The Galaxy S21 FE may not reach consumers until late October

Launch dates are all over the place for the Galaxy S21 FE.

What you need to know

• A new rumor points to the Galaxy S21 FE launching towards the end of October.
• The new dates reportedly indicate when the device will be available to purchase and when it'll ship.
• It's been previously indicated that the Galaxy S21 FE would launch in early September.

Hot on the heels of Samsung's latest foldables, many still await the launch of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE as the successor to last year's well-received Galaxy S20 FE. Rumors have been here and there on when the device would launch, but the latest may provide a clearer timeframe for when we can expect the device in consumers' hands.

Leaker Jon Prosser has indicated that the Galaxy S21 FE may not launch until late October. According to Prosser, preorders will open on October 20, and the device will ship on October 29.

Prosser says that these launch dates refer to the market launch of the device, however, he was not able to confirm the actual device announcement. That said, recent rumors suggest it will be announced as early as next week, on September 8th.

If the rumored dates are accurate, it would suggest a long wait time between the device announcement and when consumers can actually purchase the Galaxy S21 FE. We expect that may not be the case, though, and Samsung will either stick with an early September announcement and launch it soon after or shoot for an early October announcement, closer to Prosser's dates.

The press material seems ready, so it could be sooner than later, but take these dates with a grain of salt.

Either way, it's expected that the Galaxy S21 FE will see a limited launch, not unlike the Google Pixel 5a. Hopefully, that's not the case, as the S21 FE may be a nice, inexpensive, and "traditional" alternative to the best foldable phones.

The Galaxy S21 FE is expected to be nearly identical to the Galaxy S21, with the same design, processor, camera setup, and up to 256GB of onboard storage. However, it's expected to ship at a lower price and with new colors.