Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G Review : 3 months Later
In the age of 1000+ USD Flagships, Samsung introduced last year the Galaxy S20 FE , It was supposed to include the core features of the S20 lineup of flagships , with a 120 Hz display , REAL triple camera setup (No gimmicky 2 MP monochrome) and a solid battery life.
It’s been about 3 months since I purchased the 5G variant in Bright Red (Throwback to my trusty Red Nexus 5), here are my thoughts after using the device extensively.
1. Display:
Android 11 is brought to life with this Beautiful 120HZ Display
The S20 FE has a 6.5 Super AMOLED Display with a 120 HZ refresh rate, The panel is bright, colorful with exceptional contrast compared to my prior Nokia 8 which had an LCD Display. The difference between the FE and the other S20s is the display resolution that’s limited in 1080p, coming from a 5.3 1440p screen in the Nokia, I didn’t notice any decrease in sharpness due to the DPI of more than 400 Pixel Per Inches.
The 120 HZ brought Android animation to life, frame drops were rare, but super noticeable when they do. However, not all apps take advantage of the increased display refresh, Google Maps for example feels slow compared to other apps.
The only complaint I have with the display is the brightness: In bright sunlight, it just doesn’t get bright enough to see comfortably, even compared to my old Nokia 8.
2.Fingerprint Sensor:
I’ve been super skeptical about this in-display fingerprint sensor, However I’m pleasantly surprised, It’s an optical fingerprint sensor unlike the ultra-sonic found in the other S20s , but the accuracy and speed are on point , it works reliably unless my thumb was wet , I rarely had to use my PIN which is a huge upgrade compared to the old Nokia 8 which had a tiny , frustrating fingerprint sensor.
3.Audio
Having an excellent array of speakers and mics is essential for me, in this regard, Samsung delivered a set of stereo speakers compatible with Dolby Atmos , in Calls , they sound loud and clear , for watching movies or listening to music , they’re good but they don’t get loud enough nor have clear audio in full volume.
The huge bummer here is the absence of the headphone jack, nothing comes close to decent headphone jacks like the ones present in LG smartphones (RIP).
4.Build Quality
Unlike the other S20s, the FE has a plastic back with an aluminum frame, and I’ve grown to like it far more than glass in other phones I’ve used or Metal in my Old Nokia.
It’s sturdy and gives confidence, however I suggest putting a case on it because the aluminum side rails are easy to scratch and dent.
One minute detail is the flat screen they used in the FE compared to the other S20s , it’s far better and makes the phone easier to grip and better to view.
5. Software experience
This is by far my biggest surprise with this phone, I’ve used Stock Android phones for more than 6 years now because of how smooth the user experience and the frequent updates from Google.
However, in these three months, I’ve had the android security updates delivered in the first week of the month in line with the Google Pixels, upon the first setup I’ve had the prompt to update to Android 11, with the Android 12 update promised in the following months.
OneUI 3 is finally coherent, the stupid sounds Samsung used to add are long gone, however some Stock android features are missing without any clear reasoning, the first one is adding Screenshots toggle in the notification center, and seamless updates that exist since Android 7! Updates take a LOT of time in this phone compared to Google Pixels or any Android One phone, up to 25 minutes! when other Google phones install the update in the background onto a separate partition, optimizes apps and in less than a minute, the phone is rebooted and you’re good to go!
Bloat is less than prior versions of Samsung Software and because it’s an unlocked phone, no carrier bloat was present too, but app duplication is present with two app stores and 50+ Samsung apps you need to update through the galaxy store while others get updated through Google Play.
Finally , the stock launcher doesn’t do the fluid display justice , installing Lawnchair instantly made the phone insanely FAST !
6. Performance
I spent quite sometimes looking for the Snapdragon Variant which has better performance and battery life , also future proofs the phone with the addition of 5G.
Day to day operations are a breeze, Apps launch instantly , multitasking was effortless , Wifi reception has been excellent too and speeds over Maroc Telecom’s 4G+ network were awesome ! up to 125 MB/s down !
Photos shot through Google Camera were quick to process and editing them was quick too using Google Photos and Snapseed.
7. Battery Life
It can easily last through a full day of use ! but it’s not a 2 days phone at all.
I’ve been easily getting 5h30 hours of screen on time browsing the web on LTE , taking tens of pictures ..
However the charging experience is disappointing, the phone supports up to 25W fast charging , but only ships with 18W charger which takes about 2 hours to get you a full charge. That’s terrible compared to even budget Xiaomi and Oppo devices that ship with at least 30 W chargers and can charge quicker while packing larger batteries.
8. Pictures
The Galaxy S20 FE 5G has a “Real” Triple camera setup, with a 12 MP Main sensor , an 8 MP 3x Optical Zoom and a 16 MP Ultrawide lens.
It’s a good and competent camera system with the surprise being the 3x Zoom lens that I had so much fun with it.
These are some unedited pictures shot with the phone, shot with both Samsung Camera and Google Camera port thanks to the Snapdragon 865, which was the primary reason I choose this phone because I like the way Google processes photos, but I wasn’t impressed by Google’s Hardware offerings at the time.
Before sharing Edited pictures , I Really enjoyed taking pictures with this phone , the main lens is excellent , it’s wider than my old Nokia 8 , sharp and with the magic of Google Camera , it delivers some amazing High dynamic range. I was surprised by how much I liked shooting with the 3x Zoom lens , which helped me get shots that I couldn’t take before. However , the ultrawide is a huge letdown , there is a noticeable color shift , sharp only in the center but distorted and grainy everywhere else , I didn’t like using it , totally huge letdown , as for the selfie camera , it’s serviceable and doesn’t come near the excellent autofocus 13 MP that I had on my Nokia.
9-Verdict : (8/10)
The S20 FE 5G is an excellent midranger for anyone looking for a capable Android Smartphone , unless you’re not a fan of OneUI (But I really invite you to give it a try) or you need more RAM and expandable storage , for that I recommend the OnePlus 8 Pro.
The Good :
Performance
Battery life
Screen
Camera System
Timely updates
The bad :
No Headphone Jack
The ugly:
15 W Charger
Ultrawide Lens
