Samsung's Galaxy S20 FE 5G - Review

 

 

It's a lousy name for a really good phone. I've had the $700 Samsung Galaxy S20 Fan Edition 5G for a few hours now, and it looks to be a good value-phone that hits all the important marks for 2020. So far it seems to live up to its promise of delivering only the best of the S20's features, at a price that lets it compete with the iPhone 11. In Samsung's crowded lineup, I'd dare say there are just two phones to buy now: this one and the $1,300 Galaxy Note 20 Ultra.

 

 

 

The FE is about the same size as the $1,200 Galaxy S20+. It's a big phone, but this is a year of big phones: I have two Galaxy Notes, a OnePlus 8 Pro, and a Galaxy S20+ on my desk along with the FE, and they're all in the same ballpark. I'm sorry to say that if you want a distinctly smaller phone, you're going to have to hunt down last year's Galaxy S10e; then again, it seems like nobody really wants a distinctly smaller phone these days.

 

 

 

FE vs S20+ back. The FE's matte back is less prone to scratches than the S20+. I like the FE's matte back better than the S20+'s smooth glass panel. The S20+ looks gorgeous out of the box, but six months later, it's covered in smudges and scratches. The FE may stand the test of time better.

 

 

The trick with the 1080p, 120Hz display here is that while the other Galaxy phones technically have higher-resolution screens, none of them operate at higher than 1080p in 120Hz. And 120Hz does matter—it makes scrolling noticeably smoother—while WQHD resolution can be harder to notice, especially if your eyes aren't razor sharp. Samsung made the smart choice here to prioritize refresh rate over resolution.

 

 

 

The first round of benchmarks shows performance to be very similar to the S20+. Let's not forget, that the S20+ is technically a $1,199 phone and this is a $699 phone. Samsung may have really misjudged what people are willing to pay for a certain level of performance in 2020.

 

 

 

The FE has 5G. and I think it will stand out on T-Mobile as its mid-band 5G network gets better and better. One thing the FE 5G loses from the S20+ is millimeter-wave 5G on AT&T and T-Mobile. That's okay, because in the months since I reviewed the Galaxy S20+, those two carriers seem to have backed away from millimeter-wave, relying more on sub-6GHz 5G, which the FE 5G has. Verizon will release a special millimeter-wave version of the phone for its network for $50 more.

 

 

 

 

The S20 FE has three cameras on the back. The cameras are key to the experience. The FE has 12-megapixel ultra-wide, 12-megapixel wide, and 8-megapixel 3x telephoto cameras. As the year has gone on, I've grown more and more disillusioned with devices that try to do crop-zoom using high-megapixel 1x cameras rather than having real zoom lenses; the results always look softer than a lower-megapixel camera with a real zoom lens. What we have here are 8-megapixel photos, but with the sharpness of a real zoom lens; every pixel counts, and they don't look interpolated. I'll take it. Zoomed photos are sharp, without digital blurring.

 

 

 

All in all, I'm very encouraged by the Galaxy S20 FE 5G. Samsung has a crazy number of phones on the market right now, and they're being sold with a bewildering number of discounts. But the key elements of a true zoom camera, a 120Hz screen, and a solid camera at a reasonable price (in some cases $0 if you sign on for a 30-month payment plan) look potentially like slam dunks with this one.

 

 

With all of the Samsung phones I have around, I've found myself reaching for the Galaxy Note 20 Ultra more than anything else; the camera is just that good. But for half the price, the new FE looks like it will satisfy most people's needs. I'll have a full review this week, so make sure to check back.