Samsung Galaxy S20 FE vs Galaxy S20: Which should you buy?

The Galaxy S20 FE or Fan Edition is Samsung’s attempt at conquering the affordable flagship segment. As smartphone prices rise with each generation, the category dominated by OnePlus and Xiaomi is becoming increasingly important. But does the phone make the right compromises when compared to the fully featured Galaxy S20? Let’s find out in our Samsung Galaxy S20 FE vs Galaxy S20 comparison!

Technical specifications

design

The Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 FE are very different beasts, but despite the obvious price differences, there is clear uniformity in design.

While the former has a glass and aluminum construction, the Galaxy S20 FE does without the metal for plastic. The fan edition might not feel as high quality as the glass edition, but Samsung is trying a number of pastel shades that look great. There is also something to be said that polycarbonate is a lot more drop resistant compared to glass.

The button layout remains more or less the same, and unfortunately also the lack of a headphone jack between the two phones.

The Galaxy S20 FE reduces the resolution but adds a larger flat screen.

When switching to the display, things get a little more interesting. The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE is aimed directly at the affordable flagship market where larger screens are the norm. Compared to the Galaxy S20’s 6.20-inch panel, the Galaxy S20 FE has a larger 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display, but there’s a catch.

To reduce costs, the Galaxy S20 FE uses a Full HD + panel compared to the S20’s QHD screen. In addition, you will find Gorilla Glass 3 for protection instead of Gorilla Glass 6 on the S20.

However, both phones use a 120Hz display that is designed to ensure a refined user experience. In addition, both phones have an IP68 rating, stereo speakers and sport-in-display fingerprint scanners.

In fact, buyers may prefer the generally faster and more reliable optical fingerprint scanner found on the Galaxy S20 FE over the ultrasonic fingerprint reader found on the regular Galaxy S20.

characteristics

The Galaxy S20 and Galaxy S20 FE are operated with either a Snapdragon 865 chipset or the Exynos 990, depending on the region. Elsewhere, the Galaxy S20 comes standard with 8 GB of RAM and 128 GB of storage.

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition, on the other hand, can be configured with 6GB or 8GB of RAM and has up to 256GB of storage, making it a little more versatile for those who need additional storage. Both phones have microSD card slots for storage expansion.

All in all, the user experience on both phones should be very similar, if not identical. Samsung has done an excellent job at OneUI over the past few years, delivering an excellent optimization for the hardware.

With similar hardware, the Galaxy S20 FE should be just as fast as the normal Samsung Galaxy S20.

This time around, the company is even promising three years of Android updates to help allay support fears.

There are a few differences on the picture side, but again there are more in common than not. The primary shooter is the same 12MP sensor on both phones. The ultrawide camera is now the same 12MP sensor again.

While the Galaxy S20 opts for a 64-megapixel sensor with 3x hybrid zoom, the Galaxy S20 FE has an 8-megapixel sensor in combination with a 3x optical zoom. On paper, this may only give sharper results at the telephoto end, but we need to test this out in our full review.

On the video side, the Galaxy S20 FE dumps support for 8K video recording, but that shouldn’t be a huge problem for most buyers.

The Galaxy S20 FE has a larger 4,500 mAh battery, but it lowers the charging speed to 15 W compared to 25 W on the S20.

Finally, there are differences in how Samsung approaches the battery of the two phones. The Galaxy S20 comes with a 4,000 mAh cell that brought us about 6 hours of screen on time. We expect the Galaxy S20 FE to last a little longer due to its larger 4,500 mAh battery and lower resolution display.

When it comes to charging, however, the Galaxy S20 takes the lead with its faster 25W charging support. The Galaxy S20 FE, on the other hand, only manages 15 W, which is not particularly good. Wireless charging of both phones reaches an output of 15 W.

price

The Samsung Galaxy S20 was initially priced at $ 999 in the US. In the UK, the phone also got a slightly cheaper 4G version priced at £ 799 / EUR 899, a full £ 100 / EUR 100 cheaper than the 5G variant.

However, these days the phone is available at a much cheaper price due to the multiple offers. In fact, the Samsung Galaxy S20 5G can be picked up direct from Samsung.com for just $ 549.99.

The Samsung Galaxy S20 FE starts at $ 699 in the US, while in the UK you can opt for a 4G-only or 5G version of the phone. While the 5G model costs £ 699 (~ $ 890), the 4G model costs just £ 599 (~ $ 763). In Europe, the Galaxy S20 FE will only start at 4G at 659 euros (~ 769 US dollars), while the 5G version will cost 759 euros (~ 886 US dollars).

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE vs Samsung Galaxy S20: Which Should You Buy?

Samsung did an excellent job creating a version of the Galaxy S20 with the biggest hits with the Galaxy S20 Fan Edition. The latter brings all the key features of the flagship at a much cheaper starting price. Of course, compromises have been made to get the price tag. This includes a lower resolution display, slower loading, and the lack of support for 8K recording.

The Galaxy S20 Fan Edition has the best of the S20’s features and is a compelling option if it’s cheaper than the S20.

However, these are minor issues in an otherwise standout package. Your decision between the two phones will largely depend on cost savings. Now that the Galaxy S20 is heavily discounted in the US, the Fan Edition might not be nearly as attractive to some users.

However, in markets like India, the Galaxy S20 still ranks at a steep Rs. 70499 (~ $ 958), making the Fan Edition an attractive option for anyone looking to buy a new high-end smartphone.

Which phone would you choose?

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