Galaxy S20 FE: This stellar phone is the best Samsung buy in 2020

Samsung’s Galaxy S20 Ultra and Galaxy Note 20 Ultra might be packed to the hilt with the latest, greatest tech, but they also come with sky-high prices to match. That makes them a tricky sell at a time when purse strings are tightening and rivals like Google and OnePlus are making great phones at more affordable prices.

But the Galaxy S20 FE, which stands for “fan edition,” packs many of the great features of its flagship siblings, including a solid triple camera, a powerful processor, IP68 waterproofing and 5G connectivity, all for a much more affordable price.

At $700 in the US, it’s a hell of a lot cheaper than the Note 20 Ultra, which retails for $1,300 (£1,179, AU$1,849). In the UK and Australia, a 4G version of the S20 FE is available for £599 or AU$999, with the 5G version going for £699 or AU$1,149.

That’s the same US price as the recently announced Google Pixel 5 (which is a little cheaper in the UK and Australia), but the S20 FE does offer benefits over the Pixel in the form of an additional telephoto lens, expandable storage and a more potent processor. We’ll have to wait to get the Pixel in our hands to work out exactly how these two stack up. 

But overall, the Galaxy S20 FE is not a revolution in mobile technology, but it’s not designed to be. What it is is a solid all-round phone at a more affordable price. While it’s still more expensive than phones like the iPhone SE and the OnePlus Nord, its better spec list makes it the phone to go for if you’ve got your heart set on a flagship, but just can’t quite stomach emptying your entire bank account to get one.

A great screen and powerful processor

There’s a 6.5-inch, 2,400×1,080-pixel super AMOLED display which is bright, vibrant and pin-sharp. Is it as high definition as the Note 20 Ultra? No. Will you notice the difference? I certainly couldn’t. It has a 120Hz refresh rate too that just makes swiping around the Android interface feel that bit smoother. It stretches all the way to the edges, with only a small punch hole for the front-facing camera.

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE vs. Galaxy S20 Ultra performance chart

Inside is a lightning-fast Snapdragon 865 processor (for the 5G models, an Exynos 990 chip in the 4G models — the same one found in the Note 20 Ultra and S20 Ultra), which performed very well on our benchmark tests (check out the comparison chart above). Photo editing in Snapseed was a breeze and demanding racing games Asphalt 9 and Grid Autosport played perfectly well.

A potent triple camera

The camera is one of the main areas that’s seen some compromises to keep the cost down. The rear camera setup includes a 12-megapixel standard zoom camera, a 12-megapixel 3x optical zoom and an 8-megapixel ultrawide-angle camera. Those are lower resolutions than you’ll find on more premium Galaxy phones. The FE also lacks features such as the 100x “Space zoom” and 8K video recording that you’ll get from the S20 Ultra. 

While I certainly don’t think you’ll miss 8K video or the 100x zoom (the quality at that zoom level is so poor you’d never want to do anything with those images) I really enjoyed using the 5x and 10x zoom options on the S20 Ultra, and loved the creative shooting options it provided. Would I spend hundreds more to have it though? Absolutely not. 

Shots from the S20 FE are punchy with a good exposure balance between bright skies and dark foregrounds, helped by the auto HDR mode. It’s by no means the best camera around — I find the white balance can be a bit hit and miss at times — but for drool-worthy shots of coffee and cake to make your Instagram followers jealous, it’ll suit just fine. 

The front camera has a 32-megapixel resolution which produces crisp shots that are more than good enough for Instagram — depending on the face you pull, that is. 

Classy design

Samsung offers the S20 FE in a wide range of vibrant hues, but I think the deep navy blue of my review model is much more “classy” than it is “cool” — it’s a nice sport coat instead of a neon parka; a steak and glass of chianti instead of a burger from a van; an HBO drama instead of WWE highlights. It’s much more attractive than the sinfully dull gray of the S20 Ultra, but then just about anything is. 

Its rear panel is made from plastic, but its frosted finish makes it look and feel more like glass to me (Samsung even calls it “glasstic”). There’s toughened Gorilla Glass 5 on the front and aluminum on its edges. It feels sturdy and comfortable to hold and the matte texture of the back means fingerprints aren’t much of a problem.

