Samsung Galaxy S20 FE 5G review

08 October 2020


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  • M
  • Mona Lisa on Weed
  • Pxg
  • 16 Jun 2021

I've had the Exynos 4g variant of the s20FE for less than a month as my daily driver. All was well to begin with, ok screen resolution (not the best, lower resolution than s20, s21 and even previous flagships). Performance pretty good. Not the fastest but far from sluggish. Cameras seem to be good, not excellent, good. Mind you I'm not a camera guru so I'm not an expert. Design quality, mediocre. Not really a fan of the plastic back plate but aluminum frame is nice I guess. A bit disappointing to have only gorilla glass 3 when newer and even previous flagships have had gorilla glass 6 and victus. Battery life is good. I can usually go a full day and still have at least 30% left in battery life. Overall the biggest disappointment for me has been the Exynos chipset. It's inferior, causes the phone to overheat and slows down performance. But because I'm in New Zealand I am stuck with Exynos. Would much rather prefer Snapdragon.

    • W
    • Wilson-smyth
    • 7P3
    • 13 Jun 2021

    Anonymous, 20 Mar 2021Isn't it a concern that the S20 FE does not have Goril... moreIt does, gorilla glass 3.its not bad at all. It's harder than some of the newer variants meaning it's more scratch resistant, but at a coat of being less shatter proof in the event of a serious fall.

    That's basically the trade off, scratch resistance or playability in the event of a fall.

    Even then, the difference between them all is not massive. They simply have to release a new versionevery so often to stay relevant.

      • W
      • Wilson-smyth
      • 7P3
      • 13 Jun 2021

      Commenting with my experience which has been great since the April patch.

      Got the S20 FE in January and after a month had unresponsive screen issues that would only resolve with a reboot.
      A number of calls to Sammy support following the usual, restart, factory reset etc steps didn't resolve the issue.

      I was preparing to send it in but that day two things happened
      1. The April patch was released.
      2. The sd card, which hadn't been formatted since it's days in my S7 got wiped.

      Unsure if the issue was the sd card with old versions of configs or something, or the update but it's been too notch since then and I'm glad I held onto it.

      I wish Samsung wouldnt wait for users to uncover these issues but from experience, no other brand are any better (similar experience iPhone, HTC, Huawei), and Samsung hardware and launcher, in my experience is a step above anything else.

      I still wish it had a notification LED,a physical proximity sensor and the selfie cam had more than a fixed focus, but those are minor gripes.

      Excellent phone, imo better than the S21 due to expandable storage , larger battery and non sd888 chip which seems to run very hot.

      Hopefully Samsung stick with the polycarbonate back too, it's a 100% improvement, being lighter, stronger, more durable, doesn't attract fingerprints and feels solid. If they do, I'll be back for an s22FE but see no need to upgrade this year.

        • ?
        • Anonymous
        • s89
        • 10 Jun 2021

        Good

          • H
          • HRB
          • 6AC
          • 05 Jun 2021

          Some parts of this review are false and misleading, I have reviewed the phone myself and have had no problems that were mentioned in the review. Please update your facts!

            • T
            • To jonathan whatever
            • tDQ
            • 04 Jun 2021

            You must be one of those Samsung hardon supporter genius with an empty stomach.
            There is nothing wrong this review. BTW he is honest and always reviews according to the truth.
            Samsung had been releasing bunch of confusing array of mobile hardwares, with some good features and bad. And with some confusing names. ie S20 S20+ S20ULTRA and S20 FE. Now some are even adding with "s" on an old lineup calling it new when the hardware are same. To note they even released same S20 FE as 4g and 5g variants when both uses same Snapdragon 5G chip. Some are frustrated why 5G is released only one country and not globally.

            Dont blame the reviewers because they are voices of the end users as well. And as most of end users are frustrated with Samsung line up. One being lack of reply from Customer Care when there are complaints made about "falling Buds" and lack of free accessories that comes with premier phones like S21 and Tab S7.
            OTHER FAILURES to note. Most of recent Note 20 are also showing display failure after sometime uses. And some other phone models are showing overheating on their battery packs. If Samsung refuses to listen, then they are doom to fail with their line up of bad designs and lack of care.
            GSMarena keep up the good work.

