The rumor mill is going into overdrive when it comes to trying to predict when the Samsung Galaxy S22 and the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE might see the light of day – and we just got some new information about the potential launch dates for these phones.
Based on what's being said by its sources, Samsung news site SamMobile is confident that the Galaxy S22 series is going to see the light of day at some point in February – which fits in nicely with previous rumors that we've heard about the upcoming flagship phones.
SamMobile is also reporting that the Galaxy S21 FE is going to break cover during the CES tech expo being held on January 5-8. Again, that chimes in nicely with other leaks that we've heard before now, so it's a plausible enough prediction.
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It's a date... maybe
With the Samsung Galaxy S21 range making its debut in January 2021, it seemed a safe bet that the Galaxy S22 devices would show up in January 2022. For a long time, that's what we thought would happen, and it's only recently that a delay has been mentioned.
Indeed, there is talk that the Galaxy S22 will be launched later in 2022 primarily because of the Galaxy S21 FE (or Fan Edition), which Samsung seems to want to get out of the door first. CES would be a good opportunity to do that.
We've been expecting the Galaxy S21 FE to launch for pretty much the whole of this year: there were strong hints that the phone would appear at the Unpacked event that Samsung held on October 20, but at the time of writing we're still waiting for it.
Analysis: Samsung covers the price points
It's fair to say that a January launch for the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE would be later than we were originally expecting. Remember that the Galaxy S20 FE showed up in October 2020, and Samsung usually refreshes its phones every year around the same date.
There are extenuating circumstances of course, not least a global pandemic and a chip shortage that's affecting every company in electronics at the moment. Samsung isn't immune from the difficulties that the rest of the industry is having, and it has had to cancel the Galaxy Note 21 this year.
At certain points over the last few months, it has seemed as though the Galaxy S21 FE might go the same way as the Note 21: references to it on the web were removed and then put back, and in September it wasn't clear if Samsung even knew whether it would decide to launch the phone or not.
All the signs now point to the phone making an appearance in January. Even if that's later than anticipated, it's still likely to be an important release for Samsung, offering a more affordable device before the flagship Galaxy S22 phones arrive on the scene.
