It was well expected that the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE would be actively in use around the world by now; not only was it first leaked in April, but last year's S20 FE was released in September. Given that it has been rumored to be cancelled not once, but twice, the prospects for its release were not good.

However, current rumors strongly suggest that the phone was merely postponed, not canceled. And that theory has been further strengthened by two recent leaks.

First of all, Samsung now has an official support page for the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE in the UAE region. It's here, but in case it's been removed by the time you read this, here's a snapshot:

Besides, UK retailer Box.co.uk has listed a bunch of what it says are official cases for the phone on its website. As of this writing, these are still live, although it would not be surprising if they were pulled at some point.

Samsung's usual choices of clear-view covers, silicone covers, and clear standing cover cases are all present and correct, and there is nothing particularly noteworthy about the cases, pictured at the top of the page.

There are also no major surprises about the design, which, if the images are authentic, appears to be identical to what previous rumors suggested. A central pinhole camera on the front and a triple camera array shaped like a traffic light on the back are both clearly visible, just like the original Galaxy S21. Although not visible in these photos due to the case, the camera array is made of the same material as the back of the phone and is expected to deviate slightly from the S21's appearance.

The false dawn of the Samsung Galaxy S21 FE has been around before, of course; back in August, Samsung appeared to be gearing up for the launch of the phone with an appearance on its French website and even store branding, but it came to nothing .

However, this feels different because both OnLeaks and Jon Prosser have coalesced around a January release date. Additionally, this week we also saw leaked a whole host of official appearance renders where the phone is apparently set to arrive in shades of white, black, lavender and green.

As for the internals, we expect the phone to use the same Qualcomm Snapdragon 888 chip that powered the regular S21 family, albeit with slightly less RAM and a lower-resolution screen to save costs. It will also have a 32MP main camera, a 12MP ultrawide sensor, and an 8MP telephoto lens.

These specs are almost identical to those of the S21, but not quite - which is good, given the delay and the fact that the Samsung Galaxy S22 is expected in a month or two and will likely run on the new Qualcomm Snapdragon 8 Gen 1 chip, which will be a tougher sell.

Given the price drop of Samsung's typical flagship, buyers may be better off buying the price-reduced Galaxy S21 instead. However, we will have to test this device to find out. It also doesn't help that the latest price leaks show off a very expensive handset.