              • J
              • Jonathan from the US
              • IiJ
              • 02 Jun 2021

              This is the worst review I've ever read on a device, extremely biased/negative. Even the positive parts of purchasing this device were made to look like negatives. The writer sounds lazy and uninterested and used too many words and it wouldn't be a surprise if they were paid off by Apple or some other company to make Samsung devices look bad. There were a lot of errors in the review even thinga as simple as pixel density and HDR support were inaccurate. Fire this writer get a new one GSMARENA, articles like this make the website look bad.

                • S
                • S20 Fe 5g user
                • n2p
                • 26 May 2021

                I can't use super fast charging with 65w pd charger with 100w usb c to usb c pd cable (supposed to be 25w with this phone)

                  The Vivo X60 Pro which falls right in the price bracket of Samsung S20 FE 5G and the Oneplus 9 gets little or no attention. In fact, in this S20 5G review, it is not even on the alternates, whereas iQoo is compared... weird.

                    • ?
                    • Anonymous
                    • 3ae
                    • 21 May 2021

                    Maysa, 10 May 2021I bought my Samsung S20 FE on January. I love resolution... moreDo a reset factory, sure you have a bug inside!

                      • S
                      • Shashidhar
                      • DkT
                      • 18 May 2021

                      Maysa, 10 May 2021I bought my Samsung S20 FE on January. I love resolution... moreYou can follow the steps mentioned in the video.
                      I too faced the issue and I uninstalled apps which I don't use like samsung pay and many more. Now I don't see any heating issue.

                      https://youtu.be/VyIZ1iPOneU

                        • M
                        • Maysa
                        • LFj
                        • 10 May 2021

                        I bought my Samsung S20 FE on January.
                        I love resolution, back camera. but I have troubles with phone temperature.
                        after 45 minutes on video call or watching videos, screen shows a notification is going to turn off due overheating.
                        I already sent my phone to fix because I bought on a authorized reseller store. but unfortunately it continues given me same issue and problem.

                        Tomorrow I will go again to use warranty again. Hope this time a got a really fixed phone or I'll request a reimbursement.

                          I love my google pixel 3 XL

                            • K
                            • Kim
                            • i84
                            • 29 Apr 2021

                            j.bawlin, 19 Apr 2021how is video compared to iphone 11 ? be it not upto the lev... moreI find the video excellent on the FE I had a Samsung s10 before and this one is much better. You can also capture a picture from the video as many times as you want. Videos has stability same as the s10 but for the price it is not far from the s20 I have read it is better. I take a lot of photos for my work and videos and works perfectly..You can also edit the videos. I hope this helps?

                              • j
                              • j.bawlin
                              • Dk1
                              • 19 Apr 2021

                              how is video compared to iphone 11 ? be it not upto the level but does it have that potential to record detail?
                              coz i want to shoot My short movies...but may not afford 128 gb iphone 11.

                                • P
                                • Param
                                • wiS
                                • 15 Apr 2021

                                Anonymous, 11 Apr 2021FE 5G, Asus Zenfone 7 Pro or Oneplus 8 pro (all with SD865)... moreZenfone 7 pro, its only con is that its bulky thats it
                                S20 FE 5G, if u like one ui and need IP Rating
                                Oneplus 8 pro,only if u cant avoid that software

                                  • l
                                  • lev
                                  • gDj
                                  • 12 Apr 2021

                                  As long as popular internet reviewers keep pumping the idea of glass backs on smartphones being somehow a good idea for consumers, we'll keep getting this terrible design feature on high end phones, instead of the obvious choice of polymers of sorts (you know, the stuff they make shells for hand drills of, for example). Honestly, and of course it's just my personal opinion, trading off the phone's structural resilience for a toy-ish feature that someone popularized as being "cool" (Apple?...) is such an absurd and horrible idea on so many levels, and yet it keeps getting regurgitated everywhere you look.

                                    • ?
                                    • Anonymous
                                    • s3K
                                    • 11 Apr 2021

                                    FE 5G, Asus Zenfone 7 Pro or Oneplus 8 pro (all with SD865). I am really struggling to decide which one I should get

                                      Anonymous, 05 Mar 2021Yes, I think soSnapdragon dragon 865 is genuine flagship chipset and its efficient too , despite the unnecessary battery draining 5G mordem built in . Its still better then Exynos 990 way better then mediatek chipset

                                        Anonymous, 20 Mar 2021Isn't it a concern that the S20 FE does not have Goril... moreIts gorilla glass 3, which is pretty bad but hey every phone has cons in this price range and gorilla glass isnt a big deal

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