The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has been subject to plenty of leaks this month, appearing everywhere from the Google Play console to Samsung’s own website suggesting an imminent release.
Now the phone has cropped up on Geekbench. This would be unremarkable in itself, given the phone was first sighted on the site back in May, but this time the phone is powered by an Exynos chip.
- Samsung Galaxy S21 FE vs Galaxy S21: What's the difference?
- The best Samsung phones right now
- PLUS: This is why your new PS5 is 300g lighter – and it’s not good
The listing is for a phone labelled “Samsung SM-G990E”, a twist on the SM-G990B name used on the Qualcomm version, and uses the Exynos 2100 chipset and 8GB RAM. This time around, it achieved a single-core score of 1,084 points and 3,316 for the multi-core test.
While that’s considerably higher than the first Geekbench listing from May, the scores have steadily risen with each subsequent appearance of SM-G990B, and now the numbers are roughly the same.
In the past, Samsung has tended to use Qualcomm chips for the United States with Exynos versions earmarked for the rest of the world. But even if that’s the case here, this could still be significant for American buyers.
Earlier this year, the Galaxy S21 FE was rumored to be cancelled due to the ongoing global chip shortage, and Samsung’s need to funnel Snapdragon 888 chips to its new foldables. Even though that report looks to be discredited now, it likely wasn’t entirely baseless, and that could have meant distinctly limited availability for the handset. With the presence of an Exynos model, pressure should hopefully be eased on supply of the Qualcomm version.
Galaxy S21 FE launch date tipped for September 8
As for when we’ll see Samsung officially confirm a device that it has already accidentally shown off on Instagram, one tipster believes that the reveal is just ten days away: Wednesday September 8.
Mauri QHD, a leaker with a decent track record on all things Samsung, floated the date adding that the “source is right often” which sounds encouraging. “He got it from a Sammy representative like usual, but says that personally he would wait to see,” the leaker added.
S21 FE Sept 8this source is right often, but i can never share those leaks (too risky)this is one of those rare ones that i actually can.he got it from a Sammy representative like usual,but says that personally he would wait to see🧂im not 1st but since it comes from Sammy..August 27, 2021
Hopefully that will be the case. As we've said before, the longer Samsung puts off releasing the Galaxy S21 FE, the less appealing the headset will be, caught between the rapidly depreciating Galaxy S21 and the looming Galaxy S22.
- More: The best cheap phones right now
- How to remap the Bixby button on Samsung Galaxy S21