There’s no headphone jack, so hopefully you’ve invested in some bluetooth headphones by now (you won’t get any headphones in the box) but the phone does have IP68 waterproofing, which will keep it safe from spilled drinks or heavy rain. 

A beefy battery

Samsung has stuffed a 4,500-mAh battery inside the S20 FE, which is 500 mAh more than the battery it put in the regular S20. It’s no surprise that it has a lot of power to offer. I haven’t yet been able to do our full suite of battery-drain tests on the phone, but after an hour of YouTube streaming at full brightness, the phone had only dropped by 7%, which is very good. 

Anecdotally, I found that it had well over half its battery left after a day of photographing, playing videos and doing bits of gaming. I have no doubt that it’ll comfortably get you through a full day of mixed use and probably well into the next. It also supports wireless charging as well as 25-watt fast charging to give it a quick juice up if you’re about to head out. 

Samsung Galaxy S20 FE specs comparison chart

	Samsung Galaxy S20 FE	Samsung Galaxy S20 Ultra	OnePlus 8 Pro	Apple iPhone SE (2020)
Display size, resolution	6.5-inch super AMOLED; 2,400×1,080 pixels	6.9-inch Dynamic AMOLED 2X	6.78-inch AMOLED; 1,440×3,168 pixels	4.7-inch Retina HD; 1,334×750 pixels
Pixel density	405ppi	511ppi	513ppi	326ppi
Dimensions (inches)	TBA	2.99 by 6.57 by 0.35 in.	6.51 by 2.93 by 0.35 in.	5.45 by 2.65 by 0.29 in.
Dimensions (millimeters)	159.8 by 75.5 by 8.4mm	76.0 by 166.9 by 8.8mm	165 by 74.4 by 8.5mm	138.4 by 67.3 by 7.3 mm
Weight (ounces, grams)	190g	7.76 oz.; 220g	199g	5.22 oz.; 148g
Mobile software	Android 10	Android 10	Android 10	iOS 13
Camera	12-megapixel (standard), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), 8-megapixel (3x telephoto)	108-megapixel (wide-angle), 48-megapixel (telephoto), 12-megapixel (ultrawide), time-of-flight camera	48-megapixel main, 8-megapixel telephoto, 48-megapixel ultrawide, 5-megapixel “color filter”	12-megapixel
Front-facing camera	32-megapixel	40-megapixel	16-megapixel	7-megapixel
Video capture	4K	8K	4K	4K
Processor	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 (5G) Samsung Exynos 990 (4G)	64-bit octa-core processor (Max 2.7GHz + 2.5GHz + 2GHz)	Qualcomm Snapdragon 865	Apple A13 Bionic
Storage	128GB	128GB, 512GB	128GB, 256B	64GB, 128GB, 256GB
RAM	6GB	12GB, 16GB	8GB, 12GB	Not disclosed
Expandable storage	1TB	Up to 1TB	None	No
Battery	4,500 mAh	5,000 mAh	4,300 mAh	Not disclosed, but Apple claims it has the same battery life as iPhone 8
Fingerprint sensor	In-screen	In-screen	In-screen	Home button
Connector	USB-C	USB-C	USB-C	Lightning
Headphone jack	No	No	No	No
Special features	120Hz screen refresh rate, support for 30W fast charging and 15W fast wireless charging	5G enabled; 120Hz refresh rate; 100X zoom; water resistant (IP68)	5G enabled, Fast-charging, fast wireless charging, 120Hz display	Water resistant (IP67); dual-SIM capabilities (nano-SIM and e-SIM); wireless charging
Price off-contract (USD)	$699	$1,399 (128GB), $1,599 (512GB)	$899	$399 (64GB), $449 (128GB), $549 (256GB)
Price (GBP)	£599 (4G), £699 (5G)	£1,199 (128GB), £1,399 (512GB)	£799	£419 (64GB), £469 (128GB), £569 (256GB)
Price (AUD)	AU$999 (4G), AU$1,149 (5G)	AU$1,999 (128GB), AU$2,249 (512GB)	AU$1,435 converted	AU$749 (64GB), AU$829 (128GB), AU$999 (256GB)