The Galaxy S10 Lite and Note 10 Lite launched at the start of the year had similar objectives, but the S20 FE is a bit more premium and also makes some baffling choices. What’s Samsung’s strategy with the S20 FE and who is the phone meant for? Should you consider buying the Galaxy S20 FE or wait for the OnePlus 8T? Let’s address all these questions and more in our full Samsung Galaxy S20FE review. Contents:
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Unboxing
The S20 FE arrived at our place in a simple package. Of-late, Samsung hasn’t been very generous when it comes to box contents. The Galaxy S20 FE doesn’t come with a case cover so be prepared to shell out some more. In the Galaxy S20 FE box, you will find the smartphone, a 15W wall charger, and a USB-A-to-C cable for charging and data transfer. On the display, there’s a pre-applied screen protector.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Specifications
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Review: Design and build quality
The very first thing that draws us towards the Galaxy S20 FE is an appealing color. Samsung offers S20 Fan Edition in Cloud loud Mint, Cloud Red, Cloud Blue, Cloud Lavender, Cloud White, and Cloud Orange color options. We picked the Galaxy S20 FE Cloud Blue color option as per our taste. The Galaxy S20 FE design is similar to the Galaxy S20 but there are a few differences. The display here doesn’t have those curved side edges and the bottom bezel underlining it is thicker. Samsung isn’t using real glass on the rear, but we don’t feel like complaining and that’s because the matte finish glasstic back has a really nice feel and is smudge resistant. It also helps keep the weight in check (190 grams). The side frame is still metal and thus durability hopefully isn’t compromised. Speaking of which, the S20 FE display is shielded with Gorilla Glass 3, and the phone is also IP68 rated for dust and water-resistance. The volume rocker and power button fall on the right edge. Thee buttons are made of plastic and feel a bit clicky. There’s an optical in-display fingerprint sensor here that uses white light for illumination and is placed below the screen. It’s not as snappy as similar sensors on other phones. Really, we’d have preferred a side-mounted sensor here.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Review: Display
Samsung uses an Adaptive Super AMOLED panel for the S20 FE. It’s an FHD+ screen with 2400×1800 pixels resolution and using a 120Hz Samsung display is a treat. With a 240Hz touch response, it’s not only fluid but also super responsive. Colors are vibrant and the contrast is excellent. The display is sharp, bright, and vivid. It supports HDR essential a wide DCI-P3 color gamut and Samsung also adds a color-accurate ‘Natural’ color preset. Overall, color accuracy, screen brightness, and responsiveness of the Galaxy S20 FE are impressive. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra is the first phone with true variable refresh rate display
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Review: Performance & Software
There is no dearth of computing power under the Galaxy S20FE hood. Samsung’s 7nm Exynos 990 processor enthralls at the heart of it. It’s the same processor as in Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Indian version minus a 5G modem. The 7nm SoC is paired with up to 8GB of LPDDR5 memory and 128GB of storage. It supports up to 1TB microSD card via Hybrid SIM Slot. It comes with 128GB, but it’s expandable with microSD. Samsung does have a 5G version of Galaxy S20 FE with Snapdragon 865 SoC but that isn’t coming to India anytime soon. Well, apart from Snapdragon 865 optimizations, you won’t be missing out on anything. On the contrary, you don’t have to pay for a 5G modem which doesn’t offer any advantage here in India. Now, lets spare some time and talk out how the S20FE LTE edition performs. Well, during this review, I used it as my daily driver for more than a week without facing any performance-related issues – and we expect nothing less for a phone worth Rs 50,000. The performance is similar to what you’d get on Samsung flagships in 2020, and technically that’s a notch below what you get on SD 865+ flagships but we don’t think the difference should matter much for most people. The phone tends to get quite hot with gaming and other such demanding usages The Galaxy S20 FE has Samsung Knox protection onboard which gives defense-grade security assurance. Thanks to MST and NFC sensors, the phone supports full Samsung Pay. Samsung also bundles Dex Wireless support. The Galaxy S20 FE is running Android 10-based One UI 2.5 which is the same as what you’d get on other Galaxy S20 series phones. It has almost all the features that we can find on any Android-based platform. In our opinion, it is one of the best Android-based custom interfaces out in the market. However, Samsung also slips in marketing and advertising services for extra revenue. Since Android 11 is officially unveiled, Samsung is likely to push One UI 3.0 with Android 11 available to Galaxy S20FE users soon. During the launch event, Samsung also promised software updates for 3-years which is equivalent to Google’s commitment for Pixel phones. Also Read: Samsung Galaxy Note 20 Ultra Review
