new report by GSMArena points out that the S21 FE 5G could launch with Samsung’s in-house Exynos 2100 chipset in some regions. In Australia, a listing by retailer Harvey Norman lists the Galaxy S21 FE 5G with the Exynos 2100 chip, the same chip that powered the rest of the Samsung Galaxy S21 series. The company has not mentioned the presence of an Exynos 2100 variant during its launch of the phone earlier this week.
Samsung launching a flagship phone with an Exynos chipset is not exactly a new thing. However, the phone’s predecessor, the Galaxy S20 FE 5G was available only with a Snapdragon 865 chipset in all regions that it sold in, including India. This led many to believe Samsung would follow a similar strategy with the next ’FE’ series phone as well.
Why we could see the Exynos variant in India
Samsung has sold all its flagship phones with an Exynos chipset in India in recent years every time there has been an Exynos variant to an S-series device. This includes the Galaxy S21 series which was launched in the country with the Exynos 2100 instead of the Snapdragon 888.
It is likely that things will be no different with the Galaxy S21 FE 5G. IndianExpress.com reached out to Samsung for a comment on the same, but the brand refused to confirm the processor.
Why this matters
While the chipsets are not downright bad, they have been historically beaten by their Qualcomm counterparts in many key areas like performance and thermal management, as per many reports.
The difference was first observed with the Exynos 990 on the Galaxy S20, which in some regions also shipped with the Snapdragon 865. Numerous reports suggested that the Galaxy S20 Snapdragon variant outperformed the Exynos variant. This left fans disappointed, and the fact that Samsung shipped the phone with a Snapdragon chip in its own country, South Korea didn’t make things better.
However, Samsung refused to acknowledge the same, claiming that “both the Exynos and Snapdragon processors go through the same strict and rigorous, real-life testing scenarios in order to deliver a consistent and optimal performance over the entire lifecycle of the smartphone,” as per a report by SamMobile dated April 3, 2020.
Coming to the Exynos 2100 vs Snapdragon 888 battle, a report by GSMArena dated February 21, suggests that while the difference is not as noticeable, the Snapdragon 888 still outperforms the Exynos 2100 in various benchmarks including consecutive AnTuTu runs.
Confirmed specifications of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G in India are expected to be announced officially on January 10, the last day to pre-book the phone.
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