Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Users Report Issues With Display Refresh Rate Causing Slowdown

The issues appear to be affecting Galaxy S21 FE (Exynos variant) owners, according to forum posts.

By David Delima | Updated: 23 February 2022 13:54 IST

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE Users Report Issues With Display Refresh Rate Causing Slowdown

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE sports a 6.4-inch Super AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate

Highlights

Galaxy S21 FE was launched in India on January 10
The smartphone is powered by Exynos 2100 SoC in India
Galaxy S21 FE offers similar features as Galaxy S20 FE smartphone

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE users are complaining about problems with the phone's display refresh rate that seems to be causing it to slow down. Multiple complaints on the subject have now piled up on Samsung forums. The South Korean smartphone manufacturer's more affordable Galaxy S21 series smartphone was launched in India in January. The smartphone runs on Android 12 with the company's One UI 4 skin on top, and is powered by the Exynos 2100 SoC in India. The phone is equipped with a 6.4-inch AMOLED display with a 120Hz refresh rate.

According to customer reports from Samsung Galaxy S21 FE owners on the official Samsung forums, the smartphone appears to have an issue where the phone's interface slows down while in use. The oldest report is dated January 17, which alleges that the smartphone's refresh rate drops below 60Hz causing lag and stutters in the UI. The Samsung Galaxy S21 FE (Exynos variant) owner says that the issue occurs on the latest update of One UI 4. Restarting the smartphone appears to temporarily resolve the issue, according to the forum post.

Similarly, another post last month from an Indian Galaxy S21 FE (Exynos variant) owner states that the smartphone's refresh rate is low when the smartphone is locked and unlocked. The user claims that the refresh rate appears to be lower than 60Hz, and the only way to resolve the issue is to enable and disable power saving mode, or set the refresh rate to 60Hz and then back to 120Hz. However, the fix is only temporary and must be used regularly, the user adds. Another user reports the same issue occurs after unlocking the phone using the fingerprint scanner.

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Meanwhile, a report from an Indian user posted earlier this month mentions the same issue with the Galaxy S21 FE (Exynos variant), causing the scrolling to become choppy after an apparent drop in the frame rate or refresh rate. Like the previous posts, the user appears to have found a temporary resolution for the issue by switching to 60Hz refresh rate and then switching back to 120Hz. The issue was also spotted by SamMobile on the recently launched smartphone.

Samsung is yet to acknowledge the issue and suggest a fix. Gadgets 360 has reached out to the company for a comment and will update this story when it responds.

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Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G

REVIEW
KEY SPECS
NEWS

Design
Display
Software
Performance
Battery Life
Camera
Value for Money

Good
Good build quality, low weight
Vibrant 120Hz display
Polished software experience
IP68 rating and wireless charging
Dependable cameras
Speedy all-round performance

Bad
No bundled fast charger
Lukewarm upgrade over predecessor
Missing microSD card slot

Read detailed Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G review

Display 6.40-inch

Processor octa-core

Front Camera 32-megapixel

Rear Camera 12-megapixel + 12-megapixel + 8-megapixel

RAM 6GB, 8GB

Storage 128GB, 256GB

Battery Capacity 4500mAh

OS Android 12

More Samsung mobiles Samsung mobiles price in India

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Further reading: Samsung Galaxy S21 FE, Galaxy S21 FE Bugs, Samsung S21 FE Bugs, Samsung S21 FE Display Bug, Samsung S21 FE Slowdown, Samsung S21 FE Refresh Rate, Samsung, Galaxy S21 Series

David Delima

Email David Delima

As a writer on technology with Gadgets 360, David Delima is interested in open-source technology, cybersecurity, consumer privacy, and loves to read and write about how the Internet works. David can be contacted via email at DavidD@ndtv.com, on Twitter at @DxDavey, and Mastodon at mstdn.social/@delima. More