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Camera Review
The Galaxy S20 FE has three rear cameras: standard, ultra-wide, and 3x telephoto with 30X Super Zoom. By dropping a sensor Samsung reduced cost without making a big difference. There is a 12MP f/1.8 wide main sensor, a 12MP f/2.2 ultra-wide, and an 8MP f/2.4 telephoto lens on the rear. The telephoto camera isn’t a 64MP sensor as on the S20 series. With a wide f/1.8 aperture, 1.8-micron pixels, and dual-pixel technology the primary camera manages to capture a good amount of light which results in great details. The daylight performance feels perfectly apt for the price. Here are a few Samsung Galaxy S20 FE samples: Samsung’s signature warmer tones and bumped up contrast is written all over photos that we took. Samsung’s low light mode delivers good images but it’s not at par with Samsung’s actual flagships or with Google Pixels or iPhones. The S20 FE ultra-wide camera delivers wide field-of-view results similar to Galaxy A71 (review). The 8MP telephone lens is capable of delivering 3x optical and up to 30x digital zoom. In our test, the S20 FE proved to deliver decent quality at 3X while image sharts to loose out colors and details after 10X. Having said that, images up to 30X turned out better than what we had expected. The 32MP front camera has a regular and ultra-wide mode and it also managed to capture some impressive selfies. With tetra cell binning, Samsung manages to capture more light for better details and dynamic range.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE Review: Battery and Charging
Samsung’s Galaxy FE packs a 4,500 mAh battery which is not as insane as the 7000mAh of Galaxy M51 but has so far managed to deliver one mileage (and not more) with the display set to 120Hz. If you are a light or moderate user or have the display set to 60Hz, you should be able to manage more than a day. One compromise that doesn’t sit well with us is Samsung’s decision to bundle its yesteryear’s 15W Adaptive fast charger. At a time when even likes of Galaxy M31s and Galaxy M51 ships with newer 25W USB PD chargers, the decision feels especially regressive on a ‘Fan edition’. The 15W charger takes around 1 hour 50 minutes to completely charge the battery. Samsung’s 25W fast charger takes around 1 hour 10 minutes to get the job done.
Review verdict: Should you buy the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 4G?
The Galaxy S20 FE 4G fits in Samsung’s gameplay of having a smartphone at every price point. Samsung is cutting corners with features that don’t take away much from the experience (plastic buttons, polycarbonate back, dated gorilla glass version, UWB connectivity, etc.) but has put forth its best performance hardware and full flagship software suite for a less than flagship price (and the price is also expected to drop further in the future). Ab pachas hazar main bhi OPPO, Vivo lena padega kya? (Do I have to still buy Oppo, vivo even when I am spending 50K?) is what my uncle said when I recommended OnePlus to him. We understand that many consumers in India who are spending more than 45K on their phones don’t want to opt for Chinese brands like Oppo, Vivo, and Xiaomi and would want the kind of brand value and recognition Samsung and iPhones bring to the table. For such consumers, Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 4G should be a very appealing choice. The Galaxy S20 FE 4G will face challenges from OnePlus 8T which is confirmed to include 65W fast charging. The competition will be intense this festive season in the under Rs 50,000 segment. Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 4G pre-booking start from October 9, 2020. Pros
Slim and elegant designReliable performanceSmooth and fluid 120Hz displayExcellent softwareStereo speakers
Cons
15W fast charging is regressivePlastic back
Question: Does the Galaxy S20 FE has a headphone jack port? No, there’s no 3.5mm port for headphones available on the Galaxy S20 FE. Question: Is there stereo speakers on Galaxy S20 FE? Yes, it Galaxy S20 FE uses both bottom loudspeaker and earpeice to deliver dual channel sound output. Question: Does the Galaxy S20 FE has support for dex wireless? Yes, it does. Question: Is FM radio available on the Galaxy S20 FE? Yes, there is. Question: Does Galaxy S20 FE has Ultrawide band tech? Nope.
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