The refreshed Samsung Galaxy S21 FE might not be 4G-only after all

It looks like earlier rumors were false and 5G connectivity might stick around

The launch of the Galaxy S21 FE was fairly problematic. The phone was released on January 2022, after a long round of leaks and rumors surrounding not only the phone itself but also the very conditions of its launch. When it finally graced the market, both the timing (a mere month before the Galaxy S22 lineup) and the price made it a not-very-competitive option. As per more recent rumors, though, Samsung wanted to fix at least one of those two issues with a "new" version of the phone, touting mid-range specs. But while it initially looked like the phone would only feature 4G connectivity, new evidence is leaving us confused.

A new version of the Galaxy S21 FE with model number SM-G990B2 was recently added to Google Play's supported devices list (via SamMobile). Notably, the device is explicitly listed there as "Galaxy S21 FE 5G" like other models of the phone, seemingly in direct contradiction to previous reports saying that the new model would launch with a Snapdragon 720G SoC — which would, thus, make it a 4G-only phone. As a refresher, the original Galaxy S21 FE came with the same chipset as the S21 lineup before it, meaning a Snapdragon 888/Exynos 2100 depending on which market it launched in.

Unless that listing is a mistake, this means a Snapdragon 720G chip is out of the cards completely, since that chip only has LTE support. A different CPU than the 720G and the 888 could still be in the cards, though it would have to be another that supports 5G. Until the phone's final launch, though, we're only left to speculate on its specs. As the FE lineup's possible swan song, we're definitely excited to see what it has in store, and seeing how this model number has already passed Bluetooth certification, we might get to know it sooner than later.