Fairphone 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

Phone Comparison, Reviews and Tests

Side by side comparison and review of Fairphone 3 and Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G. Compare sizes, cameras, batteries, memory capacities and other key specifications and features to simplify the choice of your perfect phone. Our goal is to make it easier for you to decide on the phone that will best meet your expectations by revealing the main differences between the products.

Phone Specifications Comparison

Fairphone 3 vs. Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Comparison Chart
DESIGN AND DIMENSIONS Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Product Type Smartphone Smartphone
Manufacturer Model Number - SM-G990B/DS
Form Factor Touch Touch
Height 158 mm 155.7 mm Fairphone 3 has greater height than Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
Width 71.8 mm 74.5 mm Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has greater width than Fairphone 3.
Depth 9.83 mm 7.9 mm Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is narrower than Fairphone 3.
Weight 189 g 177 g Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G is lighter than Fairphone 3.
Body Colour Dark translucent Olive | Graphite | White | Lavender
Protection - Dustproof, splashproof, water-resistant
Waterproof (Water-resistant) - -
IP rating - IP68
SAR Value 1.405 W/kg (body), 0.388 W/kg (head) 1.48 W/kg (body), 0.952 W/kg (head), 2.91 W/kg (limb)
Connector Type USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
Headset jack - mini-phone 3.5mm
USB Type-C - 24 pin USB-C
SIM Card Type (Size) Nano SIM Nano SIM
SIM Card Qty Dual-SIM Dual-SIM
DISPLAY Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Display Type LCD display OLED display
Display Technology IPS Infinity-O Dynamic AMOLED 2X
Screen Size (Display Size) 5.65" 6.4" Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has larger screen size than Fairphone 3.
Screen Resolution (Display Resolution) 2160 x 1080 pixels 2340 x 1080 pixels Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has better screen resolution than Fairphone 3.
Display Format Full HD+ Full HD+
Pixel Density 427 ppi 401 ppi Fairphone 3 has better pixel density than Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
Aspect Ratio 18:9 -
Colour Depth 16.7 million colours 16.7 million colours Both phones have the same color depth.
HDR Technology - HDR10+
Display Enhancement Technology - Eye Comfort Shield
Display Refresh Rate - 120 Hz
Display Features - AOD(Always On Display), Infinity O display, Video Wallpaper
Display Protection (Screen Protector) Corning Gorilla Glass 5 (scratch resistant glass) Corning Gorilla Glass Victus (scratch resistant glass)
PROCESSOR Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Processor Type (CPU) Qualcomm Snapdragon 632 -
Clock Speed 1.8 GHz 2.84 GHz Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has higher clock speed than Fairphone 3.
Processor Core Qty 8-core 8-core Both phones have the same number of phone cores.
Graphics System (GPU) Qualcomm ADRENO 506 -
MEMORY Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
RAM 4 GB 6 GB Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has more RAM than Fairphone 3.
Internal Memory Size (Storage Capacity) 64 GB 128 GB Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has more internal memory than Fairphone 3.
User Memory - 101.1 GB
Supported Flash Memory Cards (Expandable Memory) microSDHC, microSDXC -
CAMERA Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
MAIN CAMERA
Number of Main Cameras 1 3
Sensor Resolution 12 Megapixel 12 Megapixel Both phones have the same camera resolution.
Sensor Size 1/2.55" 1/1.76" Fairphone 3 has better camera sensor size than Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G.
Sensor Name Sony Exmor RS IMX363 sensor -
Lens Type - Wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture F/1.8 F/1.8 Both phones have the same camera lens aperture.
Field of View (FoV) - 79 degree(s)
Pixel Size - 1.8 μm
Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) - Optical Image Stabiliser (OIS) Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has optical stabilisation.
Focus Adjustment Automatic Automatic
Optical Zoom - 3x
Digital Zoom 8x 30x Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has better digital zoom than Fairphone 3.
Special Effects - Face retouch, Grid Line
HDR Mode - Auto HDR mode
Camera Modes - Night mode, portrait mode
Light Source Dual LED flash LED flash
Video Resolutions 1920 x 1080 (1080p) at 30 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 30 fps, 1280 x 720 (720p) at 60 fps Slo-mo video 1280 x 720 (720p) at 240 fps, 3840 x 2160 (4K) at 60 fps, Slo-mo video 1280 x 720 (720p) at 960 fps
Camera Features (Functions) Dual Phase Detect Auto-Focus (PDAF), digital image stabilisation Dual recording
SECOND CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (2nd Camera) - 12 Megapixel
Lens Type (2nd Camera) - Ultra wide-angle lens
Lens Aperture (2nd Camera) - F/2.2
Field of View (2nd Camera) - 123 degree(s)
Pixel Size (2nd Camera) - 1.12 μm
