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I can’t say enough good things about the Samsung Galaxy S20 FE, and if you want a phone that feels like a flagship without spending more than £699, this is the best deal right now.
Update Three Samsung S20 Fe 4g Review
Samsung’s year of phone releases doesn’t seem to be slowing down, with the South Korean brand finally unveiling the much-leaked Galaxy S20 FE.
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The ‘FE’ moniker here stands for ‘Fan Edition’ and it’s a much cheaper mid-year upgrade to the brand’s flagship Galaxy S20, with a bit of Note 20 DNA thrown in for good measure. It looks like it will continue to sell alongside the Samsung Galaxy S21 in many regions.
The biggest surprise is that it’s such a fantastic phone that it’s easier to recommend than any other Samsung phone this year. Especially if you’re in the UK and want a Samsung Galaxy phone with the Snapdragon 865.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE (Fan Edition) is available now for £599 (4G, Exynos 990) and £699 for the 5G Snapdragon model. The 4G version will not be coming to the United States.
This price puts it directly in competition with some of the best mid-range phones like the OnePlus 8 and OnePlus 8T, the Moto Edge and the LG Velvet. It is priced the same as the iPhone 11, which will soon be replaced by the iPhone 12.
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Samsung has kept a high-quality 120Hz panel for the S20 FE, which gives you super-smooth scrolling. It also has a 240Hz sampling rate for more responsive gaming. I wonder why Samsung didn’t add this feature to the Note 20.
The FE retains the OLED panel with a small cutout at the top for the front-facing camera, although it’s maxed out at FHD+ instead of WQHD+ like on the Galaxy S20. Since you can’t integrate 120hz and higher resolution anyway, this change is fine with me.
The display isn’t as accurate as the S20’s and it lacks HDR 10 support in apps like Netflix, although it’s hard to tell unless you hold both phones side-by-side. It’s still a really nice panel with enough brightness to deal with a sunny day.
There’s an in-display fingerprint scanner rather than a physical button like you’d find on the Pixel 5. This is slightly different from the sensors Samsung usually uses, which are optical rather than ultrasonic and, as a result, require light to work. You’ll notice a bright light around your finger when you press and it can be a little annoying if you’re unlocking late at night in a dark room. Still, it’s fast and responsive and has face unlock if you want it.
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At 6.5 inches, the FE falls between the smaller S20 and the larger S20 Plus. It feels like the perfect size to me and I really appreciate the flat screen, it’s so much better for gaming than a curved panel.
Like the Galaxy Note 20, the S20 FE swaps the glass back for hard plastic. I don’t mind the plastic feel, especially on a cheap phone like this, and I really like the frosted finish, which isn’t as likely to pick up fingerprints as glass – always a nice touch. The front is still Gorilla Glass and the sides are constructed of aluminum for a rigid frame.
More important to me is that the phone maintains an IP68 rating for water resistance and still includes Qi wireless charging. Two more features that are often omitted at this price point. The 3.5mm headphone jack is missing, so you’ll use the USB-C jack or wireless Bluetooth for audio.
It comes in several beautiful colors including the very trendy navy blue and striking red. These are more interesting shades than what you’ll find on the S20, and Samsung says they’ll be available on different networks without the usual isolation.
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The highlight of the Galaxy S20 FE is that the UK 5G version comes with the Snapdragon 865 platform, rather than the usual Exynos chipset you’ll find in the high-end Note 20 series and Galaxy S20.
Many have complained about the reduced performance and battery capacity of the Exynos version against Qualcomm, so Samsung would have been better off deciding to give the arguably better model a wider release.
Now, if you go for the cheaper 4G version, you get the Samsung Exynos 990. This variation is not available in the US. Along with that chipset, it has 6GB of fast RAM and 128GB of expandable storage.
The Snapdragon 865 outperforms the Exynos variant in benchmark tests, but the real gains come with improved battery life, which you can read more about below. As you’d expect from a flagship chipset, performance is top-notch. Whether you’re gaming on the device, streaming Xbox titles via GamePass, or pushing your phone in any other way, it can handle it all without overheating or slowing down.
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Audio from the speakers is good, though it restricts a bit easily to the bottom speaker, and call quality is typical Samsung standards.
Out of the box, the S20 comes with Android 10 and the latest version of One UI. Samsung’s interface has improved tremendously in recent years, and while it’s very different from Google’s vision of Android, I still like the way it looks and works. Samsung has indicated that Android will get three years of system updates starting with 11, which is always good news.
The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE has a 4,500mAh battery, matching the Galaxy S20 Plus and outperforming all other S20 models in my tests. This is almost certainly due to the Snapdragon 865 chip, which is more efficient than its Exynos counterpart.
While I often struggled to do this with the S20 and S20 Plus, it’s easy to do with the S20 FE and I can easily get six hours of screen time on time, often an hour plus.
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When it comes to charging there is support for 25w but the 15w block in the box is pretty bad. Still, a full charge only takes 90 minutes, so that’s a shame. There is also wireless charging and reverse wireless charging.
On the back of the S20 FE you’ll find three cameras: the same dual-pixel 12MP main sensor as the S20 (the longest in good camera phones), along with a 12MP ultra with f/1.8 aperture and OIS. -8MP 3x camera with wide angle and OIS. There is also a 32MP camera on the front.
The 12MP main sensor takes some great snapshots, which shouldn’t come as a surprise as it’s a camera we’ve seen a few times before and impressed on every occasion. Samsung is still color-rich, deeply saturated and slightly sharp when it comes to shots, and those characteristics are clear to see here. These pictures are all over social media and I can totally understand why they are so popular.
Are the pictures better than the Pixel 4a? not for me But that’s subjective and you’ll definitely get sharper details and brighter colors here. Pixel 4a still stands out for its dynamic range, natural bokeh and most importantly night mode.
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Low-light performance is good, and you can get good shots in low light either in the default mode or in the more specific night option. I found Samsung’s Night Mode to be a bit behind some rivals, tending to turn off too much light and reflections. Still, it’s here if you’re in a very dark situation.
Switching between focal lengths is easy, and the S20 FE takes great shots with ultra-wide and 3x zoom. None of these have the same quality as the main sensor and the results can be bland, especially when zooming in, but they do offer some versatility. It’s also good to see Samsung not messing around with another sensor because yes, some other brands that offer cheap Android phones should take note…
The 32MP front-facing camera is great for those selfies and has some software chops to get a few more faces. Despite lacking the 8K chops of the regular S20, video is strong.
In the UK, we only got the version of the Galaxy S20 with Samsung’s Exynos chipset. It’s okay, but it has lower performance and poorer battery life compared to the Snapdragon model. That’s taken care of here and the 5G model of the S20 FE packs the super-fast Snapdragon 865.
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There’s really very little not to like about the S20 FE and it’s definitely one of the best phones for the money. On the neat side, the quality of the sub cameras leaves a lot to be desired and they feel like they were added because the parts are cheap.
The modern USB connector you see
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