Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Unlock Bootloader Guide | How to

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G was launched globally with triple rear cameras and a 120Hz AMOLED display. It also comes with up to 8GB of RAM and a maximum of 256GB onboard storage. In this guide, we will show you how to unlock the bootloader on Samsung Galaxy S21 FE.

What is Bootloader Unlock?

Bootloader unlock is a gateway for Android device users towards its unlimited possibilities of customizations and other features. By unlocking the bootloader, you can root your device (jailbreak), flash custom firmware, kernels, recovery and install third-party modules and apps, etc.

A Bootloader is usually locked on an Android device due to system security or privacy-related measures. As the Android OS is an open-source platform and anyone can do anything with it, the smartphone OEMs always want to stick to their skin and OS version that is specially developed and designed for their own device models. That’s why most of the OEMs don’t provide an unlocked bootloader out-of-the-box.

Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G Device Overview:

The newly launched Samsung Galaxy S21 FE 5G features a 6.4-inch AMOLED panel with a high refresh rate of 120 Hz. It is an FHD+ panel with a resolution of 1080 x 2400 pixels and an aspect ratio of 20:9. Under the hood, we have the Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 5G  that is built on a 5nm manufacturing process. It is an octa-core processor with one Kryo 680 core clocked at 2.84 GHz, three Kryo 680 core clocked at 2.42 GHz, and four Kryo 680 core clocked at 1.8 GHz. Additionally, in some specific regions, instead of the Snapdragon chipset, we have Exynos 2100  built on a 5 nm manufacturing process. It is an octa-core processor with one Cortex-X1 core clocked at 2.9 GHz, three Cortex-A78 cores clocked at 2.8 GHz and four Cortex-A55 cores clocked at 2.22 GHz.

Coming to the optics, we get a triple camera setup at the rear and a single camera at the front. The triple camera setup consists of a 12 MP primary sensor paired with an f/1.8 lens, an 8 MP telephoto sensor paired with an f/2.4 lens, and a 12 MP ultrawide sensor paired with an f/2.2 lens. At the front, we get a 32MP sensor paired with an f/2.2 lens. Both the front and rear camera setup are capable of capturing 4K videos.

There are three storage variants available for this smartphone: 128GB + 6GB RAM, 128GB + 8GB RAM, and 256GB + 8GB. In terms of communications, we get Wi-Fi 802.11 a/b/g/n/ac/6, Bluetooth 5.0, GPS, NFC and USB Type-C. And for sensors, we have an under-display optical fingerprint sensor, accelerometer, gyro, proximity, and compass. Powering it all is a 4500 mAh battery that can be topped up quickly using the 25W adapter included in the box. The company claims that the battery goes from 0 to 50% in 30 min. This smartphone is available in four color options: White, Graphite, Lavender, and Olive.

Pre-Requisites

Now before we go ahead and unlock the bootloader on your Galaxy S21 FE, let us make a list of pre-requisites that are required to unlock it:

Charge your phone

You need to make sure that your Galaxy S21 FE is charged to about 60% before operating it for unlocking the bootloader to avoid any boot loop issues during the unlocking process.

You need a PC or Laptop

We would be running certain ADB and Fastboot commands that can be executed via PC or a laptop. So, we would need a computer in order to unlock the bootloader.

Take a complete backup

Before unlocking the bootloader, one of the most important things that you need to do on your phone is to take a complete backup of your phone. For that, you can follow the guide by clicking the link below:

• How to Backup Your Data on an Android device

Download USB Drivers

In order to make your Galaxy S21 FE get recognized by your PC, you need to have proper USB Drivers appropriate to your phone installed on your computer. And for that, you can follow the link below to download the correct Samsung USB Drivers on your PC.

• Samsung USB Drivers

Steps to Unlock Bootloader on Samsung Galaxy S21 FE

1. Make sure that your device is connected to a Wi-Fi network with internet access and has enough charge.
2. Now, go to the device Settings menu > Wi-Fi > Connect to the network.
3. Go back to the main Settings menu > Check for firmware update from the Software update option and then download and install.
   
4. If an update is available, install it first.
5. Once done, you’ll need to enable the Developer Options on your device. To do this, go to the Settings menu > About phone > Software information > Tap on Build number 7-8 times until it shows ‘You’re now a developer.
6. Go back to the main Settings menu > Scroll down and tap on Developer Options > Enable OEM Unlocking [If prompted, allow it].
7. Now turn off your device completely.
8. Press and hold the Volume UP and DOWN button on your Galaxy S21 FE and connect it to your PC
9. This will boot your device into Download Mode.
10. Once in the Download/Recovery menu, press and hold the Volume Up key until you can see the “Unlock Bootloader” screen.
11. Press the Volume Up key again to confirm the bootloader unlock process.
12. If prompted that all of the device data will be deleted, just proceed.
13. Wait for the process to complete and your device will reboot.
14. Enjoy!

Now, you’re good to go for full-fledged customization on your Samsung Galaxy S21 FE. If you’ve any queries, let us know in the comment below. Till then stay tuned for more info.