Last week Galaxy Unpacked gave us the Samsung Galaxy Z Fold 3 and the Z Flip 3, but absolutely nothing about the Galaxy S21 FE. It’s still missing in action, but it might not be for very long according to a new listing.
The Galaxy S21 FE, labelled by the model number SM-G990N, has just been certified by Bluetooth SIG — the organization that licenses and oversees Bluetooth technology. That suggests we’ve not got long to wait before launch.
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As Phone Arena points out, phones typically arrive within a couple of months of getting certified by Bluetooth SIG. If that’s the case here, it means we should expect the Galaxy S21 FE to arrive anytime between now and mid-late October.
Which tracks with last year, since the Galaxy S20 FE was announced on September 23, 2020, and went on sale on October 2.
Sticking to this sort of release schedule would also give the newly announced foldables some breathing room. Despite some price cuts, the Z Fold 3 and Z Flip 3 are still expensive, and launching a low cost flagship right away could impact sales of those devices. Especially if the S21 FE is a particularly good value.
Bluetooth SIG also has listings for an SM-G990B and SM-G990B_SD alongside the SM-G990N. One of them is likely a variant with more storage, while another could be a model that doesn’t include 5G connectivity — which may only be available in certain regions.
That happened with the S20 FE, which had a 4G-only model that didn’t go on sale in the United States. However we can’t be sure about anything, other than the fact these devices all support Bluetooth 5.0.
So far rumors suggest that the S21 FE is going to be very impressive, allegedly packing in a Snapdragon 888 chipset, a 6.4-inch FHD+ display with 120 Hz refresh rate, a 4,360 mAh battery, and 45W fast charging. It’s also been suggested that the phone may have 8GB of RAM, with 128GB and 256GB storage options.
Of course none of that has been confirmed by Samsung. Neither has the price, something that’s going to have to be exceptional given that the standard Galaxy S21 starts at $800. But since Bluetooth SIG certification is here, we shouldn’t have to wait too long for Samsung to give us some concrete information about the phone. So sit tight, and we’ll bring you all the latest news as and when we hear it.
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