The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is still one of the most affordable Android phones.
Samsung targets younger customers with the Galaxy S20 FE. The 32MP selfie camera on the Galaxy S20 FE is sharper than its counterpart. The S20 FE is available in six colours. It’s a phone that anyone can afford, and it’s a great phone.
Samsung had to make some compromises in order to keep the price down. This included the display resolution, RAM, and the plastic back.
Samsung Galaxy S20FE Review: Design and Colours
With six different colour options, the Galaxy S20 FE is sure to stand out from the crowd. You have the option to choose from Navy, Lavender or Mint, as well as Red, White, and Orange. The Navy option has a sophisticated sheen. Please note that each carrier will have a different colour selection.
Although Samsung made some design concessions for affordability, the phone isn’t cheap. Samsung used polycarbonate (plastic) as the back, but they did a great job bending it around the sides to give the handset a solid feel.
The Galaxy S20FE has thicker bezels when compared to the regular Galaxy S20. The S20FE is very close to full-screen, however, once you get used to it. The S20 FE’s front-camera cutout is also smaller than the regular S20.
The Galaxy S20 FE is water-resistant. It is IP68-rated which means that it can withstand a quick dip.
The Galaxy S20 FE measures 6.29 x 2.93 x 0.3 inches and weighs 6.7 ounces. It is slightly thicker than the regular Galaxy S20 (5.9 x 3.0 x 0.31 inches, 5.7 ounces), however, it’s not surprising, as the FE has a larger display screen than the S20 (6.5 vs 6.2 inches).
One complaint I have about the Galaxy S20 FE’s design is the choice of fingerprint reader. The S20 FE uses an embedded optical sensor in the display rather than an ultrasonic sensor like the Galaxy S20 or Galaxy Note 20 series. This led to more false negatives when unlocking the phone. This phone required me to press down more carefully.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: Display
The Galaxy S20 FE has a 120Hz display. This is a much better feature than the sharper Quad HD resolution. The S20FE has a Full HD+ screen measuring 2400x 1800 pixels.
Smoother scrolling and improved gameplay are possible with the 120Hz setting. This setting is available in an increasing number of titles that have 120Hz panels. NYTimes.com scrolled beautifully, and I was able to enjoy fluid animation while playing Marvel Contest of Champions. I was able to use Iron Man’s laser gun at The Punisher.
When watching an episode on Cobra Kai, Samsung’s OLED panel shined. The explosion of colour was evident when Sam LaRusso crashed into the dessert table. There were pops of green and brown, as well as orange.
Our lab tests showed that the Galaxy S20 FE’s screen performed well. With adaptive brightness on, it reached a maximum brightness of 679 nits. Anywhere above 600 nits is considered good, but the Galaxy S20’s maximum brightness was 857 nits.
The screen is very colourful. It registered 133.3% in the DCI-P3 color space. This is less than the 162.5% of the regular S20. The Galaxy S20 FE scored slightly higher in terms of colour accuracy than the Galaxy S20 with a score score of 0.3. A score of zero is perfect. The iPhone 11 scored 0.22, while the regular S20 was 0.37.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: Cameras
The Galaxy S20 FE is a versatile phone with three rear lenses and a 32MP front camera that can be used for selfies.
The back cameras include a 12MP ultra-wide shooter with an aperture of f/2.2 and a 123-degree field-of-view. A 12MP main camera (f/1.8), and an 8MP telephoto lens are also available with a 3x optical zoom (digital) and a 30x Space Zoom (digital).
You have two options for the 32MP selfie camera on your Galaxy S20 FE: a standard and an ultra-wide one. This is great when you need to include more people in the shot.
Samsung claims that this selfie-taker uses tetra beginning, which combines four pixels into one to capture greater light, and a remosaic algorithm (which maps pixels into a traditional colour patter to produce more detailed photos in bright conditions).
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: Performance
The Galaxy S20 FE has a Snapdragon 865 processor, and 6GB RAM. This is half the amount of the 12GB that’s in the regular Galaxy S20. There are 128GB of storage available, which can be expanded up to 1TB with a microSD card.
Geekbench 5, which measures overall performance and scores multi-core tests, gave the Galaxy S20 FE a score of 2,928 in the multicore test. This is lower than the score of the Galaxy S20 which scored 3,147. Scores for the iPhone 11 were 3,251 and 3,251.
The Galaxy S20 FE was able to display 1,325 frames at 21 frames per second on the GFXBench graphics tests (Aztec Ruins Volkan test offscreen). The regular Galaxy S20 reached 1,319 frames, while the iPhone 11 hit 1,481.
Samsung Galaxy S20FE Review: Battery life and charging
Although the Galaxy S20 FE should last most of your day without needing to be charged, it did not last as long as expected due to its large battery. The battery is 4,500 mAh, larger than the 4,000-mAh pack in the Galaxy S20 Plus and about the same size as that found in the Galaxy S20 Plus.
The Galaxy S20 FE comes with a 15W charging port. This is significantly slower than the standard 25W charging port that comes with the Galaxy S20. The phone charged to 16% in just 15 minutes and 35% in 30. For £29 more, you can purchase a 25W charger to speed up charging with the FE.
Samsung Galaxy S20 FE review: Verdict
The Galaxy S20 FE is still a strong contender in a market that is flooded with flagship phones priced below £600. The Galaxy S20 FE offers a large display, a smooth refresh rate of 120Hz, powerful cameras, and solid performance in a colorful design. The plastic back and other compromises are acceptable. However, I wish Samsung had a better ultrasonic fingerprint sensor and a longer battery life.
Samsung’s Galaxy S20 FE’s powerful zoom helps it stand out against other smartphones like the iPhone 12 and the Google Pixel 5. While the Pixel 5 has better photos, it is slower than the S20 FE. The iPhone 12 is quicker than the S20, produces better photos and lasts longer on a single charge. It also lacks a zoom feature and a telephoto lens.
The Samsung Galaxy S21 may be preferred by some people over the Galaxy S20 FE. The Galaxy S21 has a faster Snapdragon888 chip, better image processing through its cameras, and a more sleek design. Samsung is reportedly developing a Galaxy S21 FE model with a faster processor, other upgrades and a sleeker design. However, it won’t likely launch until later in the summer.
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