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Samsung galaxy S20 FE 5G review

Soumen Maity

September 4, 2022

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Detailed Review of Samsung galaxy S20 FE 5G

Galaxy S20 FE (LTE), Samsung’s low-cost flagship from last year, still stands out in performance. While that’s the plus, there are some points to consider in its cons. It seems very much like an extension to Galaxy S20 FE, with a Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processor (and X55 5G modem) in lieu of Exynos 990. Has the Qualcomm processor resolved the LTE variant’s flaws? Is it worth investing in this phone? Check it out!

The Galaxy S20 FE looks exactly like the Galaxy S20 and has the same button placement on the right of the screen as the Galaxy S20. A USB Type-C port and a microphone are located next to the primary speaker at the bottom. At the top of the display, a tiny slit conceals the earpiece speaker, acting as the second speaker to provide loud and clear stereo sound.

An integrated camera hardly sticks out of the rear panel, making the design look minimalist and sleek. A panel of plastic covers the back of the Galaxy S20 FE 5G, and a sheet of display glass covers the front. There is a smooth matte finish on all four sides of the rear panel. Last year, flat glass was a strange choice, but it sits well next to premium displays this year.

Despite its non-slippery texture and good fingerprint resistance, the matte surface might make some room for dust. Several competing smartphones (priced slightly higher) don’t offer IP68 dust and water resistance, which is a major selling point for the Galaxy S20 FE 5G.

Its processor is a year old compared to today’s other phones. During the first half of 2020, Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 processors started appearing in smartphones. A year-old SoC is fine for a casual user, but the Snapdragon 888 is a massive performance upgrade.

And Samsung still has many specifications that help it stand as a better choice, despite that processor stuff. Dive into the swimming pool with its IP68 rating, which supports 15W wireless charging. The smartphone can even reverse charge at 4.5W. While they aren’t necessities, they do make it a premium phone.

Samsung’s One UI 3.1 runs on Android 11. The Galaxy S20 FE 5G felt smooth in daily use thanks to the 120Hz refresh rate display. Whether native apps are run, or third-party apps are switched between, there are no hiccups. Several third-party apps are also included with the phone but can be uninstalled if not needed. 

When it comes to everyday tasks and gaming, the Qualcomm Snapdragon 865 is no letdown. In 60fps mode with high-quality graphics, the phone ran smoothly. While gaming, the phone warmed up a bit. Some games that require a high level of accuracy suffer from touch sensitivity issues. 

A 6.5-inch Super AMOLED display with Vivid mode displays oversaturated colors. It looks much better when you switch to Natural, but the colors are dull. The display quality can be enhanced if a preset adjustment is provided, especially when watching movies.

Text, images, and videos looked sharp thanks to the 407ppi resolution of the FHD+. However, HDR does not appear to be supported in Samsung’s spec sheet. Although the display was legible indoors, it was barely visible outside the afternoon sun.

During an HD video loop battery test, the Galaxy S20 FE 5G lasted 18 hours and 22 minutes. The battery lasts about 20-30% when run with social media apps, emails, calls, and games, with the display set at 120Hz, which is impressive. It took about an hour and 38 minutes to charge the battery from 33 percent to 100 percent, which was not too bad. 

The result of the photos may differ slightly from the LTE model due to the switch from an Exynos 990 to a Snapdragon 865 processor. In the rear module, three wide-angle cameras consist of 12-megapixels f/1.8, 8-megapixels f/2.4 (three-times optical zoom), and a 12-megapixel f/2.2 ultra-wide camera. An 8-megapixel binned 32-megapixel camera takes selfies.

There are easily accessible controls that let you adjust the aspect ratio, timer, flash, and switch between cameras. The default modes can be swapped and personalized per a user’s requirements. Two taps are all it takes to switch the video resolution to video mode. When you use the viewfinder for about 10 minutes, the back panel near the camera module gets a bit hot but quickly cools off.

It was easy to capture bright, vibrant, and saturated photos in daylight. Switching between cameras does not affect image quality or white balance. Compared to the primary camera, this camera can also serve as a macro camera. No macro camera makes it extremely important. A wide-angle camera in night mode delivered good photos, but an ultra-wide-angle camera did not.