THIRD CAMERA
Sensor Resolution (3rd Camera) - 8 Megapixel
Lens Type (3rd Camera) - Telephoto lens
Lens Aperture (3rd Camera) - F/2.4
Field of View (3rd Camera) - 32 degree(s)
Pixel Size (3rd Camera) - 1 μm
Camera Features (3rd Camera) - Space Zoom x30
FRONT CAMERA
Number of Front Cameras 1 1
Sensor Resolution (Front) 8 Megapixel 32 Megapixel Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has better front camera resolution than Fairphone 3.
Sensor Size (Front) 1/4" -
Lens Aperture (Front) F/2.0 F/2.2 Fairphone 3 has better front lens aperture than Fairphone 3.
Field of View (Front) - 81 degree(s)
Pixel Size (Front) - 0.8 μm
Focus Adjustment - Focus free
Special Effects (Front) HDR -
Camera Features (Front) Up to 8x digital zoom, digital image stabilisation -
BATTERY AND CHARGING Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Battery Capacity (Battery Size) 3000 mAh 4500 mAh Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has larger battery capacity than Fairphone 3.
Fast Charging Technology - Samsung Fast Charging Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has fast charging technology.
Recharge Time (Charging Time) 3.5 hour(s) -
Wireless Charging - Yes Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G can be charged wirelessly.
Wireless Charging Standards - Wireless PowerShare
Standby Time 300 hours -
Talk Time 1200 minutes 2220 minutes Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has longer battery life when making calls than Fairphone 3.
Run Time Details Talk: up to 1200 min
Standby: up to 300 hrs
Talk (LTE): up to 2220 min
Active online usage (LTE): up to 13 hrs
Active online usage (Wi-Fi): up to 13 hrs
Playback (video): up to 16 hrs
Playback (audio): up to 79 hrs
Battery Technology Lithium Ion -
CELLULAR Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Technology WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM WCDMA (UMTS) / GSM
Mobile Broadband Generation 4G 5G Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G has more advanced generation mobile network.
Operating System Android 9.0 Pie Android 12
Intelligent Assistant - Bixby
Payment Technology - Samsung Pay
Navigation GPS, A-GPS, GLONASS, Galileo GPS, GLONASS, BeiDou, Galileo, QZSS
COMMUNICATIONS Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Data Transmission GPRS, EDGE, HSDPA, HSUPA, HSPA+, LTE, VoLTE, VoWiFi FDD-LTE, TDD-LTE, 5G NR FR1
2G Band 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM 850 GSM, 900 GSM, 1800 GSM, 1900 GSM
3G UMTS Band - Band 1, Band 2, Band 4, Band 5, Band 8
3G UMTS Frequency - 2100, 1900, 1700, 850, 900
4G LTE Band Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 13, Band 20, Band 26 Band 1, Band 2, Band 3, Band 4, Band 5, Band 7, Band 8, Band 12, Band 17, Band 20, Band 26, Band 28, Band 32, Band 38, Band 40, Band 41, Band 66
4G LTE Frequency FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700c, FDD 800 DD, FDD 850+ FDD 2100, FDD 1900 PCS, FDD 1800+, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 700a, FDD 700b, FDD 800 DD, FDD 850+, FDD 700 APT, FDD 1500 L, TDD 2600, TDD 2300, TDD 2500, FDD 1700 - 2110 AWS-3
5G NR Band - N1, n3, n5, n7, n8, n20, n28, n38, n41, n66, n78, n40
5G NR Frequency - FDD 2100, FDD 1800, FDD 850, FDD 2600, FDD 900, FDD 800, FDD 700APT, TDD TD 2600, TDD TD 2500, FDD AWS-3, TDD TD 3500, TDD 2300
Wireless Interface IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac IEEE 802.11a/b/g/n/ac
Bluetooth Bluetooth 5.0 LE Bluetooth 5.0
NFC Yes Yes Both phones have an NFC reader for mobile payments.
Messaging Services SMS, MMS -
MEDIA Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Supported Digital Audio Standards AAC, AIFF, PCM, MP3, FLAC, AAC +, eAAC+, APE (Monkey's Audio), WMA v10, WMA v9, WMA Lossless 9, WMA 10 Pro, ALAC, AMR-WB, AMR-NB, Vorbis WAV, AAC, AMR, MP3, FLAC, XMF, OGG, MIDI, APE (Monkey's Audio), M4A, DSF, MXMF, OGA, 3GA, AWB, IMY, RTTTL, RTX, OTA, DFF, MID
Supported Digital Video Standards VC-1, MPEG-4, DivX, MPEG-2, H.264, H.263, HEVC, VP8, VP9 MKV, FLV, AVI, 3GP, M4V, WebM, 3G2, MP4
Sound Enhancements - Dolby Digital Plus sound, Dolby Atmos sound technology, Surround sound, stereo speakers tuned by AKG, Dolby Digital sound
FEATURES Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Phone Functions Speakerphone, voice control, call timer, conference call, flight mode, voice dialing, vibrating alert -
Sensors Accelerometer, ambient light sensor, proximity sensor, digital compass, barometer, gyro sensor Accelerometer, proximity sensor, barometer, gyro sensor, hall sensor, geomagnetic sensor, light sensor
Security Devices Fingerprint reader Fingerprint reader
Additional Phone Features MIMO technology, modular and repairable design, recycled and fair materials MIMO technology, Fast Charging, Samsung KNOX, Samsung DeX support, Samsung Smart Switch, Game mode
OTHERS Fairphone 3 Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G
Included Accessories Bumper, mini screwdriver SIM card removal tool, USB-C cable
Compliant Standards - IP68
Max Depth of Water Resistance - 1.5 